Fairbanks or Bust

My friend Jenn and I took an excursion up to Fairbanks a few weekends ago (we had a three day weekend thanks to Seward's Day, neener neener). The 6+ hour drive up there was enough to make the trip worthwhile - check out the scenery!! There are caribou in the foreground of the mountains!! I was in the car on the side of the highway when I snapped that photo. Crazy, eh? But once we got to Fairbanks the real adventures began. We kicked off the first night at Chena Hot Springs. Can't say it was the best experience, though it's been my only hot spring experience. Imagine a REALLY hot pool, solitude under the steam...and then add about 30 drunk teenagers yelling profanities. Ugh! I'd been hoping to see the aurora while in the hot springs, but by the time the Spring Break MTV-style party made it to the pool I was hoping that the aurora would save their show for another time since I kinda wanted to enjoy the experience. Punk teenagers. Anyway, when we got back to my buddy's cabin, we were standing outside (in -20 degrees!!) brushing our teeth (Tom doesn't have plumbing, which turned out to be a blessing) when I heard Tom yell, "Hey! The northern lights are out!" I'd been dreaming of this moment! I look up and see a light green streak running all the way across the sky (which is BIG in Fbanks b/c there aren't mountains nearby). Then it starts to grow, pulsate, swirl, drop like rain, and break into separate bands all doing their own dance. Then parts turn yellow, pink, purple. It was like watching music. So we stood with our eyes looking up and our mouths hanging down for about 15 minutes. Then the show ended we gave it a standing ovation and hit the sack. What a way to end our first day in Fairbanks!

Then the next day Jenn and I visited some friends who have a recreational dog team. Dog mushing is incredibly popular in Fbanks - there are trails and dogs everywhere. Jenn and I were each personally chauffeured by 10 huskies around the trail system and under the pipeline! This was our view for the ride. After a few beers (like we did ANY work warranting a beer) we bid farewell to our new furry friends (not you guys, Carrie and Duff) and visited the World Championship Ice Carving contest. I'll have to post some pics of some of those sculptures - they were really amazing. Unfortunately, more punk teenagers - they seem to run rampant in Fbanks - ran around destroying about 20% of the sculptures, including totally destroying the best one there. By the way, if you ever make it up to Fbanks for the ice sculptures, you MUST find the ice slides. We must have spent upwards of an hour in -25 degrees playing on those things. They don't look very fast, but don't be fooled. I don't do well in that kind of cold, so you know those slides were ridiculously fun because I never once noticed the cold! Thanks Tom, Carrie, Duff, and all the doggies - we had fun!

Aloha!

Poor me. I just returned from a trip to Hawaii (Maui and Oahu). It was 90+ degrees warmer there. Em, Brandon, Krista, and Duncan: THANK YOU for showing me your homes!! I'll be back next winter...what are you doing in January? :) Here are my top ten must-do's in Hawaii:


10. Swim in waterfalls. Jump into their pools even when you're afraid of heights. And then get yourself stuck on the other side of a rising river that you must cross to catch your plane. (Just wait a while and it'll return to a flow that you can safely cross.)

9. Visit the lavender garden on Maui - try the scones and tea while overlooking the sweeping views of the West Maui mountains and ocean.

8. Go on a whale watching boat and get soaked by a huge rogue wave (this would be no. 1 if the wave had been from a whale breach).

7. Go for a run along the beach, get lost, and then stumble across a mansion being renovated by Tiger Woods.

6. Try the "Black Hole Lager" at Brew Moon in Honolulu. (Note: Do NOT try the Kona Porter, unless you like porter in your coffee.)

5. See tons of fish, sea turtles, and almost get your finger bitten off by a moray eel.

4. Call your buddy in Juneau from the beach in Honolulu and let him know it's 85, sunny, and the palm trees are swaying in the light ocean breeze.

3. Visit Maui's tallest peak. Though it looks like it's a measly 4,000 feet, the volcano is 10,023 feet! The cool air up there feels good on sunburns.

2. Watch humpbacks launch themselves clear out of the water...from your kayak.

1. Dive down about 10 feet while snorkeling during winter months and listen to male humpbacks sing.

Symphony Lake Slide

A group of us went for a ski yesterday, and with all that blue sky, who could blame us? It's been warm up here lately (in the 40s last week), and then it chilled a bit to just under freezing. This means that the snowpack is essentially icy white asphalt. Not exactly prime conditions for skiing. You can see in the pic to the right how tough that snow was - you can't even see any marks from our skis!

See the steep sloped mountain way up on the left of this photo? If you're me, you'll let your friends talk you into switchbacking up that sucker despite the pesky voice of reason screaming "DON'T DO IT! ARE YOU NUTS?" into your head. And even when you express your concerns to your friends, you still manage to be talked into risking life and limb just to experience a few extra minutes of sunshine up high as the shadows descend on the safety of the valley below. And then you'll lose your footing...once, twice, and then a third time, and that third time will be a doozy. You'll rocket feet first towards a clump of trees while thinking, "This is going to suck." But then you'll hit those trees, somehow manage to be shot out of them, only this time you're plummeting down the ice head first into another clump of trees, and your thoughts are much more serious. You'll miraculously manage to stop the fall and only end up with some jammed fingers (which hurt when you type). You'll have a friend also loose her footing, and end up dislocating her elbow during her plummet to the bottom. Moral of the story: NEVER let your friends talk you into skiing on ice on such a steep slope. Tell them they're nuts if they insist on it. Don't give in. Your fingers and your friend's elbow will thank you.

My House the Meese Magnet

Just this weekend I spotted meese no. 9 of the year (officially the 100th moose I've ever seen) right outside my house! This pic was taken from my front deck. This guy was clearly thinking, "Please lady, help a moose out. You got anything to eat other than frozen bark?"

And just minutes ago, I let Wrigley out for his nightly bathroom break, and what did I see? Moose tracks headed to my backyard! I have a sorry excuse for a tree back there, and it's actually looking more sorry than usual now that it's surrounded by several feet of snow - looks more like a bush. It appears as though one small moose and one large moose made their way back to pay tribute to my little lilac tree/bush. I'm just glad they didn't leave any part of earlier eaten trees behind since Wrigley treats moose pellets like little energy bars. He goes nuts for 'em.

Wolter Glacier

Alaska is known for its glaciers, many of which have been named, explored, documented, etc. Although it is exceedingly difficult to venture out and discover an unnamed glacier and fully explore it, I have done just that. Tonight I raked my roof...

to find a slowly advancing glacier (those are the rarest types - most are receeding due to global warming) ON MY ROOF! What luck! This is about 12 inches of ice right up against my chimney, plus the top part of some long icicles that I enjoyed destroying. I just hope it doesn't come crashing into my living room. Outdoor glaciers are so much nicer.

Here is what Anchorage roofs (sans glaciers) look like: