Denali National Park

The first big adventure of our trip was Denali National Park. We were so excited about this part of our trip that we gave it almost 5 full days and did not disappoint in the least. It seems like most people who travel to Alaska just take a cruise, but I can't tell you enough how amazing the rest of the state is. Denali is only a few hours from Anchorage and truly a must-see to get a real sense of the Alaskan wilderness.
Denali National Park is named for Mt McKinley, which is called 'Denali', meaning 'the great one' in the native language. The park covers over 6 million acres, but there is only ONE road to the interior. Did you hear that, just one 90-mile road. In 6 million acres. Can you imagine that? Literally, as far as the eye can see, there is no one, save the chance backpacker. The road is like this tiny slit cut into the vast land to give us a peak, but just a peak, at the secrets it holds. (OK, this is getting a little too deep for even me. But I loved it, ok? Moving on...)

The system they have for park visitors is really ingenious. Generally speaking, you can't drive your own car into the park. Instead, they have a system of shuttle buses. Picture below - pretty sweet, eh? ...eh? Well, they'll do. But it's so nice not having the roads clogged up with everyone's cars. The buses will stop for any wildlife you spot, so there's plenty of picture taking opportunities. You can also get off anywhere you want, and then just hop on any other bus that comes by later. Really, any random spot along the road you'd like to get off is fair game. There are almost no hiking trails in the park, they encourage people to spread out and hike whereever you'd like with the goal of not creating trails. Amazing.

We camped the first night at the park entrance, and then the next 3 nights at Wonder Lake, which is around mile 85 of the 90 mile road. During those days we'd catch the bus early in the morning and ride towards the entrance. Then at some random awesome looking spot we'd get off, get ourselves lost, and hopefully find our way back to the road before the last bus heading into the park drove past. It was a little annoying making sure we were at the road at the right time, since the later buses were a little sparser (since the majority of the people are headed the opposite direction by that time of day), but other than that it was a really great system.

The picture below is Wonder Lake. On a clear day, you'd be able to see Denali (Mt. McKinley) in the distance, reflected in the lake. I do have some "clear day" pictures of the mountain, but I'll save that for another post. Don't want to spoil the surprise!

The next picture is the view from our campsite. I think we were making dinner when we spotted this rainbow off in the distance. It was a little weird how it stayed light for some many hours of the day. There were only something like 4 hours of darkness every night, and I know I slept through them every night we were camping! I was so exhausted after the days' activities.

Just so gorgeous.... You don't get this kind of view from a cruise ship.

Anchorage

I wanted to blog a little more in depth about our trip to Alaska, so it seems like the best place to start would be our physical starting place - Anchorage. Granted, we were only there for about 18 hours total. And I have almost no pictures. But I'll give you what I got, practical, fun, or otherwise.

First, renting a car in Alaska. This was a huge expense. Not only did we want a minivan for 10 days, but we also wanted it to be a oneway rental. You can imagine how not cheap that was. The oneway rental was because our cruise was leaving from Seward, so we wanted to drop the car off there. There are several train or bus options between Anchorage and Seward, but in the end that wasn't practical for us.

There are 2 main things we did to save money on the car. One, I joined AAA for their 15% discount at Hertz. Yes this rental was expensive enough that the money saved more than covered the cost of membership. Two, we didn't rent from the airport in Anchorage (see you knew I had to tie this in to Anchorage eventually). Here's the secret - Hertz has another rental office a mere 10 minutes away from the airport. They close at 5pm, but as long as your plane arrives before then, just hop in a quick cab and go pick up your car there. We saved over $600 from this alone. Not bad for a $20 cab ride.

Here's where we stayed - the Arctic Adventure Hostel. At less then $50 a night for a room for two, this was a great deal compared to other options in Anchorage. True, the bathroom was shared, but I'll tell you I've stayed at a lot of hostels and I had absolutely no complaints about this one. The people who ran it were super friendly, and even offered us some bear spray and fuel for our camp stove that other guests had left behind.

Meet Dave. Dave is a buddy who travelled with us on this trip. (There were 5 total, plus my family joined us later for the cruise.) You see that shirt Dave is wearing? Can you make out what it says? Let me tell you - Snow City Cafe. Seriously, best. breakfast. ever. If you are ever in Anchorage, please please go there for breakfast. Then take pictures so I can drool all over my keyboard in envy. Or maybe not.

