Alaska Adventures, Part 2

One of the first things I did while in Alaska was casually explore the Fairbanks area. This included hitting up the free Alaska historic theme park, which was okay.  It's a good thing it was such a nice day, and the fact that it was free helped.

At least I got to ride a giant salmon.  That's always a win, isn't it?

Like I mentioned in Part 1, Aaron and I were able to spend a day together in Fairbanks, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to sneak in the obligatory pixelated Aaron.

I'd love to have this art.

The Tanana Valley Farmer's Market was great. So many beautiful vegetables and local crafts!  I suppose that since they only have a few months of decent weather, the 19 hours or so of sunlight really make up for it.

And of course Denali.  I talked about that a little in the last post, but it was gorgeous!!!

It was crazy, the weather would be awesome one minute, and then we'd drive a few miles and it would be freezing and windy.  And then a few miles later, totally fine.

This was pretty neat.  Inside of the Eielson Visitor center, about 66 miles into Denali National Park, was this image on the window to show you were the 2 peaks of Denali (Mt. McKinley) would be if you could see them.  Only 30% of the time you are able to see the mountain, and obviously the day we went was super overcast.  There were markers on the floor for you to stand on based on your height.

In order to preserve and protect the natural resources of the park, you have to take a shuttle bus if you'd like to go any more than about 20 miles in.  That was totally fine with me, since the view would totally distract me of this interesting road.

Oh, you know, just napping on a bear.

The last day I spent in Denali, I was pretty beat.  I took it easy going for a few short hikes and then walking through the woods to the dog sled demonstrations.  It was pretty interesting to learn about the dogs and the importance of them in the park.  During the winter, the sled dogs are the only way for the park rangers to patrol the land.  A few of the more friendly dogs were chained outside and were more than happy to be pet and cuddled with the visitors.

Later that day I was picked up directly from the park by the cool college kids that work at the Denali Mountain Morning Hostel. I stayed in a womens only room in the octagon log cabin fit with our own private giant bathroom.  Seriously, it had this enormous tile and stainless steel shower, and it was quite refreshing to stay in there as long as I wanted to with the door locked.  My last hostel had quarter/min showers because they had to truck water into the location.  I settled down, reorganized my gear and walked across the street to this great little everything-homemade restaurant where I got a huge plate of fish and chips, a local beer, and just relaxed.  I was in no rush, and when the woman carded me for my beer, she must have spotted my military ID card, because she brought me over their last piece of strawberry rubarb pie (which I had previously inquired about but then declined), thanked my husband for his military service, apologized for the wait (I wasn't aware of one) and said the pie was on the house.  I was stuffed so I brought it back to the hostel and ate it later that night, and it was delicious.  Also, when I told thanked Aaron later for the free pie, he was extremely jealous that he had not yet been given free pie for being in the military, but I have for being married to him.  Oh the benefits of a military spouse!

The next morning I caught a ride back to the park from the hostel folks again.  I didn't have time to go for any hikes so I explored the bookshop and museum, and tried to stay out of the rain until my train came.  I was SO excited about this part of my trip.  I was originally going to cheap it out and take a bus from Denali to Anchorage (about 7 hours - $60) and instead decided on the more adventurous route of the Alaska Railroad (about 8 hours - $156).  It was even better because they were able to provide me with a military discount of 20% off! Sweet!  I wasn't counting on it because not all places (especially in Alaska) give military discounts to spouses.

Taking the Alaska Railroad - Denali Star was worth EVERY.SINGLE.PENNY.  It was so much fun and relaxing and the sights were amazing!  I paid for the cheaper class, Adventure class rather than GoldStar Service.  The main differences between the two were price, seats (all seats in GoldStar had a domed roof), and GoldStar got priority restaurant seating.  I'm glad I chose Adventure class and saved $100.  There weren't many people on the train, and even in Adventure class, there was a domed section that you could take turns sitting in.  My assigned seat was just below that, so I could see that barely anyone was utilizing it, so I sat their almost the whole time.  My assigned seat reclined a ton, so I was able to zonk out comfortably for a bit.  I also opted not to eat at the restaurant, but grab a beer and a snack from the cafe/snack bar.

