When summer hits Anchorage, there is never a moment that you
can’t find SOMETHING to do. Especially with the sun being out practically
always, you could even catch a baseball game at 2 am. People (other people, not
me people) go camping and this thing I learned called “dipnetting”. Dipnet
fishing is basically having this big net and you go stand in the water and wait
for the fish to swim in your net and then you bonk them on the head (there is
probably more to it, but I pretty much got stuck on the bonking on the head
part.) I’ve pretty much been openish to trying things and experiencing new
things, however, there is something coming up that I will not be attending…The
Naked Bike Ride through downtown Anchorage. This is a real thing. This will be
happening at the end of August…on a Tuesday…MEANING that I will be driving
right through it on my way to work. So I have that to look forward to.
Something else that is happening at the end of August is that Obama is visiting
Anchorage. I think whoever schedules events in Anchorage missed a REAL
opportunity when they didn’t schedule these two things on the same day…
Every day I wish that Tennessee was closer to Anchorage.
I’ve gotten pretty used to feeling this. This past Friday, I added a new thing
that I wish was closer to Anchorage. That would be Kodiak, AK. Bryce, Lexi, and
sweet baby Cora have been on a month long journey moving to Kodiak. Bryce is in
the Coastguard and this is where they will be stationed. Bryce’s family goes to
my church at home and Bryce’s little sister, Lydia, is one of my favorite
people. They were making their stop in Anchorage and we got to meet up for
dinner at Bear’s Tooth. They had been lacking in adult conversation since being
on this long road trip and I love talking so it was basically a match made in
heaven! After dinner and saying goodbye,
I felt that it wasn’t fair that they were moving to Alaska, but they weren’t
moving to Anchorage. I even tried to get Bryce to see if they would move the
Coastguard here (I also asked if he would get to meet the Deadliest Catch
people, but the first question was way more important, which is big for me to
say) I have a feeling I will be visiting
Kodiak before my time in Alaska is up!
This weekend, Justin and I decided to go to Matanuska
Glacier. This glacier is located in between Palmer and Glenallen and is about
27 miles long and 4 miles wide (at least that’s what Wikipedia says so duh it’s
true). We stopped at the Palmer Ale House and ate a plate of cheese fries that
were as big as both of our heads put together; I don’t regret any of it either.
Then we continue on to mile marker 102. This drive is not
necessarily meant for people that get car sick, but it was so pretty! We
finally get there (it was a little over a 2 hour drive) and get parked and we
start towards the orange cones we are supposed to follow to get to the glacier.
Let me paint you a picture of what is going on….
I am wearing a T-shirt, yoga Capri pants, and Keds. My
husband is wearing gym shorts, a pullover and tennis shoes. Now, no part of
this sounded concerning to me as we were getting dressed that morning, but as
we are walking towards the cones in the parking lot, I notice people unpacking
LEGIT equipment: harnesses, ropes, spikey shoes, poles, and helmets. HELMETS
PEOPLE. I start this weird nervous laugh thing that I do and it only grew worse
as people in snow jackets started walking out. Justin then tried to encourage
me by saying, “Anna, we are gonna be fine, we are from Tennessee!” BECAUSE
EVERYONE IN TENNESSEE KNOWS HOW TO HIKE A GLACIER. Nope. I wasn’t encouraged,
but I followed him anyways. I even followed him when he veered away from the
orange cones because “going over the glacier is way cooler than going around
the glacier”. We slowly actually make it up on top of this one peak, and I have
to say, it was so cool. We are taking pictures and I’m telling jokes like
“Think of how much sonic ice we could make outta this” (because I’m funny and
Justin loves my jokes……).
This is “sunbathing in Alaska”.
Yes, my clothes got cold and wet taking this picture, but
it’s a sacrifice I made for my blog…
Here I was thinking I was drinking the freshest of the fresh
glacier water straight from the glacier, then my husband says after taking 15
pictures, “yea I just spit in that water”…………………….
When all the pictures had been taken and our hats had flown
off a few times, Justin said it was time to climb down.
Y’all may have thought about going DOWN the glacier at the
beginning of this story, but let me tell you, that was the first time I
realized that I would have to CLIMB DOWN! Which, think about it, seems
ridiculously dangerous. At one point, I was crouched over and told Justin that
I was just gonna wait for it to melt. Which his loving response to that was,
“Ok but you would die before that happens.” Soooooo I weighed my options of
starving to death or risking my neck going down the glacier and let’s be
honest, I like food way too much to let that happen, so I started walking.
Obviously you are reading about this now, so you know I
survived! When we were done, and I thought about all those people wearing
helmets and boots, I wanted to run up to one of them and say, “Boo ya! I just
did that without a helmet you big baby” and maybe even head butt them, but I am
a polite Southern woman and I would never act like that……
After that, we just drove home and I found out that my
husband puts the raw macaroni noodles in the water before it boils where I put
them in after it boils. What is this madness I live in?
Always,
Anna
