While in Alaska

From Penthouse to Tenthouse

// June 17th, 2010 // 2010: Adventuring

I finished up my spring semester at Wheaton on May 15th, a Saturday.  Needless to say, it was a thrilling way to spend the final Saturday of the semester.  The following day, I drove from Wheaton to JFK Airport where I flew to Nice, France via Barcelona.  I took a bus from Nice to Cannes.  I went to experience the madness that accompanied the second week of the Cannes Film Festival.  Upon arriving at the Cannes bus station, I walked what seemed miles with luggage along The Promenade de la Croisette, the main road in Cannes.  La Croisette was bustling with paparazzis, film crews, and tourists.  I arrived at the flat I would be staying with and met with friends who had already been there a week.

Our terrace at Le Romance on la Croisette

We were on the 6th floor, the Penthouse and the view was incredible.  We spent most of  the week at the clubs in Cannes.  We saw David Guetta and Akon perform at Le Baoli at his F*** Me I’m Famous event.  We saw Mary J. Blige and Jesus Luz (Madonna’s ex-boyfriend) at VIP Room.  During the day, we  usually hung out Nikki Beach.  VIP Room was probably my favorite club.  Luckily, there’s also one in Paris!

I left France back to JFK via Madrid on Wednesday the 26th.  I picked up my car at a friend’s in Westchester and drove to my buddy Sean’s in Fairfield, Connecticut.  I stayed there a night and drove back to Maine in the morning.

I took a slight sabbatical from travel in Maine for a week and a half.  On June 9th, I flew to Nashville to stay with my roommate, Devon, for a week.  Little did I know, Bonnaroo and the CMA Music Festival were taking place the week that I arrived.  Nashville was chaos!  It was in the 90s and very humid the whole week.

Devon and I went to the CMA Festival on Thursday and Sunday.  Country music is not really my thing but it was an interesting experience.   We saw Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, and some others that I had never heard of.  Actually,  I really had never heard of half the artists I mentioned and consequently,  I received a lot blank stares when I was the only one in the audience not singing the lyrics word for word.  Carrie Underwood performed a cover of “Paradise City” which I admit was pretty decent.

CMA Music Festival at LP Field

I flew straight from Nashville to Fairbanks via Minneapolis and Anchorage.  The journey here took half the amount of flights that it took to get here last summer.  I arrived in Fairbanks at midnight and a couchsurfer (http://couchsurfing.org) was nice enough to pick me up at the airport and bring me to pick up some last minute supplies (shampoo, bike pump, notebook, aka the essentials).  She then brought me to the Northern Alaskan Tour Company office.  I waited there until 5am.  At 5, I hopped on a tour van that was going up to Coldfoot.  The tour took about 9 or 10 hours.  There were a couple of Mainers on the tour as well as a woman from London who was traveling solo.  I arrived in Coldfoot at around 3pm.  It was really nice to see everyone! Cory has been here for a month already. Caroline, our good friend from high school made here way up here a week and a half ago. I had no idea she was coming as she started out in Yellowstone at the beginning of the summer. It was quite a surprise!

I had my first Coldfoot dinner of the summer and it was quite good, as expected.  Shortly after, I settled into my tent, popped in a DVD (Tommy Boy), and fell asleep by 7pm.  I slept 15 hours after not having slept for 36 hours!

Now, I’m just waiting for my bike to arrive so I can start training on the Dalton.  It’s supposed to be here on Tuesday but I’m not counting on it.  Also, waiting for my boots from LL Bean!  On my way to Boston, a week back, I stopped at LL Bean to return my boots to get a higher cut.  They needed a driver’s license to grant the return and unfortunately, I didn’t have it with me.   I did have my passport with me, however, but  they didn’t accept it!  I figured that a passport would be official enough for them but apparently not.  I called and complained and they suggested that I mail the boots to them so I did exactly that.

It’s great to be back in Alaska.  The weather has not been the most welcoming but I guess the rain has been much needed with all of the fires.