Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!! My fingers have thawed out just enough to type this post - it's been COLD here lately. It was -18 when I left my house this morning, and now it's warmed up to a balmy -16. I can't wait until we get to the positive digits again - it'll feel tropical!!

Here's a quick recap of the rest of my 2008:
I went up to Fairbanks with Mike for Thanksgiving, and it was a blast. I met many of Mike's friends, and there are some characters up there! Fairbanks folks live a little differently than the rest of the world. Running water is a luxury, everyone owns at least 2 dogs, and people think -10 degrees is warm. Freaks. Except for the dog part - that's pretty cool. We pulled up to a house for one of many parties, and 18 dogs greeted my car. Wrigley was in heaven. We took a few outings on skis, a trip to Chena, and I got to mush (think Iditarod) at my friend Tom's house. I've graduated from riding in the sled (two years ago) to riding a tandem sled (last year) to driving my own 4 dog team! I only fell once, though it was in the first 10 feet of my "driving" - I didn't realize how fast those dogs would take off. Like bats out of hell, I tell ya. I managed to hold on for dear life the rest of the way. We went over to a friend's of Mike's for Thanksgiving, and holy cow, that was great. We got to feed sheep and hang out with two of the world's largest dogs. Check out the noggin that on that guy! It's pretty unbelievable.

I flew back to Illinois for Christmas and spent about a week in Springfield and Chicago. Much of my time in Springfield was spent catching up with folks I haven' t seen in way too long, and also tagging along to my sister's wedding planning appointments. If I ever get married, I'm either eloping, or Loren is planning my wedding. I can't believe the number of decisions that have to be made! By the way, the weather back in Illinois was much worse than in Anchorage - it rained and froze, and ice was everywhere. Thank goodness I had my handy ice grippers along! Oh, and I scored a food dehydrator for Christmas...first up, beef jerky!!

Right before the new year I got to go flying again with my buddy. He's about to sell his plane (sniffle, sniffle), so it was great to get out and enjoy it again. We flew up on a bluebird day and headed towards Denali. Fan-fricking-tastic!!
I've been getting out and skiing a fair bit, though most of it has been on classic or skate skis. I've not spent nearly enough time on tele skis, which is heart breaking. Actually, I've only tele skied TWO times this winter. That's pathetic! What to do?? How about make a New Year's resolution to tele ski MUCH more?! Done!

First Descents

I hit the back country last Sunday for my first turns of the winter. I hit up Hatcher Pass with a few friends. We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day - bluebird and no wind (rare for HP). My friend Misty and I are newbie tele skiers, and are especially "challenged" in the back country. We ate a LOT of snow on the way down! But that's all part of the learning curve, and part of the fun. We soaked up some sun (I got a sunburn! I didn't get one of those all summer!), managed a few good turns, and had a great time out there. I'm ready for more! Our lines:

Fall Colors, Round 2

I went to Chicago and Wisconsin last week to visit family and friends, and to experience fall one more time. My grandparents have 160 acres in (very) northern Wisconsin - there are 5 cabins, a spring-fed freezing cold lake, and trees galore. I.e., they own a little piece of Heaven. I always like to go for runs while I'm there, and this trip was no exception. As I started one of my runs I thought to myself, "Gee, this is pretty awesome, I don't have to worry about bears or moose." There are black bears there, but in my 30 years of visiting, I've never seen one. Within 15 minutes I'd flushed 7 grouse, 2 deer, and almost splattered my foot in bear scat. Ummm....

I spent a fair bit of time snapping some photos. Here are a few to tickle your fancy.

Mom and Nonie

Cool Running

October 5, 2008, and this is what my trail run looked like:

(Don't worry, this is not actually what I look like running - this was just for the pic.)

Unbelievable! Mike, Wrigley and I jogged around in 4-5 inches of sweet pow pow up on Anchorage's hillside. It was nothing short of awesome. I cannot wait until I can replace my running shoes with skis, and my jogging strides with tele turns. Bring it!

Here's a shot of the fall leaves covered in a dusting of snow. It was cool to see fall and winter happen all at once.

Fall Hikin' and Yakin'

The fall colors are out. Here's a shot of the Summit Trail on the Kenai Peninsula. Mike and I hiked up one of the side ridges and it was snowing on us!
That was last weekend. This weekend we saw termination dust from our kayaks! Here is Mike in his Feathercraft (i.e. supercool) kayak.

And the view from my kayak.