4 Seasons

Wow, what a crazy years its been for our household!  We've had a ton of activity & it seems that the last year has breezed by.  Here's a peek at our memorable moments of 2009.

Spring:
* Started the year with a bang *literally*, the numerous eruptions of Mt. Redoubt finally made its impact in Anchorage with a dusting or two of volcanic ash! 

* We watched the ceremonial start of the 36th Annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race. 

* We took our spring pilgrimage to Valdez, its become an annual tradition, & our visit always falls on Memorial Day weekend & early enough in the year so that we can still enjoy the many waterfalls that dot the mountainsides around Valdez.

* Kyle had to take a business trip to Seattle & I was able to join him for several days & extend the trip into a few leisure days of fun. 

Summer:
* A short day ride south of Anchorage, we travelled the tram to the top of Mount Alyeska for a view of the seven glaciers surrounding the resort. It was a nice afternoon trip & I am hoping next year to paraglide from the top!

* Just two weeks later we travelled to California for a mixture of business & leisure.  We spent 4 days in Anaheim then travelled, for work purposes, to Apple Valley for another 5 days.

 












Fall:
* We squeezed in a trip to the U-pick farm.  We were rewarded with warm weather & a bountiful variety of fresh fruits & vegetables.

* The perfect weather for picking berries in Arctic Valley!  We were a bit slow to harvest, but enjoyed the trip nonetheless. 

Winter:
* Time for celebrating with parties & lots of tasty food!  Our company Christmas Party.  Always enjoyable, a fun evening of food & entertainment, & a reason to get all dolled up.  I kept the pics to a minimum, between socializing with co-workers, I thought it would be a bit rude to walk around taking a bunch of pics, so you'll just have to believe me when I say it was a great party!

Cruisin the Inland Empire

The last 4 days of our trip were spent in the Victorville area. Kyle worked 3 of the days so I spent the time doing a bit of sightseeing, we had a GPS with our rented Mustang so I didn't get lost. Boy, oh boy, was it hot outside! Our last full day in Victorville, it had reached 100 degrees by 11am, and I was burning in less than 15 minutes in the sun.
There are signs in town for the old Route 66, we drove this for a while and it was actually disappointing. The old city is being torn down to make way for new buildings. It was still an enjoyable ride and now I can say that I travelled on Route 66, in a Mustang no lessa:-)

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Santa Monica & a farewell to friends

We spent most of a day at the beach & shops around Santa Monica. Kyle enjoyed swimming in the ocean, this was most likely his first time doing so. I forgot just how hot the sand could get and was happy when we reached the cool waters of the pacific.
After our swim we headed up to the street level where there are lots of shops. The shopping area near the beach has several streets blocked just for pedestrian use, the sun was setting and street performers were setting up for the night, it was a nice warm night in Santa Monica.

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We wrapped up the evening with a AWESOME dinner of Korean BBQ with our friends Martin & Linh. Kyle has known them for several years and we met them for the first time at blizzcon. Its unfortunate that we live so far apart as it was great getting to hang out with them, hopefully they will come visit Alaska as long as they don't mind our crazy Pugs!

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