Tuesday, July 4th - Happy Independence Day

There won't be any photos included with this entry, because I just haven't had the time to download and resize all of the photographs I've taken since Diane FINALLY arrived at 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon.

I can't even begin to tell you the fiasco she went through since leaving Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon. I am now convinced that my friend's tongue in cheek joke that DELTA means "Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport", is indeed true. Without going into too many details - because it will only anger me again - Diane (Dee) spent TWO days in Salt Lake City. She now knows the SLC airport like the back of her hand, and got to experience the hospitality of two SLC hotels. She swore she was in a remake of the movie "The Terminal". How does it happen that someone gets trapped in a city? Take one airport that only serves a portion of the US's larger cities, add in flights that are routinely overbooked by 10-14 people (especially over a holiday weekend), and a destination that most airlines forget is actually part of the United States of America, and this disaster was just waiting to happen.

Dee finally managed to get a seat on a flight from SLC to FAI, with a stop in ANC on Saturday. Saturday night I had reservations at a hotel just south of Anchorage. If Dee would have arrived as scheduled on Thursday evening, she and I would have hung out and visited with Steve on Friday, and would have been on a road trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage on Saturday - taking our time and making some scenic stops along the way. In order to keep the reservations I had made, we worked it out so that Dee could get off her flight in Anchorage instead of flying all the way. Saturday morning, while she was in the air somewhere over Canada, I was on the road driving 365 miles to Anchorage.

How great it was to see her face when I pulled up! I know she was thrilled to see mine too. We chatted up a storm as we drove to our first motel located between Anchorage and Girdwood - a ski resort community. Despite Dee's lack of sleep over the past several days, she was more than ready to get out and start exploring with me. We dropped our bags, freshened up, and took off for Girdwood to explore the area.

There's a tram that will take you from the Alyeska Prince Hotel to the top of the mountain, and we decided to take the ride up and get a bird's eye view of the surrounding area. On the tram with us were two men carrying huge backpacks. I caught a glimpse of the tag on one of the bags and it said something about a Hang Gliders Association. I really hoped we'd get to see some action.

The views were absolutely stunning! Down below us on a ridge, we saw someone wearing the same kind of big backpack, but he was also spreading out a parasail on the snow (yes, there was snow everywhere up there). The men who came up with us, began dressing in windsuits and laying out their gear. Dee turned to the one next to us and said, "Are you going to hang glide off of the mountain?" He said, "It's parasailing, and yes I am". He laughed when she asked, "Are you allowed?!" and responded "No... I just snuck up here and hope to get off of the mountain before anyone tries to stop me". Of course we realized that he was indeed 'allowed' to jump off the mountain - in fact, we watched 7 people go off the side of the mountain while up there (two rode tandem). What a neat thing to see, but not something I have a yearning to do! (I have a fear of heights)

As we were coming down the mountain, the tram operator pointed out a black bear cub under one of the chair lifts. Mama wasn't in sight. As soon as we got off the tram, we made our way to the area where the bear was sighted. I put my long lens on my camera in the event I could get a clear shot of him. I also kept a respectable distance from him. A few tourists weren't so smart, and tried to get closer and closer to him. I said out loud "I'm going to get some great shots of a tourist being mauled if he keeps that up!" Fortunately, the tourist gave up after the cub turned and went into the bushes. It was very exciting for Dee and I to see Alaska's wildlife on her first day in town.

While on the main road leaving Girdwood, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement in the bushes to our right. A black shape made its way down into a ditch at the side of the road. I turned to Dee and said, "Another black bear!". She was looking back and forth saying "Where? Where?!" when he came out of the ditch and sauntered across the road right in front of us. We didn't have our cameras ready, but at least our minds took a picture.

We slept fairly well that night, but Dee was up early (4am) - no doubt because her body was still on Eastern (or at least Mountain) Time, and also because of the long hours of daylight. I woke up soon after, and we lay around talking for another hour, before I suggested that we take a drive to Portage Glacier.

The drive was lovely, and although we were disappointed that the visitor center wasn't open that early in the morning, we still got to enjoy the beautiful views surrounding Portage Lake. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to stand mesmerized at a crystal clear lake with perfect reflections of the mountains ringing it. A lone tent was perched on the rocky shoreline - the perfect campsite. In the parking lot, we spied a winnebago type camper, decorated with "Just Married" signs and pink and white toile laced around the antenna, ladder, and door handles. What a honeymoon spot!

