Annette's Awesome Alaskan Adventure
Until I figure out how to reduce the size of my wonderful (but multi-mega-pixel) photos, I’ll just post the text of my Alaska Trip report. I’m graphically challenged (program-wise), but if you know me, that’s not a shock.
Annette's Awesome Alaskan Adventure
I decided Alaska was on my 'bucket list' sometime in the past couple of years. Uncle Dave and Aunt Ruthy went there and had nothing but praise. Then, somehow, the person I adopted as my "Texas Mom" (Jody Kelly) mentioned the Tour de Cure team her daughter Kelly (who now lives in Alaska) put together for their 3 generations: Jody, Kelly and Shannon. Jody could not ride in TdC last year because she had a bike crash during a race that sent her to a surgeon and much physical therapy.
So, as I had adopted Jody for my Texas Mom, Kelly gave me info to join their Tour de Cure team for 2012. And I did. The only preparation I did was to register for the ride, prepare my TdC fundraising pages (both on TdC and at Dell) and book my flights back in Februrary.
That was it. Spring training (working out, being a Team Leader) and such didn't really afford much detailed planning. But, as I had "overplanned" my 50th birthday trip to Hawaii, I was only too happy to "underplan" my trip to Anchorage and hope Kelly's family didn't reject me on the spot.
I planned it so that Jody and I sat next to each other from Austin to Dallas on Saturday May 26, but that's really a "get on board, okay, now we're here" kind of flight. Maybe 40 minutes. In DFW, we wandered around trying to find somewhere to get a decent meal, saw a sign for au bon pain, but the item they advertised wasn't available. really? turkey cranberry spinach salad? 30 min wait? what? you lost the recipe, or what? anyway, we went to McDonald's, which did have an acceptable substitute salad for lunch. After lunch we pulled out mobile devices (aka checked facebook, email, etc) and decided the best strategy for the flight to Anchorage might be to obtain a suitable meal from a DFW food vendor to eat on the plane. I suggested we return to au bon pain, where maybe they'd found the recipe for the salad. We got there, found prepared salads, but they contained NO TURKEY. I had to tell the clerk that they needed to put some freakin' turkey in their Turkey Cranberry Spinach salad. We grabbed salads and bottled water for the flight to Anchorage.
Loooooooooooong (6+ hours) afternoon flight. We got up (disturbing Mr. Aisle seat) to go to the bathroom just to move a little.
Arrived in Anchorage late afternoon/early evening. Since I had my RiverCities 2010 luggage, it was easy to spot on the carousel and although Jody didn't see them yet, I spotted Kelly and Shannon looking for us! woo! few minutes later and we're heading to Kelly's house!
Greeted by 4-legged residents, we schlepped our bags down to the lower level. Let me just say, Kelly's house was so much like where I grew up, I really felt like I was home. And that's how they treated me. The whole time I was there, I felt like one of the family. Thanks to Kelly, Shannon, Kirk and Justin. Kelly had a gumbo on the stove but I had eaten my salad on the plane, so declined the gumbo. The evening was spent catching up, planning next day, etc.
Kelly had quite an action-packed schedule for us and it all worked out perfectly. Sunday morning (May 27): (here is where the Fitness Spa spoiling began) - woke up, went upstairs to fresh coffee. um... beautiful, cool weather. We all went for various distances of runs - for me, I chose the route that added on west of Bayshore on 100th. Runnning past the lake with seaplanes on my right, I started to wonder if I'd gone too far when I saw Kelly coming at me from the opposite direction! I knew I wasn't lost. somehow I thought I was supposed to be looking for a left turn NOT at Bayshore (so I went past) but AT Amber. Well, Amber doesn't cross there.... So a few min after I saw Kelly, I turned around and headed back. Found the right cross street and arrived back 'home'. run: 4.01 miles. OMG. So wonderful. No water! didn't die of heat stroke! FAST FAST times!
Once we all cleaned up, we headed to Acai Alaska http://www.acaiak.com/, where Kelly treated us to brunch!
yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm following that we headed to Downtown Bicycle rental http://www.alaska-bike-rentals.com/default.aspx where Peter helped Jody and I find a suitable bike for the week and he also ducked down the street to Saturday Market to get the jerseys/jackets we all wanted!
