Rabbit Lake

Backpacking. Ugh. It's tough to want to put on a million pound pack and hike up a mountain. Call me a spoil sport, but the thought of it is no fun. But what's weird, is that once I get going up the trail, I'm nothing but happy. I feel like I can hike for days and days, and I'm always so proud that I did it. Why don't I ever feel that way after watching Season 7 of "Friends" for the fiftieth time?

I was a tad nervous when we started our hike, because we had to start on the complete other side of the trail. There were clear, big, red warning signs for bears, so I was a bit of Nervous Nelly.

Jeff looked at me, and said "Come on, honey" again. He had the bear spray in his hands, and he was rearing to head up the mountain. We went over the proper procedure when encountering a bear. About an hour into our hike, he suddenly told me to think of everything he told me about bear encounters-and just do the opposite. Yep, that's right. He told me the wrong thing to do, but luckily he told me the proper procedure, eventually. Good thing we didn't see any bears.

Once we arrived at Rabbit Lake, we hunkered down and sipped some hot lemony tea. Because it was very windy and very cold. Oscar didn't mind.

It was pretty windy, because there were no trees. We were way above tree line, and very exposed. No place to hide, except the tent.

We cuddled inside for a little body heat. Once again, Oscar didn't mind.

The next day, at the very end of our hike back, we saw a moose! A bull-moose! Yes, this is the best picture I could get of him. I was very nervous. But he didn't spit or hiss, so I guess we were safe. He just stared at us. And we stared right back. Then we slowly backed up and got in the car.

You can see all our photos here, pre-picnik.

xo

Alli

4th

I am having a heck of time adjusting to summertime life in Anchorage. It's a little strange working at a desk job in the summer. I am so used to the Red Onion and all my beautiful friends in Skagway. I knew I'd probably get all mushy for Skagway when July 4th hit, but I'm happy that Jeff and I stepped out to enjoy the festivities in Anchorage.

Click here for more photos of the parade. 

Working on some more pictures and projects. Blogging in the summer is weird. I'm constantly inspired, but I need to put all that inspiration into action. More coming soon!

xo

Alli

Summer Solstice 2011

There is a bit of an annual tradition to hike to the top of Flat Top Mountain every June 21. Jeff read this last week, and we decided it would be the perfect Summer Solstice activity.

I was amazed at how many people decided join the annual tradition. We saw hundreds of people on the trail, and it was thrilling to feel like we were part of some old world, solstice, pagan, pilgrimage ritual.

 

Except no one was chanting (except for Jeff, saying "good job, honey" over and over and over.)

If you look closely at the left side of the ridge, you can see a little train of people marching to the top.

Now, when I say "marching" I mean c l i m b i n g. I am still carrying my winter coat (aka my fat I put on over the winter), so this hike was tough.

 

It wasn't even recommended that Oscar hike to the top. But he went anyway, and was better than all of us.

The last bit of climbing was pretty intense. Hand over foot climbing, with hikers that were older and fatter breezing past us. I was very frustrated with myself, and felt the tears rolling down my cheeks right as we hit the top of the peek. 

We did it! And we were even greeted by the beginnings of what was sure to be some an awesome solstice party in the clouds on the mountain top. We didn't stay on the top for long-because we had to get to bed early.

My mountain man.

I think Jeff is trying to suck out my brain through my cheek-or kissing me. I think he was proud of me for making it to the top, or happy that I wasn't complaining anymore.

We got a little Solstice bonus on the drive home. The vibe hit 100,000 miles!

Happy Summer Solstice! I know this blog is supposed to have at least a little bit of knitting, but with the sun shining through the night-it's tricky to get it up for the needles and wool.

(this picture was taken at 11:00 pm)

xo

Alli

The Road Home

 Emile was not the only one eager to finish traveling and finally get to Anchorage. Even after a perfect little stop in Dawson, we still had an entire day of driving before we arrived at our new home. I was beginning to feel extremely anxious for Anchorage.

 We (really Jeff) drove for hours on the Top of the World Highway before we reached the US border. 

 The scenery was endlessly beautiful, but the road itself was covered in foot deep pot holes and often unpaved.

 Oscar was so over it.

I was especially anxious, because the vibe's gas light came on when we were almost 40 miles from Tok (the next gas stop). I tried to remain calm, but Jeff kept saying it would be fine.

"If we run out of gas, we'll just flag someone down and they'll get us to a gas station. No big deal." No big deal? That sounds a big deal. We are in a disgusting car, and none of us have showered in days. And a stranger on a quiet road in Alaska? Um, no thanks.

With each mile, I grew more uneasy. We reached what we thought was the turn off to Tok, but it was really just a turn off with a sign that said, "16 miles to Tok." Uh oh. We were really in trouble. This was definitely the longest ride on the journey. We barely breathed as we saw the Tok city limits ahead, and I spotted a gas station. I had to keep myself from jumping out to get gas, but right as Jeff clicked the turn signal for the gas station the car started puttering. We looked at each other in fear, and I shut my eyes and hoped the car would simply pull into the gas station, so I wouldn't have to get out and push. Luckily we made it, and Jeff filled the tank. He was surprised to discover that the tank held more gas than he thought, and together we couldn't believe that we'd made it to Tok safely.

