What a wonderful way to end my last day in my 40s.

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Survived

We survived the Alaskan Highway!

Just a quick note...I'm still away ffrom home. I'm in Spokane, Washington till Thursday afternoon.

This was the hardest roadtrip ever, but good bonding time with my friend and the scenery was breathtaking. But it is really really good to be at a homebase. Were at Linda's sisters house with wifi, showers, a bed to sleep in, and real honest to goodness food.

Here's a quick cell phone photo I took of a wild bison we saw on the side of the road. We also saw a moose, a huge owl, foxes, and mountain goat. No bears or eagles though.

Road trip: Anchorage to Spokane, WA

Tomorrow I leave for Anchorage, Alaska. My friend Linda is moving to Spokane, WA and she asked me to do the drive with her.
This photo is from 2007 when Jimmy and I were in Alaska for my brother-in-law's wedding. His wife was kind to invite Linda to the wedding.

We'll drive over 2500 miles through some of the most rural parts of North America, traveling through the Yukon in Canada as well as British Columbia then into Washington state.

We'll see some of the most beautiful scenery and wildlife. We won't have cell service and I think we'll be lucky to find a bathroom every few hundred miles. I'm excited and a little bit nervous, too. I'll be back in a little more than a week to tell you all about it.

07-07-07: Happy 3rd Anniversary

Jimmy's brother got married 3 years ago in Anchorage. It was an unconventional wedding but it totally fit their personalities and the Alaskan outdoorsy lifestyle.
The View.

The Alter.

The Bride.

The eternal candle.

The vows.

The wedding cake.

Happy Anniversary Roni and John!!

Joyful

addicted to these digi kits by Mindy Terasawa. She also creates elements for traditional paper scrapbooking at Autumn Leaves.
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Simpson-ized

Been having fun playing with the Simpson's avatar maker. These really look nothing like us, but ya never know in Springfield.
That's me and Jimmy in the back seat of the Simpson's car. Along for the ride.

Somehow we found ourselves in Alaska, so we're watching Homer tame the sled dogs. Or visa versa.

Here we are enjoying the views of Exit Glacier. Getting ready for our hike for a closer look.

Here's Jimmy and Madretz-Simpson during the hike up to the glacier.

Our Simpson alter ego's made the hike to the glacier. Here we are listening to the ranger tell us all the factoids.

And we continue our journey through Alaska with a pit stop in Moose Pass.

I highly recommend making your own Simpson Avatar. Check it out!
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Rekindling a friendship

Linda and I met in the 3rd or 4th grade. We had the same teachers till we got into jr. high school, so we became really close friends. During the long, hot, desert summer months, we'd hang out at each other's house, spend the night, ride bikes and go to the library or pool or lake together with a few other friends.
Here we are the summer of 1982, right before we went into high school. Linda is wearing the white shirt. I'm giving my mom that 13 year old attitude smile/smirk while she took the photo. I loved that t-shirt. And I just told Phin today that I never wore pink. Lies, apparently. It was OP (Ocean Pacific) with the little OP on the left sleeve. I digress.
Unfortunately immediately after high school, Linda and I lost touch so we haven't seen or heard from each other in 21 years. But when I found out that we were going to Alaska, I got in touch with her and we've been emailing since April, both of us looking forward to seeing each other again.

I spent all day Friday July 6th with her and her son J. They showed me around Anchorage and drove me to the nearest glacier. We chatted about what's happened in the past 21 years, where other friends are now, and remembering those hot summers in the desert.

On the way to the glacier, the highway follows an amazing scenic route.
Here we are with a view of Turnagain Arm behind us. The freeway follows this body of water for miles with amazing craggy mountains on either side. It's the complete opposite environment of where we grew up.

This is Linda and her son. He was so cool. He never seemed bored hanging out with us the whole day. He was full of great Alaskan facts, gave me information about the glaciers, wildlife and the tidal bores and mudflats of Turnagain Arm. It was funny for Linda and I to think was that we were around his age when we first became friends.

Here we are at Portage Creek. The color of the water was so amazing. This photo doesn't do justice. Behind us to the left is a hanging glacier. It feeds this creek along with a bigger glacier further up the road. The color of the creek is created by these glaciers.

Coincidentally, Linda and my brother-in-law work at the same company. They had never met, but when my soon to be sister-in-law found out, she invited Linda to the wedding, too. How sweet is that? So we were able to spend a few more hours together on Saturday, too. The wedding, which I'll post about soon, was in the wilderness about 30 miles from Anchorage. It was a beautiful setting for a wedding with a glacier fed lake in the background.

Here we are at Eklutna Lake. Beautiful, right? Just remember to bring bug spray if you ever find yourself in this neighborhood.

