Sunday, April 7, 2013

We left for the cabin on Thursday having taken Keith, Rachel, and Cayden out of school early.  We had the back of the truck and Beverly’s Pilot stuffed to the gills with kids and food and stuff, and had an uneventful 150 minute drive to Trapper Creek.  The road was dry, the sun was out and the sky was  blue.  I was worried that the snow machines we were towing behind us would be unusable because the melting was happening.  Spring was here.  I had the older boys with me in the truck and we arrived ahead of Beverly and the younger crew, so we filled the sled with part of our cargo and headed off for the cabin.  Contrary to my original fears, the snow was perfect.  Crunchy to the footstep, and firm enough to walk on without sinking in, if you walked carefully.  Thigh deep if you didn’t.  We made the short run to the cabin, unlocked and made ready for the business of life with kids, hooked up a second sled to another machine, and headed back to the parking lot to pick up Beverly’s tribe.  I didn’t realize how much gear we had until we began to transport it.  Filling both sleds with essentials and kids, we rode again to the cabin and unloaded, and then the boys and I drove to the truck one more time to complete the unloading.  The parking lot is sometimes crowded.  This time it was ridiculous.  It looked like every enclosed snow machine trailer in Anchorage was there, and me with my lowly two-place trailer.  We did finally get the last trip made and unloaded and began the process of settling the kids in.  Actually, the kids were only interested in getting out….on the machines.  I reintroduced them to the rules and fitted them for helmets and they were off.  One of the rules is don’t ride alone.  A second is to stay on the lake (in sight of the cabin).  The third is to stay out of the woods.  All of these rules have been developed for their safety and our ease (not having to rescue them constantly) and the young riders again proved their necessity.  No accidents fortunately, but stuck machines a couple of times.  The Lion King movie, dinner, and bed.  Curtis showed up Friday with more gear, and each day was much the same, except Saturday and Sunday we got to listen to the General Conference broadcasts.  I got a few things done around the cabin, and time to come home.  Multiple trips to the vehicles got all the gear and personnel transported, the place secured, and the homeward journey begun……and ended.  Except when we got home, a surprise awaited….. We had had more than a foot of snow while we were gone completely blocking my driveway.  Fortunately, I had a snow machine so I unloaded, rode up the road with the sled and the boys, and then plowed the driveway, which was the last thing I did before we left 3 days earlier, in very different conditions.