Johnson Pass-Biking It

Last summer we'd backpacked the 23 mile Johnson Pass in 2 days from the south end.  We knew what the trail was like but memory is selective, and my memory edited out the rocky, hilly section along the lake in the first 2 miles.  And biking a trail is nothing like backpacking it, as we discovered shortly after starting out on the Johnson Pass Trail-south end-the second day of our trip.

We got pretty good at our routine for maneuvering around downed trees.

Everything was either up or down (sometimes steeply), muddy, or extremely rocky.  Denver was the youngest so we put him in the front to set the pace.  The problem was he was also inexperienced with mountain biking etiquette and technique, and he had the least muscle mass so he could not power up hills that the rest of us could get up.  So it was a frustrating day for us as we had to keep slowing down or walking our bikes when Denver went slowly or couldn't get up hills, and then brake on the downhills as he was the lightest and therefore the slowest on the downhills as well.  The first 2 miles was just up, down, mud or rock.  When we started getting to the downed trees we were already tired.

The first tree, ok.  The second, oh well.  Sometimes we had to drag our bikes under the tree.  Other times we handed them over.  Sometimes we had to dismount and walk under them.  Other times we could dismount and walk them over the tree.  In the third mile there were like 8 downed trees.  The trail was by this time improving, but we were fed up.  Each tree we would say, "Just one more," and the one more would be only 50 yards further.  So after 3.75 miles, we'd had it.  We were whipped.  Even our very game-for-anything Aurora had had enough.  We stopped for lunch, gazed longingly at the upcoming smooth, wide trail, but turned around and headed back, knowing that we had a rough ride back.

The trail here looks so beautiful and inviting...but so many downed trees!

It was our shortest day, and while the trees actually provided us with breaks, they were mentally tiring and we couldn't get into a groove.  When the trees have been cleared it will be a more enjoyable ride, though I think next time perhaps we'll start from the north as there is a longer "nice" section (4 miles or so I think) before getting to the rocky section on that end. 

We chalked this up to more experience and conditioning, and decided to go for a hike since the bike ride was so short!  Next blog post!

Russian River Falls and Lakes Trail-Biking It

So we decided to do the Russian River Falls and Lake trail for our first foray into mountain biking in Alaska, probably because we've hiked it (partly anyways) before and were familiar with it, plus it was close to the Cooper Creek Campground.  So we geared up:  hydration packs with snacks and water, a backpack full of extra clothes, bug dope, and bike repair stuff, waterbottles on the holders on the bikes, helmets, biking gloves, biking shorts (just for Douglas and I).....we hoped we had it all.  Even in our mountain biking days back in college we'd never done "big" trips like this--off road, in the wilderness, with few people around, for many hours.  So it was a leap into the unknown for us--and we didn't know how the kids would do as we'd never done stuff like this when we were 12 and 14 years old....

It rained the entire previous night and that morning right up to the time we left the campground, so we were curious how muddy the trail would be.  The 2-something mile trail from the Russian River Campground trailhead to the falls is graveled with gentle hills (albeit one long one!) so it was a fun, comfortable ride.

The Russian River Falls are awesome, but even cooler is seeing the salmon jumping up the falls!  We  saw one jump 10 feet.  It is amazing what those fish can do!

After leaving the falls we biked back up the trail 1/2 mile to the turnoff to the Russian Lakes trail.  We crossed the bridge and continued on the easy, gravel trail.  We took the turn-off to Barber Cabin along the Lower Russian Lake, intending to stop and get a snack there and rest.  In the picture above an avalanche had come down to the lake and we were able to squeeze by between the snow and the lake along that trail.  The cabin is the same as when we stayed there 3 March's ago.  No one was in it yet though the sign said it was occupied.  We had a quick bite and turned around to head back about a mile to the turnoff to the Upper Russian Lake trail (all clearly marked).

As soon as we turned onto the Upper Russian Lakes trail things got interesting.  First we came across the avalanche we'd met at the bottom by the lake, except here there was a drop-off into the stream and a steep snow slope to cross.  We put Aurora on the far side, me standing in the stream (balanced on rocks for dry feet!), and Denver shoved the bikes across the snow to me as Douglas handed the bikes to him.  I would carry the bike partway across the stream where Aurora would meet me and carry them the rest of the way.

