welcome to my mind ...

Sunday morning we woke up and made the final decision to drive out to Seward. It had been discussed as an option, but it wasn't cemented in yet. The plan was to be on the road by 11, since it was about a 3 hour drive; we got in the car at ten till, so the timing was actually on point. We stopped several times on the way out so that we could take pictures and see it better than just from the car.

There was one stop that we made, at a little shopping plaza where they had a gas station, food places, and a store called The Great Alaskan Tourist Trap. Of course I had to go in there! I didn't buy anything {come to think of it, I didn't buy any souvenirs} but the stuff in there was cool to look at. Perhaps next time I go there, I'll make sure to have extra space in my bag for random stuff.

On our way to head back out on the road, we were waiting to turn, when all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a truck running over something in the road. Next thing we know, the same truck has pieces falling out from underneath it. We literally watched a transmission drop, right in from of our eyes!! It was the craziest {not really} thing to see!! I mean, you hear about a transmission dropping, but you don't realize that that's literally what it does, in pieces. This poor guy driving the truck was also pulling a rather large trailer. If there has to be a silver lining, he had a caravan with him {another truck and trailer, and an RV} and his truck broke down right at a gas/service station, where there's also food and places to just kind of survive for a while until a tow truck can make it all the way out there.

Since we stopped several times, the 3 hour drive took about 4 hours and we made it there around 3. It was the one and only time in the 5 days we were there that it wasn't sunny, but we also weren't anywhere near the city we were staying in.

Seward is beautiful, even with the overcast, foggy day. The contrast of colors was still brilliant. We stopped to take pictures first, then decided to get some grub. We went to this place called Chinook's, which had some awesome seafood choices. I got smoked scallop mac'n'cheese. Man, was that tasty! I know I'll have to go back there next time I find myself in that area.

Once we were all pretty stuffed, we headed back to the same lookout spot to take more pictures and wander around a bit more. The fog had lifted so you could see the mountains more clearly. It was still overcast, but not raining or foggy. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've probably already seen all of these photos that I'm talking about. If you're only following me on Instagram, you've seen just a small glimpse in to the beauty that is Alaska.

Once we got back in to town, we were tired again so we called it another early night. The next day was our final full day in town so we decided to split up and do different things. The friend who I flew out with wanted to get in some shopping, while I, and the friend we were visiting, wanted to get on a bike and hit the trail that was behind her apartment. She already had a bike, so we rented one for me to use. It had been well over a decade since the last time I was on a bike so it took me a bit to get back in to the hang of it. I wasn't quite back up to where I could ride with no hands, but by the time we reached the halfway point, I was able to stay pretty stable while only using one hand.

I need to make sure I get in more practice since that's pretty much the only requirement prior to learning to ride a motorcycle.

The trail was about 10 miles one way, and we rode the whole thing. There were parts of me that were sore, that hadn't been that sore in quite a long time. I'm not too surprised that my legs weren't more sore, since I work those out fairly regularly, but there were definitely other parts that were sore.

I managed to get myself sunburned during this bike excursion. Since it wasn't super hot out, and there was a nice cool breeze, I didn't think about applying sunscreen. To be honest, I don't usually think about putting on sunscreen... considering how ridiculously white I am, you'd think it was something I'd put more thought in to. Either way, once we were back I could definitely tell that my upper back was burned. I could feel the heat coming off it, but I didn't really think anything else had been burned... until we went to dinner and I could see how red my arms and chest had become. They weren't nearly as bad as my back; that got the brunt of it.

After sushi for dinner, we went to Target to get me some aloe. Annoyingly enough, a moose gave birth in that same parking lot ... the next day. We didn't see any kind of native wildlife, except a beaver bumbling down the side of the freeway, and then a moose just gives birth in the same parking lot we'd been in only the day before. Oh well. Clearly it just wasn't meant to be. Perhaps next time.

The final day we were there, we decided to go to a bar and grill for lunch. It's a sports bar and grill so it was pretty busy, considering it was only 11:30 on a Tuesday morning. The food there was delicious; the desserts were amazing. It was a good final place to eat. I was so full from the food that I ate there, I didn't have anything else to eat the rest of the day. Once we finished up there, we went back to the apartment just to chill out until it was time to go to the airport.

The flight back wasn't bad. I finally had a window seat. I watched part of a movie and just tried not to think about how much pain I was in. By the time we landed, however, I was just ready to get home. The burns are in the peeling/itchy stage right now. It's driving me a little crazy because I want to scratch, but I know I can't. It should be mostly healed in the next couple of days.

Overall the trip was great, it was just more stressful than I had anticipated. I'm already planning my next trip back; this time I will be traveling alone. Or with someone I know for sure isn't going to cause stress. I know for sure that I will no longer be traveling with the friend I went up there with.

If you guys ever get the chance to go to Alaska, do it. It's one thing to see pictures and hear about how beautiful it is there, but you don't truly know until you see it for yourself.