First Winter

Hey Everyone,



Made it through my first winter living in Anchorage. Granted, it was a pretty mild winter compared to what it is normally but I enjoyed it. I created a photo album so you can see some of what I get to see on a daily basis. http://picasaweb.google.com/julie.saddoris/Winter08

Winter arrived late...not the usual snow for trick-or-treaters. We received snow the week before Thanksgiving...but then Thanksgiving brought temps in the 40's and lots of rain. Bye, bye snow. We wondered if we would have a white Christmas. Fortunatly, we did. Now, we are going through 'break-up'. New terminology there. Are we breaking up with the snow? A boyfriend? What??? Spring is arriving early...break-up is spring! Instead of the usual early April break-up, we have been breaking up since early March. So, now that you understand break-up, we are now up to 12 hours of daylight. Halfway to the longest day of the year, which is June 21st. Not sure why Alaska participates in 'day light saving time'. We set the clock back an hour to have it dark, but one week later, it was light again.


The Iditarod started the first Saturday of March. While I didn't go downtown to see the ceremonial start, I did find a place closer to home and watched about 36 teams come by. After two hours and numb toes, I came home and watched the rest on t.v. It was about 20 degrees but a north wind made the windchill zero. The mushers and teams leave at 2 minute intervals and there were about 98 teams. Lance Mackey won, again, this year. Last year he won the Yukon Quest and Iditarod back-to-back, a feat that no one thought could be done. Well, he did it two years in a row as he repeated again this year. Both races are over 1,000 miles. It was interesting to follow the updates as the end of the race grew near. Lots of mind games being played between Lance and Jeff King. Had Lance not snuck out of the check-point as Jeff slept, the outcome may have been different.



I managed not to gain the usual 'winter-weight' this year. In fact, after gaining five pounds in October, I decided it was a long *&*^ winter here and I wasn't going to go down that road. I lost 10 pounds through the holidays and have lost a total of 15 so far. Another five would be good for me. Also, I was up to 11 miles per day on my eliptical machine. This will be good preparation for the MS Bike ride I am doing in September. This is approximately 170 miles round trip from Hope to Seward and back. It takes place the 2nd weekend of September. Let's just hope the weather is a little nicer than last year.



On another note, I am headed to Hawaii (another reason to lose some weight). Amazingly, I am able to wear those cute shorts comfortably that were too tight to be seen in last summer. Back to Hawaii....I'm meeting Bill & Rico, friends from Atlanta. They have graciously allowed me to crash in their room! This will be a short trip but nice to get away and see good friends.



Enjoy the winter pics! I'll post warmer looking ones when I get back from Hawaii!



Aloha for now!