Fun in the snow...

I know it has been a few days since I last posted, but not a whole lot has been happening. At least nothing worth posting. It snowed for three days in a row, so the roads were not in good shape and both Steven and I were waiting for payday so we would have some money to spend.


We did get out to the Visitors Center yesterday. It was fun walking in the snow and getting a few pictures. There was a total of about 6 inches of snow when all was said and done. Totally amazing. I can't tell you when I last saw this much snow, it was probably when I was a kid living in Boone.


I had a great birthday, the boys got me a card. I got a phone call from Jimmy and the girls. Steven's girlfriend, Demi, got me a card and some chocolate. Then we all went out to dinner at Chili's. A couple of Steven's Army buddies and their wives joined us. It was a nice evening and getting to be with a big group was fun. Before we left Chili's we made plans to meet on Thurs at the University to go sledding. That's something I know I haven't done in a long time.

So today, Thursday, we slept in for a bit. Patrick was up at 0600 taking a shower and his migraine medicine. He definately needed to go back to sleep and get over his headache. Steven had to work for a little while this morning, but by the time he got here I was already up and showered and enjoying a cup of coffee. Our plan for the day was to go to Santa House.

The roads were much better today, still icy in some places but over all pretty clear. The drive to North Pole was beautiful, but I still didn't get to see a moose. Santa House, notice I did not say "Santa's" as in belonging to Santa, is pretty much a REALLY big gift shop, full of Christmasy things. Impressive, but not my cup of tea. I did manage to pick up a couple of gifts for some of the folks back home though. The most exciting part was seeing the reindeer. They had 4 in a lot out back. Not something you see everyday.

After Santa House we drove back to base real quick to get a few things we would need for sledding and then went to Walmart to get the rest of the stuff and what I would need to make chili for dinner. We got to the University of Alaska before Steven's buddies, but Demi was already there waiting for us. We decided to go ahead and go down a time or two while we waited for the rest of the group. The hike to the top of the hill was exhausting, I don't know how I made it. Once I got to the top I was glad I had made the effort, the view was incredible. I could see almost to Mt McKinley. I think it had a bit of a cloud cover at the time, but I did see the mountains on either side of it. I got pics, but they don't really do it justice.

Upon looking down the "hill", which is a big understatement in my opinion, I wondered to myself about my sanity. What was I thinking...I don't do things like this, it was way scary looking. But I did promise the guys I would do it at least once. And Jimmy made Patrick promise I would go once for each of the girls. So, that locked me into 3 trips down my worst nightmare. The first trip down, the boys and I went at the same time, my feet didn't make it up into the sled so while my feet were touching the snow in front of me it was making snow spray all over my face. Pleasant? Not so much. But it was thrilling.

While the kids went down another time or two, I went back to the car to get my camera. I did manage to snap a few shots of them going down, Demi had a video of the three of us going down, which I am sure will be appearing on Facebook before too long. Since it seemed we had a bit of time before the rest of the gang arrived, we went back to the cars to get warmed up. Actually, I got hot pretty quickly, so I got back out and played in the snow for a bit. Once the group was complete, John and Little P (aka Peyton) and Cook and Brea, we went for another round of sledding. I only went one more time and it was the bumpiest of them all. So I did go down a total of 3 times. I was pretty sure I would be feeling the aches and pains of sledding later. The kids had a great time, I loved watching them laughing and cutting up. I held Peyton so we could keep each other warm, she had a ball watching her Daddy sledding like a little kid. Once she started shivering, even as decked out as she was in snow pants and coat, we decided it had been enough and headed back to the hotel.

We stopped at a coffee hut to get warm drinks before going back to the room. They have these places all over, it's a small house like building in the middle of a parking lot that has drive thru windows on either side where you can get coffee, smoothies, or pastries. Pretty cool and handy actually. Once we got back to the room, and stripped off all our wet clothes I fixed dinner, homemade chili and rice. We ate dinner and watched someTV. I tried to catch up on my blog and Facebook, but the Internet from the room is not real good, so I have had to finish this up on the computer in the lobby. That is why there are no pictures this time. If I can get the net up and running later, I will try to post some pics. Anyway, I need to get back up to the room, Patrick is still sleeping and Steven should be here any minute. I think we are heading to Chena Hot Springs today. At least that was the plan last time I checked. Enjoy the blog and I will post again soon.