07/18/11

Up!  And it’s 50 degrees this morning!  Which is wicked cold for me right now!!  I did not sleep in all my clothes last night, so I really really really don’t wanna unbundle myself from my cocoon.  No really.  I don’t.  Maybe I’ll fall back to sleep again…2 hours later…UP!  Fo’ realz!

Oh.  Ma’.  GAWD!  ALASKA!!!  It’s REAL!  And the feeling is just like the Yukon but even more so!!!!  It’s the last frickin’ frontier, man!  And I’m here!  Crossing the border!!!!!!!!  WHOA!!!!!

Rest stop.  This was posted before on the internets, but I thought I would just jot it down here for documentation.

I’m taking pictures because, yea, it’s amazing and BIG!  Everything is SO BIG!  Sky, land, mountains, everything.  I’m having trouble breathing it’s so amazingly gorgeous.

I pull up and park across from a truck towing a camper.  Bring out my phone to take some video, start recording in the car by letting you know where I am and what I’m about to show you, look up and see an older dude staring at me, then waving at me, then walking over to my car.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough space on my phone to capture the entire conversation (secretly), but this is what happened:

[4 dudes about 60 years old all esscited to talk with me]

Hi! You on your way to college??
Nope. I'm traveling.
You're from MAINE??!!!!!
Yep.

You drove all the way here??!!

Yep.

Do you know people in Alaska?

Yep.

Oh!!  Where??

Fairbanks, Wasilla, Girdwood.

Hmmmmm…you alone??

Yep.

Traveling??!!!!!

Yep.

[Dude walkes up to another dude 10’ away]

She’s ALONE and going to Alaska!!

Uh oh.

Yea!!!!!  She doesn’t even know.

Nope.  Someone like that shouldn’t be traveling in Alaska alone….does she understand??!!

I don’t think so.  She’s just so………..Gawd.

Yea.  She knows people there right?!

Yea.

Let’s just hope they’re guys and they take care of her and protect her while she’s visiting.

God, I hope so.

[Right stage:  Amber is 10’ away and within hearing distance.  WTF??!!!!!]

The best part about this is that they were genuinely concerned about me being a girl and going to Alaska alone while at the same time giving me leering looks and hand gesturing how “hilly” the road and mountains were.  Then…staring at me as I walked back to my car and drove away.  Creepy.  I’d say that the tourists from Minnesota may be a wee bit more scary than the Alaskan dudes.  (shrug) jus’ saying.

FAIRBANKS!  Ah!  Thank goodness.  Gimmie crushes please…oh, but I haven’t had a shower in what 3-4 days?  And I’ve been sleeping in my car that whole time?  Mmmmmmm.  Yummy.  Crush anyway.  GO!

Ryan.  Gimmie.  Ryan works at Julia’s Solstice Café in Fairbanks and he may or may not know that I’m arriving today.  Whoop!!!  Ahahahahaha!  So, I just drive up, park, walk in and ask if he’s working.  And YES!  Ryan!!!  YAY!!!!!!!!  I knew Ryan in Pennsylvania.  That was in 1992.  I was um…5?  (snarf)

I also got to meet Morgan and Brandon.  Brandon is the only person that I have ever randomly met who knew that my arm band was an ouroboros.  He is also the only person that I have ever met that instead of stating “Wow, you have a firm handshake!” said “WOW!  You have a MANSHAKE”!!!!  hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!  Nice!  So Ryan doesn’t get off of work until 7:30 so I gots to make myself scarce and perhaps tour this city called Fairbanks!  That’s in Alaska…in case you forgot…that I’m in Alaska!!!!!  Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!

1:30 pm:

Being a tourist by first going to the Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau.  The woman there let me know where to go and what the most popular sites were around town.  Ok, so Fairbanks IS a city.  There are almost 100,000 people in Fairbanks, but this is kind of a muddled number because they just “recalculated” it by including the villages (which are the really small settlements that surround Fairbanks).  In comparison the population of Portland Maine (city) is 64,000.  Of course Maine’s total population is about 1.3 million people whereas Alaska?  They got around 700,000…and their state is the size of ½ of the United States.  Whoa.

Hungry.  I stop into this cute little place and order a veggie burger!  YAY!  Sit outside to enjoy the fact that…yea…I’m in Alaska, get my food, take a bite and ugh.  Semi-warm microwaved veggie burger.  Gross.  (sigh)

Walked around a bit taking photos, passed by some “Natives” sitting on a bench and heard one of the BEST comments…”WOW!  Honey!  Don’t make me get up and trip!!!!!!!”  Aweshum.

The ice sculpture museum gave tours and a short video on how ice sculptures were done so I went into the shop to see when it was and how much…unfortunately, the 2 dudes were a wee bit more than creepy and I didn’t feel like sitting alone in a dark room with them hanging around so I skipped it.  Meh.  Be safe Panda Pants.  Trust your inner warnings.

Ok, so now it’s about time for Ryan to get off of work…almost…well…in 2 more hours so I betcha I can take a nap here in the visitor’s center parking lot and no one would notice.  Yes!  Score!!  Nap!

7:00 pm:

Ryan’s off of work and we’re gonna go to the Marlin, which is the local “dive” bar for Fairbanks where all the cool kids hang out!  There’s an upper deck that’s all fenced in with plywood…I guess they had an issue with underage peeps scaling the 1^st story and getting booze, so they put plywood up to discourage it…and on said plywood?  An amazing feat of graffiti!!!  That I had JUST seen posted on the Facebook!!!!  WHOA!  Weird! 

We hung out here all night meeting a ton of people including Danny, who had this amazing black, neon green, and bright pink Hawaiian shirt on.  If I make fun of you, you know that I like you and feel comfortable with you.  Danny didn’t get that I guess and asked Ryan why I hated him so much.  (snarf).  Whoop!

2:45 am:

I drove Ryan home because, well, it was better than lettin’ him drive!  And to sleep the sleep on the floor of the Cabin.  No running water, outhouse, no heat (good thing it wasn’t winter!!).  Perfect.  Alaska…and it’s STILL light out.  And no, the sun will not go down today.  (heart)
You drove all the way here??!!
Yep.
Do you know people in alaska?
Yep.
Oh!! Where??
Fairbanks, wasilla, girdwood.
Hmmmmm...you alone??
Yep.
Traveling??!!!!
Yep.You drove all the way here??!!
Yep.
Do you know people in alaska?
Yep.
Oh!! Where??
Fairbanks, wasilla, girdwood.
Hmmmmm...you alone??
Yep.
Traveling??!!!!
Yep.