Max... Young America!

So my travels through Colorado have helped me put perspective on how young our country really is. Denver's oldest coffee shop was established in 1982 only a year before my birth... I mean I'm young so to be a year older and call yourself the OLDEST that is crazy! This city being so young, kinda gives it that new construction feel of burgeoning suburbs and strip malls, I take that back with the exception of Aurora (ughhh!) such a description is entirely too harsh. There are some really cool places and people here. It seems that Max and I visited all of the top of the town or "5280" estblishments in the city! We went to eat at Bump and Grind! where Transvestdikes serve you a BIG FAT JUICEY Rueban Studdard sandwich. And now I'm tired of blogging... good times, better memories.

firebrand is revolutioniZing my blog!

Seward's folly

So my bro and I made it back alive! We had the true unalaskan experience staying in a hotel for three nights and dining on fast food. We did try... having borrowed our tow truck drivers fishn poles, however, neither Josh or myself really know how to rig a pole up or fish, especially fly fish with a spinning rod and reel. The nice folks at the tackle shop helped us rig one of our poles, setting us up to fish for silver salmon. We bought our hip waders, line, hooks, roe, knife and three day fishing licenses. We went to the kenai river access behind our hotel and began to fish, after little action and alot of tangled line, we gave up having caught NO FISH! Josh had to fly from the Kenai airport back to Fairbanks Sunday evening to catch his flight back to NC the following morning, meanwhile, I was still stranded in Soldotna with broke down transportation. I got up Monday, took a cab to B & D auto and then began to explain what "happened" to the car before it died. The mechanic that was going to look at it said it sounded like a serious problem, minutes later he came back and explained it was just the alternator belt. This came as bittersweet news knowing that our whole excursion was derailed by such a simple problem-- if only we had gotten help in time or broken down in the right place where immediate repair was available!!!!-- yet I was relieved to get the rental car, which was not to be driven past Denali, fixed easily and without spending a fortune. More importantly, I could now get back to Fairbanks. However, on the lonesome drive home through amazing vistas I couldn't help but obsess about what might have been, how Josh and I were set to have another unforgettable time roadtrippin' far from where we should be. We just had shit luck this time. However all was not lost, we did go rafting near denali national park which was a white water blast as we both got to ride the "bull"!!! and we met the bald eagle lovin'/glamour shootin' tow truck driver Matt. We also met Rick who was the coolest guide ever--however not ours-- and reminded us both of Nathan. So in conclusion, we will return to Alaska someday soon to fin ish what we hardly started. Next time we will have Natedog in tow and book our adventure with Rick.

In retrospect, we should have probably attempted to go to Seward instead of Homer. We almost surely would have made it that far. My friend Lydia and her sister both grew up in Seward and boldly/biasly endorsed there former homestead. After being presented with the cruise ships vs no cruise ships dilemma, I chose Homer's spit and cruise free waters. Whale, by now you know what happened. If I had only listened to Lydia and her amazing christian cookies--better than the Hatch family recipe oatmeal butterscotch-- we might have made it to the ocean!!! Zak's folly.






Lydia

ani mal nutrition... here are the ingredients

1 tsp dry moosetard

1 cup fresh bluebearries

3/4 cup ground salmonds

2 Tbsp unseasalted halibutter

1 1/2 pounds of ground whale m eat!

AAA Roadside Assistance

So Josh and I were set to have an Amazing Alaskan Adventure(AAA?!), instead our rental car--which was suppose to go no further than Denali National Park and back(~485miles north of where we are!)-- broke down! Now we are stranded on the Kenai Penenisila in bear country. We hitched a ride with this tow truck guy Matt to Soldotna. He has let us Barrow a couple of his fishing polls and we are going to try and figure out how to red salmon fish. It is not Hali-but still fishn! Of course, this is the short story of a long day...

snip!

you know that nappy hair on the back of your neck, well i just went to get mine trimmed, i didn't get the woman to quote me on how much it would cost--trusting that she did honest work-- cause hey i figured 2 bucks or maybe even free like times before at other places NO! 5 freakin dollars for a two second trim! I should have questioned her but didn't and now i can't let it go...next time i'll just let my necknapp grow! let it GrOw!

Post-war d

so this is what happened... much like the morning of the music city marathon i woke up late missing my intented start time, so instead of starting at 8:00am ( i would have had to arrive at the silver gulch which is about 15-20 min. away at 7:15!) SO... i got there at 8:15 and took the salmon bake bus (with the other winners) up to the 9 ohh clock start. i ran and ran, walking some while mostly running fearing that if i were the last one on the trail i would be BEAR BAIT.

The run was nice and scenic but the alaska range was not visible as i had hoped. Most of the 16.5 mile run was down hill harder than you think, anyways, i finished in 2:55:39.8 (but was recorded an hour slower--unlike the marathon, they did not have timing chips-- because of my tardy start... you snooze you LOOSE!)

Well one day post race, i'm sore but not nearly as handicapped as i was after the marathon. Before i run another organized race, i should train and exorcise my american spirits...