Alaska

Alaska has always held a special appeal for me. When I was younger it seemed to be a land of mystery, a land of adventure. Anything could happen there; it was so far away, you could be anyone you wanted. My best friend and I even made up secret identities who were always getting into mischief together in Alaska. Maybe it something about the fact that it's not connected to the rest of the United States. Or maybe it's all that snow that fascinated a Florida girl, born and raised.
To say that it was breathtaking, is in a word, cliche. But also so true. It was just so... vast. Denali National Park was incredible. Wildlife (bears, eek!) spotting was fun, though the numbers certainly didn't compare to Yellowstone. But the expanse, the emptiness... the land was untouched, the way you imagine this world was supposed to be.

We had the chance to go flightseeing, to see areas of this earth that no man has walked on. to see paths carved out by glaciers that were so perfect, so pristine. Glaciers that may not even exist 30 years from now.

And the other adventures - hiking, kayaking, fishing, glacier trekking... There was so much to do. We were completely exhausted by the end of the trip but it was worth it!

Then of course, we took a cruise. It was nice to have a little bit of relaxing at the end. To be a little pampered with the fancy dinners and room stewards who cleaned your room not once but twice a day!

We loved it all. We already have a list of things we want to see and do the next time we get a chance to go. I do believe our next trip won't include a cruise though. There is just too much to see in Alaska to spend so much time sitting around a pool on a boat. Alaska is about being outdoors. It's about pushing yourself to try things you couldn't at home, about enjoying the undending beauty. It's a land of mystery and adventure.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Planes

whew. I have been a travelling fool for the past month. First, we took a trip to Alaska for a glorious 18 days, which was awesome by the way, and I will hopefully be blogging quite a bit about it soon. Next, I went to Denver for work 2 weeks in a row. This is the first week that I will actually be at home all week in over a month. Man, I'm exhausted just thinking about it again. I mean, I love Denver and all, but 2 quick work trips with barely any breathing time in between? It's not all that.

But, a few good things did come out of these couple work trips. First, for the first time in my life, I am now actually a Premier flyer on United. What does that mean, exactly? Well for one, I can sit in the "Economy Plus" section of the plane - basically in the front, with a few more inches of leg room. So for someone short like me, it doesn't really make a big difference, except that I feel so much more special sitting there hehe. I can also check a bag for free, although when travelling for work that fee would get reimbursed anyway. So really, there's not much change, but somehow I feel like my life is more complete now. Or something like that. Maybe I have a problem...

Second, this last trip earned me enough miles to get a free ticket. That is a pretty self explanatory yay! Our goal is to use that to fly Darren out to CA in December when I am out there for (you guessed it) work. Unfortunately it is so hard to plan ahead because the launch could get delayed by a few days, or even months, you just never know. But still, free flights always make me happy :)

Trains

Yeah I don't really have anything to say about trains. My husband has an unhealthy obsession with them. That's about it.

Automobiles

My car was acting up recently. I don't know how to say it other than while driving, I would randomly loose the power to accelerate. The engine would still be on, but it was like the car was in idle, and would just coast along, no matter how hard I pushed on the gas pedal. So I'd pull over, turn the car off, turn it back on, and everything was fine in the world again, until of course it decided to do a repeat performance every few miles down the road.

But this was my 2006 Toyota! not my cringe-inducing Saturn (*worst car ever*). I was distraught, to say the least. But what I discovered is that having car problems is not nearly as bad when you are married. Especially when your husband works at the same place as you. There's no more worrying about getting rides everywhere. No more worrying about how long it will be in the shop. I was fully prepared to drop it off for a week or more, cause you know, I kinda like having Darren drive me around everywhere. :)

So I dropped it off at the dealership Sunday afternoon, a little nervous about the cost. I got a call about an hour later saying they had found the problem, and I could come pick it up. errm, what? What about fixing it, how much is this going to cost me? Do I need to put back all these nice plants I have in my cart because I'm now broke due to car repairs? No! apparently it was just a computer problem that is covered under my warranty! What, I have a warranty? Um, I mean of course I do. (I had no idea, really. I bought the car used, after all.)

So now my car is fixed and my bank account is completely unaffected! Except, of course, for all the lovely plants we bought for the front yard. once we get the mulch in i'll take some pictures!

Tennis

I've never been a sporty girl. I was in the marching band, not on the soccer team. I was in the girl scouts, not playing softball. And so on. So I feel a little behind when it comes to playing even casual games with friends. I usually suck, which is where everyone starts out, right? But most other people have gotten past the sucking stage by this point in life. It's very discouraging.

Darren and some of his coworkers having started playing tennis after work once a week. He's been telling me every week that I should give it a try, so I finally decided why not? First, I needed a tennis racket. We went to Walmart, and he was trying to tell me all about how to pick one that was the right size for me and everything else. But I saw this and I decided based purely on the fact that it was pink and "cute" that this was my new tennis racket. What can I say, sometimes cuteness is more important than random facts that I don't understand. :)

Playing was actually pretty fun. I did suck. Definitely sucked. But that was ok. I had the most fun when we were just hitting it around, practicing, with no real rules. But playing an actual game was ok too, although it seems like 90% of the time that I hit the ball it went out of bounds. But I had some good moments, too, and that might be enough to get me back again next time. It was definitely a good workout - lots of quick sprints back and forth on the court, but time to relax in between too, especially since we were playing doubles. I think I'll take this over going to the gym, even if I am terrible at it. I can only get better, right?

