Cleaning up the house for a guest

 Hiya Gang,

Little Fox here.  I'm just running the vacuum to get ready for a special guest.

Who could it be? 

Look out Lake Chelan....here comes Little Fox

 Hiya Blog World.
Little Fox here on vacation in North Central Washington.  Today's adventure is quite the adventure.

Sequoia, the roommates and I decided to take a little walk along the the Wenatchee River.  This river is fed from local creeks and snowmelt from the nearby mountains.  The Wenatchee is home to salmon (yum) and mountain whitefish.  This fox is fortunate the weather has cleared and you can't see as much smoke from the fires.

Leavenworth is a unique little town in Central Washington,  It's all Bavarian themed (lots of chocolate shops J and B).  This is one fancy hotel, it's called the PostHotel Leavenworth.  It's kind of expensive for this little fox but I hear it's amazing inside.

On word, there is more to explore.

Up next, is the home of Applets and Cotlets in Cashmere Washington. I'm not taking the factory tour today as the machines aren't running but I did get to sneak inside and take a look. 

Are you familiar with Aplets and Cotlets?  It was a big candy in the Pacific NW (and maybe around the world).  My roommate says that back in the stone age you would often see Aplets and Cotlets at Grandma's house. 

Aplets and Cotlets was the official candy of Expo '74 in Spokane, WA.

Didn't make it to expo '74 but my roommate did make it to Expo '86 up in Vancouver, BC.

Here''s the stove where the first Aplets and Cotlets were made back in the 1920s.  The candy was developed by Apple Farmers to use up surplus crops. In 2009 an effort was made by lobbyists to designate Aplets and Cotlets as Washington's official candy yet it failed as there was a disagreement between legislatures (shocking, right) in another growing region who wanted the official candy.

Final stop today: Chelan, Washington.

Chelan is a nice little tourist town on Lake Chelan.  Lake Chelan is known for boating and watersports.  None of those are on the agenda for this little fox but that's okay.  As I wandered around town  I met a few cool bears. 

Where am I off to next? 

Alaska 7 - Exploring Anchorage

 Hiya Gang,
Little Fox here.  Alaska is a pretty cool place.  Lots of wildlife, fresh seafood, glaciers, craft beverages, friendly folks and of course lots of hiking too.  Today's hike is at Bird Creek Falls.  A short hike near Anchorage. 

A little dicey on the last parts of the trail but the falls were amazing. 

Another cool hike near Anchorage was the Gold Mint Trail (Short version).  

This trail was in the Hatcher Pass area north of Anchorage but certainly worth the drive. 

I also got a chance to explore Anchorage.  Local bars and restaurants, unique bakeries and fancy hotels.  The fanciest hotel I explored was the Capt. Cook Hotel in Anchorage. 

For goodness sake, the hotel has its own coat of arms. 

Capt. Cook had quite a few voyages around the world.  His voyage to Alaska was to find the Northwest Passage back to Europe.  No such luck Captain. 

So much cool artwork in the lobby. 

This fox is hungry.  Time to say goodbye to Captain Cook and head out to a little cafe the roommates found called Moose A'la Mode. 

Any restaurant with stuffies hanging out at the door is the kind of place for me. 

All good things come to an end.  I'm fortified with some coffee and it's time for this little fox to head back home. 

In honor of September 11.

 In honor of those who lost their life today.   Drunk Fox and I are off to do some good deeds today. 

Alaska 6 - Welcome to Seward

 I met some cool stuffies at a B and B in Seward, AK.  They were super helpful in pointing me in the direction of many different things to do. 

The first suggestion was to visit the murals around town.  This one really called out to me. 

Seward was the start of the Iditarod Trail (not the race).  The trail was similar to the Pony Express where mushers would travel up and down Alaska delivering mail and goods in the winter.  Seward is mile 0. 

Besides the Iditarod start there are also a lot of glaciers in the area. 

Everyone was so friendly in Seward. 

Just outside of Seward is Kenai Fjords National Park.  

The most popular place to visit in the park is Exit Glacier.  You can't walk on the glacier but it's an easy walk to the viewing platform.

Voila!  Exit Glacier.  Yep, you can probably see how it's receding. 

The walk up to the glacier has a variety of signs with different years on them.  The years represent the location of where the glacier was.  

The next day I decided to book a boat tour to see more glaciers.  The weather is pretty good for Seward today.  I'm patiently waiting my turn to get onto the boat. 

Coming up to a glacier.

This glacier is so pretty. 

The crew was able to get some of the ice floating by and they offered to make margaritas with that ice.  

If Drunk Fox was still actively drinking he would not be impressed with the amount of alcohol in the margarita but for a little fox like me it was perfect!

Onward to my next destination. 

Alaska Post 5 - Crow Creek Mine and Girdwood, AK

 Greetings Gang,
Little Fox here. Today I'm exploring the Crow Creek Mine near Girdwood, Alaska.  There is a lot of mining history and active mining as well in Alaska. Crow Creek Mine was an active hyrdaulic gold mine from about 1900 to about 1969.  

 A family bought the mine in 1969 to live at the mine's main house and also preserve the mine and buildings.   A family still lives at the main houses of the mine but you are able to tour around the buildings as well. 

Quite a few old buildings are still in pretty good shape.  Not bad for buildings 100 years or older.

This building was the mess hall. It was added onto as the mine grew u the 1920s.  The right hand side of the building is the new addition.  The new addition housed a larger cooking and food preparation area. 

Most of the buildings were accessible to visitors.  They pretty much left the decor as it was found when the family bought the mine in the late 60s.

It's cool to see these old boxes with familiar brands.  

The amateur archeologist in me loves exploring these buildings and looking at the old artifacts.

Another awesome expedition.  This fox worked hard, time for something to drink.

And a small snack.