So, Jeff and I booked an 8 AM rafting tour w/ Denali Outdoor Center. When we woke up this morning, it was misting with a hint of snow. I’m not sure what the temperature was, but even with my 4 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and 2 pairs of socks I wasn’t too warm. When we arrived at the rafting center, they informed us we should add some more layers they had lying around. So, I added another fleece jacket, a scarf, Jeff’s fleece hat, and 2 pairs of gloves. Jeff also added another pair of pants, a wool sweater, a hat, and a pair of gloves.

We then suited up in some stylish drysuits. You can see us looking good in the attached photo. My face still felt cold, but I was ready!

We went on a 4-hour raft trip. Our boat consisted of 2 macho New Yorkers, Al and Dean, a young German high school grad, Andy, Jeff and I, and our guide Paul from Philly. The first 2 hours was spent just floating down the river. It was pretty, but it was cold and I almost fell asleep because it was so boring. However, Jeff, Andy and Paul were having lots of good conversation so it wasn’t terrible. AND we floated on the part of the river that was used in the movie “Into the Wild” when Chris is trying to get back and the river is all crazy. Our tour guide was actually the one who took Sean Pean (the director) and others down the river for the filming. The major problem on this part of the trip was my freezing feet. They were inside rubber boots as part of the one piece drysuit and had slip on shoes on top of that, but sitting in the 30 degree water in the boat didn’t make them any warmer.

After the float trip, we stopped for a quick break. However, when we headed back to the rafts for round two (the rapids) we were minus one member. You may think it was me. We all know I’m not a huge fan of the cold. But, no. It was good old Dean from New York. He bailed because “he couldn’t feel his feet” and “his face was so cold.” Jeff was pretty pumped up about me sticking it out…but I wasn’t going anywhere till I saw some rapids. Frostbite or not.

After our short break, where I was able to run around and get the feeling back in my feet, we headed back out on the water for the real rapids. It had warmed up a little at this point and the sun was out, and I was starting to feel good. The only thing that was really cold on the second part were my hands as they got wet and stayed wet. The rapids were pretty sweet. However, they weren’t as crazy as usual because the glaciers haven’t melted completely yet and so the river is a little low. But, we still had fun.

We’re in our cabin now, but I’m still cold as this place holds NO heat. I’m thinking of fixing myself a glass of hot tea cuz it’s just sooo cold. But, now I can say I’ve rafted the Nenana river in Alaska.

Hey everyone, we left Amy & Doug’s sweet cabin in North Pole just outside of Fairbanks yesterday. If there was one thing I had to tell you about Amy Komar is that she doesn’t mess around when it comes to a good meal! One of the mornings she made us some really awesome pancakes and bacon, and then for dinner she whipped up some Moose Fajitas – a little bit of texmex, a little bit of Alaska, and a whole lot of Komar. It was really great seeing her and I recommend you buy one of her paintings!

On the way to Denali we stopped off at good ole’ Gold Dredge Number 8, I self diagnosed myself as having a severe to moderate case of gold fever. There is gold in them thar Alaskan hills. Seriously, we took a tour of this ancient giant tunneling gold digger thing that looked like an enormous rusted transformer. Of course I challenged Alison to a gold panning contest… I tried my hardest and collected a whopping $7.95 in gold flakes but Alison barely beat me with $8.50. We are now brainstorming on what we will do with our gold dust dreams, the good news is I’m just that much closer to those golden vampire teeth I’ve always wanted.

It was also memorial day, I snapped this picture of the American flag during the mining tour. I’m not some super American rah rah patriot type of guy, but both of my grandfathers did fight in WWII and as I get older I can say I appreciate what they did for me more and more, regardless of my personal thoughts on any current military situation.

Also, after two servings of moose, we actually saw our first alive one! YESSSSSSS

A few nights ago my friend Bryan Strauss drove up from some rinky dink military base he works on and joined Alison, Amy, Waylon, and I for dinner. First off, I’d like to point out that, like most of my friends, I have known Bryan since elementary school. What I would like to share about him is that Bryan was known for two things growing up.

1) Make him use his left foot. I grew up playing soccer and regardless of your specific thoughts about the sport, you will have to agree with me that in a sport where you spend 99% of your time kicking a ball, it would help if you could use both feet. Bryan refused; he always, I mean always used his right foot to the point where he would actually just be running in circles. It was quite comical. In between laughing and pointing, it almost always came down to one of the other team’s parents yelling “MAKE HIM USE HIS LEFT FOOT” which I assume would be like cutting a lock of Samson’s hair, taking all his power. However, all this did was make Bryan mad which meant more crazy right footed circles.

2) Zero percent angle shot. Often, especially after the other team’s parents were frantically yelling about Bryan’s left foot, and Bryan charged down the field, now this might surprise you, but he would end up in the right corner and the parents on our team would respond with a rival cheer. It wasn’t anything like use only your right foot, or a call for the other parents to be quiet, it was something much better… it was “DON”T SHOOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Which is hilarious cause they were talking about a kid on their own kid’s team. Bryan would be doing his right footed circles at pretty much a zero percent angle, and somehow kick the ball while everyone yelled, shook their the head disapprovingly, and waved their arms making the international sign for “NO” but just like the left footed doubters, that would not stop Bryan. He would shoot and here is where I would like to point out that he never ever made the shot, but by some miracle he seemed to always score on his patented zero percent angle shot. It was really something.

Anyway just thought I would share a little something about Bryan, and also point out that his Dad once threatened to fight another soccer kids dad when he fouled Bryan. Much later in life Bryan admitted to me that he just laid there not hurt, but embarrassed that his dad was about to fight this guy. My money would have been on Mr. Strauss, he was huge and super fiery hot head… hmm, wonder where Bryan got that. No word on if Mr. Strauss could or could not use his left foot. My guess is no.

Here is a pic of me and Bryan as he eats his 4 blackened shrimp for dinner.

So, we’re chilling in North Pole at Forbes Laundry. We’ve posted lots of pics to some of the older posts, so enjoy! We also stopped to see Santa this morning at his home here in North Pole. Enjoy the pics! After laundry, we’re headed into Fairbanks for the day and then we’re gonna drive down to Denali. Hopefully we’ll find internet there!!

P.S…we actually got to see Mt. McKinley yesterday! Hopefully we’ll see it again soon and get a pic.

So I was born and raised in Texas, a place known for rugged cowboy types, horses, guns and a fierce independence. One thing I’ve noticed is that in Texas, we keep our land separated with barbed wire and “No Trespassing” signs while in Alaska they seem to just prefer a single sign that simply reads “DO NOT SHOOT” with a little figure of a guy with a rifle.

Awesome.