toe shoes and mosquitoes

It has been making it to 60 on a regular basis. i think this is what the locals call summer. My friend Leili joked that she was wearing a tanktop because it was hot..i'm pretty sure hot was 50 F or so since they are in Ft. Smith in northern Canadia. so, in honor of summer, i am listening to Bachata music, dancing in the livingroom, and continuing the job hunt. There are some great options out there, as always the question is whether they think i am a great option too. In the meantime, sing on Prince Royce.

We've been trying to allow "summer" to usher in new fun things to do. We went hiking again last weekend to some falls just outside of Eagle River. It was a good opportunity to break in the Vibram Five Finger toe shoes. I think there may be a whole series of posts about the adventures of the toe shoes this summer. brace yourselves. The first time i saw a pair of these, Logan had them in Hawaii and i was convinced that this strange shoe fetish must be some crazy hippie stuff. truth be told, the rubberized toe-socks grip better than my hiking boots, are way lighter, and dry out faster.  Back to the hike: the first part of the trail was very wet/muddy. i spent the hike trying not to get my feet muddy, dantilly prancing along the edge of the trail and forging my own way through trees, much to the irritation of the dog who was pissed her herd was not being herded. feel free to mull over the idiocracy of wearing toe shoes and trying to keep them clean and pretty in the mud then sloshing though a stream. the second half, dry and mosquito filled. mosquitoes are the Alaska state bird. they are huge. they swarm. they are out to eat me alive. yes, me personally, no one else.

Back to the picture, yes that is still snow. It is in a shaded area. Also, that's a river (read stream) that comes down from the falls. We had to cross it twice. it was about ankle to calf deep. let me make this clear. THAT ISH WAS COLD. like barely above freezing. but, the shoes were great for getting across because (drum roll please) your feet freeze immediately and once numb you feel nothing. Neah, however, was PISSED that we took her through freezing cold water to see some water thing with a bunch of mosquitoes.

The falls were pretty..mostly it was just nice to get out and moving. And because there must always be a cute picture of the dog: