2010 Year in Review

As I'm never one to miss a bandwagon, I've decided I'll join the rest of the world and recap 2010.  I'll start with the top 10 highlights, but I'm warning you I might get carried away.  So be prepared, you might have to stick around for at least 13.  You can do it.

Highlights of 2010

1.  Leaving the East Coast.  I don't think I even need to elaborate here.
2.  Spring skiing at Eaglecrest upon returning to Juneau.  There were some pretty epic blue bird days in there and being home skiing with great friends was super duper cool.

3.  The acquisition of my new skis!  On our road trip back AK, I got a bitchin' deal on the 2010 Volkl Kiku's from Pro Ski in Seattle.  If you're ever in Seattle and need new ski gear, these guys know their shit and have some great deals.  These skis are just about the best thing to ever happen to me.  They literally surf the powder.  Don't tell me that doesn't sound like fun.

4.  I got paid to take people kayaking and play on and under a glacier.  I had some of my best humpback whale encounters from a kayak while getting paid, and learned how to ice climb, set up a top rope, climb around underneath the glacier, and get really good at pretending I knew what I was doing on the glacier for the tourists, which, lets be honest, is a skill unto itself.

 

5.  Ques and Yukon (our dogs) were so stoked to be back in Alaska.  Coming from Virginia where they had to be leashed about 80% of the time to AK where they might be on leashes about 3% of the time.  These are some happy dogs!

6.  We found a really nice apartment in Juneau, with an amazing view, great landlords, and at a great price, which is pretty hard to do here.

7.  Sommers and I took our first real vacation together this fall.  We spent 2 weeks driving around the Northwest visiting friends and places we love and then 2 weeks in Hawaii.  It was so fun and we didn't even kill eachother.

8.  I finally hiked the Chilkoot Trail!  With one of my best friends, Jessica, and it was an absolute blast!  We did the 37 miles in 3 days/2 nights and were exhausted by the end.  We celebrated by getting stupidly drunk in Skagway and saying rude things to obnoxious jewelry store men.

9.  I hiked my first peak (Mt. McGinnis) alone on a perfect blue bird 70 degree September day.  Just me and my dog.  I did the first part of the hike with 2 friends, but one was too tired to make it to the summit and the other didn't have time (she had dinner plans she had to make it to).

10.  I finally hiked Blackerby Ridge.  Its been on my list for a while, and while it is a tough hike up it is so incredibly worth it.  Sommers and I hiked it on another unusually hot and gorgeous day and rewarded ourselves by jumping in one of the chilly alpine lakes on the top.

11.  I touched a (dead) humpback whale.  I know, it sounds morbid, and it was, but it was also amazing. It had been hit by a cruiseship and then towed to an island for a necropsy by NOAA.  My brother and I really wanted to see it, so we kayaked the 14 miles (roundtrip) to see it.  It was very stinky, but impressive.  We tried (ha!) lifting the pectoral fin just for kicks, and let me tell you, if you were ever unsure about whether or not a whale is really heavy, I can tell you first hand that they are fucking heavy. I'm guessing the fin alone must have weighed at least a ton, if not more.  Yes, whales are heavy.  Shocker, I know.

12.  I did the Kluane bike relay with 7 other fantastic people.  It was all of our first road bike races and we ended up winning 3rd place!  8 people, 160 miles, a lot of beer, cake, and roadside cheering.  Good stuff.

13.  The John Muir Cabin to Peterson Lake connect on XC skis.  Sommers and I skied this right at the end of the year during a really cold spell.  It was amazing but probably one of the most exhausting things I've ever done.  The roundtrip mileage is probably only around 10 miles, though we're not sure as there isn't really a trail.  It was on a beautiful, sunny, clear 15 degree day after a big snowfall.  Armed with our backcountry skis, lots of layers, hot coffee, and the dogs, we completed the whole route in just under 8 hours, after a long hike out Peterson Lake Trail in the dark via headlamp.  There were definitely a few points where I was nervous, mostly when the sun started to set, the temperature started to drop, my dog was so tired he was lying down in our ski tracks, we were bushwhacking through the woods, and we thought we might be lost.  Aside for those few moments it was really fun and felt like a pretty cool accomplishment and I learned one very important lesson:  your body uses up A LOT of energy staying warm when it's that cold out.  I also learned that in these conditions sweating is very dangerous.  Noted.

14.  Spending the holidays with my family.  I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving or Christmas in 2 years, and it was fantastic.  I feel pretty lucky to have such a wonderful family.  

So there you have it.  What were your 2010 highlights?

Happy New Year!