For nearly 8 hours, I had views like the one below.  There's no way a bus on a highway would have this good of a view.

This is one of my favorite pictures I took on the trip.  In between every train car was open doors, so you could stand with the wind in your face and some fresh air.  I hung out here a lot.

See what I mean? Gorgeous!

Outside the train.

Well, this is still only a week into my Alaska trip, so there's much more to come!  Keep a look out for my next post!

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Alaska Adventures, Part 1

Where in the World is Kacey?!?!

I've spent the last few weeks in Alaska and haven't had full access to computers, and while I could blog from my phone or public computers, I'm not willing to do that - not while I'm busy having fun at least.  Sometimes this blog has to wait for me to catch up.  I'd apologize, but I'm not really sorry about it.  I'm still 'on the road' so you're going to have to put up with some instagram photos until I have time to edit and do a full months recap.

So Aaron had to go to central Alaska for a while with work stuff, and I was able to utilize Space-A to get to Alaska.  *Warning - Bragging Ahead!* Not only was I able to score a free flight to Alaska from Japan, but it just happened to be on the plane that Aaron flies.  AND Aaron happened to be on that flight also.  He wasn't flying that day, but we were able to hang out in the back together for the trip over.

Freaking. Awesome. Right?!

I couldn't pass this trip up.  Ever since I could remember I've wanted to visit Alaska.  I don't even know why a 7 year old would want to go to Alaska, but I did.  Free flight to one of my dream location? Yes please!  Aaron was going to be working constantly for numerous weeks, so I planned to do my own traveling and exploring.  One of us should have fun, right?  Sure!  I went at the same time he did with the intentions of traveling solo and if he happened to have a day or two off, we could spend some time together.

I ended up staying at an AMAZING hostel in Fairbanks, Alaska.  It's called Sven's Base Camp Hostel and I highly recommend this if you need a relaxing, laid back and fun place to stay.  Everyone was great here and I LOVED my tent cabin (The Lynx).  I had the whole thing to myself most of the nights I stayed.

I pretty much did everything there was to do in Fairbanks.  Four days was more than enough to become a tour guide, which I didn't become, but probably could have.  My second day in town Aaron was able to meet up with me to explore.  We hit up a museum, downtown, and my favorite thing to do in a new town, go to a farmers market!  We had a delicious lunch of street tacos and elk sausage and then hit up Hot Licks (hehe) for some homemade Alaskan Blueberry Ice Cream.  Aaron had to catch the last bus back to where he was staying, and I headed to the Fairbanks State Fair.  It was actually pretty decent.  I was educated on the Eskimo Olympic games and traditions, listened to music, looked at Alaskan crafty things and ate deep fried pizza.  

I met a bunch of great people from all over the world at the hostel: Finland, Iceland, Barcelona, Australia, Montana, etc.  I also met Chris and Jimmy who are a couple of awesome dudes currently riding their motorcycles over 24,000 miles, through 17 countries (Alaska to Argentina), and using these 6 months of their lives to raise awareness and money for Cure for Life Foundation.  Check out their site, Heads in the Clouds Wheels on the Ground to follow their adventure and find out more information.  Bad-ass to say the least.

I spent another day in Fairbanks running some errands, getting my stuff together, making traveling plans, and sleeping in.  I explored the area a bit more, and took a 15 hour bus tour to the Arctic Circle.  Worth. Every. Penny.

I had originally thought to rent a car, but decided not to for a few reasons.  The ONLY road north to the Arctic Circle (198 miles north of Fairbanks) and Prudhoe Bay (500 miles north of Fairbanks) is the Dalton Highway.  Also known as the "Haul Road", this is the road you might know from the show Ice Road Truckers.  Yup, that same road.  The ONLY reason this road exists and still exists is to build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and support the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.  Due to the conditions of the road, regular rental cars are banned from this highway (true story: I had to sign something saying I wouldn't take my rental on this road).  There are just a few companies that will rent vehicles specifically for this trip north.  Just to explain how dangerous this road could be, these rentals include: a CB radio, numerous spare tires, first aid kid, a car maintenance kit, etc.  In the winter they also include a Satellite phone, warmth kit, studded tired, engine block heater, etc.  Asides from a rental fee of $200-$300 per day, I would be driving by myself (not usually an issue, but here...ehhh...) and basically have to pay attention to the road 120%, not being able to enjoy the area and it would take forever.

