Quick Update

Just a quick update as we await the late arrival of my sister tonight. Mom and Dad arrived without trouble on Saturday night. It's been a BEAUTIFUL couple days: clear, sunny and in the 70s. Denali was fully visible- it was awesome. I took them to the Flattop Overlook to see the Anchorage bowl and surrounding areas, we checked out the Anchorage Market (to get more jam :), then we headed out for a hike to a waterfall.

Having to work last night was a blessing because I ran into my preceptor's husband who was looking for a fly-fishing companion for this week. He graciously offered to take Dad on a fishing trip today, so Dad was able to get a 24hr fishing license and some hip waders and then headed south to the Russian River. He caught a silver salmon (dinner tomorrow!) and spotted some wildlife up close, including a hungry bear. It sounded like an awesome trip, but pictures won't be available until his battery gets charged (both him AND the camera).

While Cody had to work, I took a short nap while Mom was able to soak up the awesome sunshine and take advantage of nearby running trails. We welcomed my dear friend Sarah and her hubby Craig this afternoon and were fortunate enough to be able to have dinner together.

We're currently waiting on Erin's 12:30am arrival (some of us more conscious than others). We have another full day tomorrow, although the weather isn't looking to be quite as grand.

Thanks so much for all those that have sent gifts and cards: thank yous will be in the mail as soon as possible! :)

Hand Tram, Anyone?

Cody and I headed down the Turnagain Arm this morning to accomplish a few undisclosed errands and decided to take the opportunity to hike a trail we've heard rave reviews about: Winner Creek. It would have been much easier of a trek had it been somewhat dry, but it was an easy hike regardless. The views were awesome, plus the hand tram was quite the unique experience. Later, we walked throughout the Alyeska resort and lunched at the Bake Shop (delicious!). Perhaps we'll be leading a tour of Girdwood for our soon to be arriving family. Here are a few pics:

A few grates were all the separeted us from the creek below

I really like this pic for teh sunlight/mist combo you can see

First Trip Back Home

I have officially booked my first trip home from Alaska! I was granted leave enroute back from my TDY in Virginia next month. I will be arriving in Omaha on the 27th of September (very late... thanks, Mom!) then I fly out Sunday, October 2, 2011! So excited to be home again! I would love to see buddies that are free around that time and are in the area :)

Licensed to Wed

We're now within 2 weeks of the wedding! ekkk! Cody and I were able to make it to the Anchorage Market today to finish a few more gifts for our welcome bags. Upon leaving, I think it was the first time I started feeling confident that we'll actually finish everything on our list!

We've both been busy working as usual. I only have 4 nights of work left (not counting if my call shift turns into a real shift). I'm looking forward to my 10 days off work. Cody was able to take 5 days off work, although he'll be dropping by the day of the wedding for some guy-time golfing. My mom and dad are the first to arrive, flying in this Saturday. We're very much looking forward to seeing our family.

On my list of things to do was try on my dress (something I hadn't done since February). Much to my relief... it still fits! And a special thanks goes to my buddy and coworker, Alex, who helped be into it. She and a few other buddies from Scottsdale, AZ (NTP) met up last night for a 'girls night'. It was nice to get out on the town. Thanks so much for dinner and the outing!

We are now officially licensed to wed:

Cod being a gentleman and writing the check for the license...

The proof!

And of course, we've been working on our pew decorations/centerpieces: here's a sneak peek:

The letters look sort of blue... but it's just a rich purple

Summer's Not Over Yet

Even though we spotted, 'termination dust' (new snow on the mountains), we finally had a few more sunny days after a week a rain. It was blissful to have a couple of sunny afternoons (wasn't quite as blissful at the course where they did 350+ rounds). We even found corn on the cob for 10/$4, so we stocked up. Cody also felt the urge to make homemade salsa (with habeneros and jalapenos). His nose and eyes were watery after he tried the first few bites. 

Cody's been having to work longer hours, as he's been losing after one employee a week (with their return to school the main culprit). It helps that the course is back on the down swing with hours. The course is open from 6-9pm now, instead of the 5-10pm hours during summer's peak. We're plugging away on wedding things: we finished the pew decorations, and we will soon be getting the centerpieces completed. We're very much looking forward to everyone's arrival.

So sorry there's nothing more interesting to report: it's all work up here!

Cody's 24th Birthday

Cody and I celebrated a low-key 24th this weekend. We thought about taking a drive down the Kenai, but opted for not, since the weather wasn't great and we were both a little drained.

Someone was kind enough to get a few of his favorite beers after a long day of work on Saturday

That same someone was mean enough to capture how he rang in his 24th birthday...sleep on the living room floor, glasses still on

For Cody's first Alaskan birthday, we made homemade bear claws, after which we discovered my strong aversion to almond extract

Ready to open his loot

From his parents

From his soon to be in-laws

Immediately had to discover all the tools

I told Cody if he cleaned the bread machine, we'd see if it still had what it takes....

The finished product: homemade honey wheat bread (My grandma sent this bread machine with us on a trip back east some years ago, and it's been sitting in the basement at home. My mother was elated when I finally took it with me.) Cody doesn't think we should ever buy a loaf of bread again...