Judging by the frequency of my posts and today's date, you might be thinking to yourself that my New Year's resolution is to blog more frequently.  Well, you'd be wrong cause chances are good I'm going to post this and then post abso-freaking-lutely nothing for the next 6 months.  But right now I'm procrastinating a trip to the gym and what better way to procrastinate then by surfing the interwebs and writing blog posts that no one but me will ever read!  Voila!

But for reals, Happy 2011.  I think its gonna be a good one.

xo

Its My Blog So I Can Cuss If I Want To

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That pretty much sums up the week I've had.  

A week ago we left Virginia Beach and started our Epic Road Trip WEST!  The schedule was to be totally freaking awesome and happen as follows:

March 8-9: Virginia to Kentucky - hotel

March 9-11: Kentucky to Kansas - stay with Sommers' family

March 11-14: Kansas to Colorado - stay with friend Amanda and go SKIING!

March 14-17: Colorado to Utah - stay with Jill and more SKIING!

March 17-20: Utah to Washington - make it to Bellingham in time for my brother's college graduation

March 20-31: Cruise around the NW visiting friends/family/places we love before catching our ferry out of Prince Rupert, BC on April 2nd, possible stopping to ski either Revelstoke or Whistler on the way up.

Final destination being, of course, JUNEAU!!!

Here is what has actually happened so far:

March 8:  Staunton, VA.  Planned to make it to Kentucky, but Sommers was so sick we couldn't drive any more.  Also, while stopping at a gas station to refuel, I find there is a hold on my credit card because the bank has found out that someone has gotten a hold of my card number and been making fraudulent charges.  Credit card gets canceled meaning no credit card for the remainder of nearly month long road trip.

March 9:  Lexington, KY.  Sommers feels better so we drive 7 hours to Lexington.  That night Sommers get even sicker and I take him to the ER.  We find out he has Pneumonia.  

March 10:  While Sommers is in our hotel room recovering, I take off to find a running trail on the University of Kentucky campus.  While idling at stop light realize there is smoke coming from the hood of my car.  Drive to nearest service station to get it checked out.  Find out car is leaking coolant rapidly.  Call for tow truck to tow car to Honda Service center at 4pm.  Wait 3 hours for tow company.  Finally get car to service center by almost 9 pm.  

March 11:  Get news from Honda-car is not as bad as we thought.  Just a busted radiator hose.  $300 later, car is okay.  While driving sommers' car to go pick up mine, I notice his temperature gauge is abnormally high.  Show car to Honda service Tech.  They say its not good and will have to take a closer look in the morning.  Pick up my car and drop off his.  (Mind you that BOTH of us had our cars inspected prior to setting off on this road trip.  Supposedly they were "good to go").

March 12: Early morning phone call from Honda reveals BAD news.  Sommers' car has a blown head gasket.  In laymen's terms that means nearly $2000 and lots of time.  Car will not be ready until at least Tuesday (March 16) at which point we were supposed to be skiing in Utah and drinking champagne in hot tubs.  I made that last part up.

March 13-14:  Wait in Lexington for car to be done.  Luckily we found a Whole Foods, an outdoor store (bought a cute new Patagonia dress I couldn't afford to cheer myself up!), a tasty hippy restaurant downtown, places for me to run and a park to take the dogs, and best of all, Sommers is feeling MUCH better.  We've also been watching a ton of movies.  Finally watched Up, and it was great.  Plus, Fear was on the TV yesterday.  Nothing like Marky Mark as a psycho path to cheer you up.  

To summarize:

1.  Brianne gets credit card number hijacked

2.  Sommers gets Pneumonia

3.  Brianne's car breaks down ($)

4.  Sommers' car breaks down ($$$$)

5.  Brianne and Sommers are still in Kentucky when they should be in Utah.  Don't look at a map, it hurts.

Yes, yes, I know.  Things could be worse.  Things could always be worse.  But the other night, while sitting at the Waffle House at 1 o'clock in the morning after spending all night in the ER, we were listening to a table full of rednecks talk about coon hunting and I couldn't think of anything worse.  Perhaps I was being unimaginative, but there you have it. 

Now, lets all cross our fingers that nothing else goes wrong from here on out.  

Why I'm Not Having Kids Any Time Soon

Tonight:

Brianne is looking at Petfinder.com wishing she could get a puppy.  Tomorrow is her birthday, and being 3 glasses of wine deep convinces herself that she can go to the shelter tomorrow and get herself a birthday puppy.  Sommers says Brianne is not only tipsy, but ridiculous.  Also makes comment about how what Brianne really wants is kids, not puppies.  Brianne says no, puppies are cuter than kids.  Sommers agrees.  Brianne says you also can't get drunk around kids, but puppies are amenable to midweek inebriation.  Sommers says this is the smartest thing Brianne has ever said.

Happy Birthday to me.
xo

Question of the Day/Welcome Back ME!

