Dear Santa

A few years ago, I was here: In the middle of Siberia...hahaha not really, just southwest Utah, working with a bunch of hippies and living out of a backpack. It was a wilderness rehabilitation center for 'at risk' youth.

It's funny how I grew up planning the life I thought I would lead, only to discover my greatest adventures were the ones I didn't plan for. I made some wonderful friends during my time at Redcliff. My time there could be described as puppy love and granola.

This is how I would look going INTO a shift, that's not a smile, that's premature frostbite that's frozen my facial muscles as a result of the ZERO degree weather I was about to live in for approximately eight days, six hours, fifteen minutes, and three point five nanoseconds.

See exhibit A: Oh why, yes, in fact I am homeless! This is what 18 days in the wilderness wearing the same clothes (no sicko, not underclothes) looks like. If your wondering what I'm doing, I'm supervising.

After hiking miles at a time in extreme weather conditions the most peaceful time of day is sleeping beneath a blanket of stars on a therma-rest I could have worshiped as my god I loved it so much.

Doctors orders-make sure all limbs are still attached and no serious disease has been allowed to set in. LOL. Also referred to as hygiene.

This is a prime example of who I worked with, times eight. Just for good measure make sure to throw in a good dose of obnoxious behavior, adolescent hormones, and eight different ideas for how life that week should go. Most ideas not including living in a desert out of a backpack. Although you have to give the little sucker credit, he did smile for the photo.

This is my partner in crime, the one who taught me to love....well, the wilderness for one. LOL.

Now let me bring you back even further to my first ever experience backpacking. I.was.so.naive. and had absolutely no clue what I was in for. P.S. is Mike hot or what?!

What's funny about this picture is that I really thought that this was going to be the hard part. I had no clue.

This is me turning back to Michael saying: 'are you sure this is the right way??'

Kim: MIKE we made it!!! We need to commemorate this moment with a picture.

Michael: It's really not a big deal, it wasn't that big of a mountain.

Ummm, may I ask a question? Why did we just climb a mountain in the snow with no snowshoes and I'M THE ONLY ONE SWEATING!

Hahaha-karma's a bitch.

The 2,364th time we lost the trail. It was at this point, while clinging to dirt with a backpack that weighed more than I did-I really began to question Mike's directional skills.

This is the 493,670th time we lost the trail. Mike decided it would be a great idea to make our own.

This looks like a beautiful spot to sit.and rest.and work out the kinks and misplaced vertebrae. Like many times to come I had to hand it to the guy, he knows how to show a girl a good time, by the time we finally found the real trail I was hooked.

So, with Christmas around the corner, I'd like to make one last request to Santa. I don't want diamonds, cars, or fancy clothes. What I'd really like is some mountains. But I'll settle for anywhere I can run, walk, and hike with a fifty pound pack attached at the hips. If your really going for broke, you could also throw in a killer dutch oven dinner.

Mr. Ducati, meet Michael

After 2,372 days of anxious anticipation my worst nightmare, I mean Mike's dream has come true. Meet the 'Monster'.

Shakira is Amazing

Shakira's latest release for 'Did It Again' is brilliant! The choreography between the two dancers in this video is unparalleled by any other videos released by artists in the last decade. All this is a matter of opinion though, so for your viewing pleasure (all two people who read this blog) Shakira.

Was I right or what?! I mean common, they drop from the ceiling! How cool is that!

Itch or Addiction?

If you look closely at the picture below, you'll see what might resemble shoes. Those would be my bright pink traveling Crocks. The kind of shoes you can wear at any time and feel protected. I feel the same way about those Crocks as my mom did when she once pulled out a pair of black shiny stretch pants and called them her travelling pants-because they never needed ironing....and black goes with everything. I'm sure everyone is as equally appalled by my pink shoes as I was by her black pants confession. That doesn't make me any less in love with them, mostly because of the memories I associated with them.

Tonight Mike suggested we take the dogs for a walk and as I stepped outside I pushed my feet into soft, worn, pink rubber. It's funny how I've taken a million pictures but it only takes a single object to remind me what I love most in this life.

I miss this: Mike telling me it would be a grand idea if we pack three hundred pounds on a hundred c.c. scooter through the Lao Jungle. You know you're in for it when every village you stop at takes one look at your bike then tells you to turn around while you still can. I miss stopping at random huts to share fruit with the locals and having a conversation using only universally understood body language.I miss discovering the million differences that separate one life from the next, but cultivating that one commonality.I miss discovering a village in the middle of nowhere, and you'd swear they'd never seen your shade of white. And dang-it, I just miss that excitement that bubbles out when you are soo excited and curious about the next place on your trip if only you could nail down a destination. p.s. That's Mufasa's infamous 'black bag', and yes, he's in there. S0 I guess, in this unique turn of events that my world, instead of disappearing behind a number of JPEG's has simply become a little more concentrated than I'm used to. Which only makes it more of an adventure as I try to adventure and explore in the United States of don't leave central Florida.

Nesting

When I move to a new location I always give myself one day to not stress about all the responsible things yours supposed be taking care off. I am like, seventeen days past that. In those seventeen days though I have totally domesticated my life....and I am so excited. I've picked out window treatments, bath towels, and throw pillows, accent vases, hangers (yes, special ones), and kitchen accessories. One of the perks of dating a metrosexual is that Mike doesn't mind the decorating process, which doubles the fun when he gets as excited about a Calphalon Unison Nonstick Frittata pan as I do. So just to give you a taste:

Two of our throw pillows for the sofa and a matching lamp shade.