Of course, I had to include another photo with those horrible teeth.

Apple Valley High School Class of 1986.

I've posted more photos on my family website here with a lot more photos of my adventures with my old friend.
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Rural Alaska

We may have stayed too long in Alaska. Not only do we need to see our dentist, but aparently I've lost my ability to blog. I hope to regain blogging ability soon so I can share more photos of our adventures.

This photo is just a glimpse the newlywed's sense of humor - these hillbilly teeth were one of the party favors.

Girlfriends, Glaciers and Goats

A very busy day. Reconnected with my girlfriend from 20 years ago. Amazing how after all these years we can just pick up and talk and laugh like it was just yesterday. She was very gracious, picked me up and showed me her Anchorage. We drove to one of the glaciers about an hour away. Saw some Dahl Sheep along the highway - my wildlife viewing for the day. Her 9 year old son hung out with us, and he is so awesome and smart. Love it when kids aren't afraid to hang out with the adults. Jimmy joined us for dinner. After we said our goodbyes, Jimmy and I went exploring till 11pm, when it was still sunny out. I can't get over that. How it looks like it's 4 in the afternoon but it's actually 9pm.

Wedding in the forest tomorrow. Will need bug spray. The mosquito are huge and plentiful!

A Welcome greeting to Anchorage

Arrived at 11:30pm, the sun was just setting, a nice orange glow in the sky. Met my future sister-in-law, who is so kind and charismatic! She and my BIL picked us up from the airport.

So, no joke: On the freeway to the hotel, 2 HUGE moose were crossing the street. Yup! Moose in Alaska. Seriously, how cool is that?? We're not even here for an hour and we saw our first moose siting. Massive moose, nothing like that little scrawny thing on Northern Exposure. Unfortunately though, I didn't get a photo. Hopefully we'll be fortunate enough to see another.

Happy 4th of July

This doesn't really seem like an appropriate photo for the 4th of July, now does it? Ya don't typically associate cold glaciers with fireworks and bbq's. But really, my mind is one track right now. We're leaving Thursday for our quick 4 day trip to Anchorage. We leave Thursday night, arriving in Anchorage at midnight, just a few minutes after sunset.
Aside from the wedding, I'm reconnecting with a friend who I haven't seen since we graduated from high school. She was one of my closet friends in grade school and jr. high, but immediately after high school, we lost touch. I had heard through the grapevine that she moved to Anchorage, so when I knew that we were going, I signed up for a free trial membership to Classmates.com and contacted her. We haven't seen each other for over 20 years so it'll be awesome to see her again and chat in person.

We're going to the parentals for the 4th of July celebrations and fireworks. Wishing you all a fun 4th, week, weekend, and summer!

Hubbard Glacier, July 1995
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Glimpses of past Alaskan adventures

I'm so blessed. I've been to Alaska twice already. But our upcoming trip will be my first to Anchorage and first not on a cruise. So I've been reflecting about my past adventures. Alaska has been very good to me. I've already shared a few photos here and on our family website. So this is just another one of my visual tributes to one of the most amazing places I've been.

Ketchikan



Juneau





Skagway




Glacier Bay




Sitka

Watching What Not To Wear wondering what to wear.

Next weekend we'll be in Anchorage.
This is not Anchorage. This is Glacier Bay circa 2004.

We're going to my brother-in-law's wedding on July 7th. Yep, that 7/07/07. And can you guess what time the ceremony is?
7:07pm, naturally.
Living in the lower 48, one might think: 7:07pm? Oh my. That's so late.
But in Anchorage, the sun does not set till 2am. So that'd be like having a wedding at 2pm.
BTW, the sun rises around 4am. Whoo hoo. a whole 2 hours of nighttime. Have I told you I like me my sleep?

Ok, there are a lot of other thoughts filtering thru my head right now, but I'm still thinking about what I'm going to wear. It's a very casual wedding. My soon to be sister in law says 'come as you are' and 'jeans are perfectly acceptable'. Quite a difference from the wedding I went to in March where the bride doesn't even wear pants on a daily basis. Get your mind outta the gutter...what I mean is she only wears dresses or skirts! LOL!

So, I'm thinking jeans and a pretty top. Or black pants and a sweater. What would you wear if you were going to a casual outdoor wedding in Alaska?

Travel

Whale watching excursion. Juneau, Alaska.
submitted to Tuesday's Photo: Travel 

Whale Watching

Since I mentioned whale watching in the photo I submitted to Pxite earlier this morning, I thought I should post a few photos of the whales we saw.
We probably saw more than 10 whales that morning. It was amazing!

There were about 40 of us on the boat and it was completely silent except for camera clicks.

None of them breeched, but we saw lots and lots of fins and whale tails.
An experience I'll never forget!