Wow.  I am the suckiest blogger ever.  Could be the fact that I know no one reads this except for me.  Could also be the fact that I'm horrible at sticking with things.  Especially when I have no one to hold me accountable.  So basically its YOUR fault (yeah, you, the one not reading this).

Anyhow, as the title implies I have a question.  And I am legitimately curious as to the answers I might get if anyone actually read this blog.  So, just for fun, lets pretend that someone else other than me might actually answer this question and before I tell you the question I'll tell you what made me think of the question.

I was listening to this woman's video diet diary (its a long story as to how I came to be listening this diary, we won't go there).  Apparently this woman is fat.  I don't know how fat, but according to her fat enough to need to lose weight for health reasons, not aesthetic reasons.  She was going through the list of things she had eaten that day or week or something like that and how she had to start stepping up her game and really getting serious.  She had been thinking about how the next few months were going to be very difficult if she wanted to achieve her goal.  And that led her to wonder how she will feel when she finally does hit her target weight.  Will she finally be happy with her body?  Will she look in the mirror and be satisfied?  Or will she think, "I could lose 10 more"?  How many skinny girls have you heard call themselves fat?  When is enough enough?

The question I am wondering can be worded in a million different ways, but you'll get the point:

Is anyone ever 100 percent happy with their body, or are we doomed to be forever trying to change something?

Nobody Likes A Litter Bug

Okay, here's my 2 cents for the day:
walking on the beach tonight, i picked up at least 10 various pieces of trash (plastic bags, balloons, plastic water bottles, etc), and I got to thinking, if every one of my facebook friends (i'm only using my facebook friends as an example because if I just used my regular friends the numbers would not be quite as impressive) made a concerted effort to pick up just 1 piece of trash per day that would be over 400 fewer pieces of trash headed into our oceans on the daily.  Now, if everyone picked up 10 pieces of garbage per day, then we'd have picked up over 4,000 pieces of garbage!  If we all did that everyday for a week we'd have picked up nearly 30,000 pieces of trash!  Extrapolate that outside of just facebook and maybe we'd stop winding up with huge rafts of garbage out in the middle of our oceans.  My point is this:  every little bit counts, especially when it all gets added up.  Do your part, be a good citizen, pick up some trash every now and then.  


(Image from:  http://creativekiddo.blogspot.com/2007/02/on-certain-dates-in-jan-and-feb-07-p6.html)

Moment of Zen (Yes, phrase stolen straight from the Great Jon Stewart)

Juniper Berries

you are so cute

with your powdery purplishness

I especially like your green abode

it really makes you stand out

like a tiny little berry celebrity

therefore I just have to get all

paparazzi on your ass

and take this

picture.

Saturday Success

Summer is coming to an end and with it the temperatures are dropping and my work load is decreasing.  Two very welcome things.  Because you know what that means?  I can start wearing coats again!!!  My new Patagonia Down Jacket has just been staring at me from the closet since August waiting for its unveiling.  And while she still sits idly in the closet, I can tell her day is on its way.  Okay, but seriously, besides the winter-wear coming out of boxes, this means more running, more biking, more doggy outdoor time.  The air is crisp and the northeast winds are starting to blow.  The beach is no longer as crowded and we can finally let the dogs run around off leash at the oceanfront!  So much to look forward to. 

Today it was a cool 70 ( my oh my has my internal thermometer adjusted well), which was cause for some trail riding.  So up to Williamsburg we went, avec les bicyclettes.  Its been a few months since we've been riding, due mostly to the hot weather and high humidity, but also the somewhat long drive and busy schedules.  The ride was AMAZING.  After a summer of paddling and running, this was the strongest I've ever felt on the trail.  The roots, and bumps, and hills, and descents were easier than they've ever been and by the end of our ride I would almost swear that I was LESS tired than Sommers.  I am seriously so proud of myself.  I can tell you that I logged a lot of hours on the treadmill this summer and so far it has paid off.  We even stopped at another trail on the way home, for a second ride on another one of our favorite trails, this one in Newport News.  Good stuff, good stuff indeed.

Bike to the death?

Mmmkay.  So, I'm trying to figure out to to safely ride my bike to work.  Right now its about a 10 minute drive to my job at Wild River Outfitters and I rarely have to be there at any kind of indecent hour so I realllly want to ride my bike to work.  Problem is, bicycle and pedestrian paths simply do not exist for the most part.  Hampton Roads (which is the amalgamation of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Chesapeake, and Hampton) revolves around the automobile.  Highways, freeways, expressways, tollways, service roads, streets, roads, avenues, boulevards, routes-they got 'em.  But bike paths, sidewalks, overpasses-now those are hard to come by.  As a result few people walk or ride a bike to work (or anywhere for that matter) and thus drivers are woefully unaware about pedestrian rules of the road.  People don't stop at crosswalks, they don't give bikers a wide berth, but mostly they just don't even notice them.  This makes biking around here not only difficult, but dangerous.  I asked a guy at work the other day who has lived here for over 10 years whether or not I could safely bike to work.  His response?  "As long as you plan to get in at least one accident.  A friend of mine just got hit by a car the other day."  

