So after we got back from the rafting trip I was pretty beat, so I took a nap. We had plans to meet Brian for dinner at 7. The whole group of us ate at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel. It was a lot of fun. I had some really good sushi. There was one point during the night I went to the bathroom which was out in the hallway. As soon as I opened the door and came out I could here everyone talking and laughing. We got kinda loud and crazy as the night went on :P It was all Brian's treat which was very nice.
The next morning I got up and met a couple of the guys to go on an ATV tour. That was really cool. We went to a state park and rode all around the trails. We had all kinds of trails, too. Through puddles, over big rocks, over roots, through trees... it was fun. And we stopped a few times to get pictures of the awesome views.
Later that day I had a spa appointment, which I had never done before. I got a 60 minute massage and a manicure which were both very nice. And of course the next day a pen exploded on my hand, so the nice nails looked all blue and spotty. Me and a couple other guys went to the Japanese restaurant for dinner again, and I had some good sushi again :)
The next morning we had to meet in the lobby at 5:30 to go to the airport. Everything went well flight wise. It was about a 5 hour flight from Anchorage to Minneapolis, but I just slept as much as I could.
Like I said, the whole experience was amazing. I can hardly put into words how beautiful it was. The pictures don't even do it justice because they only show a small part of what it was like.
Check my Flickr page for pictures I took as well as pictures from the rafting trip!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
More Alaska
I'm back in Columbus right now, but I have to write about the rest of the Alaska adventure! The first night some of us took the tram back up to the mountain to the "casual fine dining" restaurant up there called Seven Glaciers. Jeff, Robin, Marnell and Brian were just getting seated when we got there too, but the were sitting in a more private area. The food and the view were excellent! We all got the beef tenderloin and a few drinks. Everyone except me also got king crab. The bill came to $630 for 6 of us :P Jeff and everyone came over to our table one by one throughout the evening to say hi. There were these really cool salt and pepper grinders at the table, and Jeff said "anyone who can steal me one of these gets a bonus!" Turns out he actually found some on the interent and ordered them. After dinner we took the tram back down to the hotel and the guys went to the bar, but I decided I really didn't want to be hungover during the rafting trip so went to my room.
Then the rafting day came. Pretty much from the moment I decided to go on the trip I have been nervous about it. Class V rapids are the highest level of difficulty there is. There were 14 in our group, and another couple. We got to the building where they gave us shoes, dry suits, helmets and life jackets. They had to give lessons on how to put the dry suit on because there are quite a few steps. Then we drove down to the drop off area and got some more lessons about rafting and swimming techniques. Then we had to get in the water and swim. I think one of the guides said the water was about 38 degrees that day. Needless to say it was really really cold! Everything was covered except our face and hands, and I really dont know why they didn't give us gloves. Then we all got into 3 rafts and started the adventure!
Remember how much I said I liked Montana? Well this is so much better. That Montana rafting trip was nothing compared to the Alaska one! Even the scenery couldn't compare to where we were. The water was a beautiful clear blue, there were mountains, rocks, and green plants and trees everywhere. It was a six mile trip going through 3 canyons. The first two canyons had about 4 rapids that were class IV and lower. The third canyon had 7 rapids all class IV and V. There was a guide in each raft who would steer and tell us what kind of strokes to use and how many. As long as you listened to him and stayed in the raft you'd be ok.
The whole trip was so much fun! I'm definitely glad I did it. It was quite an adrenilne rush! After we got through the first two canyons, we all had the "bring it on!" attitude for the third one.
We all survived and had an amazing time. I guess Robin wants to find more rafting trips for us :)
I'll write about the rest of the Alaska trip in the next entry!
Then the rafting day came. Pretty much from the moment I decided to go on the trip I have been nervous about it. Class V rapids are the highest level of difficulty there is. There were 14 in our group, and another couple. We got to the building where they gave us shoes, dry suits, helmets and life jackets. They had to give lessons on how to put the dry suit on because there are quite a few steps. Then we drove down to the drop off area and got some more lessons about rafting and swimming techniques. Then we had to get in the water and swim. I think one of the guides said the water was about 38 degrees that day. Needless to say it was really really cold! Everything was covered except our face and hands, and I really dont know why they didn't give us gloves. Then we all got into 3 rafts and started the adventure!
Remember how much I said I liked Montana? Well this is so much better. That Montana rafting trip was nothing compared to the Alaska one! Even the scenery couldn't compare to where we were. The water was a beautiful clear blue, there were mountains, rocks, and green plants and trees everywhere. It was a six mile trip going through 3 canyons. The first two canyons had about 4 rapids that were class IV and lower. The third canyon had 7 rapids all class IV and V. There was a guide in each raft who would steer and tell us what kind of strokes to use and how many. As long as you listened to him and stayed in the raft you'd be ok.
The whole trip was so much fun! I'm definitely glad I did it. It was quite an adrenilne rush! After we got through the first two canyons, we all had the "bring it on!" attitude for the third one.
We all survived and had an amazing time. I guess Robin wants to find more rafting trips for us :)
I'll write about the rest of the Alaska trip in the next entry!
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