Meet and Greets with Famous Folks in Alaska

​2012 was a big year for celebrity run-ins in Alaska.  And by celebrities, I mean AWESOME Alaskans who make this state great!  Oh, and there also were a handful of encounters with celebrities from the Lower 48 who were filming right here in Alaska.  Apparently, the Last Frontier is a hot spot these days.  Who would've thought it?  :-)

​With Libby Riddles, the first female to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  We met aboard a cruise ship in Juneau when she was presenting to tourists about the Last Great Race.

With Aliy Zirkle (center) who finished second in the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  Here we are at the Nome Dog Lot when I was an official Iditarod volunteer.​  Her smile lights up a room.

With Lance Mackey, four-time winner of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest and four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  Lance loves his dogs and shows genuine appreciation for his fans!

With Dawson Dolly (Cindy Godbey) who has the biggest nuggets in the Klondike!  This sweet lady and I met in Nome's Board of Trade Saloon.  She is terrific!

With Martin Buser, four time Iditarod champion.  Martin was the keynote speaker ​at a conference I attended last fall. He spoke on "Elevating the Team: You Only Travel as Fast as Your Slowest Dog."  What an invigorating presentation and such a dynamic speaker!

​With Ariel Tweto, star of the Discovery Channel's "Flying Wild Alaska." She's just as beautiful and gracious in person as she is on the show!

With the "Drinking Made Easy" fellas, Zane Lamprey and Steve McKenna, during their visit to Juneau.  They filmed at the Alaska Brewing Company.

With U.S. Senator Mark Begich at the Alaska Federation of Natives.

With actors Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, iRobot) and Ella Purnell (Never Let Me Go, Intruders) during the Juneau location filming of "WildLike."  I was cast as an extra in the film, and I also happen to be the only person in the movie wearing a traditional Native Alaskan kuspuk!

With THE Jeff Corwin, television host from the Animal Planet.  Yes, he is just as dreamy in person.

With Alaska Governor Sean Parnell (right), the First Lady, Sandy Parnell (second to right), and Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell (far left) at the Governor's Mansion.

​

2012 in Review: Alaska Adventures Galore - PART TWO!

Hello there!  If you haven't checked out Part One of my 2012 Alaska Adventures, please mosey on over to see a recap of January - June 2012.  (Pssst, click the "Part One" link above...)  Here's the second installment of my video and photo synopsis of 2012's adventures.  This blog features some of my experiences from July - December 2012.  Enjoy - and know that you, too, can have these awesome adventures if you just put your mind to it!

​Cleared for landing - Juneau, Alaska.

Somewhere in Southeast Alaska (near Juneau).​

Fourth of July Trip to Haines, Alaska

All aboard the Alaska Marine Highway!​

With my buddies, Ben and George.  ​

Pilot approved!

Mom's First Trip to Alaska

No trip to Juneau is complete without a stop at Tracy's Crab Shack.  She's got the best legs in town!​

Commercial fishing near the Shrine of St. Therese.​

​Whale watching with Captain Larry of Orca Enterprises.

Tracy Arm Cruise with Adventure Bound Alaska

BIG splash!

Soulful eyes.​

Quenching my thirst like a real Alaskan.

Mom and I at the Sawyer Glacier.

I love all the action in this sunset shot: cruise ship, fly fisherman, and purse seiner fishing boat.

Summer 2012 was a busy cruise ship season for Juneau.

Seen in downtown Juneau.

​Jumping for joy because I got to take this Cessna 182 from Anchorage to Palmer and back!

Icefield and Dog Sled Tour with Coastal Helicopters


Kodiak Island and a Washed Up Whale

​Saw huge bear tracks up and down the beach near the rotting whale, but the majestic Kodiak Brown Bear was elusive.

Pillar Mountain on Kodiak Island

​And When Back in Juneau...

For ONE SINGLE DAY in 2012, Juneau saw temperatures in the low 80s.  Sonny Bunny was beyond miserable, as was half of Juneau.​

One of the last cruise ships in town for the season.​

2012 was a terrific year because of new friendships shaped and old friendships reconnected.  2012 showed me I am blessed beyond measure!

2012 in Review: Alaska Adventures Galore - PART ONE!

It’s already the third month of a new year, but I find myself still writing 2012 on letters, checks, and postcards.  Perhaps it’s because I’ve just been too busy to notice that little detail.  Or maybe – just maybe – I’m still recovering from all the whirl-wind adventures of 2012. 

At the start of last year, I made the steadfast resolution to make the most of Alaska.  For me, this meant meeting new people, learning new things, deepening my relationship with myself and God, and attempting a new adventure each day. 

2012 was the year to discover that Alaska is both a fairly SMALL state and also a BIG state. We all know Alaska is HUGE (bigger than Texas), so there's countless adventures in every nook and cranny of the state.  And Alaska's small because it's actually easy to get involved in the community and acclimated to the culture.  Making friends up here is a breeze as long as you keep an open mind and show folks just how excited you are about living and playing in the Last Frontier. 

Close friendships with real Alaskans can make all the difference in whether or not you love living here.  In fact, my love affair with Alaska has been spectacular first and foremost because of all the terrific people I have met.  So to the folks who made 2012 so awesome, here's a big THANK YOU for impacting my life, in more ways than one.

Here is a recap of the top adventures, fun introductions, and all around take-your-breath-away moments of my 2012. Because there were so many spectacular experiences, I am sectioning this recap into two parts.  This blog is a synopsis of January - June 2012.  Enjoy!

Above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue.

Donning ski goggles for my first snowmachine ride in Alaska.

Charlie's Angels on the frozen Chukchi Sea.

Scaling an iceberg at the Mendenhall Glacier.

​Running with the Reindeer, alongside Wonder Woman.

Celebrating survival!  Post-reindeer-run at Humpy's in downtown Anchorage.

And then there was IDITAROD 2012!

​Iditarod 2012 Winner, Dallas Seavey.

No, I did not wet my pants.  This is the "after-shot" from the splash action video ​above!

End of season fun at Eaglecrest Ski Area.

Rogue drivers beware in Homer!​

Kayaking at Echo Cove near Juneau.​

Finding little treasures while tide pooling at Shaman Island off the northern coast of Douglas Island where I live.​

​No wildlife were harmed in the making of this photo.

Rainbow over Juneau - a common sight.

Juneau Symposium on Sea Otters

Did you know that sea otters hold hands to prevent drifting apart while sleeping?  They are also the largest member of the weasel family, and their fur is the finest of any mammal, with 850,000 to 1,000,000 hairs per square inch.

Want to learn more?  ​If you're in Juneau on Thursday, February 21, 2013, you can hear about this important species at the Sea Otter Symposium, The Science of Southeast Alaska's Sea Otters​. 

Free and open to the public, it starts at 6pm at the University of Alaska Southeast's Egan Library.  A panel of experts will share the latest scientific data, and their presentations will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session. 

Can't make it to the symposium?  Check out this video and prepare to have your heart melted.