Is your life an adventure? Yes? How? No? Why not? Anyone can have an adventure. Here are some of mine...
![Alaska Railroad Trip](assets/pics/adventures/2023/ak-railroad.jpg)
Alaska Railroad Trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage
![Barn Quilt Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2023/barn-quilt-tour.jpg)
Barn Quilt Tour in Colorado
![Class Reunion](assets/pics/adventures/2023/class-reunion.jpg)
Class Reunion in Branson, MO
![Gold Dredge Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2023/gold-dredge.jpg)
Gold Dredge Tour in Fairbanks, AK
![Arizona](assets/pics/adventures/2023/arizona.jpg)
Met John Wayne in Arizona
![Winter Hiking](assets/pics/adventures/2023/winter-hiking.jpg)
Winter hiking with my best pal
![Mining Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2023/mining-tour.jpg)
Mining Tour in Southern Colorado
![Quilt Auction](assets/pics/adventures/2023/quilt-auction-ks.jpg)
Quilt Auction at Mennonite Relief Sale in Kansas
![Quilt Auction](assets/pics/adventures/2023/quilt-auction-co.jpg)
Quilt Auction at Mennonite Relief Sale in Colorado
![Iditarod Finish Line](assets/pics/adventures/2022/iditarod-finish-line-sm.jpeg)
Iditarod Finish Line under the arch, Nome, Alaska
![Naomi at Iditarod Finish Line](assets/pics/adventures/2022/iditarod-sm.jpg)
Bucket List: End of the "Last Great Race" (Iditarod dogsled race) in Nome, Alaska
![Iditarod Items](assets/pics/adventures/2022/iditarod-items-sm.jpg)
What every dog team needs to carry on the 1,000-mile Iditarod race to Nome
![Gold Claims](assets/pics/adventures/2022/gold-claims-sm.jpg)
Ah... roasting hotdogs at my brother's gold claims—always a pleasure and fascination.
![Alaska Railroad](assets/pics/adventures/2022/alaska-railroad-sm.jpg)
Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali to Fairbanks. A clear view of Mt. McKinley was a bonus!
![Riverboat Discovery](assets/pics/adventures/2022/riverboard-discovery-2-sm.jpg)
Riverboat Discovery tour on the Chena River (Fairbanks.) This same sternwheeler was used in the 1950s on the Yukon River when I was a little girl in the river village of Tanana.
![Riverboat Discovery](assets/pics/adventures/2022/riverboat-discovery-1-sm.jpg)
It was a fine day to tour a model Athabascan Village, sled dog kennels, and more. And... free blueberry doughnuts on the riverboat!
![Barn Quilt Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2022/barn-quilt-tour-1-sm.jpg)
Barn quilt tour in rural Colorado.
![Barn Quilt Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2022/barn-quilt-tour-2-sm.jpg)
Such colorful surprises on barns, churches, houses, and businesses.
![Hiking in Arizona](assets/pics/adventures/2020/hiking-in-arizona.jpg)
Hiking in Arizona
![Kayaking in Colorado](assets/pics/adventures/2020/kayaking.jpg)
Kayaking in Colorado
![Four-Wheeling in Colorado](assets/pics/adventures/2020/4-wheeling.jpg)
Four-Wheeling in Colorado
![Cook Inlet Beach](assets/pics/adventures/2020/cook-inlet.jpg)
Walking the Cook Inlet Beach in Alaska and picking up rocks and shells
![Cranberry picking](assets/pics/adventures/2020/picking-cranberries.jpg)
Picking cranberries on the Gaede-80 homestead in Alaska
![Arizona](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/arizona.jpg)
I’m a hiking addict. Here I am in Arizona.
![My Therapy Dog](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/naomi-taffy.jpeg)
My Therapy Dog and I volunteer at three health facilities.
![Switzerland](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/switzerland1.jpeg)
My Bucket List: hiking in Switzerland, and of course, seeing the Eiger.
![Switzerland](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/switzerland2.jpg)
Not such a thing as too much hiking, often with trailheads arrived at by train, gondola, bus, and of course, by foot.
![Switzerland](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/switzerland3.jpg)
Swiss Cheese at every meal.
![Kenai Peninsula History Conference](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/conference1.jpg)
I met many interesting people and heard informative presentations at the Kenai Peninsula History Conference, Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska.
![Kenai Peninsula History Conference](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/conference2.jpg)
Russian performers brought a lively balance to the lectures.
![Mennonite Heritage Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/hillsboro.jpg)
I savored every minute of the Mennonite Heritage Tour around Hillsboro, Kansas - the area where my forefathers and mothers settled after immigrating from the Ukraine.
![Homer, Alaska](assets/pics/adventures/2017-18/homer.jpg)
We looked for sea life under the boat docks at Homer, Alaska and found starfish, sea anemones, barnacles, and more. What fun!
