Exploring Alaska's Interior

There are few places in the world whose name alone elicits emotions such as excitement, fear, and intrigue. We are fortunate enough to be experiencing one of those places, Alaska. Say it with me everyone…Alaska! Doesn’t it just stir up something inside you? For us, this destination has always been our number one goal. It didn’t matter how we got here, just that we got here. We wanted to live that emotion, not just talk about. Now that we made it, now that we are living it, I’ve got to tell you that it’s pretty awesome.

We have seen so much and are learning something new every day about the 49th state. This isn’t hard to do though since Alaska is ENORMOUS and has so many sensational places to visit. It will be impossible to see everything, but you know darn well that we are going to see as much as humanly possible.

With last weekend being our final weekend before starting our new jobs, we decided to go on a bit of a road trip to Fairbanks and Denali National Park. You would think that since Homer and Fairbanks are in the same state that it would be no big deal, right? Well here’s a fact: This trip is longer than if you were going from Washington D.C. to Portland Maine. Also fact: If you were going from Homer, AK to Deadhorse, AK (the northernmost point on the main highway system) it would be about the same as driving from Columbia, SC to Portland, ME. Just let that roll around in your head for a minute and you’ll get a sense of how big Alaska is.

Now, back to Fairbanks. Fairbanks is located in the heart of interior Alaska. It is the second largest city in the state (behind Anchorage) and boasts some of the toughest people in the state. Those who live here have to endure some of the most extreme climate changes anywhere in the U.S. Temperatures can range from -66 degrees in winter to 99 degrees in summer. In the winter there may be only 0-4 hours of daylight per day while in the summer there is over 21 hours on average. Winters are incredibly hard and painfully long. The locals told us that the four seasons in Fairbanks are June, July, August, and winter. However, the people who live there acknowledge that despite the hardships, it is truly a special place.

We definitely enjoyed our time there. We stayed at a great B & B owned by an older couple who came to Alaska so the husband could work on the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline system. He told us some great stories about the pipeline and also shared with us a PBS documentary on its construction, which he just so happened to be featured in. We also went to the Fairbanks Visitors Center where we learned about native culture, surviving the brutal winters, and gold mining. The following piece of information about modern day gold mining blew my mind: The largest truck in Alaska can carry up to 240 tons of rock but each load yields only 5-8 ounces of gold!

 

One of our stops included seeing a section of the
800 mile long Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System

 

Pioneer Park was another fun stop filled with more background to how Fairbanks became the city it is today. Since our brains were feeling overworked from all the information we were taking in, we decided to take a relaxing dip in the Chena Hot Springs. These springs are located just east of Fairbanks and are a popular place to unwind. We slipped into the 106 degree outdoor pool and let our troubles melt away.

It's really hot, but in a good way

 

Later that night we stumbled across a bluegrass band performing in the botanical gardens of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. It was a pleasant surprise and a great way to cap off our time in Fairbanks.

Unfortunately, we did have one negative interaction in Fairbanks. One night while we were sleeping, we were awoken by the sounds of loud, violent banging on the door of the B & B. A woman’s voice was shrieking as she kept rapping on the door and slamming her feet on the wooden deck. Our hearts began to race. We were both freaking out because we didn’t know if this was someone trying to break in, someone who was in need of help, or a neighbor who needed something from our hosts. Regardless, the tone of her voice and the ferocious pounding of arms and feet on any structure that would make a sound kept us from doing anything except ponder whether or not to call the police. Finally, after about 15 minutes of this absurd behavior, we heard a man’s voice telling her to make a phone call. After the call went through, the noise ceased. Eventually our heart rates slowed and we were able to get back to sleep. We would find out the next morning that the screaming woman and her husband were guests at the B & B (but staying in a room across the street) who couldn’t get their key to work and thus were locked out of the room. We could not believe that these people, probably in their 40’s or 50’s, caused such a commotion and exhibited such ridiculous conduct without having the common sense to call our hosts first. I just don’t get some people.

After that incident, we needed a pick-me-up so we headed off to one of the happiest places in the world, North Pole, AK. This is a town where every day is Christmas. There are candy cane light posts, the Santa Claus House, Santa’s reindeer on display, and of course, Santa Claus himself makes time to see you despite his busy offseason work schedule. North Pole is sure to give even the worst of Scrooges a shot in the arm of Christmas Spirit. After a nice dose of holiday cheer, it was time to say goodbye to the Fairbanks area, we were off to Denali!

