Da holiday!

Currently, I am sitting at my desk and this place is an absolute ghost town. Everyone is gone off doing something. Why am I still here? I'm waiting to go to the gym. Sad. I know. But it is the truth. At lunch we did a combined leg workout of weighted lunges, thruster squats and box jumps. Legs were crying. Still are. We did a little bit of chest and tris also but I want to go back and wail on them a bit more and do a mile sprint until I puke in preparation for the triathlon in 3 weeks.
Good new. My 4runner made it to Fairbanks today. So next week I'll sort that out. My Household goods are moving in on Tuesday so I'll have all of my own stuff in my own place again. I should have it all ready when Hollie shows up in June. Talked to the cable folks and it'll be set up on Tuesday as well so I won't miss Treme or Game of Thrones. I'm moving on post, so I can literally walk to work or ride my bike to the gym, church, grocery store, and movie theater. Anyone need a 1997 extended cab Tacoma with a topper?! Fly up, drive the ALCan back!!
The new digs has a heated garage, the heat is included in the rent, so I'm thinking of turning it into a crossfit box all our own for the time being since we can't do any major gym changes on Post until after the summer and even then, it'll be nice to be able to work out at home if I choose.
Not sure what I am up to this weekend. Probably more gym time, maybe go bear hunting with a bowie knife or just work on my farmer's tan, who knows. The Fairbanks boys were talking about floating the Chena and grilling out, guess I'll give them a call.
Talk to you next week. Hope you enjoy your holiday. Remember, sunblock, rehydrate and behave.

MPs can't drive

Yesterday, Jessica and I went to look in on the CAC progress. She hadn't seen it in over a month and since then they have finished the painting and started putting in the drop ceilings throughout. also the windows have been installed and the radiators. It is coming along. On the way back from the CAC below is what we saw. it was a bit confusing at first what exactly happened. It appears that an overzealous MP simply couldn't see well over the front of the truck and completely missed the narrow drive between the drainage ditches. And Blam. He was standing there talking on his phone and gave me a dirty look or two as I took a couple shots on my Iphone. Don't worry buddy, it happens to the best of us!

bugs

I drove back in from Fairbanks at about 8 o'clock last night and hit a cloud of bugs around this swampy buggy area near Salcha. This is the result of that encounter. To the carwash I go.

Crossfit Fairbanks

I visited Crossfit Fairbanks on thursday to meet up with the owner and take him to rugby practice. He and his friend Reese both came out. They are in great shape and seemed to really enjoy the chance to stretch their legs with the fellas. Kane was pretty excited to get out and hit, he was even contemplating heading down to Anchorage for the weekend tournament but I think family obligations coupled with the short notice made it too difficult. That's okay the next one is in 2 weeks down in Palmer.

Concept 2 rowers by the big open doors that let in the fresh air.

The usual assortment at a Crossfit gym. rubber plates, kettlebells, medicine and slamballs. squat rack. sledge hammers. abmats. and some dumbells for good measure.

The side area is great for alternative fitness stuff like rolling tires or pounding them with sledges, or carrying logs.

The dreaded GHD. Glute (butt) Hamstring (back o da leg) developer. you can do them upside down and it becomes the dreaded Abdominal developer also. Ask my wife she did 90 the day before I came back to SC and whined about her sore abs all week.

Ah, tractor tires for pushing around and beating up. Most go around 300lbs.

Eagles don't lift weights in Alaska, just errant wandering children under 5 years of age. Keep them on a leash folks. Say this in an aussie accent, "Eagle ate your baby?!"

Anchorage Mother Tucker Tournament

After meeting up with the Crossfit guys and heading out to practice on Thursday we met up at the Marlin, a dive bar near UAF in Fairbanks. We had a few beers, told some tall tales then headed to bed. Friday consisted of a lot of hours in a truck full of ruggers heading to Anchorage. Friday night I joined a refs clinic with some of the fellas and got some lessons on appropriate penalties and cards. It was good to be in the thick of things. We headed out to a bbq which was just ending then over to the place we'd be spending the weekend. Thanks Haskin for use of the digs, couch and hot tub especially. Stay cool.

