This summer has been a whirlwind and I know it's been quite awhile since I've blogged about all the exciting things going on so I'm going to break it up into a couple posts... So rewind back to June and celebrating Emily's birthday. My good friend Emily is from the Carolinas and her husband Matt planned a birthday low country boil in their backyard, which are very popular at Clemson where they went to school. It was basically like the crawfish and shrimp boils that I'm familiar with in Texas, but with the addition of spicy sausage, yum! They boiled up shrimp, potatoes, corn, and sausage with some spices and it was all thrown onto a table covered in newspaper and cocktail sauce. It was quite tasty and a good way to bring the south up north and celebrate with Emily.
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| Emily's birthday low country boil |
We have had some fabulous weather days this summer, but they have been mixed between a few rainy days as well. Luckily it doesn't really downpour rain here in Alaska, so the misty rain isn't too terrible. But on the wonderful days, I feel guilty staying inside. So during the few weeks I haven't had visitors to spend my time with this summer, I made sure to get outside to take advantage of the nice weather! One of my favorite quick after work hikes is Flattop because it is only 15 minutes from my house and gives me a cardio boost and lovely views.
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| Weekday flattop hike |
I experienced my first Summer Solstice in Alaska on June 21, the longest day of the year! I moved up June 24, 2013 so I was a couple days late last year. The day started off with the Mayor's Half Marathon, which most of my friends ran in. So Erin, Erin, and I decided we would make a party of it since we weren't running. We made signs the night before and were troopers going out in ponchos to cheer on our friends. Despite the rain we had a great set up with a jammy pack playing some tunes and mimosas. It's far more fun to cheer people on running while a little tipsy than actually running a half marathon, I'd say we won there. We continued to celebrate the solstice with a free concert downtown by the Spin Doctors and dancing the night away downtown. I have to say I never saw the sun fully set, even by 2am!
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| Cheering in the rain |
One of the most interesting cultural experiences I've had in Alaska was a trip up to Barrow, the northernmost town in the USA. The villages up on the North Slope of Alaska practice subsistence hunting, meaning they hunt for food as a way of life. Therefore, they are the only ones allowed to kill whales for food. Every year they have whaling festivals in which the whole village gets together to celebrate the capture of their whales for the year. Part of my work project's permit requires us to bring up fresh fruits for these festivals, so I got to attend one this summer.
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| Barrow - Top of the US |
Essentially, the whole community sets up a tailgate of sorts and brings coolers and chairs and gather round for social time. The whaling captains divvy out the whale, always starting with the elders. They show so much respect for the elders in these villages, which is wonderful. They even get to board the planes first ahead of frequent fliers. The festival takes several hours as different whale parts are passed around (flippers, fins, blubber, skin). It is customary to taste each of the parts being passed around and then package away several portions in your cooler. Out of respect, I wanted to try everything, but little did I know that the first course was part of last years whale that has been fermenting in blood for a year. That was by far the toughest thing I've ever eaten!
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| Setting up the festival |
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| Year old fermented in blood whale |
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| Giving it a try |
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| Whale fin |
The festival was a lot of fun and the kids throughly enjoyed the blanket toss that was set up in the center of the crowd. The blanket toss is essentially a large animal hide that is sewn together which launches people in the air. Everyone gathers around and grips the ends of the hide and toss someone up, kind of like a trampoline. Historically this was used so the villagers could look out into the ocean and spot the whales, but now its just a traditional celebratory game. The people of Barrow were welcoming and appreciative of the fresh fruit we brought up. We stopped by the local grocery store after the festival and I quickly understood why, the prices were astronomical!
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| Blanket toss |
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| $18 fruits |
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| $19 orange juice |
We also toured around the village a bit and got to see some of the remnant whale bones as well as meet some of the local artists. Baleen is a very popular type of art found in lots of Alaskan homes. Its kind of like whale teeth since they filter the plankton. It's illegal to have baleen unless its been carved and signed by a native, since they are the only ones allowed to kill the whales.. similar to the rarity and special nature of ivory tusks. I'd say the wildest part of the trip is that the sun literally never set since we were so far north in the peak of summer, it just circled around the sky above us!
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| In Barrow with some of my coworkers |
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| Whale jaw bones |
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| Whale bones next to the Arctic Ocean |
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| Baleen aka "whale teeth" |
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| Decorative baleen |
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| Signs to cities around the world, Austin was on it! |
The same day I returned home from Barrow, I headed back to the airport to pick up my parents and Ryan! I was so excited to welcome them to my home and give them a taste of Alaska. We started off the weekend with a scenic river float down the Kenai River. We saw so many eagles it was unbelievable! The drive down to Kenai along the Turnagain Arm is one of the most breathtaking drives, so I always enjoy taking people just 10 minutes outside of Anchorage to get a glorious view of the mountains. On our way back to Anchorage, we stopped at the Wildlife Preserve for some bear, elk, and moose viewing, which is always a treat while they are safely behind fences.