In addition, the trail became narrow with large rocks poking out instead of the smooth gravel.  So what was a relaxing ride in the woods with mild exercise became strenuous quickly.  It was a great deal of uphill, though gradual.  The alpine meadows full of wildflowers were amazing!  My only regret is that we were going so fast and had to keep our eyes on the trail so I couldn't look around much.  Every time I tried, I'd practically bike off the trail, which was a dangerous thing to do because the downhill side of the trail was steep downhills!  Many times when I would get nervous at the dropoffs I would mentally remind myself to just stay focused on the trail.  I really had to trust that the kids could handle it, and they proved that they could, because it was challenging.

At some point we were all feeling pretty tired.  We'd gone 11 miles according to the odometer on Aurora's bike, and if we turned around we would have another 4.5 miles back to the trailhead.  We stopped and talked it over and agreed to go 30 minutes more OR a good spot to stop for lunch OR a view of the Upper Russian Lake (this was our real goal and hope).  Just 10 minutes after that we came across this bridge over a river that had a campsite near it.  It seemed like the perfect place to stop.

We made the kids eat a sandwich each.  It was difficult to eat because we were physically exerting ourselves and we didn't "feel" hungry, but I knew from experience that I was becoming mentally fuzzy, and on mountain bikes in mountains that is a dangerous state to be in.  As the week wore on I became more and more sensitive to not only my own symptoms of fatigue but those of others as well.  Certain signs would clue me off:  not being able to make it up small hills that normally we could, not drinking enough, making stupid judgement mistakes about maneuvering on the trail.  We kept reminding the kids to drink, drink, drink more water.  On this first day I knew food and water were issues because 10 minutes after we were back on our bikes heading to the trailhead my mind was clear and alert again.

It must have been more uphill than we realized because the ride back was fast and relatively easy, despite being tired.  All told we did 15.5 miles that day, and that final 1/2 mile was an amazing, fast adrenaline-pumping joy of a ride.  I was really proud of the kids for achieving that, and actually, I was proud of myself because I think that was the longest off-road biking ride I've ever done in my life too!  We'd seen lots of fairly fresh bear scat but no bears (something I was nervous about considering how fast we were going, and the fact Denver was in the lead and we weren't making a lot of noise).  It was a good start to our week!  And it was a sweet way to celebrate the day we arrived in Alaska 5 years ago!

An Inside Look at Cooper Landing

Our original plan for the summer included a road trip to the Lower 48 northwest, but rising gas prices made us think twice.  When we started looking at how long it takes to get to, say, Montana, and our timeframe of 3 weeks, we decided we didn't want to be in the car that much.  Denver recently started working on his Cycling Merit Badge for Boy Scouts so we'd recently gotten back into biking.  From the camping trip Denver and I took a few weeks earlier, I had the bright idea of basing out of Cooper Landing and biking many of the great trails that are within 10-15 minutes of town.  After running the idea by the family, we decided we would camp, bike, hike and raft in the Cooper Landing area, and part of the deal was trying every restaurant in town (there are 3).  This blog post will be an overview of some of the amenities and features of Cooper Landing:  restaurants, lodging, convenience stores and other miscellaneous places.

Lodging:

There are 6 public (National Forest Service and state) campgrounds in Cooper Landing:  Russian River Ferry, Russian River, Cooper Creek North and South, Quartz Creek and Crescent Creek.  The Russian River Campground was full with a waiting list when we came into town on Tuesday afternoon in mid-June, which worried me.  We pressed on to the next campground along the Sterling Highway from the south, Cooper Creek South.  Of 25 or so sites, only a handful were available for 3 days, and none were available starting on Friday since they are on a reservation basis, so we chose a site that we could stay at for 3 nights.

Come Friday we headed over to Quartz Creek Campground, but they were already full on Friday morning.  Crescent Creek still had sites available, but that was 3 miles down a very bumpy, rutted road and we had no desire to drive up and down that multiple times a day.  We opted to check out the Sunrise Inn Motel on the Sterling Highway at the Quartz Creek turnoff.  It was $130/night for 3 beds, 4 people, which is pretty much the going rate for the other motel and many of the local cabins for rent.  We were very pleased with this motel:  it was the nicest motel I've ever stayed in in my life (motels tend to be old and run-down or cheap).  It was nicely decorated, smelled nice, was spacious and had a great shower (important after camping!).

After a weekend of luxury watching TV and charging all our various electronic devices, we headed over to the Quartz Creek Campground just down the road from the motel.  It had plenty of spots open on Sunday morning, though we would find that nearly every spot would be taken by evening.  I would say 95% of all sites were occupied by RV's, campers and fifth wheels.  If there was a tent, it was a supplement to the camper.  This campground was like a village in the country, with lots of people, lots of traffic, lots of noise, which contrasted with Cooper Creek South where there was some traffic and it was very quiet, partly because it was smaller but the sites were very private there.  The kids liked Quartz Creek more because it was large enough to go biking and exploring in.