Santa confirmed that we are on the nice list

Denali is the native Athabaskan name for Mt. McKinley which means “the high one”. Once we got settled into our first campground at Riley Creek, we went to a lecture about the history of mountain climbing on Mt. McKinley. It turns out the day we got to Denali was the 100th anniversary of the first successful ascent to the 20,320’ summit led by Harry Karstens and Hudson Stuck. After hearing all the amazing stories of the early climbers, and those who claimed to climb it but were actually liars, the lecturer introduced us to 6 mountaineers. These young men were direct descendants of the first 4 climbers and the 2 native guides/assistants from the Karstens-Stuck group. They all were leaving the next day to reenact the month long journey their ancestors took to the summit of Mt. McKinley. That lecture was a great intro to Denali and got us excited to what was to come. If you would like to follow their climb you can find daily updates here: https://www.facebook.com/Denali2013

For the record, just because I’m linking to a Facebook page does not mean I intend to sign up for Facebook any time soon. Not happening.

The next day started out on a disappointing note though. The weather was overcast and rainy, terrible conditions for mountain viewing. Also, this National Park is very different from any previous park we have been to. There is only a single 90 mile long road in the park, of which visitors are only allowed to drive the first 15 miles. Therefore, you have to rely on shuttle buses to get you anywhere you want to go. It really takes control out of the visitor’s hands and puts you at the mercy of the bus schedule. Also, the bus rides are long and slow. It takes over 5 hours to travel from one end of the road to the other since the average speed limit is 25-35 mph, there are frequent stops for wildlife viewing, and bathroom breaks. Basically, the good part of your day is spent on a bus.

Immediately following this picture I became
annoyed at the bus system and Amanda fell asleep.
Welcome to Denali.

Once you get deeper into the park though, you begin to understand why this is such a special place. Even with all the cloud cover, there are magnificent views of the Alaska Range, evidence of glacial activity all around you, and an abundance of wildlife. We got off the bus to camp at Wonder Lake, which is a very basic campground 85 miles into the heart of Denali National Park. It is the closest campground to Mt. McKinley and one of the best viewing spots. However, despite being only 20 miles from the mountain, we still couldn’t see it because of all the cloud cover. This isn’t uncommon as the mountain is completely covered for about 60% of the time in June, on average. In June, you only have a 13% chance of seeing the whole mountain. We tried not to get down about all the cloud cover, but at the same time, we came here to see a giant mountain. It’s right in front of us, but we still couldn’t see it…AHHH!

You can't have rainbows without rain

We went to sleep a little frustrated but also realized that tomorrow was a new day. Unfortunately, we would have to leave Wonder Lake early in the morning, so we weren’t too thrilled about another day on the bus. However, when I got up to go to the bathroom at 4:00am the next morning, all of that frustration went away when I unzipped the tent and saw Mt. McKinley completely free of clouds and staring me in the face. It was an unbelievable sight. After waking up Amanda, I ran around the area taking pictures from every possible angle. Despite the temperature being in the 20’s or 30’s I was too excited to feel the cold. I watched the sunrise and witnessed the Alpenglow move across the face of Mt. McKinley. It was simply incredible. 

Cue the Heavenly music

After breakfast, we packed up our gear and headed east towards a hiking site near one of the Visitor Centers. They dropped us off so we could climb up to a ridge opposite of the Alaska Range where more spectacular views awaited us. Luckily, the cloud cover stayed away just long enough for us to fully enjoy Mt. McKinley in all of its glory before we got back on the bus and prepared to exit the park. We camped that night back at Riley Creek feeling much better about the Denali experience than we did just 24 hours prior.

Seeing Denali put smiles on our faces

Our recommendation for anyone visiting Denali National Park is that if you want to see the park and do a good bit of hiking you should plan to spend 5-7 days there. We were there for 3 days and felt very rushed trying to do everything we did. If you just want to see the park via the tour buses, you can easily accomplish that in a day or 2. If you want to get in the park and explore around though, take more time.

With our last major journey (for now) completed, it was time to get down to business and start our new jobs. Our boss is excellent and is bringing us along slowly so we can get acclimated to how she runs her clinic. We have already learned a lot from her and plan to squeeze as much knowledge out of her as we can. Our other co-workers are really friendly and help us out with ideas and advice whenever we need it. We are very thankful to have been surrounded by such great people in all the places we have worked thus far.

We also thank everyone who has supported us and helped us travel across the U.S. and Canada from our starting point in Ephrata, PA to Homer, AK. We have achieved our goal of getting to Alaska, now our mission is to live it up!

Into The Last Frontier

The thing about being in Alaska when 19+ hours of a given day are daylight means there is almost no limit to how much you can get done or accomplished in one day.  This can be good and bad.  Despite all of this extra “time” to be productive I still haven’t managed to find the time to update The O’Malley blog, which has not gone unnoticed by certain people who will remain unnamed (You know who you are!).  Due to the nearly one month hiatus that has included all sorts of excitement it’s now time to do some MAJOR catch up…

1.       We made it to Alaska!

From Washington to Canada to Alaska…a mere 3,300+ mile journey that makes one wonder how Alaska became part of the United States.  It is its own world, removed from the lower 48.  It is a massive land with lots of nature and not that many people.  It is the western and eastern most state due to the Aleutian Islands that enter the Eastern Hemisphere. 

