Two crazy weeks

Disclaimer: It's been a month of long hours outside, so I apologize for the rather dry dialog.... my brain is running on fumes. Also, I really wish I had taken more pictures in Anchorage, but I was having such a great time with all my friends, that it never crossed my mind!

While I was out working on the bridge (see previous post) I got a call about going to Alaska with Gabe! Really, that was all I needed to hear before I as nonchalantly as humanly possible said "Sure" while inside I was jumping up and down with excitement. This would be my first time back in state since 2010 when Matt and I went to Megan and Aaron's wedding. 

The job was up at Eielson AFB in the Interior about 30 min SE of Fairbanks. The project itself was simple enough- getting vertical and horizontal data on over 200 water quality monitoring wells. We worked with Chris from EA Engineering who was a huge help and the unofficial third person on the crew. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but the military frowns on that. We watched F16s all week. No matter how many times you see them screaming overhead it never gets old! [...]

We really didn't do much besides work, eat dinner, and sleep. Silver Gulch Brewing Co was okay on the food. It was pricey for the quality, but the beer was good. The Fairbanks Lager and whatever the porter was were really good. We ate at a burger place that was similar in final review as the brewery and a thai place called LemonGrass which was our favorite place. I had this amazing pumpkin curry and your water glass is never empty there thanks to the most diligent or bored waitstaff. Around the 6th day there my nose started to run and then try to turn into a cold so the two times we ate at Big Daddy's BBQ I couldn't really taste it. According to Gabe and Chris it was really good and I can attest to the slow-cooked melt-in-your-mouth goodness of the meat. 

We worked from before sun up to after sundown and still ended up having to stay an extra day. This worked out really well for me and I have to give a big shout out to the folks at the office who hooked me up. I had permission to change my return flight to stay in Anchorage for a few extra days, but it was going to be so expensive I had pretty much given up hope. Then when we realized (pretty early on in the trip, actually) that we were going to need to stay and the office had to change our tickets anyway and got me a 2 day layover- keep scrolling to read about it! There's also two more pics from the last two days of work in Fairbanks... quite the change in the weather conditions...! 

A stick up well 

Establishing a control point with the GPS

A flush mount well

Getting a position on staff gauges in the waterways

Day 1 of the layover:
Jammies (aka James), who has been my friend since day one of moving into the dorms at UAA my freshman year, picked me up at the airport and took me to Snow City Cafe. LOVE that place. He looked pretty spiffy in his flight uniform too. Then, we met up with Kelcey to get a key and I basically went into a sleep coma for a few hours before Erik came to pick me up for Kaladi Brothers Coffee and wondering around Alaska Wildberry. Then it was off to see Jacques and baby Philippe! Nicole had to work so, sadly I didn't get to say hi to one of my Lost friends. Isaiah did pop in and it was awesome getting to catch up with those two considering how much time we all spent together when I lived there. The day wrapped up with dinner at the Moose's Tooth with Victoria and late-night catching up on the couch with Kelcey and Jeremy. 

Day 2 of the layover:
Jeremy was super awesome and let me borrow his truck all day! It's a good thing I'd been driving an SUV for the past week or I'd have been freaking out about driving a big truck :S First stop was south Anchorage to a house I've been to about a million times. I had coffee with Jan and Kara in the kitchen for an hour and marveled at the amazing remodeling they've done to the place, then we went next door to the Chapel to see the renovations in person (I've seen quite a few pictures). I got a running bear hug from Pastor Tim that took me off my feet! It was a really uplifting visit with them! After that I headed over to Yak and Yeti to meet Isaiah, Jacques, Karl, and two other Aerometric employees who were hired sometime after I left. We used to go there for lunch every now and then and it felt like old times- the same people still work there even! Of course I had the Chicken Tikka Marsala like always- and I'm not the only one who has that as the favorite dish it turns out. I think half of us ordered it. 

Me, Tararaaa, and Linds!

After lunch, I drove over to Jordan's and we went to the Ulu Factory since that was on my to-do shopping list and would never be accomplished otherwise. I've been there once before, but I don't remember getting completely schooled in everything Ulu 5 seconds after walking in the door last time. I learned about the different sizes, blade styles, carving, first gen vs second gen, bowls/ cutting boards, and learned how to properly use the blade sharpener I have hiding in my kitchen drawer (I was doing it all wrong, by the way). Walked out with a first gen cutting board/bowl and knife and a second gen knife and set of pasta/ salad claws. I mentioned to Jordan that I had reacquired my tennis racket and he suggested we stop by and grab his and some tennis balls and head to East High. It was sort of in half jest/ half seriousness, but I had nowhere to be for a few hours and the skies were clear. So, the most unexpected and pleasant surprise of the day was playing really crappy tennis in the 20-something degree weather for about 45 minutes or so followed by our usual routine of walking to the park and sitting on the swings and talking. We are so good at talking that I was running late to meet up with Tara and Lindsey at Midnight Sun Brewing. The place was oddly packed for a weekday evening, but  luckily Tara was there and saved us seats! I miss those girls! Sometimes I forget how long I've known some of my friends and it never ceases to amaze me. I sometimes forget that we all lived together for a while- so much has happened in the time since. 

Originally, a big group of us were going to go to dinner together, but it just didn't work out, so I met up with Kelcey and Jeremy at Spenard Roadhouse. Maybe if I lived in town this would be a place I would go regularly because everyone else seems to. I've been there once before right before we moved out of state and all I remember is the girls going on about cucumber-infused vodka. On my way back from the restroom I was casually scanning other restaurant goers- long-time habit. When I was just about back to my seat I happened to catch a glimpse of Tim, West High football coach out with 3 other coaches. It was totally coincidence, but a nice surprise and we spent several minutes catching up and talking football. They made it to the final playoff games the week before, but lost out on going to the State Championship. After dinner, it was back to the challenge of trying to find the right configuration for packing for the 1am flight home. I arrived back in PDX at 5:30 am after sleeping for the entire flight.... including take-off... and slept all the rest of the day except for our date to Cinetopia to see Looper, which was really good! 

I'm smiling I promise! I was pretty cold this day-
my boots were not waterproof and my toes were freezing
and my nose was running like a faucet from the cold air.

You can kind of see me off in the distance and Gabe taking notes
and running the level.