Alaska with the Family!!

My parents and brother came up to visit a few weeks ago and we had such a great time! We all met up in the Anchorage airport and went to dinner and straight to bed. The next morning we drove down to Seward which is on the Kenai Peninsula. In Seward we hiked to Exit glacier, we to the Sea Life Center and went on a boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. On the tour we saw a ton of wildlife like killer whales, eagles, sea lions and humpback whales. We also saw a calving glacier into the ocean which was spectacular. After the tour we drove down to Homer which is on the other side of the peninsula. In Homer we did some sea kayaking and just checked the place out. After Homer, we drove all the way up to Denali National Park and spent a few days there. We took a bus 66 miles into the park and saw a lot of wildlife including grizzly bears! We did a short hike out there and rode the bus back. After a few days in Denali, we drove up to Fairbanks where I was able to show my parents where I lived and worked. We took a trip out to Chena Hot Springs. They were also able to meet Justin which was a lot of fun. It was a fantastic trip and we were all really sad when it ended! I have plane tickets to go back to Maine in August for just over a week so I am really excited about that!! Below are a few pictures from our trip but total we took about 1,700 so there is no way to post them all!!

All of us on the boat tour!

Us in Seward

Us in Denali!

Joel and I in front of the famous Salty Dawg bar!

Joel and I sea kayaking

My parents at Portage Glacier

Mom and Dad in front of the glacier on the boat tour

Some sheep we saw in Denali on a hike

I hope you enjoy the pictures! If you want to see more, I have posted a lot more on facebook and can be seen at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2295330&id=5800348&l=225b527047 and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2295335&id=5800348&l=58d2c91446 .

I will hopefully have more exciting things to post about shortly!

Denali National Park in May

Last weekend Emily, Justin, Ben and I took a trip down to Denali National Park. We saw three moose, a bunch of ptarmigan and a lynx!! Thankfully we didn't run into any bears, but we had the bear spray ready!! The weather didn't end up being the greatest the second day...we ended up running into some rain/blizzard showers (somehow I think that is the best way to describe). We did a short hike up a small mountain. We were able to drive about 30 miles into the park. When the park is fully open, cars can only go about 14 miles into the park and you have to take a bus into the rest of the park, so it was cool being able to drive!

Emily heads back to the east coast tonight :(. We went out for a really nice dinner at the Chena Pump House last night for a "cousin date". I am certainly going to miss having her up here...we had a great month together!! :) Here are some pictures from this past weekend in Denali...

Em and I setting up the tent

Em and Justin by the river with huge pieces of ice

Em and I trying to stay warm

Ben and I enjoying our delicious Hobo Dinners we made!

Em and I at mile 30

Snow!

Justin!

Em and I finally wore our "I'm with cousin" shirts! :)

Anchorage with Moy

Last weekend Emily and I took a weekend trip down to Anchorage and it was AMAZING! We flew down Friday morning and hopped in our rental car and drove about an hour to the Portage Glacier. It was beautiful but we couldn't really see any of the glaciers because everything was covered in a blanket of snow still. Then we went through a 2.5 mile long tunnel through a mountain to Whittier which is a very small fishing town on Prince William Sound. On Saturday we went for a hike up Flattop mountain which was insanely beautiful and unlike any mountains in Maine. The stretch up to the top was very steep and covered in snow and so to go back down we slid on our bums for quite some time! Sunday we rented bikes downtown and biked along the Coastal Path for about 2o miles. I attached a bunch of pictures for your viewing pleasure...but they are in reverse order.

A moose we saw on our bike ride.

My rockin outfit on our bike ride! I was warm at least!

Em and I out for a nice dinner at the Glacier Brewhouse!

Looking up after sliding down

Em pointing to where we hiked up on the left and slid down on the right! So fun!

Emily and I at the top of Flattop Mountain

Em and I in Whittier

Em with Whittier behind her.

At Portage Glacier

Portage Glacier

Anchorage was a lot of fun and we were very lucky to have such wonderful weather! This weekend it is raining so we are taking it easy. The sky is still light at 11pm now which makes it hard to go to bed when your head is telling you it is a lot earlier than it really is!

Em is Here!!!!!

Emily came in April 9th and we have been having a blast!! She works during the week and I have classes but we have gotten together almost every day to do dinner and hang out! She has a checklist of things to do in Fairbanks from one of her friends and we have already made a pretty big dent on it! We went to North Poler her first weekend here and saw the reindeer. We've mostly gone to the food places but this past weekend we took a drive out to Chena Hot Springs along with Justin. We did a 3 1/2 mile hike and then went and relaxed in the hot springs! It was very relaxing!! This coming weekend we are flying down to Anchorage which should be fun! The weather is calling for snow and rain but we are going to make the best out of it no matter what!! I'll have to get some rain boots before we leave!

Bag #4 - Sent to my friend Ben's mom!! :)

The inside with pocket

North Pole Em's first weekend here! No Santa though :(

At the top of Angel Rocks...the hike we did near Chena! It was a very warm day!

On our way back down...I was unaware we were really starting a snowball fight but we sure had one!!

Just a few days!

So the biggest news that I have is that my cousin Emily will be here on Friday and I am sooooo very excited to have her here!! As Memere said, Alaska will never be the same!

I had a really good Easter. I was able to skype with both sides of the family which were some of the highlights of my day! Justin and I cooked a big ham dinner and a nice relaxing day. Also this weekend, I went to a Roller Derby and below is one of the pictures from it.

I finished my third bag and posted a couple pictures of it below. The next one I make is for my friend Ben's mother!

Besides that, not much has been going on. I am just really looking forward to having Emily here!! There is soooo much sun now and it keeps getting brighter! The temperatures have gotten up to about 50F and it is bright out until about 10pm!

Roller Derby

Justin and I with our Easter feast!

Me on campus...there are huge mountains behind me but they don't come out on camera!

We colored Easter eggs and of course I marked one!

My third bag!

Inside with the pocket

This weekend Justin, Ben and Ben's friend from home and I went out to Chena Hot Srings and rented a little cabin for a night. It reminded me a lot of the Maine Outing Club cabin at Sugarloaf since it had no running water or electricity and the lights and stove were run off propane. We went on a walk along the Chena River as the sun was setting, played some cards and relaxed in the hot springs!

Sun setting on the Chena River

ME!

Justin inside the cabin

Me outside the cabin!

Ice Sculptures

Spring is coming in Fairbanks!! It is finally warm enough out to be outside and when the sun is out it is WARM even though the temperatures are in the 30's.

I had my first full committee meeting this morning and it went really well. I received a lot of input about my project. I have a woman from Vermont who specializes in geosciences and soils and a man who specializes in tree growth.

This past week a few friends and I went to check out the World Ice Championships. Even though the sculptures were already judged, they were open for public viewing. There was also a big ice slide which was a lot of fun! We went back at night and all of the sculptures were lit up which was really cool. I posted a lot of pictures on Facebook so if you have access to that I would highly recommend checking them out! If not, I posted some below.

Last night my indoor lacrosse intramural team won the championships! We played an all male team with not a lot of skill but a lot of athleticism and poor sportsmanship. We put them in their place and won by one point!

Scorpion stinging a spider

First place for multiblock...tropical sea fish!

Moses

Playing on the kid's sculptures!

The ice slides!

An Igloo!

Sculpture at night

The slides at night!

Got my green for St. Patty's Day!

This weekend I am headed out to Chena Hot Springs with a few friends and I am really looking forward to it!