On scooters, that is.
On scooters, that is.
Views from the ride:
And the results! Yes, I realize people run faster than this, but they don't have to stop for traffic or probably eat as much good food or drink as much beer as I do.
Going up hill with Zach far in the lead while I was walking up the hill and munching a granola bar.
Zach and I both had long weekends this past weekend, so we took off for the Trapper Creek and Talkeetna areas to do some fat tire biking and cross country skiing. We tried out the snowmachine trails around Trapper Creek on Sunday and learned that fat tire biking is fun but hard work. While on biking the road its not much different than regular biking on pavement, but once there's any softness to the trail, it's a lot of pushing. I think I walked at least 1/3 of the time we were on the first trail. Later we were pointed to a harder trail and I wish we would have started there as we didn't go far before we were both beat.
I can order these as a reward if this diet works from here.
Kind of like getting back on the horse after you fall off, but this was a big boulder. In August, I finally got back up on a boulder outside since breaking my ankle two years before that. It definitely helped to be climbing with good friends that I knew could at least get me out if I broke my ankle again (one was with me during the accident when I originally broke my ankle and helped get me off the side of the mountain). I have to admit that I was shaking before I even touched the rock and once I got near the top was scared to death. But hey, I survived to tell the tale with no more than a few scratches so I would call this a success.
Zach was really wanting to me try driving his motorcycle, but in the interest of preserving my life and not wanting to spend the evening at the emergency room I had to decline. I did, however, let him drive me down the block and back; a first. It was a very nice short ride. Here's the video I shot of the experience. Obviously Zach's a good driver otherwise I wouldn't have had a hand free for filming.
This evening Zach and I and two brave friends decided to float the mighty Campbell Creek, which flows behind our house. We floated for a couple of hours, with little mishap (I did lose my hat in the creek, but it was retrieved), to the Peanut Farm, a local watering hole, just in time to have a beer before the thunderstorm came. A delightful time was had by all.
I'm not a big fan of heights and I like them even less when I have to give control of going up or down to someone or something else, like wheels and pulleys. That being the case, it was a big step for me to ride the Mt. Robert's tram in Juneau last week. I've been to Juneau probably 20 times and never wanted to ride the tram. This time the incentive was that the hike up was so muddy I was afraid I'd be a gonner falling somewhere on the way down, plus after I bought a water bottle (I'd left mine in Anchorage) the ride down for myself and my friend was free.
It's been busy since my last post. I've travelled back to Iowa for a short visit with family, up to Fairbanks for work and then lots of projects around the house. New and challenging activities have consisted of planting three new trees in our front yard on Saturday by myself. I planted a white spruce and two State Fair apple trees (in the background of the second picture you can see a landscaping project I did earlier this summer. Landscaping is WAY different than gardening, but that's an entirely different post).
I've also been smoking salmon. Zach went dipnetting on Thursday and Friday while I stayed home and played dog whisperer to Honey (she's not been herself lately, but I'm not sure who she's trying to be). Unfortunately, he had to head to Fairbanks on Sunday which left him just enough time to clean and fillet the fish, so that left the smoking part to me. Last night I smoked two batches using alder chips and the charcoal grill. Tonight I have two more batches to do.
