Although there were a few bad spots of the weekend, our trip to Anchorage was, on the whole, a much-needed break for all of us. We drove down Thursday night and came back Monday night. It was great seeing the family and just seeing some new scenery. It's been about six months since I've been to Anchorage and it's fascinating to see all of the changes that have taken place in such a short period of time. It amazes me that even with their money troubles, the city somehow keeps growing.Arthur was quite taken by all the junk my parents have and spent most of his time rummaging through boxes. As Arthur pulled out toy after toy, Mom pointed out a few more toys to take back with us (to add to his ever-growing pile). I've got to avoid garage sales for the next few years since his room is becoming overrun with toys.
Dad got two DVD players and made Robinson hook them up. I guess he figured that since we were staying at his house and eating his food, Robinson could spend 10 minutes setting them up. Then Dad went overboard and rented five movies from Blockbuster. I highly recommend Juno.
We brought Arthur's summer snowman to Anchorage. He melted a bit in the car, but still looked enough like a snowman to represent our summer snowman. 
The summer snowman is a tradition of the Duffy household. It's pretty cute, actually. The boys would create a small snowman in the winter and put him in the freezer. At the 4th of July, they would bring him out, read "The Summer Snowman", and watch him melt. Although Mom and I really enjoyed the story, I think Arthur liked licking the snowman more.Before we left, Mom told us that there were some fires in the interior and that it had been hot and smoky in Fairbanks. Great, I thought, we're gone for two days and all hell breaks loose.
Funny thing was, as we drove back to Fairbanks, the sky blackened around Nenana and it truly looked as though we were headed toward hell. At times the sky glowed red or purple. 
It was slightly unnerving to see the sky so dark in the summer. It eventually cleared up around Ester, but that didn't stop us from wondering if Fairbanks had been destroyed in some kind of fiery oblivion. Both of these snapshots were taken around Nenana. We did arrive, though, safe and sound.Blessed be.
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