So I went through Northern Alaska Tour Company and paid $189 for a 15 hour bus tour.  I was a little hesitant because, lets face it, that's a freaking long time on a bus not knowing if your tour guide is going to be annoying or your fellow visitors obnoxious.  Look at me, being all positive and stuff.  But like I said, it was worth EVERY PENNY.  Not only was our tour guide the best tour guide ever in the history of tours.  (Seriously, I'm writing the company a letter about how great she was), but the information she provided about Alaska, the Pipeline, and the highway was PRICELESS.  It would have been a pretty freaking boring trip by myself, and I wouldn't have known about anything I was viewing.  We learned about the Alaskan gold rush, Alaskan natives, the pipeline (which I became much more interested in than I ever expected), oil production and the tundra.  Seriously. Worth every penny.

After actually physically crossing the Arctic Circle, we stopped on the side of the road for some blueberry picking and to dig a hole 8" deep so we could feel the permafrost.  I don't know why I was surprised to put my hand in the dirt and hit a block of ice (well, frozen ground) so close to the surface. I mean, I've learned about the permafrost in school since I was little.  It was just a whole different experience actually seeing and feeling it first hand (pun totally intended).  I guess I always learned better in labs.

The final morning I was there, I picked up our rental car to go get Aaron and head down to Denali National Park.  Driving on the other side of the road in Japan seems so normal to me now, I was a little nervous to drive back in the states. Not to mention I was able to go really, REALLY fast.  70mph fast, which is so much faster than in Okinawa. ZOOOM!!!

Aaron and I spent the day together in Denali, taking the bus 4 hours into the park to Eielson Visitor Center.  You can only take a private vehicle a couple of miles into the park and then buses the rest of the way.  We were hoping on seeing Mt. McKinley aka Denali, but weren't successful.  On any given day, there is only a 30% chance of being able to view the mountain due to the crazy weather there.  Below is a picture taken at Eielson.  If we were able to see Denali, it would be towards the top right of the shot.

Regardless, it was a fun and beautiful day.  We didn't see much wildlife, but up in Alaska you're able to see nearly anything just on the side of the road.  Because of Aaron's work schedule, we were only able to spend a day in the park with each other and then grab some dinner.  It was totally worth it though, since that was the last day we were able to see each other for 3 weeks.  I would definitely like to visit here together again to explore deeper into the wilderness and do some backpacking and camping.

Denali was awesome even though I only saw a small percentage of it.  Like I said, I'd love to go back.  I have so many photos I want to share with you, but it's going to be a little bit longer before I get a chance to organize and sort through them.  At least you get the idea of what I've been up to.  By the time I left Denali, I was only day 8 into my trip, so I have lots more to share.

Check back soon!!!

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July 2013 Monthly Recap

Oh Man! I just realized now, nearly a month later that this never posted for you guys!  Ahhh!!! I've been recently traveling a bit, which I'll catch you up on for the August Recap, but for now, enjoy July's!

The longer we are here the faster time seems to be going.  This month was almost strangely speedy though.  I started volunteering more often, including an entire week (part-time) of organizing storage for the new USO Okinawa branch office.  It was sort of heaven for me, sorting through office supplies and putting them in order.  Although I only worked half days, by the time I drove back and forth to the other base and then did my normal daily errands and chores, the day was done!!!  No time for the beach...pffft!!! I haven't posted here at all this month, but check over at Kacey's Kitchen where I've been doing an "Eating Japan" series of everything we've been shoving in our faces...oink oink!  Now, onto the recap!

Let's start off with a smiling face... How she lays like this with her legs only an inch off the ground, I'll never understand.

I can't get enough of the beach.  Kassie, Maylee and I explored some islands on the eastern side of Okinawa and found what I think is my new favorite hidden beach.  Don't go there.  It's really horrible.

Aaron's parents sent us a Betsy Ross flag just in time for Fourth of July.  It actually looked really nice in this huge window.  Plus, Aaron is a direct descendant of Betsy Ross, so we definitely have to represent the family!  True story.

Have I mentioned you can get really cheap and really good massages here?  I'm talking $30 per hour.  Crazzzy!  This may or may not be my first one here.  But, it was my first Lomilomi, which is a Hawaiian massage.  Kacey approved for sure.

We signed up for library memberships and received this awesome pin.  Libraries remind me of a dream I had where I said "Read more books motherfuckers", and ever since, I have really wanted to make that saying a t-shirt.  You heard it here first.

Aaron finally got certified and we were able to go diving together a couple of weeks ago.  We did two dives and had tons of fun.  I forgot how hungry and tired diving makes you.  We went right off the Sunabe Seawall.  Although people dive there all the time and say how nice it is, I couldn't believe HOW nice it was. At one people I was floating around at about 45 feet and actually thought to myself "Wow, I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of coral!".  Geez.  Dumbass. Ha!!!

On our way back from returning our rental gear, we stopped for mango shaved ice at a stand run by two older gentlemen.  I pass them all the time and have never stopped before.  It's going to be hard to drive past WITHOUT stopping from now on.  Shaved ice is a huge thing here, it's like snowcone but a MILLION times better.  It's light and fluffy and they layer the toppings.  You can even get them with azuki beans (red beans)!

Breakfast is awesome and brunch with champagne and friends is even better.  A few of us in the neighborhood have been taking turns with brunch on the weekends, which is one of the most brilliant ideas EVER.  I made baked caprese egg bites one day.  My turn to host next!

 Not the most exciting picture, but it's so nice that Italian tomato chicken (which I think is supposed to be Chicken Parmesan) comes with peace!

We like to torture the cat.  On this particular day, I dressed her in the shirt I was brought home from the hospital in.  She just laid there, defeated. Muahaha!

Did I ever mention how I love going to the beach.  Another exploration day lead to Aaron and I laying in the sun on Ikei Island.  When it got too hot we floated around in the 86°F ocean.  It was rough I tell you. So. Freaking. Rough.

Penis cookies.  I'm not even going to go there...my parents read this blog.

This book was recommended to me, and I finally got around to checking it out at the bookstore.  This book is beautiful, and has so many fresh Japanese basics.  It would fit lovely in my kitchen if anyone wants to buy it for me.

I've been desperately needing a hair cut, and although a few years ago I swore off dying my hair to go all natural, I couldn't help feel like I needed a change.  I received a ton of in-town stylish recommendations and eventually made my decision based on closing my eyes and pointing to the list and made my appointment at Earth.  Armed with multiple photos and a list of English=Japanese hair style terms, I decided to go all out.  I paid extra for a higher level stylist, opted for highlights, and chose a deep conditioning treatment.  A few people came over to talk with me about options and what I wanted done, they wrote everything up and reviewed the price with me to make sure I was okay with it.  I thought that was awesome. No surprises!!!  I showed my inspiration photos and then told the colorist that he was free to use his judgement, which seemed to take him by surprise but was very happy about.  The only thing I told the stylist was "lots of LONG layers" and I want to keep my hair very long.  After 5 HOURS in the chair (not an exaggeration), multiple glasses of iced tea, my butt was sore, but I left a happy girl.  I originally requested a subtle ombre coloring, so when I took the picture below, I was a little concerned because I had foil all the way to my scalp.... But being as flexible as I am with my hair (I really don't care), I was curious what he decided to do.

