Fire bowl s'mores

We took advantage of the nice weather and lit the fire bowl and had a couple of friends over.  When there's fire (and beer), might as well make s'mores.  We used bars of sea salt chocolate and ginger chocolate.  We also figured out a way to melt the chocolate using the tool used to lift the bowl lid.  They were delicious and messy!    

Going to Whittier

Whittier is south of Anchorage about 60 miles surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and water.  While Zach has been there numerous times, I have not, so this weekend was my chance.  We met up with about 14 other couples to stay the evening at the Inn at Whittier.  

Before checking in, Zach showed me the sites.  First, to get to Whittier, you have to go through a 2 1/2 mile tunnel, which can only be accessed at certain times.  It's the longest dual purpose tunnel (car and train) in the country.  Second, once we were through the tunnel (whew!), we drove by Begich Towers, a converted military building from Whittier's military days, now condos which most of the town live in.  Not a single family house in the whole town to be seen, or at least that I could locate.  Next we drove by Buckner Building, a huge abandoned building also from Whittier's military days.  Finally, on to the Inn at Whittier.  

Once checked in we watch some cable tv, quite the treat since we don't have cable at home.  However, our decision not to have cable is always reinforced by these experiences with so many channels and nothing we really want to watch.  We then headed down to a nice dinner and then spent some time in the bar, primarily watching the Olympics.  This morning was lazy as the rain fell outside.  We had some breakfast, lazed about again for a while and then finally made the 11:10 tunnel out of town.  Back in Anchorage, the skies are blue and the weather has the feel of spring in it.  

Tried to stay awake for the fireworks on NYE

 

I made it not only until the fireworks at 8pm, but also until after the new year arrived.  I'm paying for it a bit today.

Sent from my iPhone

Making snowmen

Last night, with warm adult beverages in hand, Zach and I decided to take advantage of all the new snow we received over the past two days.  We each made a snowman with the dogs' help, of course.  I decided to put a scarf and hat on mine, but Zach left his unclothed.  It's kind of reflective of each of our relative hardiness against the cold.  Personally, I'm always cold and Zach never seems to get that way.  Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

Two new things last night

We started with a Jack Rose cocktail.  Zach went to the liquor store yesterday and purchased brandy and sherry for Thanksgiving.  We found a recipe for a Jack Rose, which uses apple jack brandy, simple syrup, grenadine, maraschino cherry, lemon juice and an apple slice.  After getting past the brandy smell, the drink was quite tasty.  Here's a recipe, but you'll want to add about three quarters of an ounce simple syrup: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/drink/views/Jack-Rose-236103.  The resulting cocktail is pretty too.