Cody and the homemade banana cream pie he requested: turned out to be delicious: custard was just the right consistency, with delicious banana flavor, and LOTS of whipped cream (sound advice from my sister, Erin)

Later Caillat decided to try out a basket we'd set aside for the wedding... she camped out there for a solid 10 minutes

Rainy Day Housekeeping

Today was a very rainy Tuesday, but I can't complain because it made for great sleeping weather. I worked on some of Cody's birthday shopping/wrapping. Even though he always says there's nothing he needs, I always end up coming up with more than a few ideas for him. If the weather and work allows, we're hoping to drive down to Cooper Landing on Sunday to catch the tail-end of the salmon run (pun intended). We're hoping to spy a few bears too, from a distance of course.

Just wanted to share this link with you all: Anchorage Area Bear Sightings

It's amazing how close this wild animals get to human interaction!

And as promised: here's an awesome Thai Chicken Pasta recipe Cody and I were brave enough to try (the interesting ingredient combo almost scared Cody away, but it turned out delicious!- would be great with bean sprouts for a little crunch)

Taste of Home's Thai Chicken Pasta

(We combined the ingredients over the cooktop, rather than the microwave.) Enjoy!

Below are the board games we currently have, just in case anyone was wondering:
Outburst (new and older edition)
Racko
Sorry
Clue
Life
Monopoly
Left Right Center
Farkle
Catch Phrase
Yhatzee
Apples to Apples (plus expansion pack)
Battleship
Pit
Uno
In a Pickle

Denali National Park

Cody and I took a mini camping vacation to Denali National Park last week. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Anchorage and we set out Tuesday morning after I got home from work (made for an awfully long day, but it was worth it). We checked into the campground and picked our campsite, after scouting out several, of course. The campgrounds were great, and ours was right by the bathrooms, but away from any traffic noise. We decided to check out the park and visitors center and took the opportunity to drive as far into the park as we could (15 miles). It was rainy and overcast but we were determined to see as much as we could, so we did an easy hike before heading back to make dinner. Luckily the rain held while we cooked and ate, and we decided to check out one more hike before it got dark (which wasn't until after midnight). Horseshoe lake was my favorite: it had awesome views and an amazing backdrop. And although it rained all night, we thankfully stayed dry in the tent. Morning temps were about 45 degrees, bbrrrrr.

We caught a shuttle bus the next morning, and while it was awesome to ride further back into the park (66 miles) it made for a very long 8-hour bus ride. The rainy/overcast day did make for excellent wildlife viewing: we saw moose, caribou, grizzly bear, foxes, arctic ground squirrels, and a golden eagle. Our bus driver was helpful and we were able to see the amazing wilderness that makes Denali so unique. It was much too cloudy to see the mountain (statistics say it's only clear enough on 1 day in July). We headed back to camp exhausted. Later, we grilled again and checked out the town of Denali and all the tourist buzz.

Thursday morning we packed up and headed to check out a few last things on our list, and unfortunately, seeing a view of the mountain didn't make the cut, although it was clearing up as we left the park. We decided to stop at the scenic viewpoints on the drive south to see if we could spot Denali and we did! It was really amazing because even seeing the tip, it made the fore-mountain range look like mere hills. We drove on to Talkeetna, a 'major' tourist town. It was a cute little town and we decided to do dinner at the West Rim  Pub, which had been on Man vs. Food (don't worry, we didn't try the challenge). We finally made it back to the apartment, much to the happiness of our lonesome cat. Enjoy the pictures (side note: the screen of our camera is completely busted, so I'm not able to change settings and such, so I apologize if the pictures aren't so great...)

Proud of our B70 find

Already getting in to the cooler

Starting our hike at Savage River

And it only went up from there

Carved by glaciers, nbd

Cody having a Bear Grills moment- deciding where he would set up camp

mmmmm, dinner

Horseshoe Lake overlook

Beautiful lake

The lake was infested with beavers, who had dammed the entire side of the lake

Moose on our way into the park

Crazy dynamic landforms

Polychrome Pass- one of my pennies: "I survived Polychrome Pass"

Big green bus

Enlarged to show BEAR- center picture, right where the grass meets the gravel bed- he was sorting out soapberries

Bull Moose locked antlers and died of starvation- sad but cool

What we should have seen (minus the captions)

What we did see- apparently the mountain makes its own weather. hmmm

Caribou

Picture courtesy of some nice Missourians- they wished us luck in the Big10

We found a trail from our campground to the river

Searching for firewood

Add caption

Found some antler wood, so naturally...

Lingonberries for mother

Sled dog Skeeter for other mother

Beautiful view north of Denali

On the way back we hiked through this...

To get to this...

Denali! (center, peaking from the clouds)

Talkeetna

The afterglow of dinner

Fish Lake

Well, I think that's enough pictures for now. We certainly had a great time. I'm thankful that Cody was able to get a couple days off work. We look forward to the coming month and seeing everyone that's making the journey to the Last Frontier!