Well, I got a bike with functional gears and Jody got one with what? 3 functional gears? but that didn't stop her, of course.
We grabbed a few groceries on the way home (I found a realllly sweet Kale Salad mix) and Jody cooked up the bison gluten-free lasagna for dinner. YUM!
As I sank into my temporary room's bed for one more "night" (cause it don't get dark there!), I uploaded a couple photos and read a bit more of 'Curse of Lono' (borrowed from Steve).
Monday, May 28 - Memorial Day: woke up to the spa treatment again. Fresh Coffee, smoothie. Longer run (4.7 miles)- Shannon, Jody and I all decided to head to the southernmost 'scenic'overlook.
After lunch (Thanks, Shannon!), we headed out for hiking.
Since way too many people were hiking Flattop, we headed for Prospect Heights Trailhead. I think we took the Wolverine Bowl Trail.
This is where I'm glad I bought my Montrail shoes from @HillCountryRunning, because although it was cold and I splashed through water, my feet were fine.
On our way "home" from the Wolverine hike, Kelly stopped at a local market to get some salmon and HALIBUT to grill. OMG, what a way to celebrate Memorial Day. Fresh Grilled Halibut in Alaska. Doesn't get any better.......
Tuesday, May 29: woke again to spa treatment of fresh coffee and smoothie. Today's our first bike ride!! woooo!! Kelly drove all of us and bikes to Kincaid park and we rode all the way to Westchester Lagoon and back.
After our morning 18 mile ride, we put up the bikes, had lunch and headed to Eagle River for more hiking.
We did the Albert Loop 3 mile Trail, but I think Kelly was a bit disappointed we only got to see one yurt up close. Apparently there was another yurt near the river. Following the Eagle River hike we went a little further and hiked to Thunderbird Falls. Another very nice hike with beautiful destination!
Wednesday May 30 - This was the day Kelly decided we would hike Flattop.We hiked through snow several times and it was very mentally challenging so as not to slide/fall down the mountain, but we all made significant progress even if we didn’t reach the summit. Headed ‘home’ for lunch, picked up Shannon and took her to work and went ont to: Second attraction: Alaska Native Heritage Center Third attraction for us this day was the Alaska Zoo. Fun!!
May31 - Winner Creek Trail hike
As usual we had hot coffee and breakfast at Foster Central. Headed out to Alyeska for the Winner Creek Trail hike.
We hiked probably total of 2-3 miles, hard to tell in snow. Had coffee/snacks in Girdwood upon return.
"Vacation" part of this vacation: the Train Ride/Cruise
June 1 - up SUPEREARLY- out of the house by 5:45 to get on the train to Seward
In Seward we got on the boat for the Nature Cruise/lunch on Fox Island/whale sighting.
And then June 2 --- Sat am another run! our final one!!! 3.82 miles, plus 18.65 (cycling) miles with Kelly taking me to top of "Significant hill". After lunch, we picked up tshirts and ride numbers, then went downtown for Saturday Market but it wasn't much, I only bought a couple of food items and a t-shirt. Rest of the day was rather casual - Jody treated us to steak and potatoes for dinner!
June 3 - up early again, over to ride start with everyone except Justin. Jody, Kelly and Shannon were riding the 50k and I was riding the 100k. I brought lots of clothing but wore the custom jersey that Kirk's company had made for our team on the outside. Not sure who has the pix of us before the ride, hopefully they will show up.
Day started out a little cool, slight drizzle, but then turned out clear and beautiful. Most of the day I was out riding all by myself around Anchorage. On the "significant hill", there were a couple of guys who had walked up and were standing there watching me pedal all the way to the top. One said, "you make that look easy".. hee hee.. Kind of like a treasure hunt looking for the pink arrows. Got done in the early afternoon, we grabbed a Subway, back 'home' for showering and packing! Kelly & Shannon took us to the airport and off we went for the ovenight flight to DFW. I managed to catch a little sleep by listening to "Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast" on my MP3 player.. Monday was a strange kind of day because we arrived back home in the morning, but I hadn't slept much. Took a nap, then did a little shopping.
