I got Moose..........

It only took two weeks but we finally saw a moose in the wild. I think I was the last one on the team to see one.

We had a day off today(Saturday) and our family took off exploring. The day started at Denny's. Wait, before you say "Denny's" and ask yourself why the day would start there let me give you two reasons.

1: The number of restaurants in Fairbanks is limited and they were the only one we knew that would provide pancakes(at least good ones).

2: It is the northern most Denny's in the world....cool, huh.

Okay, b-fast we headed to the North Pole or least Alaska's version of the North Pole. The town is located about 10-15 minutes from Fairbanks and we actually have some of our players staying there with host families. Bobby Randall(former MLB player with Twins) is one of our coaches and he shuttles some of the guys back and forth each day. He told me one morning he just took some turns off Donner road, onto Blitzer and then Kris Kringle Way. True story.

The North Pole is small, but has candy cane light poles and of course a post office. The actual post office where letters are postmarked from the North Pole.

We then traveled to Chena Hot Springs and Chena Lake Recreation Area. It was a neat drive and we finally saw a moose. I have added a video below of the moose bathing in a river. A cool sight.

I have also added some photos, you can see the updates by clicking here.

Hard to believe we are almost a month in to the trip. It just seems like yesterday we took two trips through the Atlanta security before boarding a jet for San Fran. One month down and one to go. I am sure it will be August 4 before we know it.

On our way to the Chena Hot Springs we took the "roller coaster highway" or at least that is what Kirkland named it. It seems that the vast difference in the seasons here takes a toll on the roads among other things. In Fairbanks along they have recorded summer temps as high as 90 and winter lows around 30 below. You will be driving down a road at 55-60 and all of the sudden hit these dips in the road.......let's just say it gives you a weird feeling in your stomach. Construction is all over the roads as well since the winters don't provide much sunlight or warmth to work outside.

The stretch of road leading from Fairbanks to the Chena Hot Springs is a neat adventure. A 15-20 mile stretch is parkland and provides numerous pull offs. RV's and other campers are able to pull off right on the river beds and camp overnight. There is no law that prevents people from camping at the pull-offs or on the river bed unless marked.

We pulled off one area and saw a young couple getting ready to hike an area. They had the full hiking gear and seemed experienced. They even had a "hiking baby stroller" complete with baby. It was an odd sight, especially the gun strapped to the man's leg. In case of mosquitos of course. Remember those creatures are bigger than the bears.

Gas is up to $4.45, just thought I would throw that out there. What are the prices back in good ole SC? And by the way...no such thing as a dollar menu at McDonalds.......they have a $1.79 menu. No sweet tea either, going crazy on that one.

I have an official "peanut gallery" at the games. The fans here are great. They really get into the games and are brutal. I have been called "Yogi", "23", "idiot", "genius" and hired and fired by the Mariners all in one game. It's all by this one guy, too. He just sits in the stands behind 3B and gets on the coaches and players. He has some good one-liners. It's funny, one game we had a hit and run play work and he yelled out I should manage the Mariners, the next inning one of our guys got threw out stealing and he yells out how I coach like I am managing the Mariners. He is at all the games, yelling away.

If anyone would like some items postmarked from the North Pole let me know. It's kind of neat.

Okay, enough for tonight. The sun's out, time for bed.

Moose video below: