From Palmer to Anchorage

August 31, 1992

The Alaska State Fair at Palmer was in full swing and we were glad to be able to make it there in time to see it. Of great interest to us were the huge vegetables that could be grown in the Palmer area because of the rich soil and long days and growing season.

The biggest attractions for me were the legendary cabbages, just because they were unbelievably big. This prize-winning one from the Matanuska Valley at 89.6 pounds was a bit under the 98 pound record, but it was way bigger than any cabbage we even think about in the lower 48. We even managed to get some cabbage seed for Max to try next year. We spent six hours at the fair and enjoyed the livestock exhibits and displays of crafts. Rod, however, has a bit of a one-track mind and was most impressed by the raspberry pie he got at a booth near the animal exhibit.

The fair featured a pig race and a very fine lumberjack competition. We left the fair to make the last leg of our journey back to Anchorage.

Anita and Brenda did a thorough checkout of the native gift shop at the Native Alaskan Hospital in Anchorage. It features hand-made crafts. The baskets shown are said to take about three weeks to make and the price tags are about $300.

Our eight-member team had an enjoyable gathering at the Artic Fox Inn in Anchorage where we all stayed the final night, and a memorable breakfast at Gwennie's Alaskan Restaurant on our last day in Alaska. Around the table are Rod and Brenda Nave, Sue and Warren Woolf, Harry Espy, Anita and Max Hardie, Curtis Martin, and Curtis' friend from Anchorage whose husband is taking the picture.

Our 1992 trip to work on the Mt. Redoubt Baptist Church was during the second summer of work on the church by visiting teams. It took the summer of 1993 with other teams to complete the church. They sent us this photo of the completed church. The older building where we stayed had at this point been moved. We were pleased to see the completed church and felt very blessed at having been a part of the building of this church.

How about this for a church in Alaska!! We were delighted to get this photo of the Mt. Redoubt Baptist Church in a real Alaska snow. I guess an image something like this was always back there in our minds as we were working on the building during the summer. Many measures were taken to insulate and seal the building against the Alaska winter.

The flight out of Anchorage on September 2 was certainly dramatic! You lifted off in clouds and then got breaks in the clouds that revealed the rugged snow-covered peaks of the Chugach range.

It was a great treat to see one of the tidewater glaciers from the air in its setting among the peaks. My best guess from the maps and the trace of the airliners route was that this was on one of the inlets south of Whittier.