I just had the most amazing week here in Alaska!

The lake by our cabin a few weekends ago.
Denali was obscured by clouds, but I like this view better.

Last Friday, I went to the Oceans Festival, a celebration of all things Oceans in Alaska. There were lots of little booths for all of the local environmental groups and crunchy businesses. I was playing dress up, which put me in a good mood. Old friends and friendly strangers continually materialized from the crowd, which made me glad that I had come alone. There was live music, lots of little kids and lots of good energy.
Among many competetions (including a shrimp-peeling speed contest) there was a skate rollerski sprint relay. I did it with Esther Kennedy, a rising senior at Service High School who some of you might remember visited Williams last fall, and we got third.
Then Aubrey finally showed up after being held hostage at Hatcher Pass by Patrick Stinson, and the party really began. We were the first to start dancing to visiting band Sun Volt, but as the rain started and the kids went home, we were joined by hundreds of others. Here's some pictures:

Aubrey and I starting the party

My sister Roz, Me and Aubrey.

The next morning, I went on a hike with my dogs in the Chugach Mountains. I was literally breathing clouds the whole time, and it was hard to see more than 100 meters in any direction. It was sometimes very spooky, as the snow blended in with the sky, and you couldn't tell where the cliff edge was. However, as it wasn't rainy or windy, there were a lot of people out that morning, all of them friendly (if a little wierd). I even ran into some folks I knew. The whole experience was quite eiree, but oddly comforting.


My dad and I headed out out to the Kenai Peninsula later that day to stay with a friend and fish for King Salmon on the Kasilof River. Sunday morning, we got up at 3:30 am and were out on the river by 4:10 ( a little late by our host, Bill Cambell's, standard!). We sat, talked, and replaced our salmon-egg bait as smaller fish ate it. It was in the 30s and misty, and we got to watch the very early sunrise. There were dozens of other boats out, almost all guided with tourists in them, jockeying for position. There are no motors allowed on the river, so all of the boats were outfitted with oars and an anchor. I got the first bite, and was able to pull it in. As it was a hatchery fish and not a native fish (you can tell because a fin is missing) we were able to keep it- talk about guilt-free fishing! As the tide came in, the bumpy river surface became flat. We got more bites as the salmon came upstream with the tide. Our second catch of the day, however, - by our host, Bill Campbell- was not until just before noon, right as we were getting off the river. This second fish put up quite the fight!

The Kasilof River before Sunrise

Me holding a beautiful, tasty, creature
(an hour after this photo, our lunch)

This week, training was fun, though the forces that be seem to sabatoging my interval sessions. An example: on Tuesday, I was doing long bounding interval repeats up a stretch of narrow trail. There were three male moose on one side of the trail, and one in the trail. I tossed (not threw!) rocks and made noise and successfully moved him, but on my way down, they had all moved into the trail. I found myself crawling through the woods in my requisite polka-dot interval skirt that Maddy got me. Then I came up with an idea- I made some crazy noises to try and sound like a bear and shook all of the little trees I was stuck between. It worked! Another example: yesterday, I had ducked into some trees for a bathroom break, and, to avoid a tow truck, a guy in another truck drove slightly off the road, running over one of my classic poles. Luckily, I was in what could be called "the rollerskiing district" of Anchorage, so within 20 minutes I found Holly Brooks (my coach senior year of high school) and her APU juniors and she lent me her skate poles for my intervals.

Last night, Holly, Aubrey, and Aubrey's mom, Kay, came over for dinner at my Dad's. We had some of the king salmon, a rice/garlic/spinach/feta/parmesan recipe my dad found, a fruit and nut salad and a watermelon Holly brought for dessert. The food was good but the company could not be beat!

I head off to Seattle on Wednesday to visit family before heading East on the 22nd to my six-week job in Pennsylvania at Lafayette College teaching psychology to 12 to 16-year-olds with high test scores (nerd camp!). I will be staying at Caleb's a couple of days, so maybe I will get to see a couple of you in the Mount Washinghton Valley!