September Denali Trip, Part 1

Because of some incredible generosity at work, Frank and I found ourselves driving the 240 miles to Denali N.P. on Thursday in order to participate in the road lottery. For those of you who don't know, by winning the road lottery, you can drive your own car all the way down the park road -- stopping wherever you want, whenever you want.

If you are ever going to Denali, I can vouch for the fact that fall is beautiful, as you can see from the photos below. Not to take anything away from either place, but Denali's fall colors are like a saturated Hatcher Pass -- the greens are almost too green, the reds are almost magenta, and the birches of course are a bright yellow color. When you add this mix to the beautiful blue/white/grey colors of the big mountains, you have a combination that just cannot be beat anywhere in the world.

So it was a bit of a blessing, really, that we drove a lot of the way to Denali under cover of darkness -- that way, we were not distracted by the colors on each side of the road! I, as the self-appointed safety engineer had more time to worry about gas and catastrophe (Were there enough gas stations between here and Denali? Yes.), and Galileo had more time to pant and look unhappy to be stuck in the car for so long. Frank's eagle eyes quickly caught two huge female moose that crossed the road, but that was the only real excitement of the trip up there.

We stayed at the Grande Denali Lodge, which is the infamous lodge that overlooks the valley. The rooms were quite nice, although you definitely were paying for the view, which was spectacular. As we found out through our days there, since this was the last weekend most businesses stayed open, many things were closed and the restaurants were running out of things. However, both restaurants we tried (and even the gas station's sandwiches!) were quite good, even with a limited menu.

The next day, we got up around 5:45am to get our road permit and get on the road. I do believe we were the first ones there as usual! After getting the permit, we got some quick sandwiches at the gas station in town, then started on the road...



This is the first shot I took, probably only about 2 miles into the trip. As you can see, the colors were spectacular!



As if that weren't enough, some of the valley was covered in beautiful yellow plants...


Then there were some unbelievably beautiful mountains that were unreal:





Mind you, this is all the scenery that you can see still on the road. This rock formation was at the stop where only those with road permits could conintue...


At the checkpoint, we were once again reminded of all the rules about the road by a very friendly park ranger. Then, of course, more road...










One of the most interesting things to me about Denali was the continuous change in landscape and vegetation. Soon we were in fields of gold...




..and then back into a valley with different colors than the others.


Soon we stopped at the Telanika River rest stop, which was full of tourists in big buses:


...but we were able to slip right by the tour buses and get back on the road quickly!


Soon the landscape changed again, and we were in a place that somehow reminded me of New Mexico:



Then, we turned a corner and saw a slew of cars stopped by the side of the road. We stopped too, and looked out to see dall sheep impossibly close!






More Tomorrow!

I'm almost through with my Denali pictures...more to come!

McHugh Creek Trail

Last weekend, Frank, Galileo and I took some time out to hike on our beautiful Sunday. This time, we chose Table Rock out of McHugh Creek (along the Seward Highway) particularly because it would be easy enough for someone who ran 12 miles the day before to do :). It was a bit confusing at first -- the map we had was not very good, and there were definitely a few places where trees had fallen over the trail. Luckily, some hikers more knowledgeable than us came up behind so that we could follow them to the table. It was a significant hike up the hill, and a bit of a scramble at the end, but the views of the arm from there were spectacular!

Next up: Denali National Park on Friday!!!

Fall on the Seward Highway

Frank and Galileo made it!

Trees on the rock

This tree looks like it was eaten by spruce beetles

Turnagain arm from table rock

Galileo and Frank take a break looking out over the arm 1000 ft. beloe

Another Christmas card shot...

Weird Fungi

Another "finding this year's christmas card" shot

Pretty hillside picture

Back into the forest...

There were lots of rosehips on the trail

Keillor vs. MNspeak.com

Apparently, Garrison Keillor has no sense of humor in real life, and issued a cease and desist order for "Prairie Ho Companion" tshirts.

Scotland pictures are up!

Frank's Scotland pictures are up on shutterfly.

Running Report

So a running report is in order. As many of you know, I'm training for the Las Vegas Marathon on December fourth, and following the FIRST plan created by Furman University that was described in the Runner's World August issue.

This was week number 4. This week, I did the speed workout on the Treadmill (3x1600), a tempo run of 3 miles, and a trail race as well as a long run of 10 miles. This week, I felt pretty drained -- my change of diet to lots of veggies, protein, and less carbs has really taken a toll on my running enthusiasm. In fact, the 10 miler I ran yesterday from Kincaid Chalet to the Point (perhaps because it was the distance from Pluto to Uranus) felt like an 18 miler to me. But I completed it, although I walked significantly the last mile, which is all steep uphill. The good news is, the running can only get better from here, and the ten pounds I've lost on this diet will be ten pounds less that I will have to lug around 26.2 miles in December!

Next week is week #5, which will all take place in the next four days due to the fact that we were given driving tickets to Denali on Friday, which will take up a significant part of Thu/Fri/Sat. So I have four days, and three workouts to complete -- 10x400m speed workout, 5 miles tempo, and 14 miles long run -- plus how can I miss the punishment and torment that is the Tuesday night race series, this week at Chugiak High School?