The colorist was awesome, we talked quite a bit, his English was pretty good, and I tried to speak in as much Japanese as possible, which I'm sure I butchered because they were really amused with it.  We also taught each other some words in our respective languages.  I felt like a tool being a little nervous to speak with him so much, but it got easier as the hours passed.  Gotta take advantage of speaking the language when I can!  So I was happy with the color, but I was BLOWN away (hehe) buy the stylist.  This was BY FAR the best hair cut I've ever had in my life.  Even though he was really tall, he ended up kneeling most of the time to cut the back of my hair.  He was a wizard with scissors I tell you.  He really did keep my length, which you can see on the picture on the right (I was headed to bed when I took that picture) and thinned my hair so much I swear I lost 10lbs.  I have really thick hair, and was so impressed with the way he thinned it out with scissors (not a razor), that it really showed off the layers and actually makes my hair manageable.  The picture on the right shows the color a little bit more, although it's another weird photo - I'm sure you'll see better pictures in the upcoming posts.  I have highlights on top also, but those are a little more subtle then the ones underneath, which I love.  People say there are better places to go, but I'm going to have a hard time leaving this stylist.

KayCee, Kaylee and I did a last minute beach trip to catch the sunset the other day.  Seriously, anywhere you go here the view is beautiful.

I feel like these might be floating around the US somewhere, but either way, I found them interesting.  So...it's  basically a $1.00 (¥100) converter for smaller batteries when you need a larger one.  I feel like it would melt my gadget, but if you've tried it, let me know.

I had the pleasure of dog sitting ANOTHER lab.  This is Millie, and it's not just her brown coat that reminds me so much of Bosco, but her personality as well.  She thinks shes a human and she'll do anything for your love.  Unfortunately she hurt her leg at some point, so we weren't able to play as much as we would have liked, but she did get some human cuddle time in, with both me and the elephant.

Lauryn and I dubbed this entire day amazing before it was even 1pm.  After walking the dogs we headed off to do some paddleboarding in the East China Sea at Torii Beach.  This was my first time and it definitely showed.  The ocean was a little choppy (for beginners) once we got out there, but I was able to stand up a few times and we had fun just paddling around on our knees as well.  After baking in the sun for about an hour we decided to return them ($5 an hour) and float around in the water just enjoying the day.  I couldn't believe how many different muscles it took to stay balanced, pros make it look so easy! We later grabbed some gyros at Sunabe Gyro's (I got goat, she got falafel) and sat on the seawall enjoying our delicious grub.  Picture of my view below.  It was just a really good relaxing day all around.

At the end of the month we sponsored a new guy moving to the island and joining Aaron's squadron.  We were pretty excited about this.  The new guy seemed pretty cool based on the emails and phone calls we exchanged, and we were happy we could help someone out.  At a minimum, the base requests that you pick up the new person, book lodging for them, and show them around.  When you take into consideration that no one has a car or even a drivers license when they first get here, there is lots of relying on complete strangers for help.  Seeing that we only arrived in February, our lack of freedom was fresh in our minds and we were determined to be awesome sponsors! Anyway, the new guy ended up being really cool and laid back and I'd like to think we helped him get settled in a little and have some fun.

While waiting at the airport, I had to get some shots with the mascot.  He's so happy sitting in an airport all day!

Last but not least, fancy turtle!  While browsing a pet store, I stumbled upon the store turtle.  I'm not sure where he/she was going all dressed up like that, but it was a pretty huge and cool dude.

Again, sorry for not realizing this post hadn't actually post.  In just a few days, we'll be recapping August!  Woo Woo!!!

So tell me, what have you been up to?
Do you have a blog with monthly recaps?  If so, leave me the link and I'll share them with the world!!

Click here for all of the past monthly recaps.

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Iejima (Ie Island)

After reading my last post on my adventures with Kassie on Kourijima, I know you're just dying to find out if we ever made it to Iejima, our original adventure destination.  We woke up early, drove up the oh-so-familiar-by-now highway and arrived at the ferry terminal to find a packed parking lot and long lines.  This looked much more promising!  The lines moved fast and within a few minutes, Kassie was loading her bike up in the storage area of the boat and I was wading through a sea of people to find a spot to claim for our 30 minute ride.

Be sure to check out Kassie's blog and recap of our trip here.

As soon as the ferry hit land, I hopped off to find a bike rental place.  The day before I totally forgot that I knew how to say bicycle in Japanese, but this time I took the opportunity to practice asking where they were.  They were right around the corner.  Duh.  The ferry cost about $14 round trip per person, and I think Kassie paid about $12 to bring her bike, which, if you have one is definitely the way to go.  I rented a bike for the day for $10, but being out in the salty island air, it was rusted to shit, and I had even harder of a time this day than I did the previous.  If you were to bring a car to the island, you would need to make a reservation and it costs something like $40-$50, which isn't bad if you have a car load of people and are staying for a few days.