 We were in awe of the wildlife and scenery that we passed driving through British Columbia, but things continued to become more and more impressive as we entered the Yukon Territory and then Alaska.  We viewed black bears, glaciers, remnants of abandoned mining communities, caribou, moose, various bird varieties, ice fields, emerald colored rivers, frozen or mostly frozen lakes, and numerous snow-capped mountain ranges.  It was a long drive, but one that did not disappoint.

North you say?  North we will go!

 

 

 

Yep, that's a glacier - Bear Glacier.
No big deal to see one along the road.  Just make sure you aren't in the
 way of an avalance, they move a lot faster.

Hey Bear!

We made it!
Good to be back in the good ol' U.S. of A.

 

2.       Casa de Spitler

Having a destination and home base upon on our arrival to Alaska was huge, both mentally and physically.  Seven days of sitting in a car filled to the brim, eating primarily snack and restaurant food, and sleeping in random hotels should make anyone appreciate the comforts of “home”. 

However, as we still did not have any real leads on a job or final destination it was 100x more refreshing to be greeted by good friends in a foreign place.  Clayt and Laura are Ephrata friends who moved to Alaska almost 2 years ago.  They've set up shop here to raise their family in Soldotna, AK.  Soldotna is a small community on the Kenai Peninsula, which is home to some of Alaska’s world class fishing.  Nearly every outdoor activity you can think of is doable on the Kenai – hiking/camping, hunting/fishing, kayaking/canoeing, white water rafting, snow shoeing, skiing, snow machine and ATV riding, berry picking, so on and so forth.  To give you a sense of its location, Soldotna is about 2 ½ to 3 hours south of Anchorage (check it out on google maps).

 Clayt and Laura were kind enough to host us until we found a job and a place to live.  We were definitely spoiled during the 2 weeks we stayed with them.  They offered a real bed to sleep in, daily moose viewing from the comfort of their home, daily tour guide services (i.e. local scenery and hotspots, hiking, camping and fishing), home cooked meals, a temporary spot on their church softball team, and most importantly good company :-)

Well hello Minnie the Moose!
(creatively named by Laura Spitler)

 

Brooke and Charlie hit it off.
Charlie won Brooke's heart with lots of Play-doh jewelry.

 

3.       It’s a Small World

A noteworthy bit of information that some of you will find amusing is that during the first two weeks we were in Alaska we’ve had the pleasure of spending time with not just two fellow Lancaster County folk, but five!!!  That’s right.  There are currently (at least) six Ephrata graduates in the greater Anchorage area.  It certainly is a small world! 
Stay tuned for pictures...we forgot our camera.

 

4.       Lakes, Rivers, and Bears, oh my!

As I mentioned above many of the lakes were mostly frozen when we arrived, but we were told everything was in “thaw out”, which seems to be the period just before summer activities are able to kick into gear.  Luckily after a late spring dusting of snow the weather took a turn for the warmer and brought abnormally balmy weather for us to enjoy!

 

We hit the ground running with the expertise of our AK friends.  Activities included, but were not limited to the following: a short hike off of Skilak Lake Road where we spotted gigantic bear tracks and had a great view of the Kenai River; fishing in a canoe on a semi-frozen Watson Lake where the fish weren’t biting but the loons and various waterfowl were abundant; strolling the rocky beaches of Captain Cook State Park where we enjoyed a picnic lunch; cruising through the Kenai Fjords National Park for 6 hours on a catamaran that rewarded us with magnificent views of Holgate glacier, pods of orca, humpback whales, Dall’s porpoises, sea lions, harbor seals, and thousands of birds with the most noteworthy (in my opinion) being puffins. 

Clayt working it.  The fish aren't having it.

Look carefully.
You do NOT want to mess with that bear.
We made a lot of noise, Clayt was armed, Charlie had bear spray.

 
Charlie and Clayt tried their hand at some early season bear hunting in the area of the Kenai Wildlife Preserve.  They saw some signs of bear, but had no sightings despite bushwhacking through thick alders and trudging through snow and mud. At least they got some exercise.

Wait for it...
Clayt scanning the area.

To make up for the absence of bears Clayt took Charlie and I to Johnson Lake for an evening of fishing where he helped us catch our first Alaskan fish – rainbow trout!  It felt good to get a lot of nibbles, but we didn’t keep any this time.