I'm not the only reader in the house

I caught it on film (can you really say that if it's digital?) My husband, reading. Isn't he cute? Really he's just reading the guide book for Alaska, trying to make some plans for our trip, but he's still cute. (We really need to change the color on the walls, stat.)


Below: I'm learning what "aperture" means. Definitely having fun with it.

Dinner a la francaise

I am a recipe googler. I have a cabinet full of cookbooks, but 95% of the time I pull out the laptop to find my next menu. I think it has to do with finding multiple versions of the same thing and tweaking them to what sounds good to me. Or maybe I'm just the byproduct of a generation that doesn't know what the printed word actually looks likes and can only function with a mouse and keyboard. (Naw, can't be that... right?) Anyway, what's a girl to do when she has to cook dinner for a large group of peolpe and the internet has been down for several days??

Pull out the cookbook, I suppose. *gasp* I decided to find my meal in the pages of one of the first cookbooks I ever owned - Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten. Really, I shoud do this more often, because the food was sooo good. But who am I kidding, with so many excellent recipe sites and food blogs at my fingertips, I could never give that up completely.

Dinner was Croque Monsieur sandwiches - a true french staple, basically a fancy grilled cheese. (put an egg on top and it's called a Croque Madame.) Sides were a potato gratin (the recipe was for zuchinni, but I had to make some changes, right?) and haricots verts (green beans). The real star of this meal was the Gruyere cheese. It has a real rich yummy flavor and really takes me back to my summer in Provence. The family I lived with used this cheese all the time. It's kind of expensive; I've found (at Publix at least) that getting it from the deli counter is cheaper than buying it from the fancy cheese case. I just had them cut of a half pound chunk rather than slicing it, and then I grated it at home. I also only used about half the gruyere the recipe called for, 1. because that's all I could afford, and 2. because it does have such a powerful flavor. I substitued mozzarella for the other half of the cheese only because I happened to already have some at home.

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups) (I substituted mozzarella for half the gruyere)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread
Dijon mustard 8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Zucchini (Potato) Gratin
(I made mine with potatoes, but I'm including Ina's original recipe with my changes.)

Ingredients

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping
1 pound yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large)
2 pounds zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini) (substitute 2 pounds potatoes)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup hot milk
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Gruyere (again, I substituted mozzarella for half the cheese)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

(First, I boiled the whole potatoes for approzimately 20 minutes, then sliced them.)

Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) saute pan and cook the onions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini (potatoes) and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.

Combine the bread crumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.

Haricots Verts (French String Beans)

Ingredients

1 pound French string beans, both ends removed
Kosher salt
1 red onion, large-diced
1/2 red pepper, large-diced
1/2 yellow pepper, large-diced
Good olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Blanch the string beans in a large pot of boiling salted water for just 4 minutes. Drain immediately and immerse in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When they are cool, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl toss the onion and bell peppers together with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, tossing with a spatula from time to time to be sure the vegetables roast evenly.

Just before serving, reheat the string beans in a large saute pan drizzled with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and arrange on a platter. Spoon the roasted vegetables over the string beans and serve hot or at room temperature.

50 Books

I love to read. Loooooove it. When I was a kid I read all the time, sometimes I'd even get into trouble for reading too much. As I got older, I got busier, and the reading slowed down. By the time I got to college, I pretty much had to eliminate reading for fun. Mostly because when I get hooked on a book, I won't do anything else until I'm done. This proved to be not very compatible with my classload. Now, I'm not in school anymore, I have a little more free time on my hands, and I'm rediscovering my love for books.

One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to read 50 books in that time. I have no idea if this is a reasonable goal, if it will be really easy, or unattainable. But it sounded like a good fun number, so there ya go! I will keep track of everything I have read since June 11, 09 here.

1. Taking Lottie Home by Terry Kay
2. High Five by Janet Evanovich
3. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
4. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
5. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
6. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
7. The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve
8. Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

101 in 1001

I've seen this idea floating around for a while now: 101 Things to do in 1001 Days. About a month ago, during a boring day-long meeting with no internet access, I decided to make my own list. And put in a decent effort at completing it. Some of the goals are a little silly, some quite serious. There are 1 or 2 that you might even say I have no control over. A few have random durations assigned to them, not because that's all I want to accomplish, but rather to define a measurable goal that can lead to habit changes.