Restaurants:

We checked out Sunrise Inn Cafe first.  It is part of the Sunrise Inn Motel on the corner of Quartz Creek Road and the Sterling Highway.  It had good food (not raving good, but solidly good), comfortable service, reasonable prices and a homestyle restaurant atmosphere sporting an amazing collection of salt and pepper shakers.  We went there for both a dinner and breakfast and we would gladly go there again.

I'm going to mention Summit Lake Lodge's restaurants (pizzaria/ice cream/espresso and a sit-down) here even though they are about 15 minutes from Cooper Landing towards Anchorage on the Seward Highway.  We went there 3 times in a week.  The pizza there would rate #1 for us if it was in Homer--we were totally impressed with it.  The sit-down restaurant had a very nice, open atmosphere, felt new, and had $10-11 burgers.  We all got burgers for lunch the day we were there and we were all pleased with them.  Service was great, strawberry lemonade was divine, and even the fries were tasty.  

Sackett's was our next night and the pizza was such a disappointment after Summit Lake Lodge's.  My pulled pork sandwich was good.  The seating was a little odd (three different rooms, some tables, some picnic table).  The building looks like it is 3 different restaurants so I think each "room" represents a different restaurant.  I wouldn't put this one on my go-back-to list.

The Kingfisher Roadhouse was the brunt of our jokes all week.  We put it off because it looks like a dump from the outside/road side.  However, we finally went online and all the reviews said the food was excellent or very good, so Douglas and I went there for Father's Day dinner.  The food is indeed very good, but it is the atmosphere that enchanted me.  It was typical Alaskan with room after room added on helter skelter, but it was so artfully and tastefully decorated that it was fascinating.  The porch had a clear corrugated plastic ceiling which let in a lot of light, and of course it sounds awful but it "fit".  The burgers were $16, and were the cheapest entrees on the menu, so prices were a bit higher than your normal fare.  I would happily go there again, though sans kids.

Convenience Stores:

It cracks me up that I would even write about the convenience stores, but there were only 5 so we could actually check them all out and in spending 10 days in town we knew which one to get what (particularly desserts!!).

Wildman's appears to be the most popular store in town.  It has nice restrooms, showers, a laundromat, ice cream, hot soups and food, espresso, a liquor store and the usual convenience store sundries and snacks.  It has a porch where people were always hanging out, and the inside felt clean and spacious.

Hamilton's was crowded, didn't have a great selection of items and the sales clerk wasn't very friendly, so even though they had a laundromat and gas as well, we wouldn't want to go back there unless we had to.

Almost across the street from Hamilton's was Cooper Landing Grocery (not sure about the name!) and it was our second favorite, with ice cream, pizza (we didn't try but heard it takes a long time), more groceries than any other store in town (not saying much) and souvenirs. 

Gwinn's used to have a resturant but turned that section into a store so it seemed a little barren.  It was dark and didn't have much.  

Right next door to Gwinn's was another store...not sure the name...and it was heavy on the fishing supplies.  Doug said they had a really good selection of snacks there!

Church and Cemetery:

The Catholic church, St. John Neumann, has some very nice grounds for a small church.  They have a shrine for handicapped people, outdoor stations of the cross that is handicapped accessible, the church, a rectory/social hall, another tiny building that might be storage or an office, graves scattered about and a hiking path up a 200-300 foot ridge to a cross overlook.  We found this a very peaceful, inviting place and returned a number of times during our vacation, including for church on Sunday.  Ironically, mass was presided by a priest from Seward, a local deacon and a archdiocesan seminary student!  

A 5-10 minute climb brings you to this peaceful overlook.

This was one of the graves in the Cooper Landing Cemetery.

In searching for the Slaughter Trail, which we'd heard about and saw on one map of Cooper Landing, we stopped at the Cooper Landing Cemetery, thinking the trail from the parking lot might be the trail we were looking for.  It was not, but the steep trail did lead to the most unusual cemetery I've ever seen.  The graves were dug in the woods here and there.  Footpaths wound randomly throughout the area, leading from one site to the next.  All were very natural, with the landscape hardly disturbed in this heavily treed area.  It felt like...a park.  As we were exploring it, gunshots started going off at close range.  It was disconcerting until we remembered that the local rifle range was right next door!  What kind of sense of humor must a community have to put the cemetery right next door to the shooting range??!!