I participated in the next big hike that led Charlie, Clayt, and I to one of the many rustic, public use cabins found throughout Alaska that are maintained by the National Forest Service. We hiked 9.5 miles on the flat to hilly Russian Lakes Trail spotting a variety of old and fresh bear and moose scat.  We hiked through wooded areas with spruce and cottonwood trees, passed by Lower Russian Lake, and continued through remains of a forest fire allowing excellent mountain views.  Here Clayt spotted life high up on a cliff, which we weren’t able to differentiate as mountain goat or Dall sheep.  We ended among scattered trees along the Russian River and arrived at Aspen Flats cabin where we’d spend the night before hiking the 9.5 miles again the next day.  Luckily no run-ins with unfriendly wildlife!

Best picture ever!
Clayt starring as John Cusak and Charlie as the Pirate.

Aspen Flats Cabin...where magic happens.

 

Memorial Day was a family day spent relaxing at Scout Lake.  The girls relaxed on the beach and did some fishing from the shore; the boys took the kayaks across the lake and hit a jackpot of spawning rainbow trout.  With some larger fish caught we decided to keep a few. 

Laura and Brooke.
Enjoying the 70 degree weather!

Clayt and Charlie.
Enjoying the fishing!

So after a busy 10 days in AK we did a ton of playing with a little work here and there, but we still had no word on possible jobs from any of the three travel companies that were looking for us.

5.       Coincidence…I think not.

There is an artsy town just south of Soldotna that sits on the Kachemak Bay where fisherman are plentiful with halibut catches of 300+ pounds.  The vistas are unforgettable and unavoidable as the city is surrounded by glaciers and snowcapped mountains.  Due to the appeal of this town and the various things to do here both Clayt and Melissa (another Ephrata friend who has been in AK for 8 years now) took us on separate trips to Homer, AK.  We spent most of our time with Clayt on the Homer Spit, which is a bar of land primarily composed of sand that extends into Kachemak Bay.  On the Spit, we attempted to fish from the beach.  Unfortunately we did not succeed despite everyone around us catching small cod!  Boo.  We did, however spot a sea otter lounging in the waves and the Time Bandit (from the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch) heading out to sea.  After getting hosed we checked out a few shops and then had a drink at the infamous Salty Dawg Saloon.  Here we noticed the presence of Elliot Neese, captain of the Saga, also seen on Deadliest Catch. 



Not a bad backdrop, eh?
Welcome to Homer!

Our second trip to Homer was more focused on the eclectic downtown which offers great shopping, galleries, coffee, restaurants, a winery and local brewery. We enjoyed a full day here with Melissa and owe her big time for not only introducing us to Homer’s delicious tastes, but for driving us past a Physical Therapy office that caught our eye and ultimately provided us a place of employment!

 

6.       Home in Homer, AK

To make a long story short Charlie and I took the matter of finding a job into our own hands when the travel companies had nothing to offer us in AK.  We contacted Homer Physical Therapy, spoke with the owner, sent her our resumes, scheduled an interview, and are now employees of Homer PT for the next five months!  We are very excited for this opportunity for a variety of reasons. First, with this being a privately owned PT clinic, it will lend us a lot of flexibility.  Also, the location is a bonus with unlimited things to do here and only having a short drive north to spend time with our friends in Soldotna. 

It was a bit tricky finding a place to call home in Homer.  The issue at hand being that property owners require a one year lease to avoid vacancy during the harsh winter months. After making a ton of calls we were lucky to end up with two possibilities.  We decided on a log home duplex in Homer with amazing views of the surrounding glaciers, mountains, and Kachemak Bay.  We are sharing this duplex with another PT at Homer PT who was nice enough to offer us this option.  You’ll be glad to hear that it is a furnished home therefore we will not be dealing with air mattress issues until at least November 2013!  What a relief!

Not a bad place to call home!

View from the living room window.

 

7.       But before we begin…

Our start date is set for Wednesday, June 12.  With a bit more time off before getting back into a work/life routine we’ve decided to take a few road trips that would be difficult in a two or three day weekend.  We spent this past weekend exploring Anchorage.  We indulged in delicious pizza at the Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, purchased a piece of unique Alaskan artwork at the Anchorage Market and Festival, and learned more about Alaska at the Anchorage Museum.  We had just enough time to head off the beaten path for a night of live music and camping in the tiny village of Hope.  This allowed another amazing opportunity for views of water and mountains.  It makes you wonder if we’ll become conditioned to these amazing views or if they will be just as awe inspiring to us after spending 5-6 months here.  Only time will tell.

Camping in Hope.
Overcast, but delightful!

Now that we are unpacked and settling into our new place the last leg of our pre-work road trip begins.  Tomorrow morning we are headed 10 hours (579 miles) north to the “Interior” of Alaska.  We will spend 2 nights at a B&B in Fairbanks and then the following 3 nights camping at Denali National Park. 

