A Taste of South Africa

On Thursday, I rallied the troops to attend the South African wine tasting at the Pub hosted by the handsome, charming, and talented Walter Fourie.


When we arrived, we were graced by his presence and the presence of food, wine, and witticisms. All the wines were delicious, and it was a great opportunity for me to see all of my friends who still live up in Fairbanks.


Unfortunately some of them decided that socializing was at the bottom of the priority list (*cough* Donald *cough*). Haha...Donald had some homework to do, so he was double tasking...drinking wine, and doing homework. He's my idol.


The wines were all delicious, and I got to hang out with Colin too. Win-win. He was a trooper, hanging out with me even though he's not the biggest wine fan...or you know...not a wine fan at all.


And after a few glasses, we coaxed Walter into singing a couple tunes for us. So like a good sport, he hopped up on the tables and belted out a few songs. Walter has an amazing voice, so it made that wine tasting definitely one of the top wine tastings I've been to. But nothing can surpass the white-trash beer tasting event (sheer class).


Here's a really cute shot of Julie and Dan. Everyone had a really good time, and it makes me miss all my buddies even more than I did before (which I didn't think was possible). All in all, a successful wine tasting at the UAF Pub!

Oktoberfest...a.k.a. my return to Fairbanks.

After a little over two months, I booked a ticket and returned to Fairbanks to visit my remaining pals and my boy. Lucky for me, the weather gods decided to dump snow and unseasonably cool temperatures for my visit...but knowing this, I came prepared.


Granted, the temperatures might have just seemed unseasonably cool because I've been living in the mild New England climate, but....negative temperatures in October still are somewhat nippy, don't ya think? Here's a shot of the downtown area...along the half-frozen Chena River.


And frozen temperatures have also been giving other people a hard time...specifically, Dan...who's been trying to finish his cabin before the REALLY cold temperatures come to Fairbanks. Dan built this cabin from the ground up, and it looks amazing.


So, as soon as he gets the windows and doors in...I'm sure he'll be a lot toastier. Hah. Although, he's got the place up to the 40s with the stove inside...which is impressive enough.

Tuckerman's Ravine with Jim and Sandy

On Sunday morning, my Mom, Dad, and I headed north on Route 16 to Pinkham Notch to hike up to Tuckerman's Ravine. Tuckerman's is one of multiple ravines on Mount Washington. Here's an aerial shot I found of the ravine and the peak of Washington (in the upper right hand corner).


Washington is the highest peak in the north eastern part of the United States, and is only 6288 feet above sea level. To you crazy Alaskans, that's nothing. But in Mt. Washington's defense...they CAN boast the "world's worst weather". During an April storm in 1934, a wind gust of 231 mph (372 kilometers per hour) pushed across the summit of Mount Washington. This wind speed still stands as the all-time surface wind speed record. Here's one more aerial shot of Mt. Washington in the winter time. Tuckerman's Ravine is the half-shaded ravine that's second from the left.


Fortunately, the winds were calm on Sunday...so we didn't have to endure any intense weather conditions...except for UV burns.


So like I was saying, we began our hike around 7:40am. The entire trail up to the ravine is incredibly rocky...with a few stream crossings.


The light in the morning was amazing, and the trees down near the trail head were really beautiful. Once we got up higher in elevation, however, the foliage wasn't as spectacular as one might imagine.


After a little less than two hours...we reached the bottom of the Ravine and a USFS shelter that's come to be known as HoJo's.

In the late winter/early spring...the ravine is REALLY popular for skiing. But it's extremely dangerous due to the high frequency of avanlanches and slides. Hundreds of people have died in and around the ravine, so safety is definitely a high priority.


After a short break at HoJo's...we started hiking up into the ravine to the "lunch rocks". (It's not just a clever name). Here's my Dad and I about a quarter of the way up into the ravine with the White Mountains in the background.


Hiking up INTO the ravine was slightly more challenging than hiking up to the ravine itself. The trail was a bit steeper...but the view was definitely worth it. Here's my Dad with the headwall of Tuck's right behind him. My Dad has actually skied the ravine before...years ago with some of his friends. Perhaps one day, I'll work up the gonads for such an endeavor.


