Alaska 2010 - The planning phase

About this time last year we started putting together our first trip to Alask. The economy was absolutely in the tank and it didn't seem like a great time to plan on spending the kind of money that an Alaska vacation requires. We did it anyways. It may not be the most prudent way to think but sometimes we do things with the rationale that this may be the last time we'll be able to do this. That was the though process for last year's trip.
This year hopefully the economy is on the mend. Either way, we're heading back to Alaska in August. This trip should be fairly packed full of fun stuff (but not allot of time for connections).
We'll start the trip by flying all day on a Thursday. We'll stay at an as of yet undetermined bed and breakfast in Gustavus, Alaska. The next day after what I can only imagine is a brief orientation we'll get on a boat and cross Icy Bay to Point Adolphus on the norther tip of Chichagof Island. We'll tent camp on the bank for the next two nights while we cruise around about 5 miles each day in a 2 man sea kayak watching whales, observing nature and enjoying the great outdoors.
After 3 days on the water hopefully we'll make it back to the airport in time to catch the last flight to Kodiak by way of Anchorage. We get to enjoy a few hours of civilation (and a much needed shower and a bed) before catching a float plane on Monday to fly to Munsey's bear camp.
I hate to give away a secret but if someone wants to go spend some time seeing a whole lot of what Alaska is about Munsey's Bear Camp is as close to one stop shopping as you can ask for. Munsey's offers a very comfortable environment with great food and wonderful hospitality. Mike and Robin have this thing down pat. The food is great, the schedule is easy. Each day you'll be up close and personal with raw nature (simply indescribable) but each night you have a delicious meal and a great place to stay waiting for you. Given the logistical nightmare that running a remote fishing and bear viewing lodge must be they offer this at an incredible price. If we had the vacation time and money I could see spending a few weeks a summer with the Munseys.
We'll finish up with the Munsey's about noon on Saturday and start the marathon 2500 mile journey home hopefully arriving home around 6am Sunday morning. Hopefully we'll be worn out from another awesome trip.
It saddens me already to think about this trip coming to an end...

Various wonderings going in to 2010...

Here we are a week into the new year. 2009 is in the books and it'll go down as one of my favorites. Work was good, our vacation was amazing and we got to spend a fair amount of quality time with family. We made some new friends, lost some old ones and reconnected with a few that for whatever reason, we lost contact with. I hope I have better years ahead of me than 2009 but it'll go into the books as a great year.
Now I've never been big on New Year's resolutions but if you want to pick a date on a calendar to commit to making notable improvements to your life why not pick a date in early January? I'm definitely going to try to make some improvements this year. I won't go so far as to call them "changes." I think the word "improvement" will do nicely.
In a little under 5 months I'm going to be 40. In the 7 months since I turned 39 I've become more sedentary and amazingly heavier... I can change one of those 2 and I can't help but think that will affect the other as well.
I'm going to try to eat more food that we cook from scratch and less from a box in the freezer.
I'm going to try to drink less. Anyone that knows me well also understands my affinity for red wine and couch time every evening. That glass of wine leads to couch time and I need to get rid of the couch time. The glass of wine needs to go away as well.
My work schedule can get pretty odd some weeks. Working late, working early and working out of town really kill my workout and eating programs. I can't change work but I can work harder to make sure that I get back on track sooner after any disruptions.
We moved to Colorado away from family and friends because we love being outdoors up here. The price has been paid so I'm going to endeavor to work harder to get out and enjoy Colorado as much as possible this year.
I'm going to try to be more thankful and appreciative for what I've been given.
I'm going to work harder for the relationships that I want and not get so caught up in the ones I have.
I'm going to try to be a tourist again. I love photography (LOVE IT)... but somewhere along the way I got a little caught up in trying to "capture an image" and forgot so much about enjoying whatever it was I was doing to put me in that place to capture that image.
I'm sure there's plenty more that I could put down here but what's here will be hard enough I'm sure...
Happy New Year everyone!