August means Alaska

Every two years my wife and three small bear cubs travel up to the arctic circle via the Alaska highway in our over sized truck to meet with family and friends and spend time in the wilderness near where I grew up for the first 20 years of my life.  We spend time with a ministry there and also reach out to people that know us and depend on us.

This remote wilderness is not for everyone and to be honest the threat from grizzly bears and polar bears makes it a scary place for most. Yes, it’s rather primitive but man is it beautiful and the colors are so awesome this time of year. Yellow’s and greens and reds.

In the evenings the sun stays on the horizon forever and I cannot explain the wonderful feeling it is to fly fish for graying floating down a river with the northern light glowing overhead and bald eagles flying in the distance. Grayling is a fish well known in the arctic circle and can be found in the UK too.  King Henry loved them so much he had them three times a week.  The meat is pink and tastes more like pudding then fish and I get the pan ready to go on the shore BEFORE I even get my rod in the water because you catch one with EVERY cast north of the Yukon Border.

The Alaska state fair starts around the 22nd of August too and is a must see for everyone.  There is food from all over Alaska and many times you can bump into the occasional celebrity.

Alaska is great for me because after I fly my wife and kid’s back to Seattle,  it allows me to get alone with God and to spend time with him every night.  That week that I drive down and when a fires raging in the night and no one is around for at least a hundred miles, those are the best times to get close to Jesus.

What are you doing for a long weekend? Try getting away from the distractions of life and getting into the word, alone.