Saturday we played 4 short matches of 15 player a side rugby. We played 2 teams made up almost entirely of islanders, predominantly Samoans (duh am). We combined with a short Kenai team to make numbers and have a bit more experience on the field. It was great to just be on the field but our inexperience together definitely showed compared to the sides with more stable rosters. For my part it seemed like we were finishing as I was just getting warmed up. The breaks between games tend to make my legs feel like lead for the first few minutes each match. I did however get to score a try again this weekend off a nice kick off from Shu. He dropped it in, Aaron snagged it on the run, dished it to White Shirt, who pitched it in just as he was going out to a stretching snag by myself 5 meters out and I laid over a little samoan guy for the try just past the line. Really, my legs felt great overall and I can't wait for the 10s Maulerfest the first weekend of June.

Zach. Amish Lock.

Not really very intimidating am I?!

Schu. Captain my captain.

Kenai jersey.

Robbie showing his flash. Nyquil anyone?!

The girls warming up. Look at that staggered back line.

Skittles, his nickname, with hurt wrist. He showed up at the afterparty in a sling.

These young fellas today, sometimes you just have to put them in their place.

T-Birds. All samoan, all the time. Ouch!

Kenai Jerseys. Actually quite slimming.

Typical rugby cooler, electrolytes and fermented hops and barley.

Girls working a lineout.

Lots of Islanders in Anchorage made for a fun weekend of thumping.

tailgating, rock concert or rugby match? you decide.

The rugby afterparty

There's an old saying, "Even if you can't win on the pitch, you better win the party!!" Fairbanks ruggers live up to that expectation. Saturday night was costume night for the first part followed by full dress up for the late night bar hopping downtown. I missed out on any pics of the dressup portion as I was sitting quietly in the hot tub enjoying a beer back at Haskin's homestead. But here are pics from the "social".

Dave

Monica, borrowing Kayla's Batman mask.

The outside area at Carpenteers bar in East Anchorage.

The ladies striking a pose in costume at the pitch.

Jenna ready to open a can of whoop ass on Zach.

Carpenteers even has horseshoes

Kava in coconut cups. Makes you lips, tongue and gums go numb and brings pain relief to your aching legs. Thanks to our polynesian friends for providing the wonderful elixir.

Schu and Kayla. I didn't know Batgirl dated this clown?!