We caught up with each other and headed off to find some cool stuff.  We ended up finding a neat little beach all to ourselves and hunted for sea glass, interesting shells, and this guy.

I played with the hermit crab for waaay to long trying to get a focused picture of him/her while Kassie went exploring along the cliff.  She was gone for a while and I thought I should go look for her, but then I dozed off for a few minutes laying on some coral.  Good friend I am, ha!!!

We biked a few kilometers to the Hibiscus Garden which housed over 1,000 different varieties.  While they had really nice walking paths and outdoor gardens, they hadn't bloomed yet, so we headed inside a giant greenhouse, which was still really fun.

There were so many, each on more beautiful than the last.

We couldn't get over how tall the plants were and how large each flower was.  I had never seen anything like it before.  Some were literally bigger than my head!!!

Next up was the feature of the week.  The Lily Festival!!!  We followed tour buses and the crowds through the windy streets until we found a place to park our bikes unchained next to about 2034982349 other bikes.    Walking just a little ways down a path, we came across this view!

Here we grabbed some lunch from some food vendors, listened to music playing from the stage and people watched.

I think we both expected something a little different from this.  For some reason I was thinking that all these lilies would be growing wild, but it made total sense that they are maintained and cared for.  There were people working in nearly every patch of lilies picking off dead petals and fallen leaves to keep everything looking pristine.  I thought that was pretty impressive.

Don't get me wrong, we both loved the Lily Festival, and I would definitely recommend anyone who lives here to go to it.  I mean, come on, how could you not love being in a field next to the ocean in a middle of these gorgeous flowers.  The whole island as a whole was awesome, and definitely go exploring outside of the 'festival'.

Mandatory Japanese pose of the day.

We strayed off the beaten path, not far at all from the festival and climbed over a ton of coral (that stuff is SHARP!  It ripped through my sneaker!) to spy on some fisherman on the cliff.  While we were standing there, some water shot up through a little tiny crack in the coral, so we had fun getting as close as we could to it without being blasted and taking a ton of pictures.  Check out Kassie's blog for a hilarious but mega unflattering picture of me posing 'terrified' of it.  Hehe.

We knew it was about time to get back on our bikes and check out at least one more place before we had to catch the ferry.  Ugh...there were hills, and my rusty bike didn't want to peddle and we were tired and my butt hurt.  But then....we arrived at Wajee View Point, which was worth every second.  Seriously, check out this view!!!

Time to head back.  We had only seen a fraction of the island, and thought we had missed all of the historical sites until we passed this building which had been destroyed during WWII.  It was too bad we couldn't read about it, all we knew was that it was a historic site.

Iejima played a major role in Japan surrendering to the US during the war.  There are 3 runways that still exist, one which is still used for civilian aircraft.  The US Marines use the island as a training facility, and we were able to watch some paratroopers jump out of an Osprey!!! Farming is huge on the island (as is most of Okinawa), well, as huge as could be on a 9 square mile plot of land, and raise tons of things including ducks, cattle, flowers, tobacco, potatoes, fish, and probably tons others I don't know about.  There is even a rum distillery.  We got the impression that you cannot tour the factory, but we did bring some home to try!

We headed back and returned my bike, and as we were walking away, we were yelled at in Japanese to come back and get a free snowcone!  We each got one and enjoyed our surprise treat sitting in the shade.  It was very appreciated after being in the blazing sun for hours!

After buying some treats for the boys back home, and some lilies for ourselves, we headed back.  The ferry ride back was uneventful and quiet.  We plopped down in our hidden little spot on the top deck and relaxed, uploaded photos of the day, and talked about how awesome our island adventures were.  We'd love to go back, maybe bringing the guys and check out the other side of the island, some of the historic stuff, climb the mountain and go into the caves.  Maybe we could stay at the resort of even camp in the winter.

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