Rainy days...

So I guess sooner or later it was inevitable, we've had some gorgeous weather, but now the rain has caught up to us. It rained on and off on Saturday, most of the day yesterday, and it's been showery today as well. Tomorrow and Wednesday look a bit better, but then rain is in the forecast again for the end of the week, through the weekend.  We took advantage of the rainy weather to watch some movies, Men in Black II, and the Hunger Games.

Saturday we also went to North Pole, Alaska, which even the kids were saying was just named that to get people to come to the town and spend money!  We went into a store called Santa's Workshop, which of course was filled with ornaments of all kinds.  They had a Santa there for photo ops and for kids to tell him their lists.  Michael wanted to sit on his lap and ask for a Lamborghini and a menorah!  They also had a 2x3 foot case of Hanukkah items, but it just screamed "political correctness!" to me.  Mind you, I didn't see anything for Kwanzaa...

The best part about Fairbanks is how bike friendly it is.  There's a bike path from the campground that goes right down both sides of the main road close to us.  The kids have been going to the store, and to mini-golf.  I had thought they could go to the movies today, but since school's already in session up here, the theater doesn't open till 4pm.  Yesterday morning Michael and Jason biked 4+ miles to the local hobby shop, to find out that it's closed both Sundays and Mondays!

We'll probably leave for Denali on Thursday, but don't worry, Mario won't be backpacking there.  Also keep in mind that the guy who was just killed had photos on his cell phone that progressively got CLOSER to the bear, to within a range of about 50 feet!!  The national park service recommends staying at least 1/4 mile away from grizzlies..so, yeah, I think we're too smart for grizzly bear close ups!