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| Scenic drive down the Turnagain Arm |
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| Ryan with the Belugas |
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| Getting ready for our float |
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| Floating the Kenai River |
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| Eagle #1 |
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| Eagle #2 |
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| Eagle #100 |
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| Lots of fishermen lining the shore |
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| Big moose! |
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| Elk pack |
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| Caribou |
The next day we headed North up to Eklutna Lake for some hiking. It was a really pretty day with wonderful views of waterfalls, peaks, and the lake. I think everyone was getting a bit tired from all the walking we were up to.
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| Waterfall hike |
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| Feeling the water temps |
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| Taking in the views |
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| Lake Eklutna |
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| Parentals |
The next week while I was at work, they headed up to Denali via the train. Despite the cloudy weather, I think they still had some great scenery and wildlife sightings. Once they got back in town, I took my dad and Ryan up to Flattop. My dad made it up 3/4 of the way but decided to stop and enjoy the views of Mt McKinley while Ryan and I trekked up the rock scramble to the top. When we got back to the house, my mom had cooked us a divine feast of king crab legs, my favorite Alaskan meal!
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| Moose sighting on the way to Denali |
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| Flattop |
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| Halfway up overlooking Anchorage |
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| So many steps |
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| Up and up |
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| 3/4 of the way up |
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| Climbing up the final rocks |
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| Cheers at the top |
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| Exploring the 360 views from the top |
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| Very pretty |
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| Heading back down |
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| Crab crawl |
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| We made it here |
The next day we packed up and headed to Seward for the long 4th of July weekend. We stopped at the Exit Glacier, which is the only glacier in Alaska you can drive to. It's only about a half mile trek from the parking lot to get right up next to it! There are year markers along the drive and hike indicating how much the glacier is receding in about 20 year intervals. The glacial blue ice is so pretty to look at and it was really neat to see it so close.
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| Waterfalls from melting glaciers |
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| Exit Glacier |
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| Mom and me close to Exit Glacier |
Every 4th of July, Seward hosts the Mount Marathon race. The course is about 3 miles round trip up a 3000' mountain right in the middle of the city. It's so popular that there is a lottery to get a spot in the competition. This year Seward was experiencing record high temps (in the 70s). We were all loving the beautiful sunny day since we had great views of the runners racing up the mountain. The racers cross the finish line very muddy and sometimes with scrapes and cuts from the steep trail run. It's super impressive as the leaders finish in 30-40 minutes! After the race, my mom and I checked out some of the Seward shops and found a pie stand. That was the day I fell in love with rhubarb pie! I had no idea such a tart delicious treat existed and now I'm obsessed. Anytime I see rhubarb on the menu, it's going down. After the parade and festivities, we went back to the hotel for a delicious wine and cheese spread and to watch some soccer since the World Cup was happening at this time.
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| Mt. Marathon |
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| And the racers are off |
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| Here comes the winner |
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| Happy 4th of July from Seward, AK |
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| Beautiful day |
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| Yummy snack spread in the hotel |
We took a boat tour out of Seward that weekend as well. Ryan, dad, and I went early to do a little kayaking in the morning. We saw some porpoises, starfish, and got to explore the coast a bit. I kept looking over at Ryan and dad's kayak and I think Ryan was doing all the paddling while my dad was taking in the views :) My mom met up with us on a later boat and got to see some whales playing around in the water! Ryan, dad and I were really jealous since we didn't get to see the whales. The rest of the day we spotted tons of wildlife - sea lions, otters, seals, starfish, jellyfish, puffins, and a bunch of birds.
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| Sea kayaking crew |
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| Ryan and Dad kayaking |
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| Starfish at low tide |
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| Lunch break off the boat |
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| White and gray seals |
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| Playful otter |
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| Sea lions lounging |
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| Mom and me on the boat |
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| Penguin birds |
On the way back to Anchorage, we stopped near Portage to check out some more glaciers. We took a short hike with some beautiful fireweed flowers and even got to climb over some snow. It was a nice scenic end to our long weekend.
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| Fireweed blooming |
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| Walking to the glacier |
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| Cool tiered glacier |
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| Mom walking over the ice |
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| Hanging out by the glacier |
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| Glacier chunks falling off into the lake |
The rest of my family's time in Alaska was spent just hanging out, watching movies, playing board games, and taking some walks around my neighborhood. It was so nice getting to see them up here, especially when I feel so far away sometimes. My parents did a lot of handy work around the house for me too :) They fixed my stove, hung some curtains, planted some flowers, and hung a wind chime. They even cleaned up the house for the next round of visitors I had coming in 2 days. I'm spoiled sometimes!
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| Pretty hanging flowers |
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| New flower pot on the porch |
It was really sad to say goodbye to my family, so I kept myself busy by doing a few home improvements before my friend Katie arrived. I decided to paint the inside of my door leading to the garage. I had seen this idea on Pinterest since if you paint the inside of your door then you actually get to enjoy it from inside of the house which is way more often than the outside. I picked a bright blue to tie in with some of my artwork and to give a nice pop of color to bring cheer in the winter. More summer updates to come soon!
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| My new door |
