Spring Break 2001 - Alaska

For Spring break 2001, Sarah and Scott took a trip to Alaska.  The impetus for the trip was that Sarah's sister Laura was competing in the Special Olympics World Games in some speedskating events.  Since it coincided with both of our Spring breaks, we decided that we could indeed make the trip.  It would give us a chance to see family on both sides who live in the Anchorage area.

We stayed with Scott's cousin Dale and his family, who live in Anchorage.     Scott's dad also stayed there, while much of Sarah's family stayed with members of the Sharpe family who live in or near Anchorage.

TRAVEL

On Saturday, March 3, we boarded a plane in Allentown.  The trip to Anchorage was in three legs - first stop in Detroit, second stop in Minneapolis.   All flights were aboard Northwest.   We almost had a disaster in Detroit.  Our plane was a little late getting in, and when we arrived, the screens informed us that our flight leaving for Minneapolis was leaving five minutes EARLY.  We took the shuttle from one end of the airport to the other, but when we got to our gate, the plane had already closed the door.  Luckily, they reopened it and let us on.    Upon arrival in Minneapolis, we met up with Scott's dad, Don, who had flown from Pittsburgh.

We arrived in Anchorage at about 8pm their time, where we were met by Scott's cousin Dale, who lives in Anchorage and was putting us up while we were there.   We then met his wife Treassia and daughter Krystal for a late dinner/snack.   After meeting the dogs in the house we were staying at, all three of us slept well that night.

At the end of the week, the three of us boarded a plane in Anchorage at 10pm on Saturday, March 10.   Parting in Minneapolis, Don flew back to Pittsburgh, while Scott and Sarah flew to Allentown (again through Detroit), finally arriving home at about 4pm on Sunday.   Classes for both of us resumed the next day.

Special Olympics
 

Some of the initial gatherings for families and time in Olympic Town were on Saturday before we got there.   The official Opening Ceremonies were not till Sunday night, however, and Sarah's mother Kitty had managed to get enough tickets for all of us to attend.   We got to see the Pointer Sisters perform, Arnold Schwarzenegger made several appearances, and of course the parade of athletes, and the lighting of the torch.

For us, the games had begun on Sunday morning with some preliminaries (time trials of a sort) for speed skating.  Speed skating was held at the Macdonald Memorial Arena about 15 minutes north of Anchorage (the ice rink is pictured above).  Laura skated a personal best that day and we were all proud of her.  That afternoon, Kitty, Don, Rebecca, Sarah and Scott went to a party for families of Team USA - it was at a local restaurant (The Snow Goose) that opened it's doors to all of us.

Laura's preliminaries continued on Monday and Tuesday, and the fan club was out in force.  At one point, there were 22 of us in the stands cheering Laura on.  Laura was competing in three distances (1500m, 1000m, and 777m), and she skated personal bests in each during the prelims.

"It was the first time I had seen her skate and I was impressed by her form."     - Scott

Laura shined during the actual medal competition, which was on Wed, Fri, and Saturday.  After personal best times in the preliminaries, she got even faster times in the 1000m and 777m races.  Her 1500 m time was only 3 seconds off of her prelim time.

During all three races, she was a crowd pleaser, the crowd always cheered for her, and she was the showman at all times - waving to the crowd on entrances and exits.    She won the Bronze medal in the 1000m race and Silver medals in the 777m and 1500m races.

We are all quite proud of Laura's performance throughout the week.

Laura's father Ted was a coach for the New England speedskating team.   We did not get to spend a lot of time with him, either, but we did get to know several of the athletes on the team, and it was a pleasure to cheer them on as well.  Complete results for this team and others can be found at the official web site for the games.

More pictures can be found at Sarah's SO photo album. (Currently unavailable - August 1, 2003.)

Fun Stuff

On Sunday, we had dinner at Sarah's aunt Jennie's house, where we got to spend time with much of Sarah's mother's family - all 5 sisters, her grandmother, and several children.

Monday and Tuesday mornings and early afternoons were spent at the rink watching Laura's time trials.   On Monday afternoon, Scott, Sarah, Don, and Betsy (Sarah's aunt) drove down the Seward Highway towards the Portage Glacier.  There were spectacular views along the way and we got to see some Dall Sheep.   The visitors center at the glacier was closed and the roads to it were getting snowcovered.

On Wednesday, there was a family reunion at a local Mexican restaurant.   Since a lot of family members had come into town and joined those who live in the area, there was a big reunion of the Morris family (on Sarah's mother's mother's side).    We had good food and enjoyed meeting the rest of the family.   Thanks to aunts Jennie and Margaret for arranging everything.    One of the highlights of the evening was that Laura was able to be with us.   As an athlete, she was sequestered away most of the week, and we only got a few minutes at a time with her, except for that night.   She had just won a medal that morning and wore it proudly.

As part of the festivities, a local television station came by to take some shots and get some interviews for broadcast with information about Laura that they were running during special interest segments for the coverage of the games.

While in Alaska, we saw two moose "in the wild".   One was at the point where highway into town becomes a city street, practically downtown Anchorage.   The other moose was in the back yard of a neighbor of Dale's one morning.  

Although Dale was sent on assignment during our week there, we got to spend a little time with his family, Treassia, Krystal, and Josh, including a nice dinner out with Treassia and Krystal at another local restaraunt.

On Wednesday, we went to the local zoo, where we saw moose, bald eagles, and a Siberian tiger (among other treats).  It is a nice little zoo, and Scott took the opportunity to add a couple of stuffed animals to his collection - a snowy owl (named Paul) and a moose (named Morris).

On Tuesday, we went up to Sarah's aunt Laura's house, where Laura took very good care of us, and we got to eat moose meat.  We liked it, and found it to taste like beef.    While there, we went to see Sarah's cousin Jeanne play her trumpet in a concert.    We were happy to be part of the family cheering section for her.

This page updated on May 2, 2001.
Updated August 1, 2003.