I'll be honest:  Cooper Landing has never once raised a blip on my radar of "places to go" before.  However, I am smitten.  Although most people come for the fishing, we found 6 easy to challenging mountain biking trails within minutes of Cooper Landing, plus mountains to climb and trails to hike.  I would say we thoroughly explored this little town that boasts 235 or so year-round residents.  Next time we come to visit we will make sure we have reservations to the campground of choice, particularly if it is a weekend.  Besides that, it was 10 days of one of the best vacations I have been on:  enjoying the amazing outdoors of Alaska!

Note:  I will blog about each of the trails we went on separately to avoid one overwhelmingly long blog post!

Exploring Turnagain Arm Area

The last week of May Aurora had a 5-day basketball camp in Anchorage.  Douglas was still working so Denver and I planned on camping in Girdwood, hiking and biking, and then pick up Aurora after the camp was over.  It didn't turn out as planned, as weather and snow interfered!  Nevertheless, we had a great time exploring, so I thought I'd share some of our discoveries.

 About 10 minutes south of Anchorage, you come around a curve and see a pipe sticking out of the cliff with water gushing out.  This is good water, and very cold, so we usually stop and fill up any empty waterbottles we might have in the car.  It is a popular stop, and many locals fill up with water there as well.  I have seen people with a bunch of jugs or 5 gallon containers (done that myself!).  So if you're inclined to try this water and brave running across the highway, check it out!

 I figured that there had to be other campgrounds in Girdwood besides the parking lot at Crow Creek Mine, but I was wrong!  With the Bird Creek Campground still closed (the one we were going to camp at--though we could have pitched  our tent in the overflow area that is still open, but which is basically a parking lot), off we went to Crow Creek Mine.  The last week of May the road was still frozen with a kazillion potholes, so the 2-3 miles back to the mine were torturous.  But the plan was to bike the bike path from Girdwood to Indian, and this was to be the only base for that.  

This is not a 'campground' in any sense of the word.  It is a parking lot that they charge $10 a night for (up from $5/night just 2 years ago) you to park or set up your tent, with a bank of 4 portapotties available to use.  There is no water or electricity, firepits or even picnic tables.  I would go there again...if I had to.  At 5 bucks a night it seemed reasonable, but 10?  Just to park my car and pitch a tent between a bunch of campers?  Argh.  I think the next time I'll drive the extra 10-15 miles to the Portage Glacier turnoff and camp at Williwaw or Black Bear.

 One of the hikes we really wanted to do was to the top of Crow Pass, a nice day hike of probably 4 miles, all uphill 2 miles up to the pass and then 2 miles back down.  However, we'd enquired about it at the Girdwood Ranger Station and they said there was still snow on the road to the trailhead, but we were welcome to try it.  The Crow Pass Trailhead is just pass Crow Creek Mine on the Crow Creek Road, so after we set up our tent we drove up there to see for ourselves.  Sure enough, there was still at least a foot or two of snow on the road to the trailhead, and it was soft snow--not fun for hiking on--since it was raining.  So that nixed one of our plans.

It was raining when we got to Girdwood and it continued to rain all night.  When we got up the next morning we had to come up with yet another alternative plan since we didn't want to bike in the rain and wind.  We decided to go to Whittier, about 15-20 miles away.  We hadn't been there since 5 years ago in August when we'd had a glorious hike--one of the most beautiful I've been on in Alaska.  That memory spurred us on.  We drove to the staging area to drive through the 2-mile tunnel, waited 5 minutes and drove through, observing the rough-hewn stone interior of this car/train tunnel and trying to avoid driving right on the railroad tracks.

 

Upon exiting the other side we realized immediately that we would NOT be doing any hiking.  There were 3 trails I'd wanted to explore:  the Portage Glacier Trail that goes up over the mountain we'd just come through, and then a couple on the other side of town.  The snow was deep--like, over our car deep.  Remember, this is May 30th.  So we drove through town and gazed longingly at the trailheads.  It was still raining and the snow was soft and mushy and of course we hadn't brought our snowshoes (duh!  How could we have forgotten them??!!) so we drove through the whole town (takes like 10 minutes), gaped at the old bombed-out looking abandoned building that once was the largest building in Alaska, housing troops stationed in Whittier, and at our lunch in the car at a cute little park by a stream.  We drove back to the staging area and waited half an hour for the next time through (once an hour each way) as we'd just missed the last one.  But it was rainy and miserable out and we had nothing much better to do.

