These Boots Were Made for...

Guess what y'all? The snows gone, the suns out so that means it's time to get your boots ready. No not your cowboy boots. You're hiking boots. It's summer! It may only be 40 or 50 degrees but it's summertime here in Alaska! It's time to reach he top of every peak. We set out on our first hike his season with my parents since they were in town visiting. We went on one of our favorite hikes, turn again arm trail from rainbow peak. It's a beauty. You have views of tour again arm (hence the name) from the trail and there's a great lookout point at the top. It you want to be really adventurous you can swing back right and hike all the way to the top of rainbow peak. It's a fun, long hike too. Here's a few pictures of our first adventure hiking this year.

Until the next hike...

Xoxo, 

W, M, Em-Kat

That's the White Stuff... Baby

What do you expect in the winter in Alaska... the white stuff.

Unfortunately 2016 wasn't too heavy in the snow department. We didn't have snow to brighten our short days and long nights. With no snow, it meant that we couldn't fully enjoy the winter we were ready for.

One bucket list item we were able to check off, but not do more of was cross-country skiing. We were really hoping to learn and take Em-Kat alot, but there wasn't a lot of snow. We took her out once in the fancy sled we got.

I want someone to pull me around while I sit hot chocolate in a sled

Picture of a professional looking skier

I may have fell a couple of times. And it may of hurt the next day. It may not have though.

The real champ. Learning to cross country ski while pulling 30 lbs. 

I thought I would be good because I have downhill skied since I was 2.5, but I was like a new moose who was learning to walk for the first time. The type of cross country skiing we did is actually called skate skiing. It's easier to go fast and easier to get the hang of the first time. We didn't take lessons because we thought we didn't need them. We were ok. But people may have had a few laughs at us. We had fun and that's all that matters!

A lot of our winter consisted of sledding in our backyard when we had enough snow. Em-Kat loved it!

Em-Kat's happy place

This is about as bright as it go during the middle of winter. And yes, this picture is even brightened! 

We had a great 1st winter. We are already praying for more snow next winter!

Xoxo,
W, M, Em-Kat

So-white or Snowwhite?

Raise your hand if you love snow! (Everyone's hands should be up in the air). Snow makes me giddy. It makes me excited. I just love it when I see it in the forecast, I love it when it's falling and I love it when I get to play in it. This year we got to experience snow in a whole new light. We went snowmachining on it. I know what yall are thinking in the lower 48. They must be on this big machine like....

Nope.

Or maybe they mean something more like this....

Nope. It's a little more like this.

 And then You lower 48's say that's a snowmobile. Yes, it may look like a snowmobile from the Lower 48 and yes it is a snow mobile in the Lower 48 but these are machines and they are built for Alaska! This was one of our most fun trips this winter. A friend of ours has 4 machines and a little cabin up by Trapper Creek and he invited us along for a day trip. We are so glad we said yes. Ward loved it. I thought it was a blast and Em-Kat. Well she wanted off that machine as soon as she got on it. Luckily it's only a two mile ride back to his cabin. The cabin has no road access, you can only get there by snowmachine in the winter (only boat in the summer) and no running water. Adventurous... Huh! Thank goodness for his cabin and sleds. Em-Kat loved sledding down the big hill by the cabin and momma loved that she had a place to take a nap! 

I think Em-Kat liked sitting on it better than riding on it! 

Nothing beats sledding with Denali as your background

Daddy and daughter

Well after a long day of sledding and snowmachine get (which are also interchangeable terms up in Alaska). We headed home and we were exhausted including Em-Kat. This will definitely not be the last time we take these bad boys out to explore the great Alaskan outdoors. And with this trip, we checked another thing off the bucket list... Snow machining. #andanotheronebitesthedust

Xoxo,

W, M, Em-Kat

Alyeska Adventures

#1. Set the stage: it's Wards milestone birthday weekend. I wanted to do something special for him. So I reserved a condo for us and one of our friends who has twins 2 weeks younger than Em-Kat. The condo has a nice hot tub that we can all use while the babies are sleeping.

