Once upon a sunny day...

I'm staying home alone tonight! It's so nice!
I sent Bill off to a hockey game. Ray went dancing in Palmer. I get to lay on the couch and enjoy my quiet time.
Last night I volunteered at the Beer and Barley Wine Fest (though I didn't see any barley wine).
In typical fashion, they didn't know what to do with all their volunteers. I attempted to help, but 415 volunteers is more than most people can handle. So they gave me a glass, and about 10 tickets and let me have free beer. Supposedly I get hours for this too...
Anyhow, I ran into a couple of people I met last week and chummed up with them. I even got to dance with a girl I met at the rock climbing gym. Yeah, I may be taking up rock climbing. In addition to belly dancing starting on Tuesday! WOO!
I don't understand why more people don't get out to volunteer!
This morning, after waking at 7:30, I managed to roll out of bed around 10 to the smell of bacon pieces (all the parts too fatty to go into bacon get put in bacon pieces), scrambled eggs, and potato chunks. For some reason, after breakfast Ray decided he needed a swift walk. In the mountains. To find moose antlers. It's the season for shedding. Luckily, the sun and temperature were in our favor (it was at least 45 today). So we piled in Ray's Pathfinder and headed North.
Silly me, I forgot how these mountain men like to hike and agreed to join.
There are a few rules to remember when hiking with Ray.
1. Mountain walking is speed walking on steroids
2. Trails are suggestions
3. Animal stalking is required
4. Be prepared for all elements
5. Sticks, stones, and/or snowballs will be thrown
Luckily Bill is more my speed when hiking. Especially on ice. Though I had my YakTrax!
Not too far into the hike a moose crossed above us with an antler close to dropping. Of course this means that we had to follow its tracks. Off we went, into the woods. And up the mountain. Oh, Mississippi, we went from sea level to 1500 feet. I believe you make it to 806 at your highest point. My ears popped on the way up. I fell into several feet of snow on the way down.
We ended up sledding down several sections of mountains. Denim is not ideal for sitting in the snow and scooting, but it was much faster, even dodging all the elderberry bushes. And since Ray and Bill went first, they packed a pretty good path for me. I ran into both of them several times.
They also introduced me to Devil's Club. Mostly by plowing through several sections of it. If you're looking for a good exfoliant, Devil's Club will peel away the first few layers of skin simply by touching it. Apparently it also treats diabetes. Who knew?
It's been an eventful day. But now, I'm back to enjoying the quiet of Anchorage nights.
Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Go out and volunteer!