Halfway into the ravine, I took some pictures of my parents with the White Mountains in the background. (For those New Englanders out there, you can see Wildcat Mtn in the background on the right...woop!)


When we reached the base of the headwall, we setup shop and ate some lunch we packed. The sandwiches were magically delicious...and so was my green apple.


And so were the Labatt Blue's we packed. Hah...the Bourne family rarely ventures far from home without the necessary provisions...in this case, we'll call it "knee lubricant".




After lunch and some hard-earned adult beverages, we began our descent. And much to the dismay of my knees, there were lots of rocks. But the weather was absolutely gorgeous and I was wicked happy to spend the day with my Mom and Dad.


Here we are on our way back down. We stopped at HoJo's once more and were basically swarmed by French-Canadian tourists...it was insane. Who knew New Hampshire was a tourist hot spot.


When we finally reached the bottom, we were all pooped...and in need some ice and some advil. But like I said, I had so much fun with my Mom and Dad...and I think they had fun too :)


Oh yea...and look at the car I found in the parking lot! I was shocked. Alaska representing in good old New Hampshire. Their commute must be rough.

Sabaday Falls

My parents own a place in North Conway, New Hampshire so I went up there with them this weekend to enjoy the fall foliage and to relax a bit. On Saturday, we went out for a short little walk up the Sabaday Falls trail in the White Mountains.


On the way to the trail head, we drove through Albany, NH and over an old covered bridge that crosses the Swift River. The bridge is wicked old, circa late-1800s...and it's only one lane...so on this busy foliage weekend...you can imagine the amount of people that gathered around here to take pictures.


The colors were absolutely amazing, and I'm really glad that I was finally back in New England to enjoy it. The Sabaday trail was packed with people, mostly because it was a short walk to the falls and didn't require any sort of preparation. I think I actually saw a lady in heels. Pathetic.


But regardless we had a good time, and got some nice shots of all the foliage. Here's a shot my Dad took of me, my Mom, and my Grandmother on the way up to the falls.


The stream was wee, but it was pretty with all the fallen leaves in it and all the rocks. Most of New Hampshire is covered in granite (cue the historical glacier discussion), so all of the streams and rivers are really rocky.


I had fun playing with my cameras. I was using my Canon digital and my old Canon Rebel that uses *gasp* actual film! Haha...but the dummy that I was, packed black and white film. And if there's ever a time to opt out of B&W, it's during fall foliage.


But that didn't stop me from playing with my B&W settings on my digital. Sup hypocrite. So this is Sabaday Falls...in all it's glory. It's wee, but mighty.


On our way back down this "rigorous" jaunt, my mom made us stop for a photo-op. As you can see, we're all enthralled. The day was gorgeous though, and we couldn't have asked for better weather for just hanging out outside.


On our way home, we parked down by the Swift River to have some lunch. It was really nice and relaxing...and good mental preparation for Sunday's hike.

Involuntary family bonding

For a couple years now, my mom has been begging the four of us (my two sisters and brother) to get a professional picture taken. She claims that's all she wants for Christmas...and even though I think she sits on a thrown of lies...we did it anyway.

So, we got the picture of me, my sister Jenna, my sister Jaime, her husband Dan, Jaime and Dan's two little ones Tristan and Cooper, and my younger brother Matt....oh yea...and Jenna's got Tunari. Unfortunately, Coop wasn't too thrilled with having his picture taken. So when we got home, since we were dressed up already...we had a back yard photo shoot.


This is a picture of me and my three siblings. Gosh, we're sexy.


Here's the one and only good picture of all of us together that we got on the front steps of my parents place. I'm a fan of this picture...and I think we'll probably use this picture unless the professional one comes out better....hah...which I don't have high hopes for.


And since we started taking pictures...we went all out. This one is an aerial view that captures the whiteness of the Bourne family. Good heavens we're pastey.


And last but not least, here's the adorable Andersen family....blond and beautiful (I'm jealous). I would post more of our family photo shoot...but some of the pictures are embarrassing...hah. Maybe not so much the pictures themselves....but the number of pictures.