I figure, it won't be too long before I'm forced to become a treadmill slave for many runs due to snowy weather, so I might as well get out there now and enjoy it!

P.S. Frank brought back pictures of Scotland from his trip -- I will try to get those posted on Shutterfly collections today sometime!

Results are up!

Hey, results are up from the Tuesday night race series! Yours truly is 45th out of 69 in the rankings -- not too bad for a slowpoke!

Cannonball Run, Part II

Get this -- the police are going to pay for a cannonball doorstop for the guy whose cannonball they destroyed just a few days ago!

Report from Foamy the Squirrel.

Along with Matt's dancing below, here's another amusing update from Foamy the Squirrel, my new favorite news anchor. WARNING: The report includes some significant, and somewhat unnecessary foul language not suitable for many situations. But it is funny...and true!

Racing on a rainy day

The
adn.com | sports : Tuesday Night Race Series, aka "World Series of Mud", started last night at Kincaid park. Results are not up yet, but don't hold your breath for a top-ten finish from me :).

As soon as they started describing the course (I don't have any clue, so telling me that we'll be following this or that loop is irrelevant), it started to drizzle. Right about where we started "running" up the 750m hill of mud along the airport chain link fence, it started to rain significantly. By the archery range, it started to POUR (see this picture of the record-setting rainfall). Somehow along the way, the people I was following and I got lost and wound up, I believe, running along the munchkin course and running about a 1/2 mile longer than everyone else.

Although it was miserable, it was fun in the sense that it's always an accomplishment to run a race like that and finish!

NOTE: I'll post the results when they come up in the next few days.

Where the Hell is Matt?

This guy films himself dancing all over the world! Please check it out, it's worth it. Thanks Amy!

Cannonball Run?

An Anchorage man found a cannonball on his property in Cordova a year ago. After having it rolling in his truck bed for nearly a year, he decides it should be checked out. So, he and a friend pack the cannonball onto the state ferry, and head to Anchorage to figure it out.

Once in Anchorage, he tried first to get his friend in the TSA to put it through one of the security machines. When his buddy would not agree to it, he asked his friend at a medical office to try, but they decided that it would not work. His friend at the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pointed him to the police department, which subsequently blew up the cannonball. Now the owner is not very happy, and wants the police to buy him another cannonball so he can use it as a doorstop.

Hmm...

Hurricane Relief

Clearly, everyone is writing, reading, watching, and thinking about New Orleans -- including me. I don't have anything extra to say that hasn't been said, but can recommend some good links to those who do have something to contribute:

--ADN.com describes How Alaska is helping in the effort.

--Anne has an excellent post on a prevalent hindsight discussion I've heard up here too: did the people who stayed in NOLA deserve what was coming to them? Bill Quigley (search for bleak report on the page), is there and comes to a similar conclusion as Anne.

--Lastly, Instapundit has an extensive running list of charities recommended by other bloggers, as well as stories of people doing good work that you won't see anywhere else. FEMA also has a list of recommended charities.

Weekend Antics

We had a pretty eventful weekend.

Friday evening was full of excitement with canning and microwave installation on the agenda.

We have now successfully canned enough raspberry jam to keep us alive for six years. We had never canned before, so the whole idea became a huge science experiment, with jars, lids, various pots, chemicals, and a plethora of tong-like devices to handle piping-hot jam. However, a taste and consistency test shows that the jam has solidified into a wonderful jammy consistency.

After our successful canning operation was over, we turned our attention to the most wonderful microwave in the world. It's replacing the worst microwave in the world, which is the one above our oven which has burned a hole in itself and makes everything smell funny. This microwave cooks, simmers, grills, poaches, and I believe will also learn to program our VCR (it has an ominous "Learning Mode"). However, the directions looked a bit sketchy and after trying to decipher them, we decided that the best microwave in the world should have a professional installation. So, it is hiding behind the couch (learning to program the Tivo, no doubt) while we wait for the install.

On Saturday, I ran 12 miles with a friend on our quest to complete the Las Vegas Marathon in December. Although it had looked like a cold day, it really ended up being quite nice. We saw a moose and a calf at about the 5 mile mark, but by the time we ran back there, they were gone. Anyways, we did finish our run in decent time, so I feel like we're definitely on track for LV!

What, you might ask, does a person who runs 12 miles do afterwards? Well, go to the fair, of course! It's a drive from Anchorage but well worth it. As someone who did not really go to fairs as a kid (they weren't cool, you know), I was blown away by how much fun the fair was here. My favorite this year, of course after running, was the eating part. We ate all sorts of things that were not good for us -- buffalo burgers, deep-fried halibut, roasted corn on the cob (from Friar Tuck's, below), and Tamales. Yum! Anyways, there are some pictures below for you to look at :).

We also bought Frank a laptop for his trip to Scotland this week and for school. Suprise! It's an HP! And of course I am jealous as all getout -- it's got 1MB RAM and a sweet processor.