I am so grateful to the Fosters for being so welcoming to me. The whole trip was so enjoyable and thanks to Kelly's activity planning, I hadn't gained any weight!
Sure miss that cool weather....
Annette's Awesome Alaskan Adventure
I decided Alaska was on my 'bucket list' sometime in the past couple of years. Uncle Dave and Aunt Ruthy went there and had nothing but praise. Then, somehow, the person I adopted as my "Texas Mom" (Jody Kelly) mentioned the Tour de Cure team her daughter Kelly (who now lives in Alaska) put together for their 3 generations: Jody, Kelly and Shannon. Jody could not ride in TdC last year because she had a bike crash during a race that sent her to a surgeon and much physical therapy.
So, as I had adopted Jody for my Texas Mom, Kelly gave me info to join their Tour de Cure team for 2012. And I did. The only preparation I did was to register for the ride, prepare my TdC fundraising pages (both on TdC and at Dell) and book my flights back in Februrary.
That was it. Spring training (working out, being a Team Leader) and such didn't really afford much detailed planning. But, as I had "overplanned" my 50th birthday trip to Hawaii, I was only too happy to "underplan" my trip to Anchorage and hope Kelly's family didn't reject me on the spot.
I planned it so that Jody and I sat next to each other from Austin to Dallas on Saturday May 26, but that's really a "get on board, okay, now we're here" kind of flight. Maybe 40 minutes. In DFW, we wandered around trying to find somewhere to get a decent meal, saw a sign for au bon pain, but the item they advertised wasn't available. really? turkey cranberry spinach salad? 30 min wait? what? you lost the recipe, or what? anyway, we went to McDonald's, which did have an acceptable substitute salad for lunch. After lunch we pulled out mobile devices (aka checked facebook, email, etc) and decided the best strategy for the flight to Anchorage might be to obtain a suitable meal from a DFW food vendor to eat on the plane. I suggested we return to au bon pain, where maybe they'd found the recipe for the salad. We got there, found prepared salads, but they contained NO TURKEY. I had to tell the clerk that they needed to put some freakin' turkey in their Turkey Cranberry Spinach salad. We grabbed salads and bottled water for the flight to Anchorage.
Loooooooooooong (6+ hours) afternoon flight. We got up (disturbing Mr. Aisle seat) to go to the bathroom just to move a little.
Arrived in Anchorage late afternoon/early evening. Since I had my RiverCities 2010 luggage, it was easy to spot on the carousel and although Jody didn't see them yet, I spotted Kelly and Shannon looking for us! woo! few minutes later and we're heading to Kelly's house!
Greeted by 4-legged residents, we schlepped our bags down to the lower level. Let me just say, Kelly's house was so much like where I grew up, I really felt like I was home. And that's how they treated me. The whole time I was there, I felt like one of the family. Thanks to Kelly, Shannon, Kirk and Justin. Kelly had a gumbo on the stove but I had eaten my salad on the plane, so declined the gumbo. The evening was spent catching up, planning next day, etc.
Kelly had quite an action-packed schedule for us and it all worked out perfectly. Sunday morning (May 27): (here is where the Fitness Spa spoiling began) - woke up, went upstairs to fresh coffee. um... beautiful, cool weather. We all went for various distances of runs - for me, I chose the route that added on west of Bayshore on 100th. Runnning past the lake with seaplanes on my right, I started to wonder if I'd gone too far when I saw Kelly coming at me from the opposite direction! I knew I wasn't lost. somehow I thought I was supposed to be looking for a left turn NOT at Bayshore (so I went past) but AT Amber. Well, Amber doesn't cross there.... So a few min after I saw Kelly, I turned around and headed back. Found the right cross street and arrived back 'home'. run: 4.01 miles. OMG. So wonderful. No water! didn't die of heat stroke! FAST FAST times!
Once we all cleaned up, we headed to Acai Alaska http://www.acaiak.com/, where Kelly treated us to brunch!
yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm following that we headed to Downtown Bicycle rental http://www.alaska-bike-rentals.com/default.aspx where Peter helped Jody and I find a suitable bike for the week and he also ducked down the street to Saturday Market to get the jerseys/jackets we all wanted!
Well, I got a bike with functional gears and Jody got one with what? 3 functional gears? but that didn't stop her, of course.