Great.  On top of that, I don't have health insurance.  Hmmm.

In an effort to offset the negativity of my previous post, I've decided that today is a day for a new list, one that is-how do you say-a bit more umm, positive.  Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for.  This could be difficult, but I'm willing to give it a shot.  Here's the list of the day:

10 Things That Don't Suck About Virginia

1. Compared to home, the weather is amazing.  It is a novel thing to have more sunny days than rainy ones.  All this sun may really up my skin cancer chances, but damnit if I won't enjoy this heat while I have it.
2. You can easily access many other states.  So far I've been to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, DC, and New York.  Not to mention all the states I got to cross off my list on the road trip over here including Kansas (ick), Kentucky (kind of nice actually).  I may not necessarily like any of these other states that much, but at least I can cross them off of my list in my effort to see all 50 states.
3. You can get to West Virginia.  And West Virginia is surprisingly Awesome.  I mean, I never would have expected anything on the east coast to be quite so beautiful.  Mountains, vast stretches of rural land, a few decent ski areas, and a quaint little town called Davis, in Canaan Valley, which made it into Outside magazine a few years ago as one of the top 10 unknown outdoorsy towns, or something like that.  It was a good place.
4. The Outer Banks are just a couple hours away, and those are pretty beautiful, too.
5. Shenandoah National Park is also a real gem-even though the book I'm reading right now just informed me of all these hikers that have been murdered there by crazy hillbillies in the last couple decades and now I'm afraid to go.  Oh right, we're staying positive here.  Moving on.
6. East Coast Skiing.  "Huh?"  You say.  I'm surprised too, but let me explain.  Okay, east coast skiing does suck, by west coast standards.  It sucks pretty bad in comparison and my appreciation for my hometown ski area in Alaska has grown exponentially.  But here's the thing.  Since the skiing sucks so bad (we're talking lots of icy days, man-made snow galore, puny "mountains" (hills is more accurate), overpriced lift tickets, gapers galore, etc.) you really have to push yourself to make it fun and to challenge yourself.  You start to get bored going down black diamonds that are more like blue squares where you're from, so you start pushing yourself to make fewer turns, maybe hit a couple features, get a little bit of air.  You start to realize you're one of the better skiers on the mountain (which is never something you realize while skiing at home) and that boost in confidence actually makes you a better skier by making you trust yourself more and thereby pushing your own limits a bit more.  Kind of cool, actually.  Plus, I will say, we did have two epic powder days this winter.  One in New York at a super small resort called Labrador Mountain, and another in West Virginia at Canaan Valley Ski Area.  
7. Fun mountain biking.  Seriously, I've been surprised to have found some really, really fun trails.  The trails we've been riding are called "Advanced" trails, but given my skills I'm sure they're not.  We'll call them intermediate, but they are a great time.  We're talking long, windy, single-track, meandering through the trees, interspersed with some small jumps, bridges, lots of roots to hop, some fun descents, a few ascents that will get your blood flowing, and overall just really pretty forest to ride through.  Our favorite trail right now is at Freedom Park up in Williamsburg (about 40 minutes from where we are).  
8. Shit, I'm running out of things that don't suck.  Have I mentioned the weather?  Thus far, it has been quite lovely.  Today is a comfortable 70* or so.  Soon we'll be up in the 90's, with the humidity raging, and I'll forget I ever said anything nice about the weather here.  Or maybe I'll acclimate, we'll see.  But at least I'll be tan.
9. A change of perspective is good for you, every once in a while.  When I stop and think about the places I've lived (Juneau, Bellingham, Kodiak), I realize that although I've not lived in a lot of places, I've lived in seriously kick-ass places.  You could say I've been spoiled.  I like to think of my time here on the east coast as my west coast and Alaska appreciation time.  Because its been a struggle to adjust here and to find things that make me happy (though I am finding them), I feel more sure of who I am now that ever before.  I know what I need to make me happy, and I know what I don't need.  I know what defines me, what sustains me, and what makes me whole, and while that might be hard to find here, and easier to find in Alaska or on the west coast, it still exists here.  The key to life is finding what makes you happy and then to pursue it, constantly.  For me its a few things, but predominantly its nature, the outdoors, wilderness-however you want to put it.  Its what defines me, its the imprint Alaska has forever stamped upon me, and while I may be in this concrete jungle, everyday I make a point of finding those soft, green places of solitude that keep me ticking.
10. I think that's enough positivity for one day.