Counting Down

Obviously, I can't keep my mind off my upcoming trip to Alaska.  (Only 2.5 days now, and I won't even pretend I'm not counting...) It is close enough, now, that it is VERY real, so when I think about it, at different times different things pop into my head about WHY I'm so excited  and can't wait to go. This trip will be different in a way from the others I've made, since I have a different reason for going this time, a job to do, so I won't have nearly as much "free time" as I have had on previous trips. Because I'm still in school, and will still have three full weeks left when I get back, I don't even have time to extend the trip more than just the weekend at the end. That's ok, I REALLY don't mind because I LOVE the reason I am going. It's actually easier this time, then, to focus on the few, really important things I want to experience, places I want to go, or revisit. Therefore, things about Alaska I'm looking forward to, in no particular order:

•  Fireweed just beginning to grow (yeah, I know it won't be blooming yet, but I still love it)
• Moose's Tooth pizza, from Anchorage
• Snow City Cafe
  
• Alaskan Amber (Please believe me when I tell you I DESPISE the taste of beer, would not drink beer if my life depended on it, and have not had a beer since the LAST time I was in AK, but I DO LOVE Alaskan Amber... some have said it is simply because of the name, a power of suggestion type of thing. I don't think so. I don't know. Regardless, I will likely buy a 6 pack of bottles when I'm there, and will savor them with my pizza or something else over the course of two weeks. Yep, I'm that hard-core of a drinker!)
• Seeing and experiencing Big Lake, Alaska. New place. Love, love, LOVE new places. 
  
• Homer, Alaska - Katchemak Bay...Fishermens' Memorial, Two Sisters Bakery, etc.
  
• Seward, AK  - Resurrection Bay (never been)  - and also Clam Gulch, Ninilchik, Hope, Moose Pass, Fritz Creek - all just little tiny "nothing" places that I want to drive through, just to say I've been and to see, and revisit all the gorgeous scenery on the Kenai peninsula
• Eklutna Cemetery - one of the most spiritual and beautifully eerie places I've been. If I had to pick ONE place only to revisit, it would be there. Extraordinary.
• Hatcher's Pass. Never been there, remember seeing pictures from another blogger who had been there, and since I will already be much further North than I've been before while in Big Lake, it shouldn't be that big a deal to be able to drive up to Hatcher's Pass, an old abandoned mining place, some afternoon
• Peace, quiet, solitude - can't stress enough just how much I am looking forward to two full weeks of being on my own, not another soul around for most of that time. 
• Reading, uninterrupted, for hours, unless I choose to interrupt myself by wandering out to the dog yard, or dozing off for a nap...
  
• writing, and taking pictures, uninterrupted, unless I... well, you get the idea
• Not QUITE 24 hours of daylight yet, but nearly. Kristin said it was still light enough at midnight to see into the dog yard last week, and was even lighter by 4 am when she was up again.  I love the extra energy that the long days and evenings give me. 
• The long plane rides and two new airports. I have a "thing" about new airports - I love them. This time, I get to stop at both Sea-Tac in Seattle, Washington on the way there, and Denver, on the way back. Never been to either. But I love flying. Love snoozing, and reading, and just being on my own with nothing I HAVE to do for those hours. Air travel used to TERRIFY me, twenty years ago. Now, nothing but pure excitement and relaxation.
  
• Can't wait to see all the dogs I have come to "know" over the past couple of months - Miyuki, Raven, Yashinomi, and all their brothers and sisters from that litter of 8, plus a few more in the dog yard. AND... Guiness. There's already a cool story brewing about Guiness. I'll save it til I have some pictures. I am SOO ready to just take care of dogs for two weeks. I am so totally happy to be allowed to go do this. So glad Kristin decided to trust me, not having met me yet, and so glad school allowed me to take two unpaid weeks off, and so glad that I can just go DO this.
• Getting to see Cathy again. Haven't seen her since she let me come stay at her place in Kotzebue, and introduced me to "Village Life" and turned out, luckily for me, NOT to be a mass murderer
  
• Can't wait to meet Kristin, and Tracey
• Drive up coffee huts on every corner in Anchorage
• MAYBE the public market on Saturday in Anchorage. Not sure. If it's too far, won't go and leave dogs alone that long. But if I can, that is also one of my favorite parts of the city.
• Oh, and Tidal Wave Bookstore. I'll hit that on Sunday before I leave for home. I can kill HOURS in their Alaska section, and they have many used copies of books for less than full price, which is also awesome.

Now there are only 64 hours until I leave. I have a lot to do in those 64 hours, but I have a feeling they will fly. Lots to do to finish up getting ready. Getting my suitcase UNDER 50 pounds will take up a large portion of that time!  :)  Saying good-bye to MY dogs will take up the rest of it. It's great to look forward to going to take care of someone else's dogs when you love dogs as much as I do. But, that double-edged sword also means I will be leaving my dogs in someone else's care. Even though it's family, no one loves or cares for them the way I do, so it's hard. It'll be ok, but it's hard. So is trying to pack LESS!!!