alaska was amazing!!!! the people were so great, the weather was beautiful, and i really got to have a vacation for a change. i didn't even mind so much that i wasn't running the marathon. the sights were just too amazing to sulk. get ready for pictures y'all.
first, they call it the land of the midnight sun, and they aren't lying. it's dark for about 4 of 24 hours, and even then it's not truly dark. i just had to have louise take this picture of me outside our hotel at 8:45pm!!!!
here's me at the edge of portage glacier. we just happened upon this spot while tooling around in the rental car. isn't that blue amazing???!!!! apparently it's an illusion. the ice is so compressed, and dense that it only allows the blue light of the light spectrum to pass through it. crazy!!! we went on a 4 hour glacier cruise and saw even bigger and more active glaciers, but my digi was out of batteries at that point, so i gotta wait for the film to be developed.
the day before the marathon, the other girls wanted to do a glacier plane ride. i was so broke that i could only budget one sightseeing trip (they're sooooper expensive y'all!!!!), so i opted to go on the 2 hour drive with them to the town of talkeetna where they apparently based the town from the show "northern exposure" on. i was just planning to walk around and explore the town and also brought my book club book to occupy me during their hour and a half flight. but the people at the place were so nice that they let me go up anyway at a super cheap rate!!!!! big shout out to everyone at TALKEETNA AIR TAXI!!!! you guys rock!!! i was in complete disbelief that i was up in that plane overlooking some of god's best work.
we landed on a glacier at the base of mt. mckinley, the highest peak in north america. 360 degrees of snow. here's me all geeked out as i stand in front of the plane.
here's the whole marathon gang. nico, louise, laura, and moi.
some glacier pools along the base of ruth glacier. again, that blue is just surreal. don't they look like swimming pools??? even with all the sunny days, these pools are frozen solid. we saw hikers down below trekking through this spot on cross country skis. they have to be tied together in case one of them falls in a cravace!!!!!
and did you think i'd get all the way to alaska and not check out the yarn??? my last day in anchorage, i got to meet up with jackie of being butta.fly fame. what a sweetie she was to pick me up and show me around!!!! here she is with danielle at the knitting frenzy store. jackie and danielle will be selling their wears at the girdwood forest fare 4th of july weekend. they're gonna clean up i tell you!!!!
here's jackie with all her stuff she's made for the fare. man, i wanted to buy everything!!!!!
here i am wearing my favorite. hopefully i can get a custom one from jackie when she's all done with the fare!!!
here's jackie wearing the wristband i made for her. i also got to meet her two adorable daughters. how did i forget to take a picture of them??? duh. 11 year old jocelyn is already knitting herself. she makes these really cool cell phone covers that she'll also sell at the fare, and she's started on her first sweater!!!! and little adara is going to be a year old in two days. too cute with her four teeth and adorable giggle!!!! i can't believe i started reading jackie's blog back when she was pregnant with her.
and finally, here's the last shot i took on the way to the airport. it's 11pm and the sun is barely setting!!!!! now i want to come back to see the northern lights. someday someday.........
so i'm off to alaska. anchorage. i'm purposely not taking some of my marathon gear so as not to be tempted to pick up my race number and run the damn thang against doctor's orders. you see i was already registered and the trip was paid for when i got in the car accident, so i'm going anyway to cheer on the two women i trained with and to rest up a bit. i'm so excited to see anchorage at this time of year!!! 20 hours of daylight. woo hoooo!!!! i wonder how that would screw me up if i were running. anyhow, it's 11pm and i haven't packed a thing, although the laundry is all done which is leaps and bounds ahead of where i usually am the night before a trip. i still haven't even decided if i'll bring any knitting. what could i start???? oh, and i did end up making a shawl to go with my dress for the wedding last weekend, but didn't like the color. i started on another one with some stash yarn when i realized that the party was way less formal than i thought. ended up wearing jeans and a blouse. oh well.........
hi y'all. sorry it's been so long since the last post. are you tired of looking at that mangled car yet???? thanks again to everyone for their well wishes and sometimes hilarious comments on my situation. i'm definitely on the mend, but won't be running the alaska marathon and don't know when i'll race again. yesterday was my first attempt at a light 20 minute run on the treadmill. it felt good just to be attempting any sort of activity, but i'm afraid to really go all out for a while. i swear, when i can run again, i'm never going to sleep in again, never going to take activity for granted. i think i might pledge to run every day for a year, just to commemorate being able to run again. hmmmm, sounds like another blog might be in order......
in an ironic twist, on my way to the chiropractor last week I GOT REAR ENDED AGAIN IN THE RENTAL CAR!!!!!!! what are the odds???? no major damage except that the woman (or crazy bitch as i like to refer to her) tried to wave and drive away. i had to chase her two blocks before she would pull over!!!!! what is it with people?????
in knitting news, i'm afraid there is no news. i have to frog the tank i started because after the initial rib, it's turning out to be too big. i'm just not in a frogging and redesigning mood right now. i have a wedding to go to on the 12th. in the same crazy way i tried to make the "turkey wrap" poncho two days before thanksgiving, i kinda wanna make a loosely knit shawl to go with my dress. i'm gonna try to find some cheapy stuff at michael's in the right color tomorrow. if i do, then it's time to get out the #17's and it's on!!!!! wooo hoooooo!!!!!
sorry i don't have pics to post. no time right now. more later.........
monica, 33, single
photographer / running coach
live in los angeles
2 dogs, ella (lab) and ruby (dobi)
learned to knit when i was 7, but recently picked it up again in december 2002
...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
i've thought about this one before. i'd call the restaurant "whateva's cleva" and change the menu every day with all my favorites including, mexican, indian, soul food, veggie friendly, etc.
...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
yarn, duh!!!!!
...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
biographies are my favorite, but i can't imagine that my own would be a top seller. probably a crime story.
...ran a school, what would you teach?
tolerance
...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
oh, again, that's a difficult one. i'm a musical schizophrenic. some punk, some funk, some metal, some rap, and at least one sappy love song
how come this little pixie never looks like me????
