Adventure from the Past: Alaska

I went to Alaska in the summer of 2005. I traveled with my girlfriend Tarika and her family. We drove all the way from Milton-Freewater, Oregon to Fairbanks, Alaska and back again, with many detours along the way. The trip lasted for three weeks. Tarika’s parents purchased a used RV just for the trip.

There were six of us total, and two dogs. In the picture above, we are, from left to right: Me, Tarika, Mike, Mars, Bogey (dog), Graham, Django (dog), and Jill.

We climbed into the mountains, swam in the lakes, paddled canoes and kayaks in rivers and oceans, rode mountain bikes on trails, fished, hiked, and more. It was a non-stop outdoor experience. With the exception of a digital camera, I was able to totally unplug and unwind.

On a warm bike ride one day outside of Valdez, (notorious for the massive Exxon oil spill) we stopped and played in this waterfall and pool below.

I ate wonderful food the entire time (as I always do when I’m with Tarika’s family). Those that know me well, know that I enjoy to eat. One night in Valdez, Alaska, we caught some pink salmon (with our bare hands!), and had it in our bellies (via fish tacos) only 45 minutes later. Doesn’t get much fresher than that eh?
Tarika’s parents own and operate a small wine grape vineyard on their property in Milton-Freewater, so naturally they come stocked with a pleasant blend purchased wine, and a some wine that is made from their grapes. That, and a constant supply of Busch, kept the party going non-stop. Below, you can see us sipping some fantastic red wine along with our dinner of Putaneska.
Ryan’s favorite foods of the trip:
-Polenta (ground corn cooked to an oatmeal-like texture) and eggs.
-Lentil soup with seasoned oyster crackers.
-Homemade Chex mix
-Sausage, cracker, and cheese lunch
-Putaneska (sp?)
I can only show a handful of pictures here, and you will notice they are mostly of me. There are two reasons for this.

1. If you want to see GOOD pictures of Alaska/Canada and its wildlife, you can just find them on the Internet. I won’t waste too much of your time here with that stuff. Just enough to prove to you I was there.

2. This is my blog, and if you are reading this, I am assuming it is because you are interested me. Narcissistic? Vain? Probably.
I was impressed with the amount of wildlife we saw. Stone sheep, moose, caribou, bear, fox, birds, deer,… and mosquitoes.I didn’t really expect to actually be able to view all the fauna that we saw. What luck!
Traveling in summertime in the North Country was meteorologically fascinating to me. We didn’t have to get too far north until it never quite got completely dark at nighttime. The days got longer and longer. We eventually reached nearly 65 degrees north latitude near Fairbanks, where the sunset and sunrise seemed to each last for an hour, and the night was no darker than an average dusk. It was also warm, a steady 70 deg F everyday it seemed. You can see from the picture below how comfortable I was with no shirt. This was taken at Flower Springs Lake, at 5000 ft elevation in BC, on a cloudy day.
I took a lot of pictures, so make sure to check my artsy fartsy picture blog entry at a later date. There are some that are really neat. I’m sure everybody will love them!