Sorry for the lengthy post!  Luckily Charlie is next in line, so check back soon for more regular updates on our Alaskan adventure. 

Alaska or bust!

Greetings from Whistler, British Columbia, Canada!

I just wanted to give a quick update on our status. While we still do not have jobs in Alaska lined up yet, we have packed up all of our belongings and are beginning the trek to the last frontier anyway. After much deliberation, we decided that the opportunity to experience Alaska is worth the risk associated with leaving before first securing a job. Fortunately, our friends Clayt and Laura have agreed to host us until we get things figured out, which helped in our decision making process.

We have our route all planned out, hotels reserved, and maps ready for the loooooong drive up north. We just finished up the first leg of our journey, a 7+ hour drive from Aberdeen, WA to Whistler, B.C. Fortunately, we did not have any issues when crossing the border and arrived safely at our hotel. If all goes according to plan we should be arriving at Clayt and Laura's on Thursday, May 16th after over 3,300 miles of driving.

Our itinerary is as follows:

A: Aberdeen, Washington

B: Whistler, British Columbia

C: Prince George, British Columbia

D: Stewart, British Columbia

E: Watson Lake, Yukon Territory

F: Haines Junction, Yukon Territory

G: Tok, Alaska

F: Soldotna, Alaska

Once we get settled in Alaska we will update you again as to our status, but for now, wish us luck as we travel since we still have a lot of driving ahead of us.

As a final farewell to Aberdeen and Hoquiam, we have finished the Chapter 3 slide show. Even with all the rain, we still had an amazing time in western Washington and are so thankful for the experience. Now we've got to get some sleep, a full day of driving awaits us tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

Coast to Coast...and to Alaska?

Due to the hectic events of the past month the blog has taken a backseat. So much has been going on since the triathlon that I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with the most pressing issue, our current employment status.

Since completing our contract here in western Washington, we have applied for two positions in Alaska. Unfortunately we haven’t heard back from either of them, so we are stuck in limbo. There is the possibility more jobs will open up, but as of right now we just have to play the waiting game until a something comes through. Once it does, we will let everyone know where we are headed before we pack up shop and make our way to Alaska. While it is nice to have some time off to enjoy the now beautiful weather here in Aberdeen, WA, we are itching to start the next leg of our journey. Please say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, put on your lucky socks, or do whatever it is you do when you need good news so that a job opens up for us soon!

While we wait though, let me recap all the craziness that has been going on recently. For the sake of your time reading it and my fingers typing it, I’ll try to condense it as best as I can, but I must warn you, this will end up being lengthy. Since you’ll be here for a while, it might not be a bad idea to use the bathroom before reading further.

We spent the weekend after the triathlon taking in more of the Seattle area. First, our supervisor at work organized a get together at the Seattle Mariners game. Fun fact, Safeco Field (where the Mariners play) is built on top of a fault line and was constructed as 7 different pieces that all move independently to prevent it from crumbling during an earthquake. One of these pieces is a retractable roof. However, the roof doesn’t completely enclose the stands, so even though the field is covered, some fans can still get rained on if the wind is blowing hard. As fate would have it, we were those fans getting rained on. We still had a great time though, and the Mariners won!

Despite the rain, still a god looking crew

The next day, we met up with Nate and Kayla for a trip to Deception Pass, an hour and a half north of Seattle, for some hiking. Shockingly, it was raining. So we geared up and headed out anyway. A little rain didn’t stop us from enjoying our hike. This is the most visited state park in Washington, as well as home to an amazing 976’ long bridge. Just admit it, bridges are cool. You know they are.

Isn't she a beaut?



Yes. These are our friends.

After a day of hiking we went out for a night on the town in Seattle, including a dueling piano bar. The next morning we said our goodbyes, but do hope to see Nate and Kayla again on our way out of Washington. They have been great friends and we are fortunate to have met them and been able to spend time going on various adventures with them.

The following week was our last week of work. It was definitely bittersweet. While we were excited to be finishing up, heading home, and then preparing for Alaska, we know we will miss the friends we made, the people we worked with, and the patients we treated. Also, being here for five months, instead of our normal three, made it even harder to say goodbye.

My birthday occurred during the last week of work and Amanda organized a surprise party for me which my fellow triathlete, Larry, hosted. I was completely shocked, as I had no idea this was in the works. It was awesome to have everyone together outside of the work environment. Larry even played some tunes on his guitar for us to close out the night.

The cake says it all.

Larry's rocking out.

In addition to setting up this party, Amanda also got me the perfect present, making this one of the most memorable birthdays I’ve ever had. Little did I know she had more tricks up here sleeve. We’ll get to that later…

Before we could fly home, we had to complete the ridiculous amount of paperwork that had accumulated at our job.  Only then were we able bid Pacific Care and Rehab Center a fond farewell, hop on our plane, and make our way back to PA. What would follow was a 12 day whirlwind of activity.

