SPRING BREAK!!! :) woot woot!!

I was able to go play with Bradley in Anchorage for a few days over Spring Break!  It was so fun to explore Anchorage - I've never really spent any time there.  I am always going for the shortest layovers at the airport with Portland in my sights!  :)  So Bradley offered to show me around.  It was beautiful everyday - sunshine and blue skies!  

My first day in town, we ran a couple of errands for friends and then dinner and a movie.  The next day we went for a drive along Turnagain Arm.  The tide was on it's way out, so we got to see the muddy flats.  Pretty cool!  And the water was so calm that you could see the mountain reflections in the surface - gorgeous!  :) 

We stopped in Girdwood to snap a quick picture of a friend's house and a lunch break.

 

We missed out turn-off to Whittier, so we got a little more mountain scenery.  :)

Finally back on track...we found the Whittier turnoff.  

To get to Whittier, you have to go through this tunnel which goes through a MOUNTAIN!  

Made it through the tunnel - safe and sound!

Made it :)

When we got back to Anchorage, we headed to the MMA fights.  Bradley and his cousin had a friend fighting, so we went to cheer him on.  I had never been to a fight - it was much more fun than I expected!  :)

with Bradley's cousin, Jen, and another friend

It was such a fun trip!  Thanks for playing tour guide, Bradley!  :)

I flew back to sunshine in Dutch, too!!  Such a fantastic place - especially in the sunshine!  Managed to squeeze in a dive, too!  My dive buddy was wearing a camera, so here are some shots from our dive.

Me under a barge

Me and my chipmunk cheeks :)

Juvenile Red King Crab ball - they are about 3" across the back of their shell

These are all molted shells from adult Red King Crab

And we watched the Xiang Rui Kou come in to Captains Bay.  It's a pretty impressive ship.  Here is a description written by my friend, Josh:

Here are some pictures of the lift boat that is here to pick up the oil rig (Kulluk). The rig ran aground on New Year's Eve on Kodiak Island and was pretty bashed up. So they towed the rig back here, and now they're taking it to china for repairs, and this boat is like the tow truck. It fills up with water, sinks down, and they'll pull the rig over it then raise the boat back up so the rig is out of the water. Then off to china.

Here is an article about the boat:

http://kucb.org/news/article/heavy-lift-ship-arrives-to-retrieve-kulluk/

All loaded up and ready to make it's way to China...

Ok, that was Spring Break!!  Back to the grind...

Polar Bear Run 2013

Polar Bear Run 2013!  

Pre-Race with Heather

And we're off...

Sarah

Heather

The Brewer Family

Glad it's over!!

February :: San Francisco with Cathy! :)

After Tsunami Bowl, I was able to extent my ticket and attend a conference in San Francisco with Cathy, a dear friend and coworker.  Before my conference started, I had a day or two layover in Oregon.  I was able to have dinner with Gramma and Grampa - it was Gramma's birthday!!  Happy Brithday, Gramma!!  :)

Then, off to sunny San Fran, I go!  :)  Cathy was at the airport waiting for me when I arrived.  We caught a taxi and headed for our shnazzy hotel, The Fairmont.  Imagine hoity toity "Pretty Woman" movie nonsense.  As soon as we arrived in the lobby and were checking in at the front desk, we saw one of the biggest cockroaches I've ever seen!  It was pretty hilarious, because all the staff workers were trying to be very calm and collected.  They didn't know exactly what to do...I almost offered to help!  :)

The woman at the Front Desk also offered up a Bellhop to help with our bags.  Cathy and I both found ourselves quite capable, so we declined.  Below is the view out our bedroom window.  Beautiful!!  And we had the best weather while we were there!  Sunshine every day!!

After we were settled in, we decided to go explore.  We walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and decided to have lunch at this bakery.  Delicious!!  Chowder Bread Bowl!  :)

Seeing the boats, Alcatraz, swimmers!  :)

Ghirardelli Square!

Enjoying a milkshake - based on Matt's recommendation!  Delicious!!  :)

Then we made the trek to Coyt Tower - it was a hike, I'll tell you!  But a beautiful view when we finally got there - right at sunset!  Score!

Lombard Street

The next night we headed for China Town for dinner...yummy!!

Such a fun time!!  Thanks, Cathy, for finding the conference for us!!  It was a wonderful trip and we came away with LOTS of good information for our classrooms.  :)  Score!!