As you all know, Melanie and I recently took an action packed trip to Alaska that was filled with many mini excursions throughout the ten days that we were there. In an effort to share the photos and joy that we experienced I am starting a mini series of posts broken down by excursion. Before I dive in, I want to go ahead and introduce the participants in these stories.
The first player needs no introduction, but for the sake of taking up space and utilizing this photo I want to introduce my beautiful wife and the initial reason for the trip, Melanie. The genesis for the trip was initially Melanie’s decision to run a marathon and raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with Team in Training. When she chose Alaska the adventurer inside of me was instantly awoken from a very long sleep and the mind was sent working on the many different things we could do.
On the morning of Melanie’s first information meeting with Team in Training I happened to be driving past our neighbor’s, and friend, house when I saw our next key player working in the yard and mentioned what Melanie was doing. It took maybe five minutes and all of a sudden Andrea was sold on the idea of at least attending the information meeting. Not sure if I mentioned to her that my initial motivation was that Melanie would get $50 just for bringing someone with her, but before you know it she was committed and signed up for the marathon and raising the goal of $3900 as well.
Once Andrea was in, that fortunately meant that I would now have a drinking partner that would consume more than two Coors Light and stay up later than 9pm, coming along in Mike, Andrea’s ball and chain. Mike’s lack of opinion and extremely laid back approach to things proved to be very valuable when it came to planning and executing the trip.
The next player in our trip was probably the biggest decision maker for all decisions made and was definitely the one we didn’t want to irritate. Very similar to Jacob in Lost, The Box was the protector of our wallets. The Box was the Northern Lights coupon book that Andrea was smart enough to get us to purchase and was consulted regularly. All decisions were run regularly through The Box. Obviously no pictures were allowed of the box, so you will just have to trust me that you DO NOT UPSET THE BOX.
And finally, there is me, Aaron. And yes, in this photo I am in a wheelchair with crutches. Unfortunately the night before we flew out I injured my Achilles while coaching Mason’s baseball team; fortunately Melanie was swift enough to steal a wheelchair while we are on a layover in the Seattle airport.
That’s it for the main players, in no way listed in any order of importance. I say this especially for the The Box…don’t want to upset The Box.
Over the next couple of weeks I hope to work through our many trips that should include:
- Summit Flight – Glacier Landing
- Talkeetna Drinks – Battle of the Solstice
- Trout Fishing – Why It’s Not Called Catching
- Anchorage Zoo – Those Bears Don’t Count
- DDay – The Marathon
- Kenai – Sausage with Reindeer
- Homer Spit – The Second Best Seafood In Alaska
- Halibut Fishing – How Mike Almost Lost Andrea
- The Bear Trip – How Melanie Almost Lost Aaron
- Kayak & Hike – A New World Record
- Dinner Cruise – Mike Meets Jack & Ginger
- The Final Cruise – WOW
If we are lucky, I might be able to work in a few guest authors, perhaps even a few words from THE BOX.
Team Fricke 