Kenai Convention

 Today was our first convention day here in Alaska. We even put together a special little display featuring books we carry that are set in Alaska and of course we had to add a cute moose mascot. He will be going home to live with Judy's little grandson, but for this week he's helping out in the booth.

Our booth space went around a corner and had a very large world map mounted on the wall behind it, which made for an interesting yet attractive set-up. Don't you think?

The convention ended at 5:00. We packed and loaded up for the 3-hour drive back to Anchorage.

We have been avidly watching for "Moose on Road" but saw nary a one this evening. (Road sign photo courtesy of Stan.)

We would also not have objected to seeing bears, caribou, or whales along the way, but no such luck. In fact, the only wildlife we've seen at all has been ginormous mosquitoes, various birds... and a very strange character at WalMart who was insistent on helping us load our groceries in hopes that we would give him a dollar for his efforts. Never mind that there were four of us who were perfectly capable of loading our own groceries. That was kinda scary.

We have seen more blue sky this year than last year... which make the snowcapped peaks much more spectacular.

 The late daylight hours made the drive back from Kenai very pleasant, in spite of all the animals apparently hiding from us.

It's been a long day, and tomorrow will be an early one, with set-up for the Anchorage convention first thing in the morning. 

No scenic drive on tomorrow's itinerary... but on a trip like this, you never know what might happen. It's always an adventure.

Driving to Kenai

Today's travels took us from Anchorage to Kenai. The drive was described by the convention sponsors thusly: 

The 3-hour (145-mile) ride from Anchorage to Soldotna on the Seward and Stering Highways is nothing less than magnificent, traveling first along breath-taking Turnagain Arm with wonderful views of glacier-capped mountains across the inlet, and then through a mountain pass before you drop down into the forest to drive alongside the glacier-fed, aqua-marine Kenai River.

And indeed, it is a beautiful drive. Last year I was driving, which is not conducive to much picture-taking. Today I was a back-seat passenger, so my view was somewhat limited.

I was able to get a few pictures through the side windows of the minivan.

I didn't realize until we got there that the back windows of this particular minivan will actually roll down, so I wouldn't have had to deal with reflections on the glass if I had known. Oh, well.

We checked into our hotel, then went and set up our booth at the convention venue.

Sheila (one of my co-workers) had discovered an interesting-looking pizza place in Soldota: St. Elias Brewing Company, so we decided to eat there for supper.

The pizza was delicious... as was the root beer which they make there on-sight (in addition to beers and ales and whatever else breweries make).

Sheila is good at taking group selfies. (Or do you call group selfies "ussies" or "weesies"?) She took this one at the restaurant before our food came.

After supper we drove out to the beach on the Kenai River. The breeze was cool but not frigid. We enjoyed picking up pebbles.

And we marveled at how high the sun still was at 8:30 p.m.

On a Jet Plane

Day 1 of my Alaska trip was mostly spent in the air. Our flight out of Denver was at 6:10 a.m. It usually takes about 40 minutes to get to the airport, so allowing time to get through security and such, we left home at 3:45 a.m. Ugh!

The first leg of our trip took us to Salt Lake City. Our layover there was relatively short, and of course you can't tell much about an area just from the airport, but we did enjoy seeing the mountains.

 As we flew out from there, I was interested to see what appeared to be bright purple water below. I don't know if that was the Great Salt Lake and the purple was minerals in the water, or if it was something else entirely.

 Our next stop was at SeaTac. In a switch-around of typical weather, it was raining when we left Denver, and sunny in Seattle. And so the "mountain was out." (Mount Rainier is often hidden by cloud cover.)

 I enjoyed the clear view of Puget Sound as we headed north from there.

When we arrived in Anchorage, Judy and I decided we should snap a picture of the stuffed moose in the airport lobby in case it was the only one we would see.

Tomorrow we will be driving to Kenai. I am hopeful the weather will be nice so we can get some good pictures of the scenery.

Headed to Alaska

I will be co-hosting the Sonlight booth at the Interior Distance Education of Alaska curriculum fairs next week. I will be traveling and working with my friend, Judy. I am looking forward to visiting Alaska again this year!

Here's our itinerary:

Monday, April 27. Fly from Denver to Anchorage.
Tuesday, April 28. Drive from Anchorage to Kenai.
Wednesday, April 29. Convention in Kenai. Drive back to Anchorage.
Thursday, April 30. Convention in Anchorage.
Friday, May 1. Convention in Anchorage.
Saturday, May 2. Drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks.
Sunday, May 3. Day of rest.
Monday, May 4. Convention in Fairbanks.
Tuesday, May 5. Convention in Fairbanks.
Wednesday, May 6. Drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage.
Thursday, May 7. Fly from Anchorage to Denver.

As you can see, it's going to be mostly driving and working... not a whole lot of time for recreation. But still, it's sure to be an adventure. I'll keep you posted!

Scheduling Our Homeschool

I have to admit I was a pretty laid-back homeschooler. We didn't have a set schedule that we followed every day. Instead, I tried to cultivate good habits with lots of flexibility.

Early on I discovered that it was best for me to get up early, before the children did, to have a chance for some quiet time and to mentally prepare for the day. If I slept in and didn't get up until they came and woke me, it seemed like we were running behind all day. Generally I tried to get up between 6:30 and 7:00, and be ready to start school by about 9:00.

The "seat work" (written work) was most challenging for my kids, so I found that it was good to start the day at the table working on math, spelling, and language arts while the kids were still fresh. After about an hour, we would take a break and have a snack. The kids could run around a little bit and I could change a load of laundry or something like that. 

After the break, we came back together for the "fun" part of the school day... the time when Mom reads to the kids. Sometimes we would cuddle on my bed, or sit on the porch swing or a blanket in the yard. Most often, I sat on the couch and the kids played on the floor while I read to them. I found they actually listened better if their hands were busy.

Most days, in the early years, we were finished with school before lunch time. Early afternoons were designated as "quiet time." The girls outgrew naps at about age 4 or 5, but we still observed the down time for several more years. Mostly it gave me a break in the middle of the day... and I feel like it was good for the kids to learn to entertain themselves quietly. Late afternoons were for playing outside or running errands.

As the girls got older, they spent more hours doing school, and were able to work more independently. I did continue to read aloud to them all the way through high school, as they enjoyed that, and it gave us wonderful opportunities to discuss what they were learning.

We made homeschooling and learning part of our lifestyle, so it was easy to keep a flexible schedule.

This glimpse at "a day in the life of a homeschooler" is part of Sonlight's 25th anniversary blog party.