Our Back Yard

We live in a place full of change. One day sunny and bright, the next freezing temps and copious amounts of precipitation, and that's just August.

But she is a glorious place with big lakes, big game, and even bigger open country. A place where there's a chance you are standing on a patch of ground never stepped on before by ten toed feet. A place that makes you feel small and insignificant, yet powerful and special all at the same time. A place worth calling home or a place worth calling the greatest adventure of your life.

Whatever your position, check out the 7 Reasons to Visit Lake Clark National Park (generallodge.com/7-reasons-visit-lake-clark-national-park/) and be reminded of why you live here, or be inspired to live a little more.

 (Thanks, Peter Goodwin!)

New Staff!

Like the winds that lift our shinny planes high up into the air to carry us to far off wonders or cozy home fires, time is ever changing things and Lake and Pen Air is no exception. Over the last five years we have seen tremendous change. Yet you, our faithful customer, friend, neighbor, have stuck with us. For that we you thank you and wish to inform you of new changes.

As most of you likely know we lost Laura to the Hawaii sun and beaches in June, but she is back, in a way, as the new LPA Director of Marketing. It will be exciting to see what she comes up with for us.

We also have amazing Lisa, our new accountant, who has been with us for over six months now! The billing office moved from Port Alsworth to Anchorage, and she is the go to girl for all your financial questions big and small. This is a shift from always being able to have all your questions answered in the Port Alsworth office but we hope this change will be a great improvement in our service to you.

Another new face, although really not brand new, is Jen. She has been in the Port Alsworth office doing dispatching and flight bookings. Now you will get to actually see her face in Anchorage as she continues dispatching and flight booking there and in general making life better for all of us!












And in the air you may get a chance, if you haven't already, to fly with CJ, another Port Alsworth based pilot, who is always in a great mood it seems! Any day flying with CJ is a good day, that's what Lyle says.

If you are prone to love consistency and shun change: worry not. There are still a lot of familiar faces around LPA, eager to help when they can.  

                                                       

   LPA

       Unlocking Alaska!

Look out folks, here it comes!!!

So with the family grow'in we decided to start making plans for the "addition". You have a few options when the kiddos come along: build an addition, move to a bigger house, or just stick'em in the closet. We chose the latter option but we are guessing that will only last a few years as we only have so many shelves in the closet and literally they can outgrow the closet, we've been told. This has not happened yet but the little squirt is growing pretty fast. So the end result is new digs for the little Wilders.

We are planning a hangar to put a plane in and on top of that will be our house. Off to the side we are planning a little LPA waiting area so folks can have a nice warm place to hang out in Port A. 

We dug in our heals and here we go! A huge 'thank you' to Edvin Trefon for clearing the land and doing a lot of the dirt work getting it ready! The land is now almost level and we are wanting to pour cement in the spring! We'll keep you updated on the progress!!

 

Little known factoid about my boy, ya, no, he doesn't suck his thumb like most kids, he sucks his pinky : )  Ya that's my boy, not conforming to the norm, attaboy Bones!!

5th Sourdough Fly-In

People came to the BBQ ready to eat this year! We ran out of food - twice. No worries though, the BBQ'ers just rummaged through the Wilders freezers for extras and no one walked away hangry.  

It was another great year folks! Over 300 people stopped by. Were you one of them?

Sun. Food. Lyle. That's all we needed, plus a few airplanes. And we got it all! 

Thank you Last-Minute-Helpers, Edvin, Jon, and Tim!!

The day started with a 5-K race that took runners on a footed tour around Port Alsworth and over it's varied terrain. There was dancing to the Coyote Creek Band. And Bones Wilder's grand debut...Then it was off to the runway where a cheering crowd congratulated the expert pilots on their landings, takeoffs, and water-balloon dropping accuracy. Here's Lyle in his super-cub....

The next morning the community enjoyed a sourdough pancake breakfast feed before filling Lake & Pen Air's hanger for the film festival! And there was even refreshments!

Join us next year for more fun over Memorial Day weekend...

Passenger of the Day

Meet Steve Hobson! He's such a loyal friend and passenger of Lake & Pen Air that he went out and had a personalized hat made.

Feel free to do the same, or stop by one of our offices (Port Alsworth and Anchorage) to pick up one we've made for you.

2nd Annual SAD (Ski Alyeska Day)

We were having way too much fun to remember to get a group shot, but here's a few photos from the day. If you want to work with fun people and have the best bosses ever consider joining the LPA Team.

When I see these two photos of Brian 'riding the rails' I think of the song that says "I get knocked down, but I get up again. Ain't nothin' gonna keep me down!" He is all smiles and laughs!

Noah & Warren joined us this year and got their first snowboarding lessons. Once Noah's lesson was over he turned his snowboard into a sled! Warren just loved being carried down the mountain with his snowboard on by Sara! Kids these days!!

It was an amazing day to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain and enjoy the spectacular views!

After a yummy lunch of burgers and pretzel sticks, spirited games of pool and foos-ball ensued.

Then it was time for the adrenaline junkies of the LPA team to engage in a few major races down the mountain - where the finish line was kissing baby Bones on his super soft cheek.

A sure fire way to wake a sleeping baby!

Here's few of our bundled up team members just outside the Sitz Lodge. On the front deck there is a fire-pit and tables where we saw shirtless men were trying to cool off from their fun on the slopes.

Now that's the sign of a great day!

Thank you Dave & Jacque for all the fun things you do for your LPA team! You make work fun!

What one LPA pilot does when he's not in Alaska

So what does an LPA pilot do when he's not here in Alaska skimming the mountain tops and exploring steaming volcanoes in Lake Clark National Park?

Well this year took us south of the border where we decided to try and replenish our vitamin D supplies.

Many moons ago I set one of my life goals, a bucket list of sorts, to sail to Australia.

In order to sail to Australia one would think it prudent to learn to run one of those triangle flappy things that run up the mast on a boat, so that is what we endeavored to do.

A week of sailing lessons living aboard with our instructor,
then a week of practicing our skill alone on the high seas!

There are other things that we do during the long winters as well. For me it's: do a huge house project and try really hard and fail to complete it before the bulge in my tiny wife's tummy explodes.

There are some things that really don't prepare a guy for bringing these kind of things home! Wow!

My wife is a classic over achiever! Most ladies hold their children in their bellies for 40 weeks, well my sweet little lady held it in for 42 : ) The prize at the end of that journey was certianly worth every moment of it, though the last couple days are filled with crazy memories!

Thank you Lord for the complete and utter miracle of birth!

I would like to introduce to you the newest addition to the Wilder clan...

Eli David Bones Wilder

He's known as Bones in these parts.