I'll take you in my backpack

9/28/10 In preparing for my day I checked the weather. 6 degrees. I had another cup of coffee and checked again figuring that it was clearly a mistake (ahem lack of caffeine). No, it still says 6. That's just offensive! So, I want to hear no complaining from anyone outside of Alaska about the weather. You're not cold...you want to feel cold, try 6 degrees thankyouverymuch! In other randomness...I have quite a diverse audience base that has been frequenting my blog...this is fantastic! Some of the places I have not yet put my two feet on, but I will. Some day! Here are some of the locales where my lovely readers are checking in from: US, Japan, Switzerland, UK, UAE, Canada, Mexico, and Sweden. How fancy! Love to all near and far!

9/26/10 Hello Sunday Morning! This my friends almost needs no introduction! Happiness in a small environment killing plastic container. Not long after arriving in Fairbanks I discovered the gem that is Alaska Coffee Roasting Co. Quaintly nestled in one of the many strip malls that can be found here. They have amazing (Fair Trade) coffee, but even more amazing is the smathering of baked goods, sandwiches, sweets, salads, cookies, etc that they supply on a daily basis. They are famous for their rolls (this being one-the cinnamon variety). I have also had a caramel walnut roll that was to die for. This is that kind of place that you have to get to early, because things sell out, and quickly. So if you want your piece of Alaskan deliciousness you must rise and shine and head out to Alaska Coffee Roasters! Since discovering this jackpot I've had to self-impose some rules and regulations...otherwise I'll have to buy an additional ticket home to accomodate some weight gain! Bu...

9/25/10 I've been up since 4am...why you ask? Insomnia? No not this time. I was disturbed from my slumber by my building shaking. Yes that's right! And in my clear logical thinking, you know, the kind everyone gets at 4am, I honestly thought to myself, that a grizzly bear had gotten into my building and was walking around and it was shaking it. It didn't last long, just long enough for me to gather the thoughts that a. I was going to die because of a grizzly bear or b. I was going to die because the building was about to implode. Neither happened. Thankfully. In trying to fall back asleep (and clearly slipping in and out of consciousness) I had forgotten about the chaos at 4am, until I talked to someone else who said "I think we had an earthquake last night". Ah ha! Upon doing some research, I found out that yes indeed we did, it measured 5.38. I then realized that I never should have googled the words "fairbanks" and "earthquake" because...

9/24/10 Today was the Bad Girls of the North bazaar and craft fair. In fact, it’s going on all weekend so I might stop back! How could you not with a name like “Bad Girls of the North”. It essentially is a smathering of vendors, not all girls, and most not looking at all like “bad girls”. They have all kinds of handmade/homemade items but most importantly lots of samples! I bought some amazing balsamic bread dipping sauce (multipurpose sauce I suppose since you can use it as a marinade too) and a couple of pieces of artwork that I have to go back and pick up Saturday at 4pm! I’ll include photos as soon as I get them! After that I went to a lovely Italian Restaurant called Gambardella’s and had a fantastic meal with some friends! A great way to welcome the much needed weekend! As promised, here are the photos of the artwork that I got from a lovely artist, V Rae who is actually out of Anchorage. Her work has been featured in several magazines and really is pretty amazing (unfortuna...

9/20/10 A very average day turned superfantabulostic when I got home and discovered none other than...some new long underwear had arrived. Online order, not a random drop off from an Alaskan! I'm starting a nice little collection of this wonderful stuff, and prior to this post I was beyond happy with my Under Armour digs...I had no idea what I was missing...Thank you mom for introducing me to the wonderfulness that is Eddie Bauer First Ascent (trust me, we get no kick backs, I'm just a mere blogger!) These Paradise Base Layers are softer than anything I've ever felt, literally it feels like you're wearing nothing at times (WAY softer than the Under Armour ones and I thought those were super soft!) Here are the new life changers... As my collection grows I will be able to provide an even better evaluation and overall ranking of long underwear. And if that's not your thing...I highly suggest you get interested...

9/19/10 These two feet were walking all over the Alaskan Tundra today...no really! In fact, I peed on the tundra (which was going to be my blog post title, but figured I'd be less crude, for once!). As for peeing on the tundra, it was in an outhouse, on the tundra, so yea it counts, especially when you consider that it's me...Miss I Hate Camping/Outdoor Peeing Back to my adventures, because they certainly were that! It started as a planned drive out to the White Mountains with several stops along the way! First stop was to Pedro's, the site where he first found gold in 1902. In fact, when we stopped there were men panning for gold, it was really neat!   I did see a moose on the way out to the White Mountains, unfortunately it wasn't exactly the kind of moose I wanted to see...it was being "dressed" (I believe that's the appropriate term) on the side of the road. From now on I will be more specific with my requests to see wildlife and will mention ...

9/19/10 I made my blog posts and some of my photos from Japan into a book...check it out! Japan 2010 by Laura B. Snell | Make Your Own Book