Eeeek, last day!

I don't want to leave! As Jen said, we are separate. In the past 3 days, Uncle Rob and I have biked over 50 miles (easy) and today we took our 2nd hike to Hidden Lake. Saw 2 bull moose. I am very sad to leave this state and return to the lower 48. Hopefully we won't get any crazy layovers like we did on the way here. Fingers crossed!
ajf

OUR LAST DAY!!!

wow what a vacation this has been. sorry to any blog readers who feel i have been absent...well i have lol. i've been spending time catching up with family, old friends, and doing wedding events all week. those include a "get together, salvation army and value village shopping to the extreme, an awesome bachelorette party with bullriding and kareoke, decorating for the reception, flower arrangements that i never knew id be decent at, and of course the wedding itself (gorgeous)). im still rushing around like crazy, went to the fair yesterday...so did amanda...we were separate lol. gtg - eating dinner with lots of cute eskimos  - so happy!!!! love jne

TIRED.

Went to a wedding last night up at a ski lodge (the wedding itself was at a church in Eagle River but the reception was in a ski lodge). It was beautiful! We took pictures of the guests dressed up in funny Alaskan gear. So much fun.

We set up our tent in the cold rain and went to sleep in the great outdoors. When we got up in the morning, we were starving, cold and ready to get out of there and head to Middle Way Cafe (yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). However, we had a seriously flat tire. It was crazy. A nice man, Cam, from New Zealand changed the tire for us; his dog, Milo, kept me entertained.

Then Uncle Rob and I hopped on bikes and went for about 18 miles on the coastline. It was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures.

JEN'S BURFDAY!!!!!

Happy 25th birthday to Jen on the 28th!!!!!!!!!

The day of NO bears!

Today Uncle Rob and I biked the Powerline Trail to the Hidden Lake trail and hiked all the way up to Hidden Lake - it was a 4 hour adventure. We saw a bull moose with horns and everything. We figured we might see a bear but did not and I was not disappointed. You have to make noise so you don't startle the animals so we were calling out for Cooper Calvin and whistling "Wagon Wheel" by the Old Crow Medicine Show...Cooper never came to us considering he is on the east coast.

Anyways, here are some pictures!

Hiking up Flattop - pics

Hiking up Flattop

On Wednesday, we hiked up Flattop with Uncle Rob. It was a great hike! After we went to the Alaska club and sat in the steam room. Awesome!!!!! On the way back down, we saw a moose (here is a video).

Glacier Video

So here is a quick video from the boat trip. Fun fact, Alaska has 100,000 glaciers. Here is the link to the tour we took: http://www.majormarine.com/alaska-day-cruises/prince-william-sound-glacier-cruise/)

Whittier Bay & Glaciers (8.24.09)

On Monday, the 24th, we (Uncle Rob, Jen, Me) took the train to Whittier, got on a boat and cruised through the Prince William Sound to get a look at a bunch of glaciers. Our tour guide was from Asheville, NC. He sang just like Willie Nelson and had fun Willie facts such as: WN wrote Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" and "Crazy" even though Patsy did not like Willie. The chef, who made fantastic food, was an unfortunate fan of Dook. What a very small world! Here are some pictures...

And more pictures...

Road tripping to camp out in Knik

More pictures...

MIA!

Due to camping trips, coffee shops, hiking, delicious food, sight seeing and tons of other fun stuff, we have been MIA!

One thing to keep in mind while in Alaska: when hiking with a wilderness firefighter, NEVER ask him to take you "off the beaten path" unless you want a major, major workout - straight up a mountain (Jen was mad when I requested this).

Top of the World

I title this post to be read with a literal as well as a spiritual translation. Here we are at Cafe Amsterdam enjoying the European influenced open-faced dishes and staring at the 83 varieties of tap brews from all over - each one having a different handle representing the style desired by their advertising company. It feels SOOOO refreshing to be home....no where else but "the great one" holds the key to a total body experience you find when smelling the fresh green forest after jumping around avoiding devil's club and climbing up boulders arriving at the top of a desolate spot to see a picturesque breath taker of a view while still exhaling the cool air and feeling the burn in your legs. Once you're there - you don't wanna leave and you regret not bringing up more clothing, lighters for a fire, refreshments and grub. We got to experience the "crab" pose that Amanda knows from frequenting yoga classes - this time the crawl was feet first headed down a rock taller than a 3 story house. I find myself skipping and noticing things like the way the sun hits the leaves on the trees and how the water flowing over the rocks erodes their shiny surface and the crisp feeling of wind upon my back.

I need MORE sleep!

So we have had a collective 9 hours of sleep for the past 3 days. Totally worth it but I am BEAT! My dad called at 6:30 AK time and said "yeah, I did the math but I figured you might be up and running or something." Not so much.

Anyhoo, last night we went to an awesome dinner outside, overlooking a lake where airplanes land and take off with Jen's aunt, uncle and cousin (and their precious pup). We had a great time! Then we went to downtown Anchorage and ran into her cousin's firefighter friends who were celebrating the end of the season. We like to celebrate.

Going back to sleep now!!!!!

a few more pics from day 1

HERE!!!

After a 6-7 hour layover in Minnesota, we finally arrived in Alaska at 12:30 AM (Alaska time). One of Jen's friends (Andrew Peace) surprised us by flying from Fairbanks and was waiting for us upon arrival! We went for a neighborhood walk because we were still wide awake, since we would be getting up for work normally, so FUN.

I heart Alaska! And vacation!!!

Minnesota...

What to do when you end up in a Minnesota airport for an additional 6-7 hours? MOJITOS.That's what!

And we're off!!!!

Sitting in the airport #1 of the trip. 3 more to go. SO SO excited that we woke up an hour early!

manana is coming sooo fast

I was at work today thinking about how I was supposed to finish packing after work and not forget something....and then my charge nurse came up to me and said, "another nurse is calling asking if she can come work because she needs more hours, would you like to be off?" WOULD I LIKE TO BE OFF??? beautiful day!

Jen's day off!

I TOTALLY agree about the excited part that AJF is expressing; however, all of this chaos involved with packing, planning, and coordinating has a sort of calming effect on me. Being native, I feel as though I will be in my special element...I'm not referencing my car! Amanda, on the other hand, may have a heart attack when we get there!!! Ha.

I've been working the last couple days and I just wanted to brag to all of my patient's (I'm a nurse)....but I didn't because then I would be asked about Sarah Palin...and I don't know her :o)

-JER

One week...

...almost too excited to function...
I stole this picture from Jen's Facebook album and can't wait to see it in person!

-ajf

8 days!!!!!!!!!

Just got our sleeping bags, tent, camping stove and cook kit, water purifier and other camping essentials...they are all in a huge box, ready to be FedEx-ed out to Uncle Rob's house in Anchorage!

-ajf

9 days!!!

Trying to figure out how to blog...and how people can post. Interesting.