Day 10, July 8th, Living in Girdwood, AK

Notes about Living in the Bachelor Pad:
In addition to the big pimpin’ baby blue carpet and orange countertops, there are a few other things that I love about the 70’s bachelor pad. First of all, the laundry machine, bathroom, shower, and closet are all within five yards of the front door. This is the perfect floor plan for someone who spends a lot of time getting dirty. I can walk in the front door, and be nekkid and showering, with clothes in the laundry machine (and no I don’t worry about sorting by color; I am embracing the dude lifestyle) within seven strides. Even better, right after the shower, I can take one step into my closet and be fully clothed within two minutes. I am telling you, the man who designed this place had no decorating sense, but he was a genius nevertheless.

Tess also loves the floor plan. In the morning, when I collapse the futon, she can quickly run and seek shelter from the freaky futon by hiding in the closet. When I am gone, she has a crate in the loft of the garage, away from scary noises. And when I am here, she can scan the street through the huge picture windows and bark at the Zoe look-a-like who poops in our yard every morning. Zoe is my ex-girlfriend’s dog. She is adorable. If any other dog pooped in my yard I would be mad, but when the Zoe look-a-like does it I just feel like running out and giving her a hug.

Special Event of the Day: I washed the sheets. I know. I know. That doesn’t seem all that exciting, but before we left Colorado my vet recommended that I don’t wash the sheets right away. She said that dogs smell “home” much more than they see “home.” She thought that taking the sheets from our house in Colorado and bringing them to Alaska, without washing them, would make Tess feel more at home. It is important to note that I didn’t sleep on the sheets that entire time, but I did leave them on the floor so that Tess would feel more at home when we first got here. Today, however, as she sat on the futon, lording over her domain, she started looking at the sheets like they were disgusting (I am sure I am projecting a bit). So we washed them! Tess didn’t seem to mind the smell of freshly laundered sheets one bit. Come to think of it, I didn't either.

Upper Body Watch: I have not been lifting weights while I am here. I think it’s safe to say that my biceps are beginning to dwindle. This *may* force me to bust out the dumbbells in the near future, but I will try to avoid it as long as possible in favor of outdoor activities.

Operation Fitness for Fear: On our run today I was sweating like a pig. I am pretty sure that Tess was too. (Like a piggy dog that is). However, when we got to our fountain for her cool down/swim time we found a landscaping guy pulling weeds in the garden next to the fountain. I reined Tess in since I am pretty sure that Tess isn’t actually supposed to be in the fountain. She was a little disappointed at first, but then she was quickly distracted and frightened by the landscaping guy’s ATV. I guess she is just used to landscapers in trucks or golf carts. Regardless, she got over her fear in about 90 seconds and then she was sniffing the tires and trying to climb up on the ATV. Confident strides like this make me think that Operation FFF might be working after all. We’re certainly feeling healthier; so that’s another point in the win column.

Observations in the Anchorage Public Library:
Today I was struck by how similar the Alaska Natives and the Hawaiians are. Their body types and tribal tattoos are very similar. In addition, a native Alaskan was playing the Ukulele in the library today. I’m used to seeing that instrument in Hawaii, but not in Alaska, and certainly not in the library. But, by now, I think we can safely say that the Anchorage Public Library is unlike any other library around.

Today a guy was reading the Anchorage newspaper in the library, and I was struck by the headline: “Yup, it’s hot. Tuesday’s high hits a record 80 degrees.” I love living in a place where the record temperature in July is 80 degrees.

On the way home from Anchorage today, I waved at the big guy on my street who sits out on his porch and drinks beer in the afternoon. He looked at me kind of funny, but I think it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Wildlife Sightings:
Dall Sheep: 2
Drag Queen: 1 (in the library)
Para gliders: 3
Big guy on the porch: 1

Our Afternoon Adventure: Today, for our afternoon adventure, I decided that it would be fun to hike up to the glacier on the ski resort. I picked out a nice traversing route that would wind up gradually through the different slopes and eventually get us fairly close to the glacier. Unfortunately, for some reason, right after I parked the car, I decided that the traversing route was going to take too much time, so I opted to go straight up the mountain instead. The fact that I led us straight up a black slope added another degree of difficulty to the ascent. Yeah. It was a beautiful view but wicked steep. After about 30 minutes of heading straight up the mountain, Tess and I decided that this operation would henceforth be known as: “Not Fit Enough for This Yet.”

Of course Tess was in an extra pissy mood because there were black flies everywhere, and I couldn’t seem to find a stream for her to drink from despite the fact that I could hear it. I applied Cutter (along with that stupid Shoo tag) to ward off the bugs while Tess rolled in the grass to try and keep them off of her face. After a couple of weeks in bug territory I think it’s safe to report that Cutter is not as effective as OFF. However, Cutter does not make me high from the smell of it, so it has that going for it. On the water front, I did try to get Tess to drink from the camel back but she kept getting squirted in the face. This pissed her off more. (But I secretly enjoyed it).

After we got to a stopping point on our ascent (we got no where near the glacier FYI), we decided that we would take a traversing route down the mountain. I figured it might take a little longer, but it would probably be safer than heading straight back down the steep, gravel path we took up. Of course, the safer route entailed whacking through some waist high brush, walking past some fresh caribou and bear tracks, and passing something in the bushes that made Tess bark like a maniac . . . so after a while I started thinking maybe it wasn’t that safe after all. This was confirmed when we came out of the brush, and found that the sign for “easiest way down” was blocked off due to construction. After I stared at the construction sign in front of me, I turned to the left and saw a sign that said “do not enter, explosives.” The sign on my right wasn’t any better; it was warning about unexploded avalanche explosives. So yeah, we climbed back up the route we had just come down 30 seconds before and ended up walking out on the exact path that we originally ascended on. So much for trying to be safe. In hindsight, I probably should have brought along a map of the ski resort. Maybe next time. By the time we got to the bottom of the mountain my shirt was soaked completely through with sweat. Yup. Definitely not fit enough for this yet.

However, despite needing a little more training before we can make it all the way to the glacier, Tess and I did have a blast by the time the hike was over. We finally found the glacier stream and Tess jumped right in for a celebratory swim. We followed the swim up with an impromptu dance party in the garage when we got home. Genie Ortega. I love that song.

After a quick dip in the shower, I chowed down on some leftover pizza and cracked open a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Yes, I am starting to enjoy that nasty beverage now. Yes, I was still so hot that I was sweating onto my pizza as I ate it. And yes, Tess and I were so happy with our day that I couldn’t stop smiling.