We left very early on Saturday June 6th from La Crosse and drove to Minneapolis. We flew Sun Country up to Anchorage and had a great flight. We landed at around noon Alaskan time and started doing touristy stuff almost right away. We stopped by Kathy’s aunt and uncle’s house to drop off our stuff and take some short naps. Soon after though we headed up to the Flattop Mountain area and got to see all of Anchorage from a good perspective. There are some excellent hiking trails that lead up to the top of Flattop but unfortunately we didn’t make it up there. The view was amazing though!

Our view of Anchorage and Flattop Mountain

After visiting the mountain we headed down to the dock. We found a huge anchor to take our picture by.

On Sunday we drove about 130 miles south to Seward, Alaska and took a boat tour. This was probably the most spectacular part of our trip. We got to see some amazing wildlife and I saw my first glacier!

This glacier was HUGE! We even got to see a big chunk of ice break off and crash into the water. Unfortunately the name of the glacier escapes me.

Monday we took it pretty easy. We had been going non-stop since Saturday morning at 4:30am so it was nice to chill out. Kathy and I headed to downtown Anchorage to do some touristy shopping and walking around. We ate lunch at a great resturant called The Snow Goose. The food was really good and they have an excellent scottish ale. Monday night we ate dinner and watched Role Models with Kathy’s aunt and uncle.

We woke up on Tuesday mornng to a nice surprise though! A momma moose and her two babies decided to hang out in the neighbors backyard. They hung out there for a good 20 minutes before meandering back into the woods.

After the mornings moose excitment we all got packed up the cars and headed up north, past Wasilla, to spend a few days at Kathy’s aunt and uncle’s cabin. We spent two nights there and had a great time. The cabin can only be accessed via boat or plane in the summer and snowmobile in the winter.

I must admit, it was nice having the comforts of home but still being out in the wilderness.

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully, but was still great. We spent some time checking out a few other places around town and on Friday we went to the “Alaska Wild Berry Park”. Kathy loved their homemade chocolate and we probably spent about an hour walking around their gift shop trying to find things to bring back home for friends and family.

They even had this crazy chocolate fountain. That is 3400 lbs of chocolate you see there.

Friday night we spent the evening hanging out and Kathy’s aunt Cindy made a delicious spaghetti dinner. Saturday morning we woke up early and got ready to head to the airport. All in all it was a great trip and I can’t wait to go back someday. We were told many times that March is the month to visit Alaska in because the Iditarod goes down the river right in front of the cabin and everybody is out on the ice having a good time. I think that sounds like fun.

As for more pictures, I posted a whole slew of them on my Google Photo’s page. Check out the album. I also took a bunch of video and will be editing that all together soon and will post it when it is finished.

#3 – See the Northern Lights again
On our trip to the Boundary Waters this past summer Kathy and I were fortunate enough to see some amazing Northern Lights.  

#14 - Get a wine rack
Kathy and I picked up a sweet wine rack/key table a while back. We still need to populate it with some wine though. 

 #15 – Get a tattoo
I got my first tattoo two weeks ago. Check it out! More info on what it is can be found here.

#35 - Go downhill mountain biking
Finally made it out to a downhill course and proceeded to run face first into a tree. I’m ready to go back though!

#65 - Play live at The Warehouse 
My new band, Fortune & Glory, played our first show at The Warehouse in La Crosse. 

#68 - Go to the Boundary Waters
Kathy and I made it to the BWCAW and back in June. It was a great trip too! 

As I’ve mentioned before, we’ll be arriving in Duluth Saturday the 20th in the afternoon but won’t be heading into the forest until Monday. The evening we arrive the four of us will have to go shopping and to buy all of the food we are going to need for the entire week. We figured that instead of trying to split it up ahead of time and bring it separately, we’ll just all go together and split the cost down the middle. I’m still up in the air as to how much the food is actually going to cost but I don’t think it will be all that bad. Gas is going to be the most costly part of this trip.

On Monday, Kathy and I ventured out to the new Gander Mountain mega store (which is awesome btw) so she could pick out a rain suit. She got a pretty nice coat and pants so if it rains while we are up north, she won’t be the only one soaking wet .

I’m really looking forward to getting away for a week and spending some quality time outdoors. I’m also really excited show Kathy what a great experience the Boundary Waters can be. More updates to come!

This marks an important milestone in my life because I’m finally heading up there without any parental supervision AND this will be my first time back to the BWCAW in six years. Growing up we would make a trip in August every summer and we always had a blast. We would go to Kawishiwi Lake and camp on the edge of the Boundary Waters and make day trips. As we got older we started canoeing farther inland but still never strayed much from our base camp. If I remember correctly, I stopped going in 2002 because I had work obligations and then I moved to Madison for College and was busy with school. I’m really excited to make my return.

Along side my 101 Things project, I’m going to start documenting the planning process for this trip and will provide pictures whenever possible (I promise!). The first step has now been completed and further planning is underway. I’ve got a spreadsheet going of all the gear and food we’ll need and will be updating and modifying that as needed. I also went out and bought the most important tool for any camper; the map! I picked up a waterproof sleeve for it as well.

Anyway, I’ll have more to come as Matt and I keep the planning going!

I didn’t buy a new one in 2007 due to my finacial situation but fast forward to today and things are a bit different. Kathy and I took a strole down to Williamson Bicycle Works & Fitness this morning and talked with a cool guy named Ian. He showed me around their lot and we talked about mountain bikes. My first test ride was a Cannondale F6. It rode as expected but wasn’t anything that made me go “like woah”. The next bike I rode was a GT without any suspension what-so-ever. Apparently that trend is coming back. It had 29″ wheels instead of the standard 26″ which was a bit strange at first but the bike felt nice overall. I like having suspension though so I rode the Cannondale again just for kicks. When I got back, Ian had brought out another GT, this time the Avalanche 2.0. This one had front suspension but came with the ability to “lock” the suspension in place so it effectively became more of a road bike. On top of that, it had disc breaks, something Cannondale didn’t have (nor my old bike). This I liked and after a short test run, I could tell it was the bike I wanted to take home. Behold… my new mountain bike!

I will have to ride this bike quite a bit before I can give a real solid review but so far, it feels great. I’ve checked into some reviews online and a lot of people seem to recommend this model so I think I made a good choice. I can’t wait to hit the trails and do some general biking around Fitchburg. Oh and you can be sure I’m keeping this bad boy inside so some shmuck can’t walk off with my new ride.