Exploring Fairbanks

We visited the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks after spending the morning at the university botanical garden and the Large Animal Research Station aka LARS. This Model T with skis and tracks is easily my favorite vehicle on display.

There are a number of absolutely beautiful vehicles and, I believe, almost all of them are drivable. Clothes that match the period are also on display. 

Afterwards, we went to Pioneer Park (aka Alaskaland). Lots of little shops and an aircraft museum that I hadn’t visited in a really long time. 

You will find a much more in-depth post here.

Senior Field Trip

Back to the laptop for a blog entry for the first time since Vancouver. The local credit union had a "senior field trip" to a peonies farm out in the Goldstream Valley and even chartered a bus for the long trip out. (Sarcasm here) It was 7 miles from the house. They had quite the selection and everyone was given their choice of two blossoms to take home.

This was a good opportunity to try out the camera on my new iPhone. Both of these pictures were taken in "portrait mode" which blurs the background using data from a second camera. It's kind of a cool effect trying to mimic shallow depth of field. The second camera is 2x the focal length and functions like a telephoto lens. The camera is reasonably fast at f1.8 and produces 12-megapixel images. All three cameras have optical image stabilization. Three meaning two on the back and one on the front.

Another driver for changing phones is that AT&T charged us $10/day for using the phone in Canada. Verizon includes service in Canada and Mexico.

On a related Apple technology note, the display on my Apple Watch was getting dimmer and dimmer to the point that it was no longer visible outside. So I'm back to my solar powered analog watch that has been running the whole time I've had the Apple Watch. The time was off by a minute in those three years since last used.

Big M Farm

This afternoon, Bridget and I went to the Big M farm near Nenana to pick honeyberries. I was really intrigued last year when they posted numerous pictures of the “long blueberries” as I had never heard of them before. We picked about 4 1/2 lbs. We also picked up some zucchini, kale and collards. Last summer, we missed the most of the berries but did get some yellow and red raspberries plus some candy roaster squash. I’m getting ready to freeze the berries as most recipes say that due to the high water content, freezing is recommended before using them.

Moose and Kayaking on the Chena

On Wednesday evening, we spotted a moose along the side of the road. Just an iPhone picture 

On Friday, Bridget got some more kayaking experience from a long time friend, Cheryl. They made it down to Pikes Landing. A great place for lunch.