We grabbed a few groceries on the way home (I found a realllly sweet Kale Salad mix) and Jody cooked up the bison gluten-free lasagna for dinner. YUM!
As I sank into my temporary room's bed for one more "night" (cause it don't get dark there!), I uploaded a couple photos and read a bit more of 'Curse of Lono' (borrowed from Steve).
Monday, May 28 - Memorial Day: woke up to the spa treatment again. Fresh Coffee, smoothie. Longer run (4.7 miles)- Shannon, Jody and I all decided to head to the southernmost 'scenic'overlook.
After lunch (Thanks, Shannon!), we headed out for hiking.
Since way too many people were hiking Flattop, we headed for Prospect Heights Trailhead. I think we took the Wolverine Bowl Trail.
This is where I'm glad I bought my Montrail shoes from @HillCountryRunning, because although it was cold and I splashed through water, my feet were fine.
On our way "home" from the Wolverine hike, Kelly stopped at a local market to get some salmon and HALIBUT to grill. OMG, what a way to celebrate Memorial Day. Fresh Grilled Halibut in Alaska. Doesn't get any better.......
Tuesday, May 29: woke again to spa treatment of fresh coffee and smoothie. Today's our first bike ride!! woooo!! Kelly drove all of us and bikes to Kincaid park and we rode all the way to Westchester Lagoon and back.
After our morning 18 mile ride, we put up the bikes, had lunch and headed to Eagle River for more hiking.
We did the Albert Loop 3 mile Trail, but I think Kelly was a bit disappointed we only got to see one yurt up close. Apparently there was another yurt near the river. Following the Eagle River hike we went a little further and hiked to Thunderbird Falls. Another very nice hike with beautiful destination!
Wednesday May 30 - This was the day Kelly decided we would hike Flattop.We hiked through snow several times and it was very mentally challenging so as not to slide/fall down the mountain, but we all made significant progress even if we didn’t reach the summit. Headed ‘home’ for lunch, picked up Shannon and took her to work and went ont to: Second attraction: Alaska Native Heritage Center Third attraction for us this day was the Alaska Zoo. Fun!!
May31 - Winner Creek Trail hike
As usual we had hot coffee and breakfast at Foster Central. Headed out to Alyeska for the Winner Creek Trail hike.
We hiked probably total of 2-3 miles, hard to tell in snow. Had coffee/snacks in Girdwood upon return.
"Vacation" part of this vacation: the Train Ride/Cruise
June 1 - up SUPEREARLY- out of the house by 5:45 to get on the train to Seward
In Seward we got on the boat for the Nature Cruise/lunch on Fox Island/whale sighting.
And then June 2 --- Sat am another run! our final one!!! 3.82 miles, plus 18.65 (cycling) miles with Kelly taking me to top of "Significant hill". After lunch, we picked up tshirts and ride numbers, then went downtown for Saturday Market but it wasn't much, I only bought a couple of food items and a t-shirt. Rest of the day was rather casual - Jody treated us to steak and potatoes for dinner!
June 3 - up early again, over to ride start with everyone except Justin. Jody, Kelly and Shannon were riding the 50k and I was riding the 100k. I brought lots of clothing but wore the custom jersey that Kirk's company had made for our team on the outside. Not sure who has the pix of us before the ride, hopefully they will show up.
Day started out a little cool, slight drizzle, but then turned out clear and beautiful. Most of the day I was out riding all by myself around Anchorage. On the "significant hill", there were a couple of guys who had walked up and were standing there watching me pedal all the way to the top. One said, "you make that look easy".. hee hee.. Kind of like a treasure hunt looking for the pink arrows. Got done in the early afternoon, we grabbed a Subway, back 'home' for showering and packing! Kelly & Shannon took us to the airport and off we went for the ovenight flight to DFW. I managed to catch a little sleep by listening to "Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast" on my MP3 player.. Monday was a strange kind of day because we arrived back home in the morning, but I hadn't slept much. Took a nap, then did a little shopping.
I am so grateful to the Fosters for being so welcoming to me. The whole trip was so enjoyable and thanks to Kelly's activity planning, I hadn't gained any weight!
Sure miss that cool weather....