This week

Wow. What a change a week makes!!! The sun is out, the birds are singing, the moose are chasing every blade of green grass they can find. Right out the front door of work, a juvenile was down on his front knees mowing down the fresh shoots of grass. Alaska is starting to bloom. About damn time!!
This week has been chill. I killed Richard and myself at the gym with the weights. We are doing all supersets lasting about 45 minutes daily, oxygen robbing to say the least. Today he could barely straighten his arms out his tris were so whooped. I've been going back at night for some extra heavy stuff to try to grow a bit more and lean up as well. Fatass that I am!!
Last night I ate my paleo dinner a bit late, Penni, the landlady looked at my pile of steak, bacon, sausage, hotdogs, eggs, avacodo and banana and had this odd look of almost disgust on her face. She said "what an interesting pile of food on that plate." I took it as an envious comment. Of course, if my heart gives out tomorrow, you'll know why. At least I've been warm at night :) protein calories!!
Today was post clean up day and I got to be part of the grill team, Tyler and I. We cooked a gross of dogs for the crew. The bad part was I had to go to housing this morning and they usually have cookies sitting around. Today they were chocolate chip straight out of the oven, oh so gooey and good. I told myself I could have one, then like a crack addict, I couldn't stop. 4 cookies later I was dragging my ass out kicking and screaming to keep from eating more!!! Oh the carb monster's desires. So bad.
Lunch wasn't much better since it was potluck, always pasta salad and chips around. I had unleashed the carb monster for the morning so I called it a cheat day and cheat I did. Ugh! Back to meat, meat and more meat tonight. I've got to slug down a couple steaks over the next two days since I'm going out of town, don't want them to go bad. I'm headed to Fairbanks after work tomorrow for rugby practice. Then Friday I'm going to chill at Crossfit and Barnes and Noble before we head down to Anchorage for the Mother Tucker rugby tournament on Saturday. I'm fairly fired up. I've shed a few more pounds and plussed up my leg fitness since my last match and want to see how I can handle the load now.
I already started recruiting for Fairbanks Rugby as well. Coming back last time I stopped by the Crossfit box in Fairbanks and met the owner, he wants to ball. He's intrigued by rugby. So I called him to see if he wanted to come to practice. He's down. He even asked a friend to come along. The more the merrier. Awesome. Now maybe we can get some of the fellas from the team to try out his gym and blam, a match made in heaven. Ah, how diabolical I can be sometimes.
I finally decided to move into a place of my own. I met with housing today. I've decided on post is the way to go. a bit spendy but I can walk to work in 5 minutes or ride my bike there in a minute. Saving gas is good. I might even sell my Tacoma now that the 4runner is shipping.
I got a three bedroom with a full semi finished basement and heated garage, all electric included. I'm on an end and my master bedroom has a view of the mountains to the south. It does have retro 70s orange kitchen counter tops but that's the price you pay. I'm thinking of turning my garage into a gym if the boss waves us off on the Fort Greely Crossfit gym idea. I can set it all up in my heated garage and blast away all winter. Probably not too hard to get a couple folks to join in either.
I'm also stoked about getting "our stuff" out of storage in Fairbanks. It'll be great just to see our stuff again. The stinky couch and our sagging bed, oh how I've missed them.
There are also opportunities on post that town doesn't have. golf driving range, skeet range, archery range, gym and pool, theater, church right there, paved plowed roads, atvs and snowmachines at hand. I think it'll be great overall even if a little small town compared to the other places I've lived. Of course, I get to be the event master once my new building gets completed. For now,  I just hope my one neighbor is pretty quiet. I move in 1 June, so I'll try to get pics of the movers setting up and definitely the orange countertops. Anyone who wants to visit, you'll be set with a place in a week or so.
Look for pictures of rugby in Anchorage next Monday.
dan out.

Relay for Life

I found out about the Relay for Life on Thursday. Basically, it is a 24 hour walking relay to raise awareness for cancer solutions and to raise money for cancer education and research. It began Friday night at 1800 and went non-stop until 1800 Saturday. Teams had their own sections to hang out, sleep, cook, eat, sell stuff for fundraisers, etc. I hung out with the Lester clan on Friday night for a few hours and met Richard's family, which is quite extensive. This is definitely a community and family event. I was disappointed that more of the units and groups on Fort Greely didn't enter teams of their own. But, like I said I only heard about it on Thursday.

The track was full of signs with Cancer quotes on them all around the inside of the high school track, where the walk took place.

Lions club had a giant food tent serving meals all the way through the event. Here you can see the track and the luminaries lining the track. They lit them during the evening for the night walkers.

Each luminary was in memory or honor of a cancer victim or survivor. At one point, they read all of the names on the luminaries.

This group decided to let folks whack at a car with a sledgehammer for charity.

Most groups had a fire ring of some sort to help with the evening chill. This was at the Lester site. Notice the horseshoe legs. The dry grass did set ablaze at one point, but was quickly and deftly abated by Richards father with the local supersoaker water pack provided by the FD.

As part of the relay, each team had a baton to pass to keep going for the full 24 hours. I thought this one was the best. It's good to know someone in the PD has a sense of humor. Yep, that's a donut and cup of coffe!!!

