Why are you staring?

I'd rather be hiking, fishing, camping, geocaching, not living in Virginia...

Pictures of Eklutna Tailracer


I have a gym membership that I use mostly twice a week for yoga. Yes I do yoga...and I like it. Living here in the summer makes it very difficult to work out indoors because there are so many places around here to do it in the great outdoors.

I used to go to the gym quite a bit at Langley in Virginia because that seemed to be all there was to do. Yeah, you could go walking on sidewalks that suddenly end, go to the beach and spend the next three hours hosing sand out of places you didn't know existed. You could ride a bike and dodge traffic...because dodging traffic in Virginia should be an Olympic sport. Wanna go hiking? You'll have to drive four hours and probably have to pay out the yang. What the hey, bypass the physical stuff altogether and sit in a bar. I hope and pray I never have to live in Virginia again. Man I hate that place.

Today I was thinking, "I should go to the gym." and then I looked out the window at Skyline and thought, "Naaa, I'm going hiking." Then my pal Julie and her son came over and she asked me if I wanted to go walking. Now understand, walking where I live in AK is different than walking back in VA. Here when we go walking there is usually a VERY steep incline involved. Anyhoo, Julie, her son, her dog Knik, and my leashed shit-machine Roxie, took off. Trust me, just when you think you are at the top...there's more to go. Soon Julie and I are going to the Chugiak Visitors Center park, and stay in the woods hiking all day. We are holding off on that one though because I have to have my bear spray. Laugh if you want to but it will turn a bear around. Then we are going to hike Skyline, then maybe, just maybe tackle Mt. Baldy.

I'm telling you, there is nothing in the world like living in a place where you can pack a lunch, walk out the door, drive five miles and spend the entire day on a mountain in the woods hiking, geocaching, and loving it. No snakes, no ticks, no fleas. Okay, so we have moose and bear...those I can handle...it's those little parasitic vermin and hangers-on that I can't deal with.

I am going to check out the Alaska Midnight Sun Rowing Team here soon and maybe try to get on a team. There's a lot of beauty in that sport. Also the family and I (dog included) are going to spend a week camping in the Alaskan interior, about seven hours away from here. I'll admit that I did have to call and make sure they had showers because I can funk up pretty good in nine days. Who am I kidding, I can funk up pretty good in two.

We bought a tent on clearance at Walmart for $38.00 marked down from $100.00 plus. That thing is huge, 17ft long X 10ft wide, which is bigger than the cell at the supermax prison where that guy Massoui (or however you spell it) will be staying. We practiced putting it up in the front yard, a feat which garnered no strange looks because I guess such a thing is normal behavior at the beginning of the season, and we can now throw that thing together with all the speed and efficiency of a NASCAR pit crew. Yeah, we totally rock.

Be back soon!

posted by Shannon Land Post @ 11:42 PM