Noley meets Alaska

Thank You Nolan for being so you. For being born as my brother, for loving me, accepting me, lifting me up, treating me like the most important person in the world, bending over backwards to always do anything you can for me. Thank you for being one of my best friends,for being so fun and always up for anything. Thank you for always making me laugh and allowing me to talk, cry, get angry, or whatever else I need to do. You are so understanding, so loving, so spectacular and I love you more than you could ever know. The gift of having you here with me in Alaska was better than anything.

I think Nolan would agree that the way in which he ended up here with me for a visit is quite incredible. Nolan's employer, Hospice for Utah, started a donation pool to gather enough money to buy him a plane ticket. A wonderful friend of mine, Alethea, is the administrator for the company and Nolan has worked there for over 5 years now. He is well appreciated and loved there for good reason. Besides being an outstanding person, the work he does is his calling. He has such compassion and such ability to connect with his patients. His co-workers recognize this and when his time of need arrived they were there to show their support. Alethea knows the special relationship that Nolan and I have and she just knew that both of us needed eachother at this time. I don't know how to really say thank you for this gift. So, I will just say this. . . Hospice for Utah, you are a group of very special, loyal, generous people and your gift to Nolan and I was so much more appreciated than you can imagine. We had an awsome time together and my spirit was truly renewed! Thank you, thank you, from the deepest place I know.

Nolan arrived late on July 1st. We obviously couldn't just go to sleep so we stayed up for several hours just talking and laughing and soaking up being near one another again after almost 2 years. The next morning we had breakfast at an old Alaskan restaurant and then headed out to the Matanuska Valley.

I took Nolan to Eklutna Lake where we played in the water and enjoyed the warm sun. The temperature was perfect in the high 70's and the water and mountains were stunning.
Later, we continued on to Wasilla where we stayed at a bed and breakfast that I've grown to love. I've taken both my mom and dad to this same place. We had a cute little cabin and we got a chance to just relax and visit. We had dinner out and watched a movie in. At midnight we even got a knock on our door to keep it down because the talking a giggling got a little loud for our neighbors. Oops. We had a lot of fun. The next day Nolan even let me play with his hair. I used a straight iron to give him a new look. And I thought I always wanted a sister. Ha. Nolan covers all the bases. What a sweetie and look how cute.
We went on to see the Little Susitna river and take a short drive into Hatcher Pass to Summit Lake. It was green and lush and there was still patches of snow. The water was like a shiny mirror and the beauty of it all just seeped right into us. We were graced with spectacular weather again too.

We drove back to Anchorage that day and chilled out at home for a while before going to a friend's place to BBQ. Nolan got to try fresh Alaskan King Crab and a Moose Burger, which I think he enjoyed. The next day, the 4th of July, Nolan and I took a drive in the other direction, along the coast, to Girdwood. The weather was a little cool and grey, but it was still beautiful. Had a good lunch and explored the little mountain town a bit. We headed back to Anchorage and hopped on the jet to Nome that evening. When we arrived back in Nome we definitely hit the ground running. We went out for a bonfire on the beach, then to Banner Creek about 2am, then up Anvil Mtn. at about 5am.
We were with lots of friends and had a blast. We finally ended up in bed by about 6:30am. I don't even know how we really were able to stay up so long. There is just something about this midnight sun that almost creates a little mania I think. That and the fact that I was so excited to have him here in Nome with me and wanted to start showing him as much as I could. We slept until noon the next day and then were up and on our way outside again. I took Nolan to the mouth of the Nome river where it empties into the ocean and he caught a pink salmon on his first cast. We continued on to Grand Central and Salmon Lake just enjoying the sun, mountains, and icy cold water. Buford came with us too. I have known Buford only since Dec. '05, but he has become a wonderful friend. I've always told him that he reminds me so much of Nolan.
He shares some of those great qualities that Nolan has like his kind and helpful nature, his uncommonly great manners, his generosity, his silly and fun personality. Seeing them around eachother just confirmed how similar they are. They really hit it off immediately and the three of us had an awsome time together. That night we went to dinner at my friend Kirsten's house. She treated us to more fresh crab and this time Nolan really got the feel for how great it is. The next day we went on a hike to Dorothy Falls. We hiked the ridge on the way there and the river bed on the way back.
When we started out the day was a little cool and overcast, but by the time we got to the waterfall and started hanging out a bit the sun came out from behind the clouds and we were in the midst of another glorious day.
We played in the FREEZING water and took turns going in under the pounding waterfall.