First was the wedding of Lindsay (Gimp) and Brad Kunkle. We had an awesome time and were so happy for the both of them because this wedding had been in the works for some time. Amanda was a bridesmaid, and looked stunning in her custom fit dress.

Congrats Lindsay and Brad!

Following the wedding weekend, we hit the road to see more people than we can count. Our trips included, but were not limited to:

• Our respective parents in West Chester and Ephrata, PA (with actual beds to sleep on!)
• The Funk/Lucadamo family in Gettysburg, PA
• We also did the Gettysburg battlefield tour in this, the 150th anniversary of the battle. Excellent tour, even when rushed.

Beautiful scenery steeped in Civil War history

• The Morris family in Drums, PA, which was the most relaxing portion of our trip.

Here we are with all those Morris girls

• My sister’s family in Oreland, PA where a day at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ was clearly the highlight.

Kiera's not so sure about petting a shark

• Some quality time with our grandparents.
• Dinners and BBQs with aunts, uncles, and cousins from both of our families.

Thank you to all of our gracious hosts.

 

Hannah, Aunt Jody, and Amanda after dinner

BBQ with the cousins

• A Phillies game, courtesy of Dave Brown, which they found a way to lose, BOOOO!
• Gatherings with friends from Ephrata, to Philly, to Princeton, and everywhere in between.
• Amanda managed to surprise me again by organizing a huge get together with my friends from work, PT school, college, and high school at the Ugly Moose in Manayunk for trivia night. Again, I was floored. That Amanda is a tricky one. Just when I think I have her figured out she pulls a fast one on me.

The quizzo team reunited

As promised Des, you made the blog!

Thank you to everyone who made our time at home so enjoyable. It is always great to see people and spend some time catching up. No matter how much time we have at home, we always want more. Don’t worry, we will be back soon!

Before we knew it, our 12 days at home passed and it was time to head back to Washington. At this point we felt about 10 pounds heavier from all the partying and dinners out with friends/family. Now bloated and back in Aberdeen, we have devised a plan to get back to being active and continuing to explore western Washington while we wait for an Alaskan job to come through. This past weekend we returned to Olympic National Park for hiking in the Hoh rain forest and Ruby Beach, which are areas we had not previously been through. Even after 5 months here, we are still finding new places to see and experience.

Tom's Creek Falls

Killing time at Ruby Beach

The Spring weather is such a contrast from what we got used to over the past 5 months. It is now 70-80 degrees and sunny every day. So at least we have that to enjoy while we wait. Hopefully we won’t be waiting that long and we can leave for Alaska sometime this week. Until then though, we wait…

The Beaver Freezer

As if the challenge of climbing Mt. St. Helens wasn't enough, this past weekend I decided to do something that made me feel equal parts dread and excitement: my first triathlon. About 2 months ago I signed up for the Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon in Corvallis, OR and have been training ever since. Swim, bike, then run. Seems simple enough, right? Except that while I have always loved the idea of doing a triathlon, I have been terrified of the swim. Sure, I have gone SCUBA diving at over 100' deep, but when I have to swim longer distances without an air source, a fear comes over me. This fear makes me think that each breath I take is going to be my last. It's an unnecessary but horrible feeling that results in anxiety and takes my focus off of the task at hand. This obviously does not lend well to competitive swimming. For me, this race was not only about pushing myself to try something new, it was about overcoming a fear, one which I know is ridiculous, but one that I have not been able to shake all these years.

Since signing up for the Beaver Freezer, I have been swimming twice a week at the YMCA. I've been fortunate enough to meet some people at the pool who gave me tips, and I eavesdropped on the swimming lessons going on in the other lanes. For those of you wondering, yes, the swim lessons were for small children, but the lessons were still applicable. I was able to put all of this information to good use and about three weeks before race day, I realized my fear was gone and I could swim the distance needed without hesitation.

In addition to swimming, I have been biking and we are both doing Insanity workouts. I also gave up all fried food for Lent and quit drinking after St. Patrick's Day. Amanda happily joined in on the workouts, as well as foregoing the fried foods and adult beverages. This has been a time for us to improve our fitness and rid ourselves of fatty foods and empty calories (the occasional piece of Easter candy may or may not have been consumed from time to time). That being said, we have clearly been craving French fries and/or a beer quite frequently over the past month! 

With my swimming phobia gone, it was game time. If I could survive the 500 yard swim, I knew the 12 mile bike and 5k run wouldn't be a problem. Amanda and I drove south to Corvallis on Friday night so that we could be ready for my 8:00am start time. The triathlon takes place on Oregon State University's campus, hence the "Beaver" reference (the beaver is their mascot). Upon our arrival, we then understood the "Freezer" part of the title as it was cold, rainy, and just plain nasty weather.



