Our story is a tale as old as time. He swiped right, I swiped right, we matched and Garrett began with "So my beard right now is a lot bigger than in my profile pictures..."
We met the week before the Mister Fur Face beard competition at the Miner and Trappers ball in Anchorage during Fur Rendezvous. For those who don't know, Fur Rendezvous is a winter festival in Anchorage that coincides with the Iditarod dog sled race. Our first lunch date was grabbing pizza and I got to experience in person Garrett's big furry hat and furry face.
Our second date was a last minute invite to the Miners and Trappers ball to see Garrett compete in the beard and costume competition. I must have been his good luck charm that night because he placed first in the Alaskan Whaler category and grand-prize winner for the Storybook Land costume category. His ingenuity with his costume grabbed my interest and he promised me the big, bushy beard would be temporary. We agreed to a more traditional "next date". I'll let him tell that story.
-K
Let me tell you a little story of our first official date. This came in the time between our little pizza lunch and the obscure night on the town at the Miners and Trappers ball. Pretty simple evening, I was allowed some time away from the tug boats so I took Kelsey to my favorite sushi joint and I convinced her to meet my big fluffy dog Kingsley afterward for a night time walk at the dog park. I had headlamps in the truck and hand warmers just to make sure the cold February weather wouldn't chill her too much.
Little did I know that Kelsey talks with her family quite often and they all know each others location with "Find my Friends". Her phone exploded! We were in the middle of Connor's Bog, our local dog park, and Susan, Kelsey's mom was in a panic. She was worried that Kelsey was going to be murdered! This strange new burly hairy man had led her daughter to the middle of the woods in the middle of winter. After a quick phone call, Kelsey was able to calm Susan down and ensure her that all was well and that the only thing she should worry about is the occasional moose that roams the dog park. This was my first glimpse into Kelsey's life and what would ultimately be my future in-laws.
-G
The picture above is one of our first real weekend adventures. I had recently finished re-powering my boat and we took it out for a gorgeous weekend on Prince William Sound. Within a few miles of leaving port we came across a pod of Orcas that swam right under the boat! We made our way to Granite Bay on Esther Island and tied along side some old family friends boats for the evening, laughter and sea stories ensued (with the help of some libations). We continued up to a small cove the next morning called Golden for the afternoon of beach exploring, checking out the old remains of a fish camp that once was established there. To finish off the day we towed our little inflatable (with Avery in it for a few miles) down Esther Passage to anchor near the southern entrance. Our beautiful clear blue skies turned grey and overcast the next day but we didn’t let that hamper our spirits, Kelsey caught a cute little 15lb halibut, perfect for dinner! But alas the weekend was coming to an end so we headed back to Whittier but not before we picked our shrimp pots, we hit the jackpot. A gallon of spot prawns would accompany us home to go with our halibut Kesley caught for earlier. I couldn’t have asked for better weather or company for the beginning of what our little family does in the summer times for fun!
Where to begin with this little tradition? Well firstly Fairbanks is only 6ish hours away, secondly it wasn’t until I met Kelsey that I finally visited this fun little town in the interior. Kelsey had been in the state mere hours before she went there where it took me 35 years! Crazy I know but I’m getting a little side tracked. While it’s only in the early stages of being a tradition I think we can both agree it’s one we’d like to continue. It all began last year with Memorial Day weekend creeping up on us. This would be the first long summer weekend we’d get to kick off the longer days of sunlight. We had it all planned out to take our boat across Prince William Sound and visit a little fishing town of Cordova. I spent most of the week washing, cleaning and packing all the essentials onboard to make it as comfortable as possible. But as the weekend loomed closer the weather was not looking favorable. 100% chance of rain the whole weekend, and though we pack rain gear we didn’t really like the idea of spending it in it or inside. So we looked north and the weather was to look beautiful, sunny and in high 60’s! And with Covid shutting down most tourism from out of state it was a perfect opportunity for locals to get deals. So we drove up the highway and stayed in Talkeetna the first night to break up the drive. We tried viewing Denali from several view points but clouds covered it for the most part. We spent the evening wandering the streets of Talkeetna, and enjoyed the local food and beer, and visited the general store where Stubbs the local mayor used to live. You may ask yourself “why is he mentioning where the mayor used to live?” Well it just so happens he was very popular and he was so famous because he was a cat! (I have a sticker on my truck to honor his memory.) Continuing our journey north the following day we had the opportunity to drive the first 30 miles of Denali road to Teklanika rest area, we spotted countless animals along the way. After this little detour we continued on and after another two and half hours we finally made it to Fairbanks!! Not to bore you with to many details we explored the next couple of days like the typical tourists hitting most the big ticket places one of which was the TransAlaska Pipeline and Gold Daughters for some panning across the street. I think my most favorite part besides panning was scaring the crap out of my cousin Kari at the Pump House restaurant. She happened to have the same idea as us and came up from Seward for a little getaway. With the weekend drawing to an end we had to make the long arguous trip back to Anchorage but we gained a lot of memories!
Fast track to this year, Memorial Day creeping up on us, Covid still lingering about and would you look at, that the weather was going to be terrible in PWS and in Anchorage. We set our sites on Fairbanks again and it’s warmer clearer skies. This time we drove to Healy to spend the night and break up the drive. We were able to drive into Denali park but only to Savage River this time and we did that on our return trip. We visited a few of our favorite places like the Pump House and my favorite Gold daughters again and discovered a few new things like the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, all 74 cars are pre World War 2 vintage and all in running condition with exception to 3. Without meeting Kelsey it could have been another 35 years before I ever visited a beautiful place and I look forward to our yearly tradition.