After putting out some feelers around Dawon City, YTC., someone found the home my Dad built and I grew up in. I traveled the Alcan (Alaska Hwy.) 16 times in it as a child. It was the only real childhood home I ever knew.
"Big Sandy" was our first goldmines on Bonaza Creek, named after my Mom.
My Dad's stainless-steel stacks:
Used to be a big square fueltank back here:
My Dad's hand-painted "Mr. Natural":
Wooden door added after it no longer was driven much:
Brown dash carpeting removed:
Renovated several times, but mostly still my Dad's layout:
If I had a buttload of money, I would scoop it up and restore it, mostly just to see if I could capture a split-second of that feeling of being a child on the greatest adventure of his life.
[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 05-30-2010).]
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09:02 PM
PFF
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williegoat Member
Posts: 19619 From: Glendale, AZ Registered: Mar 2009
If I had a buttload of money, I would scoop it up and restore it, mostly just to see if I could capture a split-second of that feeling of being a child on the greatest adventure of his life.
You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time — back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.
Savor the memories, Boonie. It's the best that you or I or any of us can do.
If life were like a movie, you would buy it, restore it, make a video collage of the wife and kids painting, hammering and hanging curtains while you turn wrenches; and then embark on your trip to the lower 48 with the Grateful Dead playing in the background.
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10:06 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
WOW!! I envy you your childhood Boonie!! (I KNOW you probably can't think why But NOW I also understand where the thinking behind your 'barrel raft' of a few years back came from You know what?? SERIOUSLY...you should write a book of your early life...even though we are broke, I would scrape up $25 to read it...and you have the photos to go with it I could see a 'Disney' Blockbuster, and a follow-up too!! By the way...when are you finally setting out on your new Saga? God Bless Nick
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11:30 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
I didn't edit mine fast enough....didn't want to seem negative to your good memories.....sorry about that.
What do you mean it killed many young friendships?
No offense taken.
In those years, the longest friendship I ever had was a few hours every evening, at a campground. Then we were on the road again. Then for 6 months at the gold mine, only family & woods.
As I have said before, I absolutly have no concept, to this day, of what a friend is. And I am able to drop any relationship on a dime, with no negative feelings what-so-ever. Although that sounds solidly functioning and of little concern, it is filled with a certain hollowness that drains a lot of the color from personal relationships.
[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 05-30-2010).]
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11:37 PM
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Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
WOW!! I envy you your childhood Boonie!! (I KNOW you probably can't think why But NOW I also understand where the thinking behind your 'barrel raft' of a few years back came from. Nick
You know, I still want to do that.
quote
Originally posted by fierofetish: You know what?? SERIOUSLY...you should write a book of your early life...even though we are broke, I would scrape up $25 to read it...and you have the photos to go with it I could see a 'Disney' Blockbuster, and a follow-up too!!Nick
It has probibly been done to death, in one form or another.
quote
Originally posted by fierofetish: By the way...when are you finally setting out on your new Saga? God Bless Nick
30 days. I have sold almost everything I own. My scooters, my truck, everything but my electronics. 4 computers packed, 2 left to pack.
P.S. When my bowling alley went up on auction, they sold the whole 34 lane house, the machines, the lanes, the scoring, the ballreturns, the monitors, everything but the building, went for $15,000 dollars. That's right, someone bought a whole bowling alley for $15,000 dollars! Rent a building, install the gear, and it pays for itself in ONE WEEK! When the lanes were installed, they paid $100,000 for each machine & lane.
The new owner only wanted the property.
[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 05-30-2010).]
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11:54 PM
May 31st, 2010
faaaaq Member
Posts: 3856 From: Madison WI, USA Registered: Sep 2009
In those years, the longest friendship I ever had was a few hours every evening, at a campground. Then we were on the road again. Then for 6 months at the gold mine, only family & woods.
And I am able to drop any relationship on a dime, with no negative feelings what-so-ever. Although that sounds solidly functioning and of little concern, it is filled with a certain hollowness that drains a lot of the color from personal relationships.
i feel somewhat similar, from my days as a carny. not nearly to the extent as you, but still similar. i had zero friends for much of my childhood due to never staying in one place very long. i was so young, but all of my "friends" were adults over 30 or 40. and even when i WASNT a carny, we moved so often when i DID make friendships, they never lasted more than a year at the most. i know what a friend is, and i value them, but it wasnt until very recently that i have had an issue with losing a friend, even a best friend. ive grown to develop real connections with people
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12:50 AM
htexans1 Member
Posts: 9114 From: Clear Lake City/Houston TX Registered: Sep 2001
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But NOW I also understand where the thinking behind your 'barrel raft' of a few years back came from 
I could see a 'Disney' Blockbuster, and a follow-up too!!
