The Goods Are ODD!

Before I even made it to Alaska, I heard it. People couldn't help it...a single, female going to Alaska. Of course! This was my chance to find a mate-my mountain man. On numerous occasions, I heard it.
"Liz, the odds are good, but the goods are odd." They say the ratio of men:women is 10:1.
Nowhere is this more celebrated than in the town of Talkeetna which has its share of bachelors, and understandibly so. Talkeetna is where those bold and crazy enough to tackle the tallest mountain in North American, pack their wares, prep for the trip, and take off in a plane to get dropped off at the base of the mountain. You can imagine that men that choose this lifestyle are often also single. This doesn't phase those in Talkeetna. In fact, Talkeetna celebrates its bachelors, as evidenced below.


I understand they even have an auction where you can purchase a date with one of these fine specimens. Can you imagine? "Yes, $100 for bachelor #39!" Be sure you read the bottom line of his profile "What are you looking for in a woman?" Can you believe I didn't find my mate there? Oh, Alaska!

An aunt x 2!

My nephew was born 2 weeks ago. It's amazing to hold a human so fragile and tiny. Life truly is such a miracle!

I babysat my niece and nephew today. When my bro and sis-in-law returned, they found me struggling to quiet the hungry new born while scraping together dinner for my 2-year old niece, who also happened to be hungry. Did I mention that I was hungry too? My sister asked if babysitting them at the same time was effective birth control. We laughed. I don't know how parents do it!

Below: Here I am with my new nephew...

Or is that my niece? Turns out I wore exactly the same shirt...and glasses!

Home is where the heart is

Above: Wendy, Zach and I in the Canadian Rockies at my favorite lake of all time: Moraine Lake!
Greetings everyone. I'm back in WI and loving it. I can't say that I'm not looking forward to my upcoming adventures as I head out to Colorado for my next internship next month, but I can say I'm quite content at the moment. It's great being with family. It's great being with friends. It's great doing familiar things in familiar places. Ah the Midwest. And even more specific I treasure each visit back to Madison. Above: My family and I in Appleton reunited after my time in Alaska

Is my biological clock starting to tick? As we are all aware, I AM getting up there in years (my tongue is in my cheek) and I really enjoy all my time I'm getting to spend with my little niece. I'm looking forward to welcoming my nephew in to the world in a few weeks. I suppose I'm also looking forward to the time that I have kids of my own. Tick...tick...tick

Heading Home

Life doesn't always turn out like I plan it. Maybe that's a fortunate things; maybe it's unfortunate. Unfortunately, I ended my internship 1 week early, because the working environment just became to unhealthy for me. It's a hard pill to swallow, but I know there's much to be gleaned from this time. It casts a cloud over my Alaska experience, but I'm going to do my best to bounce back. I have the whole adventure of the roadtrip back to look forward to.

Well, Wendy is here. We pick up Zach at the airport today. The weather is cool and cloudy here, so we won't make the sidetrip north as planned because Denali will be hiding today. It's luck of the draw. Zach drew a bad card. Me? Well, I've had 7 days that I could have viewed Denali and it was only willing to play with me 1 of those days. Wendy, however, has had great weather everywhere she goes, so she saw Denali and had sun even while on wet, wet Kodiak island!

We'll start the trek east today already. The photo option is not cooperating right now, but I'll try to add them as my circumstances allow.

Above: The bull moose we saw in the park, right after Zach arrived! We were pretty stinkin' close!

Below: The beautiful Anchorage coastline.

Above: Our 1st campsite!

Below: Zach and Wendy at the "beginning" of the AK Highway in Dawson Creek, B.C.