Since I wasn't part of an official team, I just walked for moral support, talking to a few walkers along the way and to help add numbers to the effort. I ended up walking exactly 10 miles total in about 3 hours. One lady, who is now my inspiration, walked the full 24 hours of the event, non stop minus potty breaks. She had to be in her 50s if not older. She walked about 50 miles, I'm sure she is tuckered out today. It amazes me the will of the human spirit. They said that she has had several family members battle cancer, her driving motivation.

The Buffalo Diner

Every town in America has a drive up diner, and if they don't they should. Delta Junctions is the Buffalo Drive-in. It opened last week and right away was engulfed in regular patrons. The picture above is from the second day it was open, mind you it was still only 55 degrees but sunny when I took this shot. Earlier in the day kids were taking field trips to the Buffalo for cones. Two things make this one a little different from those in the lower 48, I know this is a generalization and likely Montana or Idaho have one with the same things. The first thing that makes the Buffalo different is the appearance of buffalo on the menu. Good. Wholesome. leaner than beef with the same or more protein and purportedly grown right here in Delta Junction, mmmm mmm good. The other thing is visible in the front of the picture. Alaska, but especially Delta, is a no nonsense, whatever works kind of place. For many folks that mean alternate transportation that is not only cheaper than a second car, but a heck of a lot more fun. Right there in the front is a fella on a blue 4 wheeler atv. Notice that he was smart enough to wear a safety vest and helmet. Good for you buddy, keep that egg from getting scrambled when you take a tumble. Otherwise, the Buffalo is a shop like most any other drive in in America.  Lots of grilling and frying and soft serve ice cream. L'americana at its best.

In SC, the one I frequented was the Dairy Bar, or Barn, as I like to call it. They have amazing fried chicken sandwiches. Last Fall I had a small infatuation with the things for a couple weeks. Also it was often difficult to make it to the house past them without stopping for a small vanilla cone, Hollie and I shared one during this last visit. Not paleo, but cheats every now and again aren't too bad.
I haven't actually tried the drive in Delta yet but everyone raves about their burgers. Wednesday when Richard and I went it wasn't open for lunch only dinner so I missed out that day but, I'm hoping to make it out there one of these afternoons when I'm not at the gym and have a healthy appetite.

Don't pick up hitchhikers!! Unless.....

Normally, I have a no hitchhiker rule.... unless they look very very safe. Alec looked very very safe.
He was standing alongside the road between Fairbanks and Delta. I pulled over and he threw his bike in the back of my truck. He's a young Canuck from Vancouver Island, BC headed to Mexico in the Fall for a semester abroad to learn Spanish. Very chill cat.
He left Anchorage about a week ago and rode, I assume since he was riding with me, up to Fairbanks. His goal was first to ride the ALCAN. Then head to Yellowstone and the Rockies, kick over to Tennessee, then straight down to New Orleans. Over across Texas and down a 1000 miles into Mexico to the school he's going to in the Fall. Ambitious?! definitely!!
We talked for the 45 minutes together we shared headed to the IGA in Delta, I needed steak and eggs for my breakfast this week. We ran into Richard in the parking lot.
Today, Richard said he'd trade places with Alec in a second. Just that level of freedom again for even a moment. He loves his wife and little girl and the life they've built but there is an appeal to that freedom too. No house. No car. No bills. No retirement. No 401K. No job to be at. No real set plans. Moments of road magic like getting picked up by wonderful, interesting people like myself.
I absolutely understand. I crave it from time to time too, I think we all do to some degree even well into adulthood and middle age. What mother or father, husband or wife, hasn't had a moment where running away seems the most glorious thing, even if only for an instant, to live another life of our choosing?!
Sail away, hike the appalachian trail, bike across the country, chill on a beach in the tropics, migrant farming in Tuscany or Southern France. The stuff dreams are made of.