![Hiking Buddy](assets/pics/adventures/2016/deathvalley1.jpg)
My hiking buddy for a terrific trip to Death Valley with geographical and geological amazements, and plenty of hiking and scrambling.
![Badwater Basin](assets/pics/adventures/2016/deathvalley2.jpg)
Badwater Basin — lowest point. Salt crystals. Yes, they did taste like salt.
![Desolation Canyon](assets/pics/adventures/2016/deathvalley3.jpg)
Desolation Canyon — lots of rock scrambling, but then great views. We wore gloves everywhere we hiked.
![Borax 20-Mule Train](assets/pics/adventures/2016/deathvalley5.jpg)
Borax 20-Mule Train — fascinating stories of those hauls.
![4-point Crawl](assets/pics/adventures/2016/deathvalley4.jpg)
Sometimes 4-point crawling/climbing — whatever got us up!
![Ziplining Buddies](assets/pics/adventures/2016/zipline1.jpg)
My buddies for adventure at Stoney Creek Ziplining in Seward, Alaska.
![Swing Bridge](assets/pics/adventures/2016/zipline2.jpg)
Ziplining wasn't all: a swinging bridge, too.
![Rappelling](assets/pics/adventures/2016/zipline3.jpg)
And, THAT wasn't all: rappelling off of several platforms. Once I realized I really was safe, and wouldn't plummet to the ground in one second, I thought it was fun.
![Dutch Harbor](assets/pics/adventures/2015/dutchharbor-bunker.jpg)
The Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in WW II. There are many forts and bunkers on the island.
![Dutch Harbor](assets/pics/adventures/2015/dutchharbor-fuel.jpg)
The United States used Dutch Harbor as a refueling base to fight the Japanese army's occupation of Alaska's islands, Attu and Kiska.
![Dutch Harbor](assets/pics/adventures/2015/dutchharbor-hiking.jpg)
Great hiking on the treeless island.
![Dutch Harbor](assets/pics/adventures/2015/dutchharbor-pools.jpg)
Fun tide pools!
![Alaska Marine Highway ferry](assets/pics/adventures/2015/ferry.jpg)
The Alaska Marine Highway Ferry functions like a "city bus" between the remote villages along SE Alaska. I traveled on it from Bellingham, WA to Skagway, AK.
![Ferry Deck](assets/pics/adventures/2015/ferry_deck.jpg)
Some passengers ride without a berth. They sleep on plastic recliners on the deck, or pitch their tents.
![Potlatch](assets/pics/adventures/2015/potlatch.jpg)
At Wrangell, I toured Potlatch and learned the purpose of totem poles: the figures are oral history prompts.
![Sitka](assets/pics/adventures/2015/sitka.jpg)
The stop in Sitka was much too short. I wanted to learn more about the Russian influence.
![Tractor](assets/pics/adventures/2015/mcc-tractor.jpg)
Just like nearly every state and province in the U.S. and Canada, Colorado has a Mennonite Relief Sale. Standard features are a live auction with the sale of a vintage tractor.
![Homemade Ice Cream](assets/pics/adventures/2015/mcc-icecream.jpg)
Bicycle riders churned the homemade ice cream.
![Quilts](assets/pics/adventures/2015/mcc-quilts.jpg)
The afternoon quilt auction brought in high bids with the newly integrated modern, geometric, and neon fabric quilts.
![Flying](assets/pics/adventures/2014/flying.jpg)
Landing with my brother Mark in his Super Cub on the Gaede-Private airstrip on our Gaede-80 Homestead.
![Cabin](assets/pics/adventures/2014/cabin.jpg)
Renovating the salvaged Gaede-80 homestead cabin, built in 1963, by the legendary Johnny Parks.
![Silverthorne, CO](assets/pics/adventures/2014/silverthorne.jpg)
Great day to play in the tons of powder with snowshoes!
![Castlewood Canyon](assets/pics/adventures/2014/castlewood.jpg)
Between my micros-spikes and trekking poles, I can go about anywhere!
![Quilt Tour](assets/pics/adventures/2014/quilt-tour.jpg)
Fun Barn Quilt Tour in Ft. Morgan County, Colorado. Check out your own state for Barn Quilt Tours.
![Fall](assets/pics/adventures/2014/fall-foliage.jpg)
Taking in the spectacular fall foliage in Colorado.
![Civil War History](assets/pics/adventures/2014/civil-war-history.jpg)
Touring Civil War History in Charleston, South Carolina. Plantations, grits, first submarines, slave museum, forts, extreme wealth and extreme devastation. (This was my first trip with Road Scholar.)
![MCC Sale](assets/pics/adventures/2014/mcc-sale.jpg)
An annual event: Rocky Mountain Mennonite Relief Sale. I donate, I volunteer, and I bid. (Check out these sales in your state or province.)
![Hiking](assets/pics/adventures/2014/hiking-snow.jpg)
Hiking with my grand boy. Teach kids the love of the outdoors, climbing dirt piles to mountains, snow angels to sledding hills, grand views, and wild life.