The next day, my brother made me run up it...26 minutes.
So we were not really "in town" at this point but in an army training area where my brother Matt was taking us to a secret cable/rope bridge that crossed a gorge. Luckily, he brought along his gun, so I felt a little safer.
On our way to the gorge, I thought I saw a fox up ahead and realized it was a bear cub. Now this is the first sign that danger is a real possibility (and sane people would go ahead and leave the area). If you see a cub, you will most likely see its mother close by and they are very protective of their babies. Matt, the now "crazy" brother in my opinion, told us to keep going and just make a lot of chatter. We passed the place we saw the cub without incident.
On our way back from the gorge, in the exact spot we saw the cub, I looked back to check on Ethan and cousin Josh and saw not the cub this time, but the mother bear (this means we actually walked right pass the blasted bear!). We quickly told the boys to catch up with us. Matt took out his shot gun as we stood still to see what the bear might do. You can see from the pictures, that the bear was actually rather close to us (and they can move fast). It crossed the street and then slowly started walking toward us...and then thankfully, walked back into the woods.
Now I need to find a moose...a bit safer.
We arrived in Anchorage on Friday afternoon and headed straight to the mountains in search of moose. Although we haven't spotted one yet (of course Grandma and Matt saw a family of them moments after we departed ways at lunch), we have not given up hope and the search for moose (as well as bear) will continue. Hours after arriving in Alaska, Grandpa and Calvin headed for the golf course and were not seen until later that evening. And the following day, they left again and rumor has it, they played 27 holes. That is why Ethan is my model for most of these pictures.
This is a photo from Grandma and Pops backyard (this shot is taken a few miles down after a little bike ride with Ethan). They live right on the inlet and I have so many memories of playing here. There are now tons of houses where we used to explore, build fires and spend endless amounts of time hanging (boo!). Ethan is holding a crystal he purchased at the famous Saturday Swap meet held each week down town for all of the tourists. There were vendor after vendor of everything from gold nuggets for purchase to reindeer sausage (I tried Ruldoph and wasn't impressed)!
This is cousin Liz (Matt and Tiffanie's little girl). She is 5 and is actually lifting Ethan off the ground...One tough cookie. He has had a blast hanging with his cousins and is lucky enough to have one his age, Josh! Ethan says Josh is his best friend in Alaska. Josh says Ethan is his top 5 best friend in the world.
Here is Grandma posing under Flat top moments before Calvin accidently hit him in the arm with a rock. Boys...
My biggest thrill so far was watching my brother and sisnlaw, race. My brother was the one that got me into marathons (and coached me through my first race). He conquered the marathon years ago, with a PR of 2:38 and moved on to new challenges. It was biking that he took up next and is now one of Anchorage's top bikers. He holds every record in the area (except maybe one). Tiffanie, is also one of the top racers. Just a few weeks ago, she road in a century ride (100 miles) and came in first place, breaking the previous record.
So as you can see, I was so excited to see them in all of their biking glory (and quite "Cirque de Solei" type outfits). The race was hilly and a total challenge both Matt and Tiffanie had some tough competition. Matt and Neil pulled away from the pack early on gaining a 1:45 minute lead on the other expert riders. In the end, after an exciting photo finish (and the finish was located at the top of a very steep incline), Matt let the other guy have the glory (come on, Neil's girlfriend and mom were there).
Tiffanie too had a super race, keeping up with not only the top ladies, but many of the guys! She never looked tired and kept looking stronger. She powered up the last final crest of the hill and got an impressive 2nd place finish.
Love those outfits!
More Ak fun to come so stay tuned.
Yesterday was the first day all summer we had everyone free from commitments. Garth and I started brain storming all the various options (always those that are realitively cheap) of fun things we could all do as a family. On Friday, I went biking with my good friend Jamie. We were talking about our weekend plans and he invited us to his father's place on the Potomac River. What a perfect day! Thanks Jamie, Kimmy and Jim!
I never realized how wide the river actually was! Here are some of the kids getting aboard the boat for their first ever ride! They were so excited.
The kids love this little hammock.
Ashton ended up insisting (through his ability to scream) on being next to Captain Jim in the front seat the whole time.
Sommer posing on some rocks on the shore.
Have you ever wondered why they are called "blue crabs?" Well, here is your answer...they are actually blue. A few crabs ended up washing ashore (with a few other gross things), making Ethan and Tate's day.
For dinner we had crabs. Here is Jamie giving us all a lesson on how to actually eat these rather small creatures. The hammering part was Ethan's favorite. He was the only kid that ended up eating crab.
Tate was enthralled but refused to eat the crab meat (but a hotdog: no problem).
It starts out with the usual, "pick your nail color." We found our perfect pink and had a seat.
Behind our big smiles were a bit of nerves beginning to brew as we anticipated the next step to our adventure.
So it began. We were instructed to place out feet in a tank of cool water. Hundreds of tiny carp then began to nibble away at our feet. I held fast to Joanna as the unusual sensation of fish attacking my feet about put me into a frenzy. Joanna was a bit more ticklish and nervously giggled as areas of more fish congragated along the inside of her feet. I didn't dare look at my own feet as the whole idea set me into a small inner panic. With my disgusting runner's feet, I knew mine would definitely give the fish something to attack...and sure enough, they were satisfied.
After a while though (the process is 15 minutes), I relaxed and started to enjoy the tickle, the biting, the whole unique experience.
Here are a few pictures of the happy fish, doing what they do best...or so they say.
Thank you Joanna for such a special birthday surprise!
