Lewis & Clark Caverns

I took a jaunt with Carl and Sheela to to Lewis and Clark Caverns on Saturday to evade the Griz Football crowds in Missoula. The smoke was terrible in that part of the state, but it was a nice day to be out anyway.

Sheela Stalagtite.

We let Sheela go down the slide on

her own and her OTHER toes fell off!

Looks a bit like a scene from the Little Mermaid if you ask me.

Kind of looks like an alien. Or Grandmother 

Willow from Pocahontas.

Cool geology. :)

They have begun to put in new lighting in the caverns. This

is the only room they've completed the process. The new lighting

is colored more like natural light, so supposedly you see 

the more natural colors of the rocks here. Pretty cool, eh?

This is an old limestone quarry cave down by

the Jefferson River, just on your way up to the 

caverns. My shoes are pretty reflective.

South to Montana!

I'm ba-ack!! Two weeks shy of a year and I'm finally back in Montana. It's been a good, good year, but I've sure missed home!

My two friends Whitney and Helen flew to Anchorage to make the drive down with me. We were SO lucky and ended up with absolutely wonderful weather for the whole drive! It took us three and a half days to make it from Girdwood to Libby! Unfortunately, we didn't stop to do much along the way, but the scenery and the company was incredible!

Destruction Bay at sunset

Uh-oh! We made it, but just barely! Thanks to Helen's

Mario Andretti entrance into the gas station!

I think the Canadians were impressed!

Who is actually working here? And why can't we get through? 

We had to sit here while these two chatted, then the girl in neon 

got a roll of TP and made her way into the trees for a spell, 

and then the lady holding the sign tooksome pictures of the 

neon girl. The Yukon is a strange place.

Mount Robson. Almost to Jasper!

Jasper National Park

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig strrrrrrrrrrrrreetch. . . aaaaaaaaah.

Stuffed in the car.

Makin' dinner on the road.

Beautiful sunset in Jasper.

 Group foto.

Look ma! No hands!!

I'm flying!!!! I hiked up Alyeska Resort the other day after work, and at the top, there is a para-gliding business. My friend Carl (see previous para-gliding photos) knew one of the guys working that night, and he happened to be free, so I got a ride down!!!!! It was AMAZING! I'm totally hooked. 

Nancy Lakes Canoe Trip

Over the weekend, I took a 3-day canoe trip around Nancy Lakes, a chain of lakes north of Wasilla. I think there were 13 lakes on the tour, and we had to portage everything between the lakes. It was a super fun trip despite rather inclement weather.

Sheela is maxin' and relaxin on the lily pads!

I could do this aaaaaaall the time!

Enjoying the view. . . even though it looks more like

Minnesota than Alaska.

It was REALLY rainy, but our campsite had this

cool porch for the tent! 

That's the boat and the captain. And by captain I 

just mean owner. That's Carl and the new boat.

Tram to the top of Alyeska Resort

Sarah, Carl and I rode the tram to the top of Alyeska one sunny evening last week. Carl para-glided down from the top and landed at the Musky Inn and we met him there in the car for drinks and appetizers. It was beautiful outside and the view was spectacular!

Views from the top of the mountain:

Looking West.

Looking Northeast.

Looking West-ish I think.

Papa Bear

Holy cow! This must've been a big'n! I have to give credit to my coworker for the photo. Pretty crazy.

Sunday Adventures

This weekend was filled with fun activities! The Girdwood Forest Fair got the town bustling for the weekend, so I spent Friday evening and the better part of Saturday sampling the fine brews and enjoying the music and crafts. On Sunday, a coworker of mine swung by the bunx to see if anyone wanted to go to Hatcher Pass with him. The sun was shining and I couldn't pass up the offer! He was going up to go para-gliding, and I just wanted to hike around.

My friend Carl takin' off!

Marmot Peak Summit

This is where I went while Carl was flying. He kept flying over me 

and hovering for a chat. The people around me on the trail were fairly amused.

Checking out one of many abandoned mine shafts.

(Don't worry mom, that's as far in as I went.)

An old fire truck parked at a firework stand. 

The siren still works and I got to sound it!

A cruise in the Batmobile to top off the day! 

It didn't actually run and there wasn't much of a 

seat left. Also the driver door didn't really close.