The logo says it all

After registering, I got my race number marked on my arms and legs, which meant there was no turning back now. In the transition area, I set up my bike, shoes, and clothes so I could get changed from my swim suit to biking gear, then biking gear to running clothes. Since it was raining, I had to place all my things into plastic bags in a feeble attempt to keep them dry. This killed me later in the race as I had to spend time digging through my bags to find what I needed.

In addition to the rain and pre-race jitters keeping me on edge, I threw a classic temper tantrum when I realized I had forgotten my watch and energy bars. The watch I could live without, but anyone who knows me should realize that when I'm active, I need to eat. The idea of running this race without a snack of some sort scared me worse than swimming does. Fortunately, our good friend and co-worker Larry, who also signed up for the race, found a stash of PowerBars right before the start and saved the day.

My goal for the swim was to finish in less than 10 minutes. This is an average time, but one I felt I could handle. With Amanda, Larry, and Larry's wife Pam cheering me on I finished second in my heat and was out of the pool in just under my stated goal. Without time to cherish my personal victory, I had to run, barefoot and soaking wet, outside in the cold rain to the transition area to get my bike.

Getting ready to ride

After an unnecessarily long amount of time getting prepared for the bike, I set off for the 12 mile ride through Corvallis. To my surprise, the route traversed rolling hills and open fields that sat just outside of the normally buzzing college town. The rain continued to steadily fall which resulted in slick roads and mud covered riders. Even though the bike is my favorite event, I was happy to be back on campus and finished with the soggy ride.

The last leg was the run, which consisted of 3 laps around the center of campus. While I didn't feel winded, I just couldn't get my legs to cooperate for the run. I'm sure that watching me run looked just as bad, if not worse than what I felt. So while I knew I wouldn't be fast, I just had to keep plugging away in order to finish in under 90 minutes, which was my ultimate goal. Amanda was amazing. While she was there to cheer me on throughout the whole race, she was especially helpful during the run by giving me updates on my time and encouragement when I needed it. As I came around the final turn and headed for the finish line, I couldn't believe what I had just done. I conquered my swimming fear and finished the race in 1:24:42.

I survived!

While this time is merely average by most standards, I couldn't have been happier with it. I met my goal, and now have a time to beat for the next one (it's fair to assume there will be a next one). Also, I know this was a sprint triathlon, which is the shortest distance triathlon, but it was still a challenge that forced me to be more disciplined with training than I have been in the past. I may not ever be an Ironman Triathlete like someone I know (Dan Mayer is a freak of nature!), but just completing a triathlon gave me a huge sense of accomplishment and hopefully I can use this race as a stepping stone towards other endeavors in the future.

As a side note, an Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Absurd.

Larry, a former Air Force veteran and current member of the Army Reserves, also met his goal of completing his first ever triathlon. At age 52, he was an inspiration to me in the way that he pushed himself to be more active and in better shape than he has been in years. He had one of the top overall swim times and finished in the top 10 for people using mountain bikes.



Larry and I at the Finish Line Gun Show

As a reward for all of our hard work, Larry, Pam, Amanda, and I enjoyed a nice post-race lunch on the town. Lots of French fries and cold beer were ordered up at Block 15 Brewery in downtown Corvallis. We deserved it! After spending the afternoon walking around town, we headed back to the hotel to crash. The whole day felt like a blur, but it was an excellent blur. I just want to thank Amanda for supporting me during this event because without her help, I know I wouldn't have met my goals. Without her, I wouldn't even be in Oregon, or Washington, or wherever the heck we are right now!

Homestretch of the 2013 Beaver Freezer



Never Enough Time

I’m embarrassed to say that we’ve been living in Aberdeen for 5 months now and Mom and Pop Funk, who were in Aberdeen for just 4 days, visited our neighboring town before we did.  Ocean Shores is a beach town on the northwest side of Grays Harbor, 27 miles west of Aberdeen.  It is NOT a Jersey shore type of beach town with huge boardwalks, t-shirt shops, and hundreds of condos.  It's a peninsula bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Grays Harbor where people pace up and down the shoreline searching for Japanese treasures washed ashore, dig razor clams to feed their families, and surfers brave the cold water to ride a good wave.  Of course there are hotels along the beach and seafood restaurants offering tasty local catches, but this town is quaint and harder with weathered houses trying to withstand the never ending rain that pours over this part of the world. 