A short vacay in South Carolina

The flight down to SC went smooth as silk. Hollie picked me up from the airport and we headed for the homestead. The weather was perfect. Warm, with moist fragrant breezes rustling the sharp stiff leaves of the Palmetto trees. We headed out to a quick burger no bun dinner at Rockaways then the condo. I was already worn out, so we just talked for awhile then headed to bed. Hollie had to work, so I dropped her off and headed for the pool. I got in a quick half mile before the pool was closed for the installation of the bulkhead for Special Olympics. I headed over to HQ at Fort Jackson and talked with my old coworker Mike for awhile. Not much changes, except he has hijacked my old office. After a short visit I headed to the gym to do a 5K on the elliptical and beat my best AK time by a few seconds. I then picked up Hollie and ran her to a luncheon with her professor and met up with Foxy for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings then I met Pope to get our condo on the market. Thursday was running more errands getting things worked out and hanging with the Fort Jackson fellas. The weather all week was very pleasant, high 70s, mornings in the 50s and 60s, except Thursday lunch, it was raining cats and dogs.

Friday was Hollie's hooding ceremony. Above is the picture of them putting her hood on. There were 9 graduates from the Public Administration Program. She got a 3.81 GPA. You go girl.

Here she is with the funny little hood on. She was so happy, you can see the look of excitement on her face. I can attest to the hard work and hours she put in on this degree. We gave up a lot of Saturdays and Sundays for paper writing for sure.

Afterwards we headed out to Chapin to hang with the in-laws. We watched 'Black Swan', not the greatest movie to watch with your in-laws for future reference. Too many sex scenes for sure.

We didn't make it to the gym Friday so we went for a run out at the inlaws. About 2 miles, took 20 minutes, Hollie ran circles around me. She's been running regularly for almost a year now. This was my first outdoor run, Alaska has been a bit cold for it, so I stick to the eliptical. My quads burned. Totally different. So I must start to work roadwork into my program as soon as Alaska warms up a few more degrees.

Saturday, I ran my father in law's ladder back to him then I got to visit with Foxy and Stumpy a little bit, helping Foxworth work on his new deck. You don't realize how much you miss friends until they aren't around all the time. It was nice just talking, drinking beer and cutting wood.

Saturday night, I got to visit some of the guys at the pub for a couple hours.

Sunday morning, Mother's day, we went to church with my mother in law then out to lunch with Hollie's siblings. We hit up San Joses for some mexican grub. 

Monday, I cleaned out the 4runner and drove it to Charleston to finally ship it to AK so it is up here when Hollie makes it up. Not having a car around here would suck for sure. 

Aaron, Hollie's brother, picked me up in Charleston and Hollie came to drive me back. We went to dinner at a killer italian place in Mount Pleasant. The tiramisu was excellent. 

If you note a food oriented bent to my blog, it's because Delta Junction lacks a lot of the international options I've become accustomed to in SC. Which helps account for my weight loss somewhat. 

Tuesday, was an 18 hour return trip back to Delta Junction AK.  

I learned a lot on this trip. First off, while I hate the middle of the summer in SC when the sun cooks everything into an oven midday, I do miss the spring in the South. The warm humid mornings, the greenery, the cool evenings, the birds singing. It felt good to be there.

It's safe to call anywhere you've lived almost 10 years of your life "home".  Driving, walking, hanging out, all of it still feels incredibly natural, as if I could move back tomorrow and not miss a beat. Don't know how long that feeling will last, but i liked it.

Big Ol' Jet Plane

Tonight at 120 Alaska Time I board a big metal can with wings and very powerful engines. It will take me to Seattle where I will climb aboard another tin can to Washington DC hop on a final tin can before arriving in South Carolina. With the sudden demise of Osama Bin Ladin I've been warned by our Commander in Chief that travel at this point could be a risky proposition. So wish me luck. Hopefully with some wind beneath my wings I will arrive in hot ass SC by about 1830 Tuesday for a week of vacation in the Sunny and Dirty South. I'm travelling con nada to make the transition easy, plus all I really need are a couple pairs of shorts and shirts and some flip flops right!! I'll try to blog when I can.

Sunday is an ATV day

I headed back from Fairbanks in part because I signed up for the ATV safety course offered on Fort Greely. It is also required before you can rent one of these bad boys for personal use. The course was 3 hours of hands on instruction and practice. We wove through cones, locked up brakes, drove over obstacles, over hill and dale and just put the machines to work. i was/am sore as can be from playing rugby yesterday, and tired from getting home late and waking up early. My legs felt like jello and worse sometimes didn't work much better, but I made it through and got certified. The other half of today is going to be spent inventorying the bar and moving everything into storage until the new building gets done. The old bar is now officially closed and they start work on it tomorrow so everything comes out. A great day as sore and worn down as I am.

Here's Paul, our assistant instructor demonstrating good arm position for turns.

Mark familiarizes us with the controls.

Here he is explaining the next set of maneuvers awaiting my tired body.

Saturday's a rugby day

Thursday I registered with USARugby as a Fairbanks Northern Warrior. Saturday was my first match in Alaska. I drove up to Fairbanks a little early to bum around the "city' before the match was to begin. I hit Starbucks for a caffeine injection, the Sports Authority for swimming goggles and running shoes and cleats since mine are still in storage with the Army somewhere. Then I hit Sportsmans Warehouse to look at hunting stuff, Old Navy for some clothes, Lowes for tools. I thought about Home Depot but ran out of time. I didn't really buy anything but just being in a bix box retail store after 6 weeks of not having them nearby is somehow a bit intoxicating and nauseating at the same time. I guess alcohol is really the same way.

I saw this on the way into Fairbanks and had to take a pic. I think it sums up the situation pretty well.

I made my way over to University of Alaska Fairbanks campus to try to find the pitch. Not a bad campus but definitely a smaller school . They did have a gun show happening on campus, how's that for a change of pace. I saw a few folks in knee high socks with a 300' tape measure and deduced this must be the place. Immediately I met the Alaska Union President, Ted and our Club President/Captain, Schu. I ended up helping paint the pitch, go figure. Sucks being dependable. The girls played first. partway through their match a group of pipers showed up and started playing. They even paraded us onto the pitch for the men's match.

Kilts galore.

Looks like a good ruck.

Hand in the ruck, maybe, or just a clean steal at a tackle?! You decide.

You won't mistake this ref for one of your own players.

Anchorage (blue) played Fairbanks (green) in a game of 10 vs 10.

Then the Men played. It was Fairbanks vs a motley side from the Anchorage teams. I ended up playing with the Motleys. Fairbanks looked solid to start with, they should they've been practicing together. Once the Motleys started to gel we kept toe to toe with them. They scored an early try against us on clean ball movement. We answered later in the half when yours truly grabbed a loose ball behind our ruck from 5m out and cut back against traffic and ran over the thigh of a young samoan gentleman. He made the tackle but I was so close to the try line I reached and set the ball for the try. We did miss the kick though I found out later. We shuffled teams for the second half and I got in with Fairbanks. We ran away with 4 tries to none owning almost all of the forward play. Overall i think it was better overall play than most folks expected for the first match of the season from both sides. We did have one tackler from Anchorage, a wing, knock himself out on a tackle and one decent scuffle from the samoan contingent. All in all, a great day of rugby, at least for an aging vet like myself, another day in the sun is good enough. Afterwards we headed to Ivory Jack's for the social.

This was on their main sign out front. home.

Any ruggers dream social.

Definitely had the Alaska wood theme going.

Recruitment flier.

The dinner fare was a step above what I was expecting. 12 oz New York Strip and 1/2 lb King Crab legs. Oh so tasty and fresh. I said no potato (low carb diet) so they doubled the veg. Not too shabby.

Jack Daniels was there.

Here's a pic of the inside. A weird mix of Yankees paraphenalia, pull tabs, Alaska themed stuff and Elvis. Lots of retired age local folks which tells me the grub is good all around because it's not cheap.

I sat and talked for an hour or so then had to get back on the road for the 100 mile drive home.

There are maybe a half dozen matches/tournaments over the 4 months of summer. I think I will try to make as many as possible.