Author: Kim Nelson

Alaska, Day 2: On the Road to Denali

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Saturday, July 21. 2012

We woke up and got breakfast at Snow City Cafe, a cute place in downtown Anchorage. I ordered reindeer sausage to keep it local, plus it’s delicious. Afterwards, we walked around and checked out some souvenir shops, received an ulu knife  as a free gift with purchase, and stopped into the Visitors Center (which I was banned from entering because I totally forgot the ulu knife was in my bag and tried to pass it through the government-operated building’s security screening.)

Finally, we were able to pick up our RV and get started on the 5-hour drive to Denali National Park. We stopped at the most scenic Wal-mart I’ve ever seen to pick up provisions for our 3 days in the Savage River campgrounds.

most scenic Wal-mart ever

The drive to Denali was wooded, gorgeous, and lined with a surprisingly large amount of fireworks stores. It rained throughout most of the day, and we didn’t see any wildlife during the drive minus some dogs running free near the street.

parked at our Savage River campsite, first night

inside view

After having dinner and drinks inside the RV while playing Cards Against Humanity, the rain finally stopped. We emerged from the RV during the bright midnight hour, and Kurt and I walked down to Savage River to check out the scenery. I don’t think we used our headlamps once during the entire trip. Seeing the vast open sky and mountains looming along the horizon, I realized that no camera was ever going to capture the true awe of being there, a feeling that I’d experience pretty much constantly through the rest of the trip.

this photo was taken at 12:30 a.m. with no flash

Wildlife count for the day: 0

Alaska, Day 1: Anchorage

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Anchorage, AK

Friday, July 20, 2012: Our trip begins!

After a long day of flying, including a semi-ridiculous layover in Dallas-Fort Worth, Kurt and I arrived in Anchorage at around 8 p.m. We dropped off our backpacks at the hotel and immediately set out to explore a little bit. Anchorage is the biggest city in Alaska, with its population of 300,000 about roughly half of the entire state. We ate dinner (halibut tacos) and got some beers at Humpy’s Ale House in the downtown area.

After dinner, we walked around a little bit more, already thrown off by the daylight sky still bright well past 10 p.m. Considering it was later than 1 a.m. Chicago time, I was ready to head back to the hotel to go to bed. Our good friends and travel buddies, Bob and Amy, arrived from Houston about an hour or so later, so we called it a night to get some rest for the next big day.

 

 

 

 

 

Alaska, Here We Come

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We leave in 4 days for Alaska! For 8 days, we are going to be exploring the Interior and Kenai Peninsula in an RV. The planning for this trip started way back in late January, so just the fact that it is finally so close is incredibly exciting. After hours of online research and pouring through travel books, we are actually going to start our adventure soon. It feels unreal. I am eager to start packing my backpack tonight.

A few of the RV sites that we’re staying at later in the trip have wi-fi, so I will do my best to post some blog updates from the road. For the first several days, we will be in Denali National Park so I don’t expect to have any cell phone reception. After we get back, I’ll post extensively about our itinerary, adventures, wildlife sightings, how many baby animals I try to take home with me, how many times Kurt has to say “No you cannot have a pet fox”, and of course plenty of photos. For now, here’s our rough schedule:

Friday, July 20: arrive in Anchorage
Saturday, July 21: pick up the RV and head to Denali National Park
Sunday, July 22: hiking in the park
Monday, July 23:  more exploring, maybe visit Talkeetna
Tuesday, July 24:  drive to Seward
Wednesday, July 25: kayaking and boat tour in Resurrection Bay/Fox Island
Thursday, July 26: back to Anchorage area
Friday, July 27: Soldotna/Kenai area
Saturday, July 28: get in our last bit of exploring, drop off the RV, fly home overnight
Sunday, July 29: back in Chicago

Girls of Rock ‘n Roll

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Growing up, my siblings, cousins, and I were mildly obsessed with the movie Chipmunk Adventure.  The plot involved the Chipmunks and Chipettes in a race around the world via hot air balloon, leaving doll replicas of themselves behind as they unknowingly smuggled diamonds and cash for the criminals funding their trip. In the end they foiled the bad guys and got to see the world.

While in Vegas this past April with my mom and sisters, we came across Chipmunk and Chipette Beanie Babies in a hotel gift shop. I could not resist purchasing Brittany, since I always played that character when we would reenact scenes from the movie.  It’s time for her to jump back in her traveling hot air balloon.

The Saddest Lunch

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Is there a sadder lunch than a Lean Cuisine heated up in the office microwave? Rubbery chicken, limp veggies, and congealed sauce lay atop a squishy bed of rice, and the woman in line behind you, leading the queue of sad secretaries holding their own boxes of nukeable sludge, has the nerve to say “That smells good.” No, it doesn’t. You don’t need her pity sniff. I don’t care if that plastic shell holds Chicken Alfredo or Santa Fe Rice & Beans, every Lean Cuisine smells the same–like failure covered in lo-cal gravy.

You run back to your desk concealing your pathetic lunch in the crook of your arm so no one sees what you have in there, like you just birthed a cyclops baby and you need to get it to the convent doorstep before the church bells start ringing.

The worst part, of course, is that after you eat your warmed over little pile of sustenance, You. Are. Still. Hungry. Seriously, did you just eat moist air? Why does it feel like nothing went into your belly? I haven’t been this disappointed since the Lost finale. Why buy them, you are probably asking. Because I am lazy, and they are $3.

Call Me Maybe

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It started when I traveled to Baltimore last fall for work. While packing, I thought that it would kind of funny if I changed my iPhone ringtone to the theme song from The Wire. Now, nerd that I am, when I travel I have to update my ringtone as an homage to that new locale:

Upcoming Trips: