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Dip netting on the Copper River

What might you ask is going on here? Every summer the state opens a small section of the Copper River for subsistence fishing. Heads of household are allowed 30 fish each, and each family member 15. After fishing for 13 hours we managed 67 fish, 64 reds (sockeye) and 3 kings (chinook). As you can see it is quite dangerous, one slip and it is going to be a very cold swim, if you are lucky!

Hello to one and all and welcome to our little spot on the web.  If you are wondering where North Pole is located, a map is  here. The city of North Pole maintains a web site here. Winters are of course rough as would be expected in the Interior of Alaska. This year we are thinking about converting to another form of heat, namely coal as heating oil is pushing 5 dollars a gallon. We go through about 1500 gallons a winter and coal is equivalent to 1 dollar a gallon currently. Looks like a coal fired boiler would pay itself off in a fairly quick manner!

I am now starting a blog on my experiences with installing a coal boiler. Look for additions in the coming months.

Raider "WAS" the newest addition to our family having received him on July 8th, 2004. He came all the way from Salem, Oregon via Alaska Airlines. His current goal is to be a good Daddy to his new Girl above. The wee beasties name is Rika and she is the direct descendant of the Raider Dog and a beautiful Shepherd Princess named Jessie! She was born in December of 2005 from a litter of 12!  My wife Shana has a webpage devoted to our dogs at Dogster. We do love our dogs, shepherds are great companions!

Shana and I live on the outskirts of a small town called North Pole, which is located about 15 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Winters here can be very cold and the summers quite warm. This summer has been a busy one. Seems we are outgrowing our house so we had a new 2 story garage built next to the house. Shana now occupies the upstairs of the garage with her quilting studio, she now has a lot of room to spread out.

I have just installed a Davis Vantage Pro 2 Wireless weather station at the house. It is mounted to the base of my ham radio tower and is really neat to see what is going on outside. My weather links are currently at  the top of the page. You can also find my real time weather reporting at the Weather Underground here.

Our cabin near Harding Lake, purchased in the summer of 2001, has been a wonderful spot to get away from the rat race we call Fairbanks! Restoration and cleanup was a labor of love and mosquitoes but it is now done, that and a new wood stove make me wish I could call it home if my tastes were a bit more on the simple side.  

On this page I have included some digital pictures from around this area and the state, as well as some of our interests. During the winters I have been trying to catch some of the aurora with my digital camera and the results keep getting better as technology, my skill, and equipment get better. Check out the Aurora page if you have the time.

So take a look and if you have the time please sign my guest book or drop me an e-mail to let me know what you think. This site will always be in a constant state of flux.

A great place to find out what is going on in Fairbanks is our local paper's site. 

Shana has put together a web site for her quilting club click on the graphic below for access. Shana has also started her own business called Show Stopper quilts, with her new long arm machine the sky is the limit!

All the best or 73,

Andre & Shana

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Last update --07 July 2008