Let me backtrack.  Before we came to Whittier we stopped on the mainland side of the tunnel at the Portage Glacier Interpretive Center.  While there we saw a graphic relief model of the entire Chugach Mountains, which extends from north of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.  What amazed me is that although the mountain passes were not labeled, I recognized and have been on many of the passes on various hikes (Resurrection, Crow, Johnson), and could name the passes that I haven't been on.  Two things especially hit me:  how mountainous this section of Alaska is and how every single pass has either a road through it or a trail.  Not a pass is left untouched. 

From Whittier Denver and I headed south, thinking perhaps it wasn't as rainy further south.  We hiked a few miles in Devil's Pass (just a little snow left on the trail), explored all sorts of side roads in Cooper Landing in search of good hikes and bike rides, camped in Cooper Landing that night (some rain), then headed yet further south in search of no rain.  We hiked the Skyline Trail (1 mile, 2000 vertical feet; 1 1/2 hours up; 45 minutes down was pushing it!). We ended up at Lower Skilak Lake Campground, which is a gem (sorry, no pictures!  My phone charge was long gone by then and no car charger!).  It is right on Skilak Lake, is free, and was very quiet as the boat launch was closed for repairs.  Best of all, it didn't rain!!!  We hiked a couple hours along the rocky shore (Denver found about 20 old fishing line with hooks in the rocks!), had dinner and read our books while snuggled in the tent (It was chilly!  I wore my hat and neckwarmer, long underwear and other layers each night and still got a bit chilled).

 

Denver had a Boy Scout campout in Kenai for the weekend, so Friday we headed to Kenai to good weather and did a 10-mile bike ride on the paved bike path from Kenai to Soldotna.  We met the rest of the Scouts at Spirit Lake for the district Camporee.  There the scouts were busy kayaking, running around in the woods and doing whatever scouts do at campouts.  I stayed overnight with them before heading back to Anchorage the next morning to pick up Aurora.

Of all the times I have seen Turnagain Arm, I don't think I've ever seen it glassy--until the morning I headed up to Anchorage.  I was driving along marveling at how calm it was, and though I was pressed for time, I decided I absolutely HAD to stop and ride the bike path that just days before Denver and I hadn't been able to due to awful weather.  As you can see from the picture above (taken from the bike path), it was one gorgeous day!  There are certain days or moments that stand out in my memory from all my adventures in Alaska, and this one hour on the bike path was one of those idyllic memories I crave to replicate.  It was sunny, dead calm, comfortably cool and the bike path was almost deserted (I saw 4 people in one hour).  Flowers were blooming and the peace was palpable.  It was amazing.

In the above picture I was heading back to Girdwood from my 10-mile ride and when I realized I had a perfect shot of Alyeska I had to stop and get a picture.  The entire bowl that you see here is Alyeska, with the tram running up the slope on the left kind of where the trees are, and with skiers going as high as the peaks (heli-skiing).  The lift goes almost to the top of the ridge on the left, before it turn and goes right.

Anyways, it was fun few days of exploring, with a bit more flexibility with just two of us.  It was a great scouting trip as we were checking out the quality and access of trails for our biking trip that was only one week away!

Karen Hornaday Park-HoPP Playground Build

One of the things that continually impresses me about Homer is the number of talented people and the generosity with which they share those talents.  Those things came through so clearly in the past year as the Homer Playground Project (HoPP) grew from an idea into a finished product, fueled by so many dedicated folks.

Our kids are past playground age, so when we heard about the HoPP request for kids' input for a new playground, we didn't make it a priority to get there.  In some places I would expect to hear about such input, but the idea might just fizzle and die or take years to come to fruition.  I couldn't say exactly, but it doesn't seem like they've been working on this project for more than a year.  The organization needed to raise over $200,000, a goal which they ended up exceeding by quite a bit. They sold engraved fencing ($50/slat), wrote grants and fundraised to make it all happen.

This week was "Build Week".  From Sunday last week through Sunday (today), hundreds of community members volunteered thousands of combined hours.  Shifts ran from 8-12:30 and 12:30-5 each day, with food and drinks galore provided for those who showed up, as well as entering volunteers into drawings for each shift they worked for a chance to win massages, meals and other cool things.