And problems arose: Meghan wakes up on Friday morning and she has painful bumps on her hands and feet. She's been sick this week with a cold and took some medicine she had never had before so she just thought it was a reaction to the medicine. She decides to call the dr. (Teledoc is legit if you haven't used it). And Meghan calls the dr and the dr says, Meghan. You've got hand,foot and mouth. And Meghan says what?!? She said I can't get that I'm not a toddler. And the dr says well I've never seen an adult with it but that's what you've got. And Meghan said say it ain't so cause we've got a big weekend to celebrate. And dr. said you're not going anywhere to celebrate. You're contagious and you can't get anyone else sick.

Alyeska Trip #1 You thought I was never getting there. I really didn't get there for wards birthday but I let him! Ward capitalized on the opportunity to enjoy is Friday off and still went skiing with a friend even though I was Codemed to the house. So check one thing off the birthday list so Meghan didn't feel so bad. 

Birthday surprise: Ward woke up to a 7+ magnitude earthquake to ring in his birthday. Wasn't really the wake up call I had expected but e started it with a big and then a little groundbreaking. Luckily we were all ok and we only had one thing damaged at our house,

The real birthday surprise: Meghan with the help of 30+ friends surprised Ward with a book with favorite memories and favorite things about ward! Thank you all for contributing to his book and helping me surprise him! It was the best gift ever and he loved it! 

#2. This trip to Alyeska wasn't nearly as dramatic but a whole lot more fun. We both took a Friday off to go skiing for the day and left Em-Kat in good hands. It was our first trip to Alyeska together and my first time to try out my new skis. We had a blast having a little date day and trying out the mountain. It's not Colorado. So don't start packing your bags looking for your next ski vacation. It's not a tough mountain to ski, but definitely a lot different feel than Colorado. The Rockies will always have a special place in my heart so Alaska for now Rockies 1 - Alaska 0.

Look at the view from the mountain

I spy a man in orange

We will be back more next year Alyeska. Hopefully with a toddler in tow!

Xoxo,

W, M, Em-Kat

I-dit-a-what

I-dit-a meet with the mushers.... Yep, that's right we were invited to a party the week before the Iditarod to meet the top mushers. We may have had no clue who they were or the significance till after the Iditarod festivities but now we can talk about that time we rubbed shoulders with the local celebrities. Aily Zirkle is our new best friend. You can even check out our picture with her below. If you're wondering, she finished 3rd this year even after a snow machinery hit and injured one of her dogs. You can check out the crazy sad story here. And then Dallas Seavey the champion the last 3 years was there. And the. There were others... We don't remember them so maybe you'll get more scoop next year.

I-dit-a see.... Well Em-Kat and I got to see the start of the last great race. We had a warm place to watch the ceremonial start and even passes to get inside the ropes to meet the dogs. EmKat loves doggies, but she wasn't as fond of these. It may have been the barking or it may of been that there were so many. 

Interesting fact of the Year: Anchorage didn't get much snow this winter so there was snow shipped down from Fairbanks by railcar for the ceremonial start, but they didn't even use it. There was enough reserve snow even though this became a national story (oh those climate change crazies). And the day before the Iditarod we got a nice little snow of about 4 inches. 

This race takes a lot of preparation, determination and good friends helping you get ready. 

Check out all of the people helping each racer out. It's definitely a well oiled machine. 

One of the race teams at the ceremonial start

Em-Kat and I inside the lines meeting the dogs

Everyone needs a little fur to keep them warm

The dogs relaxing before getting geared up for the race

Em-Kat doesn't know how special this experience really is! 

Now we can check off seeing the Iditarod from the bucket list. Well, at least two of us can. Ward will have to wait until next year. (Don't feel bad for him, he was in Phoenix thawing out and playing golf)!

Xoxo,

W, M, and Em-Kat

Winter Blunders

I want to start by apologizing for the posting drought. For lack of better excuses, I am going to blame it on the darkness. You see it gets a little depressing up here when it is only light from 10am to 2pm and you really don't get to do many exciting things. If you are not doing exiting things you are not very motivated to write about them.