At one point we all held hands and went in together, not just under the waterfall, but through it to the backside We didn't last long and when we got out all of us were screaming with the pain of brain freeze.

But, it was still totally fun. We did a lot of laughing that day. When we got back into town we went out to dinner and then hopped on some borrowed 4-wheelers. The 3 of us took a 20 mile ride down the beach to Cripple River Gold Mine Camp. By this time it was 10pm, but the sun was still bright and we were all still full of energy.
The ride was lots of fun and getting to the camp was even better. In the past, I had been as far as the camp, but had never gone up the hill from the beach to actually see it. I found out that day what I had been missing. It was so cool. It felt like a little ghost town full of old shacks, cute little wooden plank walkways and lots of character. The place was huge too. I had no idea how many people were out there, but my guess is that there were at least 100-120 people and 50-60 little cabins. There is a church, medical clinic, mess hall, saloon, a place to smoke fish, and all the room you want to pan for gold. Very cool little place that the 3 of us really enjoyed. Finally, Friday, we got a chance to sleep in and relax a little. Not for long though because we had to get ready for the weekend. We got packed up and drove inland to Council, which is about 2 hours away on a beautiful drive, which turned out to be more amazing then ever. That night we saw a moose, about 30 musk ox including some little babies, at least 30 rabbits, 2 fox, 2 snowy owl, and a beautiful brown bear. It was so awsome.


Definitely a very Alaskan night. Once we got to Council we got a ride down the river by Buford's grandma, Dolly (Queen of the river). She is this sweet little Native woman who was raised, in part, in Council. Her camp is the oldest one there and she knows the river well.

She took us 6 miles down river to Buford's family's camp where we spent the next two days. We relaxed, went fishing, chopped fire wood, went swimming. . . and just enjoyed the incredible scenery. Oh and got eaten alive by mosquitos too. Ugh. At the end you'll see a video clip of the three of us being very very silly one night when we made up a "Camp Council" song. We all used the same words, but my portion was a rap, Nolan's was folk, and Buford's was hard rock. We must have had 4 attempts before all three of us were able to flow it together. Very funny! We left Council on Sunday and took a leisurely drive back, even stopping at the Safety Roadhouse, an old time bar in the middle of nowhere. We had plans to get home and relax with an early night in for a change. Nolan was set to leave on the morning flight. . . or so I thought. At about 7:15pm when we got home I decided to check on his flight time the next day. To my surprise he was actually set to be on the evening flight, less than an hour away. He took about a one minute shower while I threw his clothes into his bag. Luckily we're in Nome where you can actually make it to the airport with such short notice. We even had time after we checked his bags, to grab a quick burger for him to take on the plane. Sadly, it was a quick and unexpected goodbye. We certainly ended on a high note though, after a spectacular 9 days together. He made it home early Monday morning.

When Nolan arrived that first night I was still feeling a little woozy after chemo. I was tired and had just finished 4 days of not feeling myself. I worried that I wasn't going to feel well enough to do much of anything. I'm not sure all the reasons my body took a turn, but it sure did. That very next morning after he arrived, I woke up feeling like a million bucks and I've felt pretty fantastic ever since. I'm so grateful! I absolutely believe that Nolan being here was the emotional boost that I needed and definitely played a role in how well I have been feeling.

So, again, Hospice for Utah and especially Alethea, thank you so much for your gift. Nolan and I had an amazing time together that was needed by both of us. We appreciate your love and generosity so so so much!!!!

Thanks to Buford we got lots and lots of pictures. This post took me so long because I couldn't seem to narrow the photos down. I started it on Thursday and have been coming back to it for a little bit here and there. Finally, today, Sunday, I'm finishing it up. I just wanted you to see everything. Its a good thing I couldn't get the photos off of Nolan's camera or this post would be even longer. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of our time together.

We are such dorks. . .hope it makes you laugh as much as it did us :)



Peace, Love, and all that good stuff. . . Sasha