Many tents were erected for food, tools, saws, and more

The day before the build began, Troop 555 Boys Scouts erected a 1000 foot orange fence marking the construction zone.  No kids under the age of 14 would be allowed in the construction zone.  However, there were still activities youth could do, and some teachers brought their classes to the HoPP build site for their end-of-the-schoolyear field trip (Wednesday was the last day of school).  Tasks for the kids included soaping bolts to make them go in easier.  When adults volunteered they were separated into skilled or unskilled:  if you could cut a straight line with a Skil saw you were considered skilled.  Unskilled adults were put to work digging, raking, painting and whatever else needed doing.

When I arrived on the site to volunteer today I signed a waiver, got a duct tape name badge, got a safety orientation, was given gloves and led to the site by a safety personnel who would hand us off to one of the foremen who were assigning tasks.  I ended up helping 2 other folks dig the holes for a bench.  It was a messy affair but it did eventually get done!

An 'artsy' touch

When Douglas arrived at the build site at 10:30 this morning he thought to himself, "There is no way they're going to have this done by 5:30 for the grand opening!"  But he left at 2 and we came back at 6 for the food, music and grand opening, and it was indeed mostly done!  There was a bit more gravel to put down for the walkway around the structure and painting, but overall, it was done, from the slide, the water sluice, swings and the main structure.  Amazing!

For me the funniest part of this playground is how 'artsy' it is.  There are so many stylish additions, courtesy of our very talented, artistic Homerites (oops, I guess we're called Homeroids now!).  The biggest bummer is that my kids are past playground age, but this is an awesome addition to our community and something it has sorely needed so I am so glad it happened and I got to be a small part of the process.

And if you want to know more about it, check out the HoPP website at http://www.homerplaygroundproject.org/.

Oiler Field-Kenai

Wasilla vs. Kenai on Oiler Field in Kenai

Baseball is not one of my favorite sports, but I certainly felt immersed in it the past few days.  Douglas was on the Board of Control for baseball regionals this year, meaning that if there were any disputes, he and the other BOC members would make the ruling.  Thus, he had to stay close to the fields Thursday, Friday and Saturday as the eight teams in the region sought the title.  Part of the reason Kenai was able to host the regional games is because they have a semi-pro baseball league and field, the Kenai Oilers.  The field is just down the road past Kenai Middle School, and I'd walked by it before as I checked out  the disc golf course trails adjacent the stadium.

The parking lot is gravel, the concession stands and ticket booth typically old, worn wooden buildings, and the box seats in the stadium were comfortable, though worn.    I'm always a little startled when I come across places like Oiler Field--they are so out of my normal activities, yet they are one more thing that add to the quality of life/entertainment for people living in the area.  It also made me a little sad going to these games because there were so few spectators.  Even the boroughs track meet a few weeks back got more spectators than a regional baseball game.

The Oiler Field Stadium in Kenai

While I'm not a baseball fan, I can still appreciate the athleticism of these boys, as some of the games we watched were exciting, including a 3-hour nailbiter of Homer vs. Houston (Alaska).  I wanted to blog about this because it is yet another cog in life in Alaska.

Sweeping Parking Lots

Finding good fundraisers for sports teams and other groups is a huge deal in Homer.  The high school teams must raise $100,000 a year in travel expenses, on top of regular fees and out-of-pocket expenses from families.

Here's how parking lot sweeping works:  The coach or parents contact businesses around town that might need their parking lots swept of the sand and gravel that's been layered on all winter.  Generally if a group does it, they get dibs on it each year unless they give it up.  The kids and their parents show up at the assigned parking lot at the agreed-upon time with brooms, wheelbarrows, shovels and masks.  They sweep the sand into piles, it is shoveled into barrows and dumped, usually off to the side of the lot, though not in ditches.  For their work, they get $150-200 or more for the lot, depending on the size of the lot and the generosity of the business.

This year it seemed there was a lot of toe stepping as certain coaches tried to get parking lots away from teams that had always done certain lots.  The track team got a couple parking lots and swept them today (hard, dirty work!).  Ironically, another group was sweeping a parking lot right next to ours.  And as we swept a lady drove up and said she knew of a business owner who needed their lot swept and would we be willing to do it?  (We said maybe!)

We had a good hardworking group of kids and parents there today.  We are earning money for a running camp in Oregon this summer.  After 2 hours of work each family will get about $50 towards their camp, which isn't too bad as far as fundraisers go.  This isn't my favorite fundraiser, but on the other hand, it is less torturous than others, and I think it is a good thing to work with our kids to help them earn money for things they need, like a pricey camp.

Sweep on!