Well I am pleased to announce that "I can see clearly now the light is breaking through the darkenss!" Everyday the sun is out longer and longer, which is very exciting. I actually saw some light on the horizon starting a week ago when I was leaving the office at 4:30pm.

So make up for the posting draught we are going to give you a few winter bloopers. I believe most people reading this blog realize that the farthest north either one of us has lived is Kansas. And Kansas is about 3,000 miles south of Anchorage, so we had a lot of learning to do on surviving the winters. I hope you get a few laughs reading the bloopers below.

Blooper #1- How to unfreeze an Egg!

Who doesn't love cheeseburgers while watching a OSU football game in November? No one right! Well my plan was to make cheeseburgers for some friends that were coming over to watch the game. So I got the meat patties ready to go, and decided to that I would fire up my Big Green Egg about 30 minutes before they arrive....wrong...in the south I never had to worry about my grill freezing shut...apparently this happens in the North. For those of you not familiar with the design of an egg, first it looks like an egg, duh, second it has a felt gasket that seals the air in between the top and bottom half of the egg... Well, that gasket can absorb water and freeze (not my lucky day) I had friends coming over to watch that game in 10 minutes and the only item that I had to feed them at the moment did not look like it was going to happen. However, I am an Engineer and a trained problem solver so I was going to save the day.

Attempt #1 - Paint Scrapper- My first thought was to grab something that I could wedge between the two halves so I grabbed a paint scrapper.  So not only did this fail, but it slightly damaged my gasket

Attempt #2 - Patio Heater- For Meghan's 30th birthday, I purchased her a patio heater...I know awesome Alaska gift... Well, maybe today was the day that it would earn its keep.....think again....the patio heater did a good job keeping me warm but was too far away from the eggs surface to have any effect. By the way the ambient air temperature was bout 22 deg F.

Attempt #3 - Hair Dryer-  What is the logical source of heat that can make direct contact with almost any surface.... a woman's hair dryer (Yes, I had to make it clear that I do not own a hair dryer)....Well, this approach worked better than the Patio heater, but still has not producing good results. I would have been out there the rest of the day waiting on the hair dryer to work.

Attempt #4 - Ask the Oracle (Google) - Three strikes and you are out as they say, but that was before Google. Why not ask google and see if any other displaced southerners had experienced the same issue. Well, it turns out I was not the only one to make this mistake. The solution from Google was to drop a firestarter through the top vent of the egg, down through the grate and into the coals while keeping it lite. Much easier said then done!! However, after multiple attempts it was a success and it warmed the egg up from the inside out. Thank you Google and web contributors for saving the day.

Blooper #2- When to put Christmas lights on your house

I had big plans in my mind that for Christmas 2016 I would put up Christmas lights on the house. It would be my first attempt ever and with a one story home it shouldn't be to difficult.  Consequently, when Lowes got all their Christmas supplies in (late October) I picked up all the items we would need.. lights, roof clips, timer, and extension cord. I come home holding my head high because this purchase was going to be a surprise for Meghan. She has always wanted to put up Christmas lights, but it was not practical at our home in Houston due to the roof pitch. She is excited to see my purchase and I am eager to put them up so I get started that afternoon. So I ask Meghan to help me put the roof clips on the lights and string out all 90 ft across the front of the house. Then I get up on the ladder to install my first clip and realize that the shingles are frozen to the roof (no installation gap) and the gutters are full of ice within a 1/4" of the top. Immediately I realized why people in Alaska either put up their lights in the summer or leave them up year around. Bummer... we would have to wait until the summer.....however, we soon found out that Alaska receives warm air from the Pacific that increase the temperature at random times of the year. Fortunately for us, one of those times was over Thanksgiving so the snow melted and we were able to get the lights up during a coupled day unseasonal warm up period. Ultimately, the Christmas lights were a great success (see picture) and have boosted moral during the dark winter days.

