Spring has Sprung

It seems like spring is getting here early this year, and I can't say I'm complaining.  If we're not going to get lots of snow it mine as well be warm and sunny.  It was also exceptionally clear skied for like 3 straight weeks in March.  We lost some snow to the warm sun, but it still made being outside totally lovely.  The days are also getting longer and I'm getting to catch some beautiful sunsets on my drive to and from Anchorage.  I actually called Drew one night to tell him he had to go out on the arm and see how beautiful it was with the sunset and this low hanging fog over the water.  He couldn't believe I wasn't stopping to take a picture and so finally I turned around and drove back to get a few amazing pictures, even if it made me late.  I don't ever get tired of this view on my commute:

We've also had an ongoing joke going on with our friends Aaron and Jennifer, who spend each of their weekends doing something fun as a couple.  Whenever we get out and spend the day together we joke we should post our excursion on Facebook so we can show them up.  No internet, so we didn't every put these on Facebook, but here they are from our little walk along Glacier Creek.

Our other big thing from this month is that we moved....again.  The owners of the house we were watching came home and we hadn't found a house to buy as we'd hoped.  So we ended up moving in to the first floor of a house of some friends.  They are letting us rent month to month so we are happy about that.  They do have a very steep driveway that with the melting and refreezing has been giving the Camry a hard time.  I lost it off the edge of the driveway my first day at home without Drew:

 Whoops...luckily a lot has melted since then and the driveway isn't near as slick as it was a few weeks ago.

I did end up going out on the flats for the first time a few weeks ago with some friends after work.  It was a pretty walk out underneath the highway and up to the water's edge.  It really felt like spring was there as the sun went down. We liked it so much we went out and BBQ'ed there with my brother and his girlfriend who cam to visit. (More on that to come.)  We're looking forward to many a BBQ out there this summer.  

Other than that Drew finally got out and did a little bit more back country skiing, even going two days in a row.  I think that's a record for the boys.  Here's a few shots from three of their trips:

Talking to me on the phone...

We had a great time with Joey and Rachel when they were here...more on that later!  Hope you are enjoying spring wherever you are!

Denali for the Day

Drew and I thought it would be fun to take an overnight camping trip up to Denali earlier this month.  We packed up all our camping gear, put the cross country skis on the car, threw the snowshoes in too, and headed up to Denali National Park.  Man did we choose a beautiful clear day to visit!

Denali from the south viewpoint in Denali State Park

Though it was pretty warm with the sun on us, there is still a lot of melting to go.
We would have practically had to  lay on our stomachs to look out those scopes.

 We drove four hours to the park and got there in mid afternoon.  Although some of the park road had been cleared, we could only venture up the first 13 miles or something.  The ranger at the visitor center talked us out of camping.  When we arrived the visitor center was filled with backpacks and camping gear.  In a few minutes about 40 or 50 eighth graders came bounding out of the adjoining room.  She explained it was "camp with the rangers night."  All the rangers looked really thrilled.  We decided we didn't want to join the fun, so she filled us in on the good things to do in the park that afternoon.  Drew was questioning and teasing her about wolf sightings, skijoring to Wonder Lake, and possible injuries he might incur while in the park.  Generally just being Drew.  At one point she looked at me and said, "You must be a very patient woman, ma'am."  That's my baby.  Inspiring other women to wonder just how I do it... :)

Anyways, she pointed us to this hike, which really we didn't need snowshoes for.  Just a pair of icebreakers would have done the job:

The hike was along a river that was breaking up.
Drew loved the icicles hanging off the ice into the river.

Oh Denali National Park...how I would love to see you not in snow.

 So in the end we drove four hours to Denali and four hours back, and we spent probably less than 3 hours at the park.  I was just saying on the drive up how the drive is half the fun.  We really didn't mind at all.  Drew and I love a good road trip.  There's always interesting conversation as we drive, and beautiful scenery along the way.   We had to pull over on the way home for a few more shots of Denali.  It just looked like a backdrop in a play or something.  So perfect:

We saw so many other beautiful landscapes along our drive.  Every time we cross over this one bridge it seems that the sun is always setting over the river there, and the sunset is always spectacular.  We both agreed that really we know of no other place that manages to be this ridiculously beautiful constantly.  Granted break up is probably the least beautiful of the seasons, but if you look up to the mountains or out to the water you don't notice the dead grass and trash poking through the dirty snow at all.  We have lived here for almost a year now and we still haven't managed to get over it.  It is just so majestic.  So mighty.  We love being surrounded by so much grandness.

We're expecting...

...but it's not your usual pregnancy!

Both Drew and I actually went pregnant for the race we were in during Fur Rondy.  Drew's baby bump garnered a lot of attention.  I feel like he makes a pretty convincing pregnant waddle, especially with his hands on his stomach and back.

We braved the cold with friends from my work and showed up for the running of the reindeer race.  It's really not much of a race as it consists of running/walking/trudging through a ton of snow for about 2 city blocks.  But it's for charity and you get to run in a costume of your choice.  Everybody is being a little silly, more than a few people are a little drunk, and after you start running they set the reindeer off after you.  For about 10 seconds it's the coolest thing ever.  For the rest of it it's just lots of fun with friends.  

These people thought like us and wore something at least a little warm.  Others were in speedos, fur bikinis, and gladiator outfits.  I don't know how they stayed warm for so long waiting to run the race.  There were also plenty of large animal costumes, sumo wrestlers, and other themed groups.  We saw a head to toe Star Wars group, a bunch of red solo cups, guys encased in nothing but a bail of hay each.  Being as everyone in our group works in or is related to someone who works in Labor and Delivery, we went with pregnant bellies and scrubs.  When it finally came our turn to run, I turned on the video.  I can't say I tried really hard to worry about the recording though.  I was having a little too much fun.  So sorry, but you might get a bit of an idea of what it's like:

We waited at the back of the pack to run with the reindeer.  At first everyone starts running really slow, looking back casually, waiting for the reindeer.  But then they count down from 10 to release the reindeer and you start wondering if this was a good idea. Then all of a sudden you're screaming and booking it as antlers brush by you on their way through the crowd.   

This guy was pretty calm,
but some of the reindeer were really bucking to get after us!

They claimed they were an ice worm,
but I don't think anyone believed them.

It seemed only appropriate to pose for an ironic picture together:
the condom and the pregnant group.

A little reindeer love...

On the way home...

So now that we've run with the reindeer and got the T-shirt, we'd love to watch other people do it live.  This is the 5th time they have done it and they had a record breaking 2,300 people sign up to run it.  It's only a matter of time until someone gets their eye poked out by an antler or worse, but for now we are glad we got to be a part of it!

Alaska Sea Kayakers is Famous!

So a couple of times Drew and his fellow guides have taken camera crews out for shows and news clips.  This is not one that Drew was a big part of, but you can still see him kayaking some and it's fun to see all our friends on the video.  This is part of a local news channel's "Day Trippin' with Ashton Goodell" spot that I guess they sometimes do.  This woman goes around and does cool things to highlight fun things for locals to do.  It's funny because in all her pictures she is like carrying a bike or all geared up for some huge adventure.  The guides say that on this kayak trip she was in the front part of a double with an old lady that was part of the crew and some way.  Apparently Ashton Goodell had the little old lady paddling her all over the place and barely helped at all!  You can hear her say she's tired at one point in the video and the older lady is about to kill her.  Haha! Grrr...well for whatever reason it won't embed in the post so here is the link.