The list was started on June 11, 2009, so I'm going to count that as my starting point. A few items have been tweaked since then, and I reserve the right to do a little more tweaking in the future. It's my list so I can do whatever I want :) Anyway, my 1001 days end March 8, 2012.

First, some basic info about the idea, then my list.

The Mission:Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Finished (2 of 101)
In Progress
Not started

1. Create a website for spachulas
2. Be hired for an event by someone we don’t know
3. Create a wedding album
4. Renovate the bathrooms
5. ‘finish’ unpacking
6. Go to Africa
7. Start volunteering somewhere
8. Read a nonfiction historical book
9. Eat dinner at home every day for 2 weeks
10. Tell my grandparents I love them
11. Write a letter and mail it each month. (0 of 33)
12. Weigh less than my husband
13. Finish crocheting my blanket
14. Knit gifts for everyone at Christmas
15. Learn to knit in the round
16. Learn how to shoot in manual mode on my camera
17. Take a romantic weekend trip with my husband
18. Repaint the living room
19. Make a lease for our renters
20. Run in another 5k
21. Sign up for a class at a community college
22. Take a bubble bath with wine
23. Go on a backpacking trip
24. Move the piano to our house
25. Go to church every weekend in a month
26. Plant a garden
27. Make salsa solely from the garden
28. Start TTC, or at least have a plan
29. Relearn Rachmaninoff
30. Get a business license
31. Get employee of the month
32. Finish the FAS model project
33. Lead an ERB
34. Buy a suit
35. Learn 5 new crock pot recipes
36. Go on a 20 mile bike ride
37. Track food in sparkpeople for 1 month
38. Finish a new cross stitch
39. Go on a US vacation each year
40. Go swimming in the ocean
41. Buy disability insurance
42. Sneak into a movie
43. Read 50 books (8 of 50)
44. Blog more regularly – 50 new posts (4 of 50)
45. Write a comment to every friend on facebook
46. Apply for something
47. Have a board game night
48. Host a mystery dinner
49. Help someone else move
50. Give away something that I could’ve sold
51. Get my car windows tinted
52. Learn to make a roux
53. Use coupons every week for a month
54. Pick 5 charities to donate to each year
55. Sing in the shower
56. Make my own cheese fries
57. Go to the gym twice a week for 2 months
58. Take a walk in the rain
59. Build a snowman
60. Hike on a glacier
61. Pray in 15 different churches
62. Read 5 books of the bible
63. Reassess the market and selling my house
64. Whiten my teeth
65. Visit 2 friends out of state
66. Go to the everglades
67. Go to lakeridge winery
68. Sing Christmas carols
69. Get money back for Portugal tiles
70. Take new pictures in my wedding dress
71. Learn to sew
72. Make a scrapbook from old pictures
73. Learn 5 ways to cook fish
74. Try 5 new restaurants around our house
75. Blow up and frame wedding photos
76. Watch my husband’s top 5 favorite movies
77. Take my brother to the movies
78. Go on vacation with in-laws
79. Make cookies from scratch
80. Take a road trip
81. Get up early to go garage sale-ing
82. Have matching aprons made
83. Assemble 24 cookbook
84. Teach Penny to use litter box in garage
85. Make cute baby gift for friend’s new baby
86. Go to a UF football game
87. Renovate the florida room
88. Get 6 new stamps in my passport
89. Get 2 more astronaut signatures (1 of 2)
90. Try 5 foods I’ve never tried before
91. Listen to a book on tape
92. Go 2 weeks without tv
93. Spend a whole day in pj’s watching tv
94. Develop a mail filing system
95. Treat our parents to dinner
96. Go one month without fried food
97. Go one month without alcohol
98. Create a will
99. Hike 100 miles
100. Create a family budget
101. Write a new 101 in 1001 list

I bought a plane ticket today

And then I cancelled it. And then I bought another one. Super exciting story huh? I've been trying to get up to Baltimore one weekend this month and the flights keep changing on me. One minute there will be nothing available, then the next everything is on sale, then by the time I go to buy it it's not there anymore. sooooo frustrating!


So this morning I stupidly just bought the first thing that looked decent, without checking the other airlines first. Luckily, it was with southwest so it was easy to cancel. Props to Southwest for having a friendly cancellation policy.

I bought my new ticket on airtran. In addition to the better price and better flight times, I had recently seen this promotion which gives you $25 off any flight to or from Florida. Check it out if you're looking for something like that.

Why am I going to Baltimore you ask? To visit my friend Laura of course, who currently has a little peanut growing in her belly. I am so super excited for her!!! woohoo for new babies :) Here's a picture of her helping me set up for the wedding.