07/23/11

UP!  Coffee in the main office?  YES!  OH!  And it’s actually GOOD coffee not some watered down crap that is disguised as coffee!  Outside soaking up the sun and the view of the mountains.  And Alaska (heart).  And today?  Well, Amber Pants is angry because her best friend from 19 years ago is right down the street somewhere and she can’t visit him and his wife and his 3 kids.  Nope.  Supposedly I’m some sort of threat.  Tsssssssssss.  Lame.  Maybe I’ll distract myself by driving the coast and looking at glaciers.  OR!  I can distract myself by talking with this older gentleman from New Mexico who is also on a road trip!!!  Bill Baggett!  And noooooooo, he’s not a hobbit silly!  Two hours!  We talked for TWO HOURS about life and stuff and it was amazing!!  Best quote I am taking away with me:  “It’s not how many breaths you take, it’s how many times your breath is taken away from you.”  Yes.  Perfection.  In all aspects.  Thank you Bill and I hope you are still having amazing and awesome adventures!

And now I drive!  Anchorage Coastal Trail for a walk.  I’d like to call it hiking, but it was paved and flat and there were people using it to exercise and ride their bikes to work, so yea, it was a walk.  OMG!  I’m in ANCHORAGE!!!!  AH!!!!!!!!

Now we will drive down the coast toward Girdwood and see what all this hub-bub is about………OH!  Um.  Yea.  Breath.  Taken.  AWAY.  It is indescribable!  Amazingly big and gorgeous and, AH!!!  Give me adjectives!!!!  How is so much beauty packed into this space??!!!  It’s real windy though!  I can’t even drive the speed limit because I’m worried Leeloo is gonna get thrown off into the ocean!  Somehow I made it all the way to the turn off to Girdwood and I get the call!  Coast is clear.  Come hither!  YAY!!!!  Gimmie Draper family now!  GO!  Oh…crap…that means I need to get away from Girdwood FAST!  DOH! 

4:00 pm:

This is the point in time where I meet the two most amazing people on earth!  Nick and Stella Draper!  And of course their aweshum daughter Lotus!  Nick is the best friend of my best friend (from 19 years ago) and I have also never met him (Nick) in person…until…NOW!  YAY!!!!!  And they’re letting me into their home.  They don’t even know me.  Who ARE these people??!!  <3

Off we go to Chickaloon (?) to a commune thing where we will proceed to hang out and play and have drinks and be happy!!!!!!  YES!  I also got to ride in a VW camper van.  Yep.  Mines!

Late:

Sleep.

07/22/11

Today.  I’m sad.  I hafta leave Fairbanks and ALL of the amazing people I met here.  How does that happen??!!  I’ve been here for what, 3-4 days?  BAH!  So connected.  So quickly.  And I wish I could have more moments with them to sit and talk and laugh.  Next time?  (sigh).

I’m going to Denali and either sleep in the hostel or in a campground…OK!  GO!  Before you change your mind and never leave!!

BUT!  No.  Amber just keeps drivin’.  Denali is packed and I just need to move and think.  I’m not supposed to show up in Wasilla until Saturday after 4 pm.  Yea.  It’s like that.  Schedule conflicts we’ll call them.  Somehow…even though Wasilla is 8 hours from Fairbanks I end up there.  WHA??  How did this happen??  Alright then.  Shhhhhhhhhh!!!  Don't tell anyone I'm in town!  I'll get in trouble!!  Shhhhhh!!!  Let’s find a hotel and sleep in a real bed!!  Wheeeeeee!!!  Ooooooooo!!  Shower!!!  And CRASH!  Sleep!

07/21/11

I’ve been pretty much landlocked for weeks now and this Panda needs water (specifically ocean) in order to survive.  That and sun and crushes and laughter.  Today?  We will go to Chena Lake…and when I say “we” I actually mean me, by myself. 

76 degrees in Alaska today.  Hawt.  First things first though:  vitamin water and energy drink thang in a can!  GO!  I end up at the corner station, go in, get ma’ stuffs, walk back out to get into my car.  Yea.  You know where this is going, huh?  Jacked up red hot truck pulls out from the pumps with 2 dudes in it…rolls over behind my car.  Passenger dude leans out and says, “I love you.”  HA!  WHA??!  I smile and do the stun gun laugh (it didn’t work—he’s still talkin’).  Dude:  “That’s not a bad opening line is it?  How ‘bout I follow it up by taking you out to dinner tonight?”  Well, dude.  That’s pretty good, but Imma busy tonight, sawreee!!!  Truck pulls slowly away (thank goodness, because I couldn’t get out with yer big truck in back of my wee lil’ Honda Element). 

Ok then.  Let’s do this lake thang!

It’s beautiful here.  There are small lakes all aboot and each one has different things going on.  I pulled up to the first one and there are 3 military dudes fishing and a family in an RV having lunch.  Hiked a wee bit on the back dirt road, then drove around to the swimming lake.  And lakes here are pretty much pond size…GAH!  Swimming lake covered in a blanket of screaming and running children!  AH!  No!!  The beach part is fairly small too so it may be awkward for me to just plop down by a family and run into the water, huh?  Plus………..the children………..they are EVERYWHERE!!!!  GO!  I found a path that went through the woods and connected to another small lake.  Took some pictures, walked back, got in my car and drove to the first lake!  This un’s quiet and if I sneak through the woods area here no one will even know that I am here!  I sat on the edge of the lake at a picnic table for…ever!!!  It was amazing and quiet and the military dudes completely ignored me!  YAY!!!!!

Back to the cabin!   Hanging out on the deck with a PBR and some sunshine!  AH!  Eat Amber!  1 cheese stick, a bread roll, and ½ bag of single serving Fritos do not constitute a healthy diet!  Stop it!!! 

Today is Thursday.  I’m pretty sure Ryan came home after work and then we went out?  I don’t remember…AH!  It’s not written down anywhere and I didn’t log anything on the Facebook.  I’m gonna assume that we went to the Marlin again.  Hmmmmmmm…(shrug)

I do know that we were up late again because the sun was still out, but it was midnight.  Awesome. 

WAIT!  NO!  Phineas Gauge was THIS night!!!!  We did go to the Marlin!  Ryan played!  Phew!  I remembered!!!  YAY!!!!!  Duff dude was THIS night.  Ok, so the last part of 07/20 was wrong...please re-read as if it's the 21st.  Gosh!  Probably should have done this earlier, huh?  Whoops!