The Chase

Last night, Hollie and I decided to get out and see some of the area. We hopped in the 4runner and headed down towards Black Rapids, my intent was to make it to the waterfall and maybe beyond to Paxson depending on what we saw. I gave Hollie the camera, that was a mistake. A few miles down the road, she was hanging out the window taking shots of the mountains (we're surrounded by mountains). She turned into an absolute shutter bug. Click, click, click. As I drove down the highway, I'd hear "slow down", "stop" "turn around", "Uh, you missed it, go back." Of course, every curve in the road or hill we crested had views more beautiful than the last. The constant stopping was fine but I kept shortening our trip in my head. Not going to make it to Paxson. There goes Summit Lake. Forget about the last place I saw caribou. Oddly enough it worked in our advantage. Oh ye of little faith. When sightseeing with Hollie, we've always been pretty lucky seeing unique things. Black bear cubs in Shenandoah. Mountain Grouse strutting in Washington. Moose running down the road in Maine. Last night was no different. As we were getting close to Black Rapids, we saw a moose calf on a side road, jogging for lack of a better term. We slowed down to see him and turn around to get some pictures. He ran towards us a little then cut across the road down the opposite side road he had come from. Hollie was having a hard time getting a shot so I sped up, so he sped up, I turned down the road he was on and he went into full run. The road, however, had a chainlink fence on both sides and a bar across the road about nose height for this little guy. Most full size moose would have jumped the bar, but this little guy, not knowing better went straight for the fence and hit it going full speed. The fence pushed in like a big spring then bounced him back hard onto his haunches which just gave in and he rolled backwards straight on his ass. Slobber flung out of the side of his mouth. He struggled back up to his feet and shook it off a little and started working his way down the fence, nudging it with his head looking for the way around it, disappearing into the scrub trees on the side of the road. We were both awed and kind of sad for the little guy being so scared. Then we quickly realized why he was alone, his mama was nowhere to be seen and why he was running in the first place. Hollie yelled, "Bear!!!" and started rolling her window up. I tried to see it in the mirror but couldn't, so spun around to look and saw a gray grizzled 5 footer with mascara black eyes and hackle hairs standing on end barreling towards the truck, not walking, not ambling, but sprinting towards us. I rolled up my window too and threw it in reverse, headed towards the bear. We were between him and what he was chasing, my stomach sank instantly. He suddenly saw us and locked up all four paws, skidding to a halt in the gravel behind us about 50 feet away. Hollie was yelling "don't move, don't move" and fumbling with the camera, but my first instinct was to get him past us, so I hit the accelerator. He was only there for a split second, then veered off to his left and into the scrub in the general direction that the moose calf had gone. I kept going back hoping to get a glimpse of him, but he was gone in a huff. Of course, Hollie was upset because she didn't get a picture of the bear, but it all happened so fast and in such a tight area. It was my first grizzly in Alaska and Hollie saw it on her second full day here, lucky girl.
We continued on down the road and she shot more pictures of the mountains and of the dozen or so moose we saw. We also came across a porcupine but he got off the road and into the alder scrub before we could find him again for some shots. We drove for about 3 hours total, the sun only dipping slightly in that time. It was a great way to spend a few hours on a cool Alaska summer night.

The Wife's Arrival

Hollie landed in Alaska at 430pm on Tuesday. She met me out front and we loaded her up and headed to Asianas for some sushi. Earlier in the day she sent a text asking about getting a workout in at the Crossfit in Fairbanks, it was already set-up. After our suhi fill up we headed for the gym. Instantly she seemed to relax. She was back in a familiar and comfortable environment. She worked on her deadlift personal record and actually broke it with 301lbs after a 12 hour flight, you go girl. In her bare feet too. After Crossfit we headed over to Sports Authority to pick up my bike and a jump rope, grab some Starbucks, then off to rugby practice to meet up with the boys and girls. Everyone said hello and introduced themselves. The smiles were flying. We still had a 100 mile drive ahead of us, so we hit the road about 930. Hollie finally fell asleep halfway back and woke up when we hit the front gate. Yesterday was a lot of sleeping and emailing and texting for her. Last night we hit the grocery store, then the gym, before relaxing in the living room. She's not too bored yet, but I'm sure it's coming pretty soon. Without a job there's not a ton to do here other than workout and watch tv and movies. Luckily we already have a bit of a plan for the weekend, so she can look forward to heading to Anchorage and checking out the sights.

Midnight Sun Run weekend including the 10th anniversary of my 29th birthday

I had a great summer weekend in Fairbanks. You wouldn't expect it since its Alaska but the weather was outstanding. It started Thursday. I drove our Boaters ed instructor up to the airport then headed to Barnes and Noble. I sat by the fireplace and read for a couple hours before rugby practice, enjoying a vanilla latte and answering call after call wishing me happy brithday. So many calls, I stopped trying to read and just sat enjoying my coffee waiting for the next call. It was amazing to be reminded how many people care about you. Facebook helps too. I got probably 50 posts, pretty cool. I headed to rugby practice. We ended up playing touch 7s and I scored 4 tries. The old man still has some moves. After practice we rolled into The Marlin bar and at some point started singing rugby songs on the deck. I got a birthday bar serenade. Warms the heart. The only downers on Tursday were getting stepped on during 7s. Broken left big toe. Ouch. And just before we left I was stepping down and hit a small ledge I didn't see sideways and totally rolled my ankle. Ouchie wah wah. I did however find out that the Marlin has killer hotdogs and frisbee players cheat during boat races. Rat finks.
Friday I got up early and started moving. First order of the day was Breakfast. I hit the farthest north Denny's on the planet. I had the all meat scramble but made it a diet cheat day with a sourdough pancake. Bad dan.

