Halloween

A rundown of the weekend's festivities:

1. On Friday night, we attended the 4th annual Meat Party at Josh's. Never fails to impress. A celebration for carnivores following a successful fall hunting season. My personal favorite: the grilled sheep ribs curtesy of Lincoln and Julie.

2. After the Meat Party, we headed to the Marlin to check out our friend Danny's band, Junkshow. Danny writes most of Junkshow's music, which combines elements of punk and ska. Sample lyrics: "Siamese twin! Siamese twin! One of us is going to win!" He also has a song called "America's Next Top Model," which documents his obsession with the reality TV show. Really catchy stuff.

3. We spent most of Saturday prepping our Halloween costumes. For Chrissy, that meant making, from scratch, a big black bear costume. For me, that meant a trip to Value Village and the Party Palace to pick up my dress, apron, and wig.

4. We arrived at Todd's Halloween party on Saturday night as Goldilocks and one of her three bears. Here are a few pics...

Yes, that's Emily and Brian C.

5. After Todd's, we returned to the Marlin, where we ended up hanging out with Willis Fireball in the hotdog tent. He played a short set of music for us, including some new songs of his: "Carmen the Kebob Girl" and "I want to be the pie-eating champion of your heart." Together with Laura and Lorian, we danced around the parking lot and added background vocals when needed. The night ended with a chilidog from the hotdog tent, which was (obviously) amazing!

Hutlinana Hotsprings

The fall hotsprings tour continued this weekend with a trip to Hutlinana Hotsprings. The trailhead for Hutlinana is off the Elliot highway between Minto and Manley, and the hike to the hotsprings is about 6 or 7 miles. Pretty mellow hike, not too cold (yet!), and the hotsprings were outstanding. Here is a picture of pool alongside Hutlinana Creek.

Breakfast around the whisperlite

This picture captures a triumphant moment for Freya, with all eyes on her, as she boldly crosses the creek to safety on the other side.

Kanuti Hotsprings

Last weekend, six of us ventured in for 3 day weekend at Kanuti Hotsprings. The hotsprings are located about 4 hours north of Fairbanks. The hike into the hotsprings was a challenging 10-12 miles along a ridge with an inordinary amount of tussocks. The hotsprings are nestled in a valley right next to the Kanuti River. With a little bit of mixing, you can generate the perfect temperature for endless hours of soaking. Here are a few pictures from this trip…

The pool (picture is actually from my first trip to Kanuti, April 2005)

Chrissy, getting ready for a soak in the hotsprings. Note our "sweet tarp setup" behind her.

Rachel, Freya, and Chrissy stopping along the ridge.

Ken and Laura on the ridge.

Loving the tussocks