Anchorage: Part One

We (especially me) should all be aware of how normally things never go whenever it is I try to do something normal. In the end, I always enjoy myself, so it matters little.

I had to go into Anchorage this week, which is spring break, even though I didn't particularly want to. Overall, the week has been pretty good. I've done some hanging out here during the first part, skiing, etc. On Sunday Kim and I went up river and skied through some ridiculously deep snow, and I skied for about 2 hours (longer?) - I was beat. But it was good. On Monday Carrie and I went for a ride way out and skied for a little over an hour, saw moose tracks, enjoyed being outside. It was pleasant, as the out of doors usually is. Anyway, chaperoning for skills camp, watching movies, random tidbits of jobs here and there, and on Wednesday morning I flew out to Anchorage. My goals were: passport, dentist, REI, and AK driver's license. Maybe a few other things.

Cool: Carrie ended up having to go in the day before me, so we hung out Wednesday afternoon when I got into town. Not Cool: Because I waited so long to make appointments, I had to be in offices all afternoon instead of having fun. Cool: Cheap car rental and plenty of time to get the car and pick up Carrie. Not Cool: They wanted written proof from the airline that I was actually going to leave town again. ?? So I had to walk all the way across the airport (no, not exaggerating) to PenAir (not as far as Hageland) to get a printed itinerary. Whatever. Running out of time. Got the car, got into the wrong car, switched to the right car, was so glad I didn't get lost on my way into town.

Welp, I had my dentist appointment, and really only had room for an exam and a filling (I knew I had a cavity). When I got there, they were all like, "Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Yeah, well, a college student with no dental insurance?? Yeah, it's been a while. The dentist looked at my x-rays and started rattling off numbers and letters: "Number 21's a D.O., number 23's a D.O., number 26... number 28..." and so on and so forth. I'm all, "What's a D.O.?" "Cavity." As it turns out, I had SIX (6) cavities. Since I live in the bush, they are very accommodating to my schedule, which is very nice of them. There was a cancellation on Thursday, so he fit me in for a cleaning, which he said I really really needed, and would fill 4 of the 6 cavities that were on one side, but would save the other 2 for when I'm in town next, because now I don't have a choice, I am going to the dentist. Okay.

After this, we made a run to REI to return my bumb ski boots and get new ones. So I returned them, went to find a new pair, and found that they had no more BC (back country) boots in my size - it's the end of the season. So we went over to AMH, a very serious ski shop, and they also had no BC boots in my size. Now I'm really bumming because we had made plans to camp out this weekend and ski. We were both hungry, but then I was sad and hungry, which makes me cranky a little, so Carrie gave me a couple gummy bears and directed us to the sushi place. And we had the best sushi in the entire world. :)

After filling ourselves to satisfaction, we checked ourselves into the hostel and laid down for a bit of rest, which was really me toggling and Carrie on the phone, some quiet time, and some talking, but restful nonetheless. We went for our Fred Meyer run (food), and returned to the hostel to prepare for our evening of dancing. And we danced until 2. :) (Isn't that a line in a song?)

It was pretty fantastic. Sorry for the lack of photos. And the Iditarod ones will come eventually, fear not. There are many things I have failed to report out on. I haven't been as religious in taking pictures lately... This blog thing is a lot more work than I have been able to keep up with.