Unfortunately, I've been sick the past 2 weeks with either terrible allergies or just a bad cold, but I've finally been feeling better the past couple days to enjoy the weather here. Everyone keeps saying this summer has been incredibly rare and warm. In the morning its around 60 and warms up to the mid-upper 70s in the afternoon, which is amazing. There are some pesky mosquitos some places, so I try to make sure to spray OFF when I go outside which kind of stinks. But usually if I'm moving around its not a huge problem.
I had one noteworthy relocation milestone since my last update.. My car arrived to Anchorage ahead of schedule! I was so happy to finally have something that wasn't temporary about my current living situation. I've been enjoying driving it around and getting used to it, especially since I only had it for a few days in Houston before I had to turn it over to be shipped. I absolutely LOVE the sunroof, its by far my favorite feature! I open it up while I'm driving every time, unless its raining. Oh the little things :)
Let's see, the 4th of July was a little anti-climatic here. It's still so bright outside most of the time that fireworks aren't really a big deal. I was so sad about this because I absolutely LOVE fireworks, they are definitely one of my favorite things (just like my new car sunroof haha). But my mom sent me a link to some other firework shows in Alaska to make up for the fact that 4th of July doesn't really have them. So I have the Alaska State Fair to look forward to in September and the Iditarod dog race in March that both are supposed to have great firework shows!
In order to feel "American" on the 4th, Jason, Erin, and I ate some fabulous homemade Chik-fil-a nuggets and hash browns and made some delicious red, white, and blue sangria. And since Independence Day was not playing on TV here, we decided to have a Harry Potter marathon and lounge around since it was rainy and gross outside and I still was pretty sickly. Pretty good way to spend the day in my opinion.
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| Happy 4th of July - red, white, and blue sangria |
I finally started feeling better a couple days ago thanks to the allergy meds I've been taking, so maybe there is something in this clean mountain air I'm allergic too! How nuts after living in the polluted and pollenated air of Houston haha. Or maybe I'm feeling better because I discovered the most amazing thing at work... a deep freeze in the breakroom that is constantly stocked with ice cream!! They have the ice cream snickers bars, M&M cookie ice cream sandwiches, klondikes, and lots of other fruit bars and treats. This could get me in trouble for sure, but for now it's just pretty wonderful! Its right next to a fridge full of all types of drinks. So when I go for an ice cream I try to grab a V8 fruit juice as well to balance out and be healthy :)
I went on some of my first Alaskan jogs this past week along the tons of trails throughout the city and along the coast. It was so scenic that I felt I could keep running for so long! That's a big deal coming from me as I am not a runner. And I was being a total tourist that kept stopping to snap some photos cause it was so beautiful. The photos below don't even portray the lovely mountains and coastal views along the trails, but I still took a ton. I can't wait for my bike to get here to ride even further along the trails!
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| Westchester Lagoon - Freezes in the winter and becomes an ice skating rink |
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| More Westchester Lagoon views |
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| Chester Creek Trail |
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| Beautiful mountains reflected in the Lagoon |
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| Views of downtown Anchorage |
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| Ocean view |
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| Everything is so green and lush right now |
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| Such a lovely day for a run |
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| More mountains along the run |
There was a big group of folks that planned a hike this weekend along the Crow's Pass Trail and since I was finally feeling better I decided to join in. I got a new pair of hiking pants so I was all ready to go! However, it was a little scary when we pulled up and there was a sign saying that the trail was closed 15 miles in because a brown bear was feeding on a moose carcass. I'm still super terrified of bears, but we had a pretty large group and everyone says that the more people you have the safer it is cause bears will generally stay away from the noise. And we were only planning to go about 3-4 miles and turn around, so no bear encounters likely. I did have my bear spray clipped to my camelbak ready to go just in case!
The hike was essentially uphill the whole way for the first 3 miles with a little relief for a bit before we decided to turn around. I'm still not used to hiking uphill and am easily winded, especially since I've been so congested and sick. So I needed occasional pit stops, but thats ok cause I used my pit stops for photo snapping! Everything is so massive and scenic that I'm in awe pretty much always. It was overcast on Sunday when we did the hike, so we couldn't see the full mountain tops. However, the lower 3/4 that we could see was still so beautiful. We also got to see a family of mountain goats that were running all around the steep rocks, it was pretty crazy!
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| At the trailhead about to get started |
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| Just the beginning of the uphill burn |
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| A little overcast, but still beautiful |
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