Then I ran around town looking for a place to register for hte Midnight Sun Run. It took me 4 stops over about 2 hours to finally find the registration point out back of a hair salon. Go figure. $20 got me a t-shirt and a cool number to wear. Then it was off to run errands. I dropped off my bike to get a tune-up, hit play it again sports to buy some weights for my new garage gym I'm working up, stopped by Crossfit to talk to the owner about bumper plates and see how the gym is doing, then grabbed lunch at a Chinese place then off to a movie, hangover 2. Not as good as the first, a little less believable, but still pretty funny. Friday evening was another book and short nap at Barnes and Noble before heading to the Falafel stop on College. I chilled in a bedouin tent and read a book while munching on a killer falafel pita. Love that middle eastern, not Paleo but definitely something I can't get in Delta, so worth every tasty carb. After the Falafel, I headed to the campground. My knee was throbbing from a mixture of the running and the broken toe, flaring my gout just a bit. I spent an hour dipping my feet in the river (45 degrees)  next to the downtown state park in Fairbanks. I was tired so I racked out in my truck at the campground about 9pm and didn't crawl back out until 9am, well except to pee. 

Saturday morning, I hit up the Farmer's Market and saw my friend Brooke, she got in a little late, so I helped her set up her fresh aqueezed lemonade stand then wandered around the market sipping on a thai tea. heavenly. I had a reindeer dog and pad thai for breakfast. The dog came from Delta, but I didn't mind, it was delicious. The Market had lots of fresh veg and crazy handicrafts. Lots of pictures and knitting, woodcrafts, your usual small well maintained farmer's market. I said my good lucks to Brooke and headed out to walk around and see if my knee and feet would feel better to no avail. We planned on doing a river run, so I figured I'd be fine for that and would figure out what to do for the run later. Around lunch we met at the park in front of ProMusic downtown in Fairbanks and started unloading boats, grabbing paddles and lathering on the sunblock. The temperature was a balmy 75 with solid sun. Be-a-you-ti-ful! We got on the river and relaxed with a couple of PBRs and some beef jerky. The river snakes through the heart of Fairbanks, passing under car bridges, walking bridges, backyards, it's a very scenic paddle/float. The river was up from melt from the warm days so huge piles of trees and debris were floating by including some wicked big logs, root balls and all. The water was cold, but felt good to cool off from the direct sun from time to time. We stopped at the Botel Bar half way down to dry out a bit and play some horseshoes. It was the halfway point. We kept on going and passed Pioneer Park, the campground I stayed in the night before, a few more highway bridges and when we were a couple hundred yards form the take out Dave flipped Schu and Kayla. By the time Kayla crawled out of the water, she was shivering like a leaf. Did I mention the water was cold?! We ended at the Pump House, a restaurant on the river, and had a couple plates of nachos and lots of water. We had to run shuttle to get our vehicles form the other end. We made it back just in time to change and try to make the race. We got there just as the start happened. I kept up for the first half mile but decided to get good pictures, I'd head to the finish and walk it backwards to the rugby guys at the back of the pack. The plan worked great (4 pages of pictures follow this post.)

The Midnight Sun Run is a great event. it's a 10K run/walk through the heart of some really fun neighborhoods. Spectators line the streets and bbq, listen to music and cheer runners on. Half the runner s wear costumes, those that aren't overly worried about their times. The winner every year finishes with a time of under 30 minutes. That's sub 5 minute miles for over 6 consecutive miles. Very impressive. The walkers finish usually in under 3 hours and since the whole things starts at 10pm the sun still hasn't gone down when the last ones come in. The light up here can put a zap on your head for sure.

All in all a great weekend, great birthday, great float trip, and great fun run. Needless to say I had a wonderful time all around except for those pesky foot problems.

Midnight Sun Run Pics Page 1

3800 official runners. An equivalent number of unregistered runners. Just getting the run going took 45 minutes once it started moving. Look at all of the bodies stretched from back to front across the bridge.

Square pants.

Who needs a crabby patty?

Uh, yuck!

No fighting in the shade tonight.

The fast runners way up at the front.

Udderly ridiculous.

fastest blue man alive.

More of the real runners.

Spartans. Prepare for glory.

All the real competitors are in front. The fun folks bringing up the rear.

The spectators were a blast too.

The hoses were out to help cool it down.

Alright now we are getting into some costumes.

wonderwoman.

Bet they are paleo.

Go gumby.

Anne or Andy, you tell me.

You go Mr. Mom!

Midnight Sun Run Pics Page 2

Princess Leia

Le petit fleur

wonder (woman?)

Blue men. Where are your drums?

bat people

b a l a n c e

Robin? hood? men in tights?

rubber ducky.

The ballerina makes sure crime doesn't pay.

Underoos rock.

Buzz off.

Now those are running shoes.

blue woman group?

Ah, the spectators of love. Honey, turn the hose up would ya.

Girls with the daisy dukes on.

Uh, yuck!

Incredible.

Rolling spectators.

Toga. Toga. Toga.

Freedom.

Some of the spectators were more colorful than the runners.

this little piggy went wee, wee, wee.

Green giants mom.

Midnight Sun Run Pics Page 3

rollerbladers

caffeinated?

three little pigs. straw, sticks and bricks.

The rugby girls ran through in costumes. Made it in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Rugby girls. 

Here they are again.

Jenna felt she needed a little slap on the ass to keep going.

Potato heads.

Baby looks like he's having a blast.

Tie dyed hippies.

The 60's are back.

Christmas in June?

Pacman chasing some ghosts.

I have no idea.

6 miles on a unicycle, impressive.

Peace!

Kids today are way too lazy.  

Except these, they were hauling butt.