Anyways, that's it for the weekend! By the way, I'm slowly moving the pictures to Shutterfly so look forward to more pictures there!

The most important thing to do at a fair is eat...and who can resist Friar Tuck's roasted corn on the cob on a Saturday afternoon?

The flower exhibit is always great...this year, there were some incredibly beautiful arrangements!

In the craft exhibits, you can find incredibly beautiful things, like this quilt. They also have a photography exhibit and an entire canning exhibit. Maybe next year Frank and I can enter in our great canning extravaganza (more on that later).

Frank wanted to ride this "bungee/fling" ride...until he saw the $50 price tag!

What fair experience is complete without mechanical bull riding?

The fair is filled with huge pieces of metal powered by loud and impressive motors. We saw this on the way out of the snowmachine area. How many MPG do you think this truck uses?

Fun with veggies...guess what this is??

For all of you who only are looking for giant vegetables...here is a HUGE beet.

The infamous cabbage winner... 66.3 lbs

143.8 lb watermelon

Turkey!

Duck!

Guess what this is?

Mr. Alpaca did not know what to think of the camera...

Yes there is cattle in Alaska...

One of the new exhibits was this rock structure made for goats. This little guy climbed all the way to the top of Mt. Farm Exhibit.

An alpaca checks out the camera.

The cool thing at the fair, apparently, is to spray your hair with colored hairspray. Been there, done that, but not this time!

Picture of the state fair farm exhibit building from afar. It's huge!

Frank welcomes us to our future..in operating machinery.

Here we are on a powerline pass hike...wonder why it's called that?

Windstorm update

Update on the storm the blew through Southcentral here. Looks like the winds must have gotten up to 70 mph! Actually the issue was not the big wind gusts, but the constancy of the wind. In our neighborhood, there was minimal damage -- our fence was broken, and a neighbor's tree came out of the ground.

The week continues to be a bit of a bummer following the Humpy's no-show. Running at Exceed yesterday consisted of many trail runs up and down short hills. That is not my favorite terrain, and I did not bring the right shoes. Argh! However, the potluck was great afterwards.

Next week is the last exceed training, and then the infamous beatings will begin in the Tuesday night race series -- or as I call them, the pain fests. I remember slogging through swamps, climbing sand dunes, encountering moose, twisting ankles, and a lot of MUD and WATER. Not always my type of thing, but it's good for me, right?

Windy Weather

Today, we woke up to a pretty serious windstorm. It's pretty neat -- wind gusts up to 60 mph, and it's a bit like watching a video of a hurricane outside the window. I feel like I should have a rain slicker, a microphone, and my own newscast.

Basically, hillside is windy during the spring and fall, and that wind is much more extreme than anywhere I have ever lived. In contrast though, we had our first thunderstorm of the year on Sunday, as opposed to the many storms in the midwest.

My great DNF

So I didn't wind up doing the Humpys half after all.

The reason: 1) it was raining-pouring and the wind was gusting pretty bad. This combined with cold weather and #2 made it not a good day to run 2) I tweaked my neck on Friday -- not sure what happened, but by Saturday morning I could not turn my head left. Very painful!

So I consulted with my running friend, and decided to bail and get coffee instead. I think it was a good decision -- according to plan, we were not supposed to run this long yet, and so this was going to be difficult even on the best day.

So, the long and short of it is, this weekend's running was a bummer. But hopefully I will get back on track this week!

Week 1 Marathon Training

This week is officially week 1 of marathon training, although I am basically repeating last week (started a bit early :) ).

So far, things are going well. On the speed side, I ran a 1:48 400 at Exceed last night, which is probably the fastest I've run since high school. That was cool, but the coolest part is that I actually got faster through the workout. Perhaps I am just slow to get started -- I'll test longer warm-ups this week.

On the "long run" side, last Saturday I struggled through eight miles. By stopping the long runs almost completely since the last marathon, it's going to take time to mentally and physically get used to the longer running again. In order to jump-start this issue, I will be running the Humpy's Half Marathon this weekend. Should be fun, but also potentially a bit painful. We'll see.

Big Pumpkin!

There is a new state record for pumpkins set at the Tanana Valley Fair -- 752 pounds!

Suprise!

Another funny story from the news today: 3 Wives Greet British Man After Surgery.

Thursday News from ANC

Some news from ANC:

--Heather Lende writes every week about living in Haines AK. This week, she starts thinking about Winter. If you see her book, please consider purchasing it.

--Fishing season is in full swing! There is apparently a salmon derby in Ship Creek, where they've tagged some fish and if you catch one, you win money!

--Lisa Murkowski, our US senator, shoots a gun for charity.

--Juneau kids will be getting out at 12:30 on Fridays so that teachers can build lesson plans on Literacy. I'm sure all parents, especially those that have to provide after-school day care, are really excited about that.

--Black is the new black: The challenge this year for Anchorage gardeners was incoroporating black flowers and foliage. It looks like many people succeeded!

And...it's almost time for the Alaska State Fair again! Here is my description from last year.