Blooper #3- Hanging Wreaths on Windows

We are still in the Christmas decorating phase of winter lessons learned.  Meghan has a nice set of wreaths with rubber suction cups to hang on the front window that we used in Houston. Her request was that I would put them up on our Alaska home. No sweat, right? Nope, even the small tasks are difficult when the temperature is just above 0 deg F. However, being an engineer I did put some thought into the effect that the temperature change would have on my procedure. Typically, I would clean the window and the suction cup to ensure a good seal. Knowing that water would freeze quickly, I decided I would use the Karate Kid approach "wax on, wax off"  to quickly dry the water before it had a change to freeze. Well despite my good planning, I could not wipe the water off quickly enough. It immediately froze on contact and I can assure that those rubber suction cups will not seal on ice..... Know I had another problem to solve. How to get the ice off the window? Good thing for me is that I learned from my frozen grill experience and had a few options available to use and the most logical for this situation was to use a hair dryer. Yes, it has been put to good use in Alaska.

Food Quest Part #2

Round #2

Next up on the Food Quest to find the best Mexican food in Alaska is La Mex. I saw this one driving down one of the main roads in Anchorage around lunch time and it was packed, so it had to be a good sign, right. Well, cars in the parking lot did not turn out to be a good sign at Carlos, but you don't have much to go off of in this town. It's not as easy in Texas where you just ask your Mexican neighbor or grounds keeper for advice.

As  a reminder the evaluation categories are listed below.

Mexican Review Categories (scale 1:5)

• Margaritas (1 = Watered down Costco Mix, 5 = Cyclone Anayas)
• Chips and Salsa (1= Tostitos Chips and canned salsa, 5 = Chuy's thin chips and chunky salsa)
• Queso and/or Guacamole ( 1= Barely melted cheese, 5  = Escalante's white cheese queso)
• Fajitas (1 =Just meat and veggies, 5 = Cyclone Anayas Special Fajitas)
• Enchiladas (1= Frozen isle special, 5 = Megs Sour Cream Enchiladas

Before I talk about the food, I have to address the name. La Mex, seriously, the only worse name is Mexico In Alaska (which does exist by the way). The name is why we started with Carlos's. Which sounds better to you, La Mex or Carlos' Fine Mexican Food. I know..... Well, names are deceiving especially in this case.

La Mex

• Margaritas =2.5
• Picture below is there house Margarita and I will say it tastes as good as it looks. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of there margarita, which honestly is not saying much after how bad last weeks was.
• Chips and Salsa = 1.0
• Is it rude to bring our own chips from Costco next time we come since it's right across the street?
• Queso and/or Guacamole = 3.0
• Queso= 1.0
• Or that is what they called it. Which was a good sign that they even had it on the menu, because Carlos did not even have queso on their menu. However, it was about as far from queso as Anchorage is from Mexico City (~5,000 miles). It was like queso colored salsa with watered down football hockey stadium nacho cheese  added. Yea, we did not even finish it, which does not happen with anything cheese related in our household.
• Guacamole = 3.0
• Well done. The guacamole carried La Mex in this category. It was very well done and had good flavor. We will definitely be getting more of it next time!
• Fajitas  = 2.5
• All in all the Fajitas were not bad, but the homemade tortillas carried them in this category. 10 times better than what we had last week. The fajitas also had some Mexican flavor and a good serving of grilled peppers and onions along with it. I'm guessing we may not find better in Alaska, but we are going to try.
• Enchiladas =  2.0
• This category is the only one that Carlos slightly edged out La Mex. The sauce on the enchiladas at Carlos' was better than La Mex. However, next time we are going to try the street tacos. Pictured below. I think we may have ordered the wrong thing.

Next stop Las Magaritas.... will it live up to its name in the Margarita Category? Tune in next week to find out.

In case you were curious, the darkness is starting to get noticable easpecially in the morning. I am not seeing the sun outside of my western facing office until 9am and the sun is setting around 7:30pm. #WestillmissTexas

Xoxo,,
W, M , EK