We finally made the short trek to Ocean Shores on a surprisingly beautiful Saturday afternoon.  We enjoyed a long walk on Damon Point followed by a visit to a local art gallery, and then to the Ocean Shores Clam Festival.  We arrived to the festival later in the day and missed out on voting for the best local clam chowder; however, we were not too late to do some of our own tasting.  Over the last 6 months Charlie has learned to not just tolerate, but enjoy the taste of clam chowder, which makes me smile.  I think the big turning point was using razor clams we caught to make homemade clam chowder – how could he not like something we put time and effort into making???  So anyway, after tasting a few varieties of chowder we decided our vote would have gone to Bennett’s Fish Shack, who was awarded #3 by voters earlier in the day.  Regardless, they were first in our hearts, especially because they offered a bread bowl filled with their delicious chowder concoction.  Mmm…clam chowder! 
 

Damon Point
4 miles of beach, water on 3 sides.

Nothing special, just a hand-carved giant razor clam. 

Ocean Shores had more to offer than we expected, but after a few slow paced weekends we were itching to do something a bit more adventurous.  We found that something in the active volcano that lies just 3 hours away – Mount St. Helens.  We decided if there was any mountain we should attempt to summit while in Washington it should be the infamous Mount St. Helens, who blew her top off in 1980.  The appealing thing about this strenuous hike is that it’s not considered a technical climb, thus allowing amateur adventure seeking folk like us a chance to say we’ve summited a well-known mountain.   The only issue is that it’s currently covered in snow; therefore this gave us another excuse to snow shoe. With only 3 weekends left in good ol’ western WA we needed the weather to cooperate.  Checking the forecast for Mount St. Helens religiously we were psyched when the conditions looked promising for Easter weekend.  A bit of snow fell during the week, but clear skies were forecast for Friday-Sunday with only “considerable” avalanche danger...



Better a "3" than a "5"

The Northwest Avalanche Center
warned of concern for unstable cornices.
You get the idea from the picture...
stay away from ledges and rims!

With the forecast promising good weather it was time to prepare - we did quite a bit of research, made sure we had adequate maps (on paper and on our handheld GPS), and began mentally preparing for an all day trip to the top of an active volcano.  In gathering appropriate gear we finally bought snowshoes, and were lucky to have great friends lend us ice axes and trekking poles – both crucial pieces of equipment.  Having all the right stuff made us look good, but we still had a lot of work to put in!

The winter hiking route leaves from Marble Mountain Sno-Park on the south side of Mount St. Helens.  You gain around 5,500 feet in elevation and cover 12 miles round trip.  The estimated time to complete a trip up to the summit and back is 7-12 hours (depending on what website you are reading).

Luckily we weren’t trying to break any records because when all was said and done it took us 10 hours to hike from our car to the summit and back.  I must say this was a mental challenge of perseverance and team work.  Charlie and I have done a lot of activities together, but this was definitely the most challenging.  The first 3-4 miles were excellent – great weather, great scenery, and gradual inclines.  However, as we began to really climb the last 2-3 miles and still had about 4,000 feet to gain, only false summits were in view and my patience, determination, and energy began to wane.  Additionally, the strong sun and hunger started putting doubt in my mind.  Charlie, the fearless leader in our party of 2 kept us moving toward our goal.  His enthusiasm and determination to complete any kind of challenge can be good and bad.  He will push himself to the max, but for an endurance event like this we had a good balance of his excitement paired with my pace of slow-and-steady. 

Trudging up the never ending, steep inclines was well worth the effort when we finally made it to the summit (aka crater rim) and had a 100% clear view of the ever changing crater that resulted from Mount St. Helen's huge eruption just 33 years ago.  It was a little eerie to see steam rising from a cone in the crater as the volcano is actively rebuilding itself.  However, that eerie feeling doesn't last long when you take a second to look up and out with 360 degrees of outstanding views.  There are lakes and mountains as far as the eye can see with a few impressive, snow capped bumps that are like natural skyscrapers.  We could see Mount Rainier and Mount Adams in Washington, and Mount Hood in Oregon. 
 

Relieved to be at the summit.
In awe of the crater.

We made it up, but had to get back down. Luckily the trip down goes a bit quicker, especially when there is enough snow to glissade. The definition of glissading is as follows: A way of sliding down a steep slope of snow or ice with the support of an ice axe. Ice axe you say? We've got that! The ride down was incredibly fun despite a near catastrophe when we almost lost our handheld GPS. With that disaster averted we were incredibly relieved to make it back to our car where dry clothes awaited. I must say that it's a great feeling to earn every bit of food you put into your body, relying on it to get you through. With that said, we headed home making a pit stop at a local pizza place. It was a great end to a great day.
In an effort to share our experience we have put together a short documentary for your viewing pleasure. The following has been filmed, produced and edited by Charles J. O'Malley (special thanks to Amanda F. O'Malley)...ENJOY!