A couple videos from St. Thomas

This first video is of a $19,000 watch at the Hublot store in downtown St. Thomas.  We'd heard from someone at the hotel about this and I went to check it out.  It's on display on a podium with security sensors that cause it to drop down and disappear very quickly if anything comes near it (like someone's fingers!)  The guys in the store were very laid-back and kind with me when I asked them if I could record this :)

This video is of the steel drummer hippie island man that was my entertainment (along with two beers during happy hour) while I waited for the ticket office to open for the ferry back to St. Thomas from St. John.  He really set the vibe :)

St. Thomas Photo Album from Facebook

In an effort to share photos sooner than later...

In case you haven't already seen this photo album on Facebook, here's a link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.238750209585878.56060.100003527027895&type=1&l=895b0d5e07

St. Thomas: Part I

St. Thomas was wonderful!  We have a lot of photos to share, so I'll try to do it in little bits...

The patio off our room

View from the patio

1 of 5 pools at the resort

I thought zumba and beach vball looked fun, but never made it happen...  I tried the vball once, but there was a $5 rental fee for a ball and I had no one to play with :(

Walkway to one of the two beaches on property

passing the tennis courts

I love this picture.  I can feel the stress melting away for him :)

The girl working at the paddle boat rental booth had this cute little puppy :)

We took a paddle boat out for a stroll

Iguanas were everywhere.

Brian joked that it must be prayer time :)

One of five bars at the resort

Xtra-Tuff Boots

These are Xtra-Tuffs.  Basically, they're ugly brown waterproof boots that EVERYONE wears.  Men, women, children - everyone walks around town in these boots.  It's kind of funny to me that no one seems to think anything of the fact that everyone has the same footwear during the rainy season!  

So, of course we had to get some, too.  :)

Bring on the rain!

Welcome to Alaska (We've Got Crabs!)

Little welcome mats of Alaska...

This is the sign that welcomed us into Alaska, crossing the border from Yukon in Canada.  As you can see, we were socked-in by fog.

This is Brian, smiling as he welcomes (or, extracts) all the crab meat that a colleague gave him from his crab pot he recently pulled from the water.  Free dungeness crab!

While I appreciate their kind gesture, I'm not quite as excited as Brian :)

We're officially Alaskan residents now.  We got our driver's licenses and license plates a couple weeks ago.   Now the clock is ticking toward our Permanent Fund checks!  (We have to be residents for a year first, and then we're eligible.)

Klondike Road Relay 2012: UAS Road Scholars

This past weekend was the Klondike Road Relay from Skagway, AK to White Horse, Yukon.  The race is 110 miles, and the "UAS Road Scholars" completed it in under 20 hours with 10 runners, divided between 3 cars.  Brian ran the 8th leg of the race, 12.4 miles, and he had the fastest mile pace of everyone on the team (I think 8:47/mi. average).  The course is full of hills, some of them very steep and long!  

The race began at 7:30pm in Skagway, and ended around 2pm the following day in White Horse.  I drove the third car, with runners 8, 9, and 10, and we had a really fun time.  It was the first Klondike for everyone in the car, and they all ran really well!  

This is Brian returning from a pee in the woods....I took this pic to capture all the pretty Fall colors!

Thankfully, his leg of the race was in the daylight and without any rain!

This is what the relay stations looked like (all 10 of them)

Getting ready to give Brian a good send-off!

There he is going strong, and approaching Angela's camera like a hungry bear :)

This still makes me laugh out loud.  Angela (leg 10), was about to run into the photo frame and went into an instant limbo to avoid getting in the shot.  I love it!

Brian had some great views to enjoy during his run.

This is Angela, taking a picture of the canyon she got to run through on her leg of the race.

Brian, Heidi, & Angela - all three newbies to the Klondike and they did a great job!  And they were a fun car to be a support driver for :)

A great way to spend a weekend!

The race was a neat experience, and we had a great time bonding with everyone.  I got to know some people better and got to meet some new people, too, which was a lot of fun and made me feel a little more settled.  After the race, everyone went out for dinner/drinks and then a few of us went to some nearby hot springs in White Horse late at night (Brian opted out, but I had a blast!).

And, in total for the weekend, I saw two black bears run across the road up ahead of our car.  (Not close enough to actually be in danger, but close enough to watch and say "Oh my gosh, a bear!")  Still getting used to that...

Campin' and Kayakin'

Last night we went on a last-minute camping overnight with some new friends, Amanda & Ryan.  

Amanda is the Psychology professor at UAS and her fiance Ryan is a geologist, working at the Kensington mine.  They moved here from Lawrence, Kansas.  They called and invited us Thursday evening, and Friday afternoon we were out at the campsite enjoying an incredible view together.  Thanks to Ryan, we had a great spot almost to the end of "the road" out here.  It took about an hour from our house to drive there.

We rented sea kayaks from the UAS Rec Center (Brian & Amanda get a discount), strapped them to the roof of Ryan's truck, and then very carefully walked/slid/anchored them down a steep drop to get to our site.

Hope you enjoy these beautiful snapshots of our time!

Here's Brian playing frisbee with Ryan, and Amanda's dog Shera (yes, princess of power) desperately wants in on it.

This is Ryan's dog, Booter.  He enjoys long walks on the beach and pristine mountain views.

Taking in the view, and shootin' the breeze...

Booter also likes posing for pictures...

...and standing guard at the tent.

Booter, Ryan, & Brian

It was great to get to know some new friends and enjoy a little time "out of town" for a bit.  And I learned that sea kayaking is fun, as long as you let your body totally relax and just go with the flow....a good exercise during this transition time :)