How can you resist cinnamon stick napkin rings!

Okay, so the quality of this photo stinks. I won't go into why....okay, so I tried for like fifteen million hours to load the official picture of the product, all to no avail. I can be so computer illiterate sometimes it's painful. So you get this, a photo of a photo. So here she is, our beautiful 'buchanan' in 'harvest yellow'. Due to arrive.....in December. No, not the beginning. The end of December. Don't ask what we'll do without a couch till then. I'm sure we'll think of something.

We are so excited to move in and have a place that we can call home for awhile. I just hope we can stay excited about being immobile. Traveling seems to be an itch we can't scratch. So for the next few years, while we finish school (please, let this be the last time) we're shacking it lake-side, Kissimmee style.

Four Thousand Miles

Have you ever asked a person, that you know sucks at driving if they thought they were good? Ninety percent of the time, they'll say 'yes'. Everybody, but me that is. I'm the person who on the first day of buying a new car came home 'yes honey, I had a great day', 'no, nothing too exciting', 'how did the car drive?....'OH, fine','why so quiet?', 'oh.....no reason....' *long pause* 'okay I did a three-sixty while entering the freeway on-ramp and almost got creamed by thirteen different cars!'silence on the other end. 'In my defense it was raining and nothing happened to the car.'

So you can imagine how daunting a 3,000 mile road trip might seem....alone, with an emotionally dependent dog. So, we washed the car (I know what your thinking, because Mike said the same thing, but I won't start a road trip with a dirty car), lubed it up, and got her loaded. The first thing that became clear when I started the road trip....was that I should have picked up new windshield wipers, the second was that Mufasa refused to sit in the passenger seat. It wouldn't matter how many times I put him in the passenger seat, because he would nose and poke his way back over into my lap.

So here we are at mile 658, at a beautifully glacier-fed lake in the Yukon.

I know this just looks like more of the same, but isn't this what's in your point of view for approximately 98.76% of the road trip?

Mike and I drove together when we moved up to Alaska, and of course he drove during all the snow-storms, but this time around, I was all on my own. So balls to the wall, I white knuckled my first snow-storm zipping around curves at a speedy 41 miles an hour. Oh yea.

I took this picture on day two just before leaving B.C. and this area was super cool because its where I saw black bears, moose, caribou, mountain goats, fox, and deer!

And then I entered apathetic Alberta....and this is pretty much how things looked till I got to St. Louis.

I have to confess. I have a secret obsession with books on tape, which seems innocent enough, except....Mike HATES them. Which poses a problem when you spend 85% of your time with the same person, right? Except on this trip, and trust me, I took full advantage by renting no less than six books on tape....and yes, I finished them all before arriving in St. Louis. Confession number two, sometimes I would drive four hours longer than I really felt like solely to continue to listen to the book. I know, TMI.

Bookworm took a break to visit Mt. Rushmore, and can I just say I was disappointed by it's size.

OMG, I was soo excited to see this man. Four 3/4 days is a long time when you spend all your time together. Obsessed much. This was taken at the St. Louis Zoo, which was free-fifty-free, along with all their other museums and exhibits.

Who doesn't love newborn butterflies, less than fifteen minutes old!

Mike was obsessed with this map, looking at it every 20 minutes to make sure we were making every possible wrong turn, I mean 'scenic' route possible. Never mind the GPS, 'it's taking us in circles'.

Stop and stretch breaks. The Civic has held up fairly well, and cross your fingers...no tickets, break downs, or accidents!We call him our little desert dust boy. Mufasa didn't know what to do with himself when things weren't freezing outside. He's contemplating the Everglades.

Not to leave you hanging, but we arrived safely in St. Cloud, Florida. After pulling into the driveway we stopped the car, turned our heads and gave each other the biggest 'what next' look we've had in three years.

No, I wasn't born in Alaska.

Mike and I both work as bartenders on a train in Alaska that operates from Seward to Talkeetna and back. While doing this, we discover that the average person either has a surprisingly low IQ or packs their brain in with their luggage...because these are only a few of the common concerns a tourist will voice.

Scenario A

After walking off the ship, onto a train facing the ocean, they turn to me and ask "Which way will this train be going?"

Scenario B

Guest: Which way will this train be going?

Me: South.

Guest: Well I'll need to switch spots with someone because I can not ride backwards.

Me: The train will be completely full today, but after everyone is loaded, I'll see what I can work out.

Guest: Well, I just can't ride backwards or I'll get sick.

Me: Have you ever ridden backwards before?

Guest: -long pause-

Me: You can actually see the scenery for longer while riding the train backwards.

Guest: -whoooshhh-this is way over my head-I just can't ride backwards.

Me: -pause-breathe-smile- I'll work something out. 

Also among the more amusing things I overhear:

"I came up to Alaska to see the penguins."

"Look honey.....GLACIERS!!!"

"When are we going to see a moose?"

And the best part of my job......picking out all the people who bought shoes exclusively for the cruise. You can spot them a hundred yards away, and it's hilarious. Seventy five year old couples who bought hiking shoes, regular walking shoes just won't do....this is Alaska. We're going to need major footwear for all these lodges we're staying at.....LOL. And I would be amiss if I didn't mention the matchy matchy. Matching blue coats with matching totes, it happens more than you'd think. 

While this post may seem like it's dripping with sarcasm, I smile and share a soft chuckle with myself while typing this. Knowing that in four hours, I'll be up and on the train at 2:30a.m. doing it all over again.