Summer Plans

I always do this to myself - I get so busy and keep adding things to my calendar. But, these are the things that make me happy. So what if I don't really have time to sleep or hang out at my house? That's what winter is for! Here are my summer plans so far.

In addition to the usual home projects and gardening:

May 7: Pink Cheeks Triathlon in Seward. This will be my first ever triathlon, and I think it'll be really fun. Seems to be geared towards swimmers. I think it's the ONLY triathlon I've ever seen that's geared towards swimmers. Too bad I haven't been swimming in, oh, 10 years. Luckily, it's pretty short: 900 yard swim, 10K bike, 5K run.

May 14-21: Visit Julia in Boston. We'll hike and camp and raft. And cheer the Cubs to victory over the Red Sox. Go Cubbies!

May 24: Turnagain Trail Run. This is an 8 mile trail above the Seward Highway. I've run this trail before with friends and had a great time. This time around I'll be racing nordic skiers, who happen to be fantastic runners, and will be happy if I don't come in dead last. Seriously.

May 28-June something: Taking the ferry to Valdez, and I'm paddling all the way back to Whittier. It's 115 miles as the crow flies...I have no idea what that means for a kayaker, who will obviously NOT be going as a crow would go. This will be my longest and most demanding kayak trip yet, and I'm really excited about it!

June 9: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros will be in town, and I'll be watching them. Yippee! (If I'm not at the concert, please someone, send a search party because I'm stuck somewhere between Valdez and Whittier and really, really want to be at the concert.)

June 18: Seldovia Music Festival. While not an athletic endeavor, maybe I'll get to hike a bit more this year. Last year the weather kept us indoors most of the time, except for an excursion to the amazing tidal pools. (Besides, Julia will be doing a 1/2 Ironman, and since we share a brain, it's like I'm doing one too. Right.)

June 24-July 5: Hawaii bound!! I'll be kayaking and hiking the Na Pali coast (see the below post) and otherwise exploring Kauai. REALLY excited for this trip! And the best part? Jedd is going, yay!!!

July 16: Hammerman Triathlon. This is an "off trail" triathlon: 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile mountain bike, and 4 mile trail run. I hear it's hard. I believe it. The mountain biking is pretty technical...gonna have to work on that. I haven't signed up for this one yet...I'm going to see how I like the Pink Cheeks Triathlon first.

August 27: Lost Lake Trail Run. This is a 16 mile trail run along a stunningly beautiful trail that I have hiked and skied several times. I'm campaigning to get others to sign up for this one. It's sure to be a good time! Want to join?

Sept 9-18: Backpacking Yosemite with Julia. Hopefully the thin air won't kick my ass too much after all the training I'll be doing for my summer adventures!

Better go run! I have a lot to get ready for!

Legislative Woes

I've been busy working. Really busy. The legislative session was supposed to end on Sunday, but nope, now they're in special session. As a result, I haven't had much in the way of adventures lately. Unless you count going to the greenhouse on a Sunday hoping to do some gardening and instead having to drop everything to run back into the office to do another memo as an adventure...and I don't. Though I did bill a 15 hour day. While still not an adventure, it did set a new record. If I was still working in the private sector I would've celebrated the fact that I'd just earned myself a vacation day. But I don't get compensated for the extra 7 hours in the public sector. So I wasn't exactly celebrating. That said, if the coastal management bill passes, I WILL celebrate. It would be no small miracle, and wow, so much work has gone into it. I digress.

Down in Homer people are still having adventures without yours truly. I really miss Jedd - he's been back in Homer for the last several weekends (with one quick surprise trip to Anchorage early last week - yee haw!), but is going to be back up in my neck of the woods tonight. Yippee! But in his absence, our friend Mark likes taking pics and sending them to me. Isn't Jedd (Mr. Plaid) handsome?? Yes, yes he is. (That's Hanna and Brandon in the front - they're building a cabin this summer together - how fun is that?!) You can click the pic to enlarge.

You'll note that my baby is drinking quality Alaskan beer. Not that I have anything against Ranier. Just sayin'.