TicketsDec. 3, 2009
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team is in Alaska for the 2009 Great Alaska Shootout. Senior guard Shelly Bellman will chronicle the trip in a daily blog on GoBEARCATS.com.
Day 5, Part II
Ok, so there is more to day 5!
We went on a little field trip in Alