"Can't Run, Never Will"

Cordova is celebrating their annual Ice Worm Festival this week. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, which is the highlight for this year's celebration. The railway was impressively built from Cordova to Kennicott from 1907-1911 with the purpose to transport copper. Critics said the railway couldn't be built, and the nickname "Can't Run and Never Will" was adopted by the railway. The railway was in use until 1938 and it, along with the bridges and land around the tracks, was then turned over to the US government by the Kennecott Corporation to be used as a highway route. After the earthquake in 1964 damaged the Million Dollar Bridge, road construction was blocked beyond the bridge.

I'm amazed that 100 years ago the task at completing a nearly 200 mile route was accomplished, especially considering the elements and the landscape. The people constructing it were faced with glaciers, canyons, rivers, hurricane-force winds and those pesky mosquitoes we love so much here. Soon after the completion of the Million Dollar Bridge, the 2 glaciers nearby quickly started to advance towards the bridge. At one point a northern lobe of Childs Glacier began advancing about 8 feet a day and ultimately came within nearly 1400 feet of the bridge.

I enjoyed doing a little research and learning more about the history behind the railway. I guess the boys' love of trains has rubbed off on me a little. I entered the cake bake contest again this year, and used some of the history I learned as inspiration for decorating a cake.

Darius was kind enough to drop off the cake at the library for me before heading to work since our car is on strike. We had beautiful weather all day, so the boys and I took a walk up to the library for a taste of cake after judging. My little snails took a little too much time on the way, and unfortunately we missed out on all the cake. I was a little disappointed, not for missing cake, but for missing out on seeing all the other decorated cakes. I collected what was left on my tray and my awards for Most Theme Oriented Cake and Overall Best of Show! The fondant ice worm worked well as bait for getting the boys home again.

Iceworm Fireworks

After it snowed hard here all day, the weather finally cleared and it was a beautiful night for fireworks. Cordova went all out for the big 50 Iceworm Celebration. It was quite a show! I wasn't sure what to expect, but my parents tell me that it's the best they've seen since living here.

My camera has a setting for fireworks, but the shots came out kind of strange...

Best of Show

Cordova's 50th Annual Iceworm Festival started this week and there's a little something going on for everyone. I found my something in the form of the Iceworm Cake Bake. I had a great idea for a cake and I knew if I could pull it off that I stood a good chance to win the contest.

You could say I have a slight weak spot for doughnuts. I seldom eat them because I can never stop at just one. Anyway, that's what gave me the idea for a cake. I wanted to form a worm out of mini doughnuts and dress it up to resemble the Iceworm Festival's mascot using fondant. I have never made or worked with fondant before, but I love how it looks on cakes. I found a well-rated fondant recipe on a favorite website of mine (Allrecipes) and decided to give it a try. It came out pretty good for my first attempt. It's kind of like stiff play dough and it's a lot of fun to work with. I'm definitely hooked on the stuff now!

The cake turned out pretty close to what I had imagined and I entered it today in the Cake Bake. I'll be honest, I was hoping for a cool prize but I was still happy to come home with blue ribbons for the Most Theme Oriented Cake, Most Icewormie Cake and a white ribbon for Overall Best of Show.

I don't take a lot of personal time for hobbies, so this was a fun break from the norm for me. Plus it was nice to be able to participate in the festivities.