At 10am, we headed back into Anchorage to meet up with some of my online friends who live in the area. We had breakfast at Sourdough Mining Company - a definite touristy restaurant with mining memorabilia decorating the walls. Prices were high, but the food was good. Most of all it was wonderful to meet up with some of Alaska friends I hadn't seen since January 2005. (Hello to Dave, Kevin, Shannon, Angie, Elizabeth, and Lisa!)

Saying goodbye, we jumped back on the highway out of Anchorage and continued on the next leg of our adventure - Seward. The drive from Anchorage to Seward is absolutely stunning. Tall mountains seem to grow right out of Turnagain Arm - glaciated and blue-gray in color against the even bluer skies. Rest stops are situated amongst tall, green mountains and hills, where the landscape looks like a Hollywood set painted by skilled artists. Despite living here for three years, I am always awestruck by the perfection which surrounds me.

July Fourth in Seward is a very important holiday. The famed footrace to the top of Mount Marathon occurs on July 4th every year. Legend has it that the race was borne of a beer-induced bet made back in 1909. One man bet another that he couldn't race to the top of the mountain and back again in less than an hour. The wager was $100. Two years later, a local business threw a new business suit into the prize pot, and more men got involved. And so it began. This was the first year that I was able to get lodging in Seward on the Fourth, and I was excited about seeing the footrace.

We checked into our hotel - the Hotel Seward - and made our way to the 'old' part of the hotel. I had no high expectations about our accommodations. By the time I had made reservations, everything else in town was booked solid. I was just glad to get a room. We were definitely in the old part of the hotel. With no elevator, we had to carry our luggage up a flight and a half of stairs. If there was ever a time we needed our strong men with us, this was it!

We got one of the better rooms - we had a private bathroom! Six other rooms on our floor had to share two full baths located at the end of the hall. We couldn't understand why we kept hearing doors opening and closing throughout the night, until we realized it was guests making trips to the bathroom. Our view left a lot to be desired too. All we could see was the small area where the trash dumpsters were kept. And we got a daily 5am wake up from the trash trucks as the trash was taken away. There were no screens on our windows, and the windows cranked open. If we wanted air, we had to keep them open. Fortunately, the only 'visitor' we had was a bumblebee who somehow took a wrong turn, came into our room for a flyover and found his way back out again. Thank goodness the mosquitoes weren't bad!

After settling in, we headed off on foot to the Seward Marina to see if we could spy any fishing boats hauling in the halibut catch for the day. These huge fish (Dee said they look like oversized flounder to her), can be as long as a human is tall and weigh several hundred pounds. There were plenty being brought in and hung on the hooks under the Seward Alaska sign, so tourists/fisherman could immortalize their catch with their cameras.

The marina was a hive of activity. I've never seen so many tourists in Seward before! When they say the population triples and quadruples during July 4th week, they mean it.

We made our way back to the downtown area to wander through some gift shops, and walk along the shoreline. My stomach was starting to growl, so we chose Christo's Palace to grab a bite to eat. I experimented with a blue-colored martini (very good), and bought a plate of fettuccini alfredo, which Dee and I shared. We enjoyed people-watching from our table at the front window, as well as the ambience of the restaurant.

The next morning, we were up early again - at 4-4:30am! The sky was bright, so we got dressed and took a walk down to Resurrection Bay to watch the fishing boats as they made their way out into the Gulf of Alaska. There was thick cloud cover, which worried us a little bit. Our Northwestern Glacier Tour would be leaving at 9am, and we hoped the skies would clear up. Always prepared for any situation, I stuffed the raincoats I packed into my backpack for our cruise. The shuttle came for us as scheduled and we boarded the cruise boat almost immediately.

I also remembered a long underwear top for Dee, as well as a fleece outer jacket - I knew we'd be cold sitting outside on the boat. There were indoor areas, but I learned on my last two trips that the best photos are taken from outside. I also learned that it's darn cold out there when the boat is underway.

