Hey Grandma, I responded in your other thread where you detailed what you've done already but saying hi because I've actually been to Big Lake!
I grew up in Alaska, from ages 10 in 1970 (so I'm considered pre-pipeline even if we came up military) until I moved out in 1983 when I was 23, down here to the Seattle regions which I regard as the tropics -- it's green all year. I was mostly in the Anchorage area but went to college in Fairbanks (it was the only place with dorms back then), and my best friend and her husband lived in the Kenai/Soldotna area for many years but have since moved back to Anchorage. I still go up to visit from time to time, last time as about 2 years ago, a friend of mine and I went up and stayed with my friends, we went to the Alaska State Fair and then a cruise down southeast, where I hadn't been in decades/before the cruise ships.