I've missed watching Melissa and Denis skate.

Mom slept for twelve hours last night. It’s really no surprise as she’d been up since 4 am and even though we didn’t do much but drive, it takes it out of you. We were in bed by seven, and mom CRASHED.


Woke up to not so fantastic weather, it was pouring down rain, but by 10am it was over and done with. We ate at Denny’s (which boasts being the world’s furthest north Denny’s) for breakfast, and then we headed up to what we thought was the ice arena. No such luck, it was the wrong one, so then I just decided to take a gamble and head up college road. Found UAF all on my own (easy to do with all the signs) and made it to see the tail end of the ice dance testing. We got to see Denis take the girls testing through the proper steps. It was like watching Compulsory dances at nationals all over again; thankfully Midnight Blues was not one of the testing pieces. We had the Viennese and Golden Waltzes and the Paso Doble… and one other one that I don’t remember. Seeing Melissa and Denis working with the students got me excited for the show tonight.

After watching the kids go through their testing we headed back to the room to try and make a game plan. Sadly we have NO idea what’s going on that isn’t incredibly touristy – and by that I mean expensive – and the rain had returned. We just decided to suck it up and go for a drive. Then dad called and we spent about 15 minutes in the lobby while mom talked to him on the phone. While we sat in the lobby the rain stopped, we decided to try to find the “real” Fairbanks – which translates to downtown. It was the Golden Days festival and we wanted in on some of the action. It had rained during the parade – and we spent that time in doors at the rink anyway – but now the clouds had parted and the weather was pretty good.

We figure-eighted around until we finally made it to first street where all the action was. Made the mistake of trying to see the rubber ducky races, but they were late in getting started and mom wasn’t feeling well, so we made our way away from the races, only to have not waited long enough and they crossed the finish line not five minutes after we left the river. Go figure. Oh well, there’s always next trip! We toured Treat Street, for a while anyway, and visited the Yukon Quest “headquarters”. It’s pretty much a mini version of the Iditarod Race Headquarters in Wasilla. After walking around a bit more we headed for the truck to freshen up before the ice show.

The show was pretty good, it was all the local talent, and some of the skaters are surprisingly good for not having a solid program up here right now. Some of the older skaters really put on a good show, and every skater brought their game. The highlight, of course, was when Melissa and Denis closed the show with their program. Melissa rocked the jeweled eyes, and they both were just so smooth. I had forgotten just how much I LOVE watching them skate. I didn’t think I had, but I had shivers. Makes me want to go to Nationals or any skating event that much more. So thankful they made it up here, definitely worth the drive!

After the show we met up with them, and I figured we’d chat and then be on our way, but like always that didn’t happen! It was so much more. We did a little catching up and we will be going to brunch/lunch with them and the Lees (big into Fairbanks Skating club) tomorrow (well, today once this is posted). It’s just like old times, I suppose!

Mom DID embarrass me, though, when she met Melissa and Denis because she took one look at Denis told him she loved watching him because he was just “SO CUTE”. I literally tried to die right there. They were really good sports about it though. Gotta love them! And I guess I gotta love mom, too.

After that we grabbed some KFC and came back to the hotel where we are now just watching some TV before going to bed. Will be shutting her down pretty soon. I took pictures tonight and will have to edit them some other time ha ha. Just not into it tonight. Tomorrow after meeting up with MelDen we are planning to head to North Pole and visit Santa Claus House. I am so tempted to yell out “SANTA! I KNOW HIM!” but I won’t. Gonna go see me some reindeer and play tourist. Yup, sounds fun.

So not ready for our trip to be over, but it’s been fun. I’m going to enjoy the next two days, then it’s back to the grindstone.

Hope everyone else is having a great weekend.