Although it feels like a theme park vacation to Jill and I, the Anvik River Lodge is no theme park. It is the real deal. If you want to stay warm, you chop wood. If you want electricity, you rely on solar power from the sun or haul diesel fuel upriver for the generator. Every building has a shotgun on the wall. No one wants to be cut off from the main building by a bear. We saw plenty of bear ... none close enough for a good iPod picture (thank goodness). Any food that doesn't come out of the river or out of the ground must be transported up river by boat; even people in the village 70 miles away depend upon airplanes to bring in groceries. The five days we spent at the lodge were restocking days. There were no customer-guests, only the Hickson family, the guides who work the lodge, and their friends and family were on the grounds; 16 people. By the time new guests were to arrive we restocked firewood, baked bread, cleaned the green house, replenished fuel, sewed uphostlery, cleaned boats, and got the lodge looking like the theme park that it isn't ... it is not a theme park, it is the REAL DEAL.

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6 Comments on Instagram:

royalld: #anvik #alaska

pussindocs: Awesome 

hypekeez: Wow! 

over_50: Amazing!

cherrylicioust: This sounds so awesome and the lodge is so beautiful. I would have love to have been there ti help clean. That alone sounds like fun. 

royalld: @jcjesse #jcjesse_summerdaze

•Travel with Me• #gladsheimscarousel #portal #BryantPark #Carousel #manhattan #midtown #iamakittehcouch #park #parkride #jj #NYC #street #streetphotography #horse #IG #igersnyc #Instagram #photooftheday #instahub #instamood #iphoneography

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22 Comments on Instagram:

k8karsten: Beautiful and great edit

minkxxx: Yeah yeah. No pressure - really. Just want more…………x

iamakittehcouch: @maclobster now I feel this compulsion to go baaack, touch the frooooog. 

alexabercrombie: This is amazing

urbaneyestudio: Dreamy!

iamakittehcouch: @maclobster lmao! I'm sneaking a peek from work and just saw your last comment. 

iamakittehcouch: @jcjesse #jcjesse_summerdaze

bindyboo: Amazing