But the vibe was so over it.

  When finally reached Anchorage, we arrived at our new home so quickly. We were relieved to discover that our little, cheap apartment we found on Craigslist was even better than we expected. 

And the sun shines at midnight in Anchorage, too.

Happy to be home.

xo

Alli

Dawson City

Dawson City was the home of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Like Skagway, it is full of history and it draws loads of tourists every summer. Unlike Skagway, it hasn't prescribed to a colorful, sort of movie-set version of the rugged Gold Rush. Dawson still has dirt streets and most of its buildings are dilapidated and mysterious. But, I am sure there have been some restoration attempts on the historic buildings. 

 As evidenced by the side of this building-notice the two layers of fake brick siding?

 I appreciated the understanding of the hard ships that many faced during the Gold Rush. There was a little window museum at an old mortuary that show-cased supplies of turn of the century morticians. I was fascinated.

 The death business was huge in the far north during the Klondike Gold Rush.

 I was also delighted at some needlework supplies of the time. These were made of bone. I would love a little velvet case just like this one.

 The masonic lodge. I don't know if this building was there in 1898, but it stood shining and huge in the wee town. This picture was taken around 10pm.

 A trip to Dawson City would not be complete without attending the old time dance hall show.

 The can-can dancers were i n c r e d i b l e. I was stunned at how flexible they were, and obviously well trained. I was a little embarrassed, because I could not dance nearly that well when I was in the Days of 98 Show. I was comforted to discover that the perfect dancers couldn't sing. They were strictly dancers. 

 "Gertie" (the supposed "madam" of the show) was the only female singer. And she was dang good. I was proud of her for belting out song after song, and not being a wimpy dance hall girl like some supposed dance hall starlets (yes, Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge-I'm talking to YOU).

 After our night on the town, we ventured back across the river to our perfect campsite on the banks of the Yukon.

 We asked a local if it ever gets dark at night in Dawson City. She smiled and shook her head. 

"Won't get dark until August."

Oscar needed his sunglasses at night.

Next stop Anchorage!

xo

Alli

The Dawson Ferry

As we rolled into Dawson City, Yukon, we looked for a cheap hotel that would accept dogs. I was tired, and wanted a shower. There was a perfect little information center, with helpful women in some sort of 1898 costumes (I'm guessing). They had cute Canadian accents and they told us about all the over-priced hotels. At this point in our journey, I was perfectly willing to spend a million dollars for a shower. But Jeff (aka Captain Frugal) queried campsites. The helpful ladies told us about a couple in town, but the real nice site was "across the river" in West Dawson.

There is no bridge to West Dawson. When I found out that we had to take a ferry across, I immediately rolled my eyes and said, "No way." I thought we'd have to wait forever, pay an ridiculous fee, eat gross ferry food. I mean, I like taking the ferry, but I was tired from a long day of driving. I just wanted the dang hotel.

Jeff was intrigued though. He persisted. 

"So, how does the ferry work?" he asked the nice information lady.

"Oh, it's just like every other ferry. It runs all the time. It's fast. It's free. You can always get on." she replied.

Us-STUNNED

What? Lady, that is not like every other ferry! You ever hear of AMERICA?! Yeah, that's right-land of extravagance and inconvenience. Now, we had to go across to the West Dawson camp ground. If only just to check out the "unbelievable" ferry. :)

The Yukon River ferry ride was about five minutes, and Jeff declared that "it was the coolest thing he has ever done." He said that about a thousand times in that little five minute ride.

I thought it was pretty cool, too. I decided I could wait a day for a shower.

Check out the waiting line. No frills. No pavement. Just waitin'. 

God bless Canada.

xo

Alli

PS-Check out this rig on the ferry...!

P R E T T Y awesome.

Skagway to Dawson

I know I should have finished up blogging about my journey long ago, but I finally got the internet at home! So now, I can give you a continual peak. Yay!

After our perfect little perfect play time in Skagway, we hit the road toward what was going to be Tok, Alaska. But, Jeff decided that we only get a few opportunities to travel along these historic Alaskan roads, so we should push our journey a little further and camp a night in Dawson City. I didn't mind the three hour detour, to the land of the gold, and the drive was gorgeous the entire way there. 

We listened to lots of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ariel, and our anthem for the trip was Cee Lo Green's "Forget You."

Jeff picked some wildflowers to decorate the car. 

The vibe held up perfectly. We got gas at every opportunity.

And Emile and Oscar found a way to get comfortable for the trip. They don't usually like to be so close to each other, but they had no choice.

Next stop Dawson! 

To be continued...

xo

Alli