It was an excellent trip with sightings of whales, porpoise, seabirds, sea lions, and harbor seals. When we reached Northwestern Glacier, the captain turned off the boat engines so we could hear the glacier 'talk' to us. Within minutes, a thundering boom was heard and a loud rumbling enveloped us. High atop the glacier, a huge piece of ice broke free and began cascading down the side of the mountain toward the water. As it fell, it broke into what appeared to be tiny fragments of ice/snow. At least they appeared so from where we were floating. In actuality, these 'tiny' fragments were actually about a foot across! We discovered this as the 'slush' from the avalanche spread out from the base of the glacier and pushed towards us. The boat was rocking from side to side on the swell caused by the ice hitting the water. Our captain said it was the biggest calving he had seen in his 13 years as a guide. It was spectacular!

We got back to Seward, chilled to the bone and exhausted. We went straight to the room, watched a little TV, downloaded photos, and were asleep by 10pm.

The next morning also saw fog and mist hanging low over the mountains. Our plan was to stay for the Junior race up the mountain. The Juniors have to be younger than 18, and they only run halfway up the mountain and back. Regardless, this is not an easy feat. Marathon Mountain is almost vertical and the trail is rocky with shale and gravel. We watched the young runners take off from the starting line in downtown Seward, and then walked to the base of the mountain to await their return. About 40 minutes later, the first runners started appearing high above us. Making their way down steep rock faces, and down slippery slopes, they managed to stay on their feet. A little worse for wear, their skin was grimy from climbing and sliding along the trail. Some had gashes on their knees where they had slipped in the sharp rocks. I certainly give these kids a lot of credit. What stamina! Even more amazing to Dee and I were the littlest racers - ages 7 and 8!

It was a little racer who suffered the most severe injuries. Attempting to use a shortcut trail down the side of the mountain (there were several alternate trails that the runners could choose from - each with its own dangers), this little boy slipped and went over the side of the steep hill, crashing through trees as he fell about 40 feet to the ground below. We could hear his young voice screaming in pain, and branches snapping as tumbled. My eyes filled with tears for this poor child, and volunteers and spotters in the area started screaming "MEDIC!" Within seconds, at least a dozen EMTs were running into the trees, backboards and splints under their arms; holding medical bags. The poor little boy continued to scream in pain - and probably fear too.

When they brought him out of the trees, he was strapped to a backboard, with a neck brace in place and his head immobilized. He was still crying his little eyes out. No one knew who he was. His bib number (#60) was not on the race booklet - most likely because he had gotten his bib the night before at a bib auction (this allows other people the opportunity to participate, even if they've never raced before). Volunteers were radioing the starting line in an attempt to find this little boys parents, as the ambulance took him away.

We wanted to avoid the mass exodus from Seward that occurs after the women's and men's race, so we left town just after the Junior's finished up. It was a good call, and we made great time getting to Wasilla - which is where I am sitting now. (It is currently July 5th, but I started this entry on the 4th, which is why it's dated as it is)

Yesterday, after checking into the Lake Lucille Best Western (awesome hotel with great views of beautiful Lake Lucille and the surrounding mountains), we grabbed a bite to eat, and then made our way to Hatcher's Pass. I have always wanted to explore Hatchers Pass, and until now, never had the opportunity. It was just as much an adventure for me, as it was for Dee. When we got back to the hotel, I discovered there was wireless internet service, caught up on emails and began this journal entry.

We're leaving in about an hour for Fairbanks. The rest of the day will be a lazy one for us. Tomorrow we'll be doing a few 'touristy' things in Fairbanks. I haven't gotten the tickets yet, but I'm planning to take Dee on the Riverboat Discovery, to the Eldorado Gold Mine, and perhaps the Salmon Bake. Friday, I booked a trip for us to take the shuttle into Denali National Park all the way to Wonder Lake - another adventure I've always wanted to go on. I'm very excited, despite the fact that it's an 11-hour ride and will take us 2.5 hours to get to the park and back. It will definitely be a long and tiring day. Saturday is Dee's last day in town, and we plan to do nothing but perhaps drive around Fairbanks, pick up a few souvenirs, and chill out. Her flight leaves at midnight. Let's hope the flight home is MUCH smoother than the flight out.

Over the next few days, I hope to sort and resize the hundreds of photos I've taken on our adventure - a huge undertaking! It is so nice to have my SIL visiting. I wish she could stay longer. I hope she'll come back again - and next time she has to bring my brother with her!