Sunday 21 July
We got up and went into Fred Myer to get some supplies to take to lunch. We went to Harvest Church where Tom and Suzie Brock visit. The message was great and talked about how just as we all have unique fingerprints, nobody has the same voice as you – it was really interesting.
We then drove to have lunch with Darrell and Deb Bourne. Darrell’s son Jason did two YWAM’s (Youth with a Mission that Danika is doing in Mexico) in NZ and on his second one, stayed at the Baptist Tab Hostel and the managers were Faye and John Ainsley. Kayla was also on a YWAM and staying at the hostel and they came up to Mangawhai and spent the evening with us. We got on really well with him and talked a lot about Alaska. He played the piano while Kayla and I had a spa. He died in 2014, and at the time I messaged his Dad Darrell and said that when we got back to Alaska we would come and visit him. Darrell is a builder and has built the most gorgeous home – an awesome mix of rustic and contemporary. We really loved getting to know Darrell, his wife Deb and their dog, Bonsai, and really connected with them and as hard as it was, talking about Jason who was an amazing young man who gave to so many. We hope to see them again before we leave the Fairbanks area but also hope to see them in NZ as they would love to come and meet more people who knew Jason and see one of the places Jason loved.
We then went to the visitor’s centre in Fairbanks which was awesome and they had a lovely man called Bob who was so helpful and recommended things to do. We wanted to find the campground that we stayed in, in 1996 and caught Salmon and fed the people around us so stayed at Riverview RV Park hoping it was it, but we enjoyed the showers and had our staple of chicken and salad on croissants for dinner.
