Holiday Vacation: Catching Up

The last few weeks have escaped from me during our vacation, but I've put up three other posts from Christmas and New Years. Hans and I are glad to be going back to our apartment in a few days, but I am also sad to be leaving again. This weekend we had some very nice weather which showed off the effects of New Year's Day's ice fog. The sunrise was cold and clear on Saturday, so Hans and I drove around town to take some pictures.

The Anchorage bowl was pretty in the morning light. We stopped at the Westchester Lagoon overlook. I watched the skaters on the ice and noticed that we were given another day of clear views of Mt. Denali.

Hans indulged my want to skate on the lagoon (I never got a chance to when I lived here) and I put my skates on for the first time in three years. A little unsteady at first, my feet seemed to remember what to do but I was quickly reminded that my legs used to be in much better shape than they are now. I still managed to do a few jumps and spins but I didn't do anything too dramatic, as the ice was fairly bumpy.

The last few days have been spent catching up with old friends over good meals and the occasional board game. This afternoon my mom and I went to an art boutique, not really expecting to find anything, and we each ended up purchasing an art print by the same artist. I hope Hans likes the one I picked out.

Holiday Vacation: Happy New Year

I can't believe 2009 is already gone. This time last year Hans and I were somewhere in Arizona after having visited the Grand Canyon. Yesterday my mom and I put together a selection of finger food for New Year's Eve and our friends, K&A, came over with their baby for a few hours. Later in the evening my family played Mad Gabs, a game that should be re-named "Develop Your Own Speech Impediment", until my brother left for a party. By 10:30 us party animals were tired, so we uncorked the champagne (it was after midnight somewhere in the world, anyway) and went to bed shortly after.

The next morning we got up early to go see Avatar in 3D, which everyone enjoyed very much. After the movie Anchorage was blanketed with thick fog, but I excitedly asked to borrow the car after we got home. We drove up to the Glenn Alps part of town and my suspicions were confirmed: Up on Hillside the skies were crystal clear, offering panoramic sunset views of the mountains from Denali to Mt. Redoubt. We stopped at the Flattop Mountain parking lot, got out the camera, and hiked up the small viewing hill. There were several other people with the same idea we had, taking pictures and enjoying the view on New Year's Day. Mt. Redoubt could be seen spewing gas and steam. The Chugach Range behind us was also lovely. We stayed through most of the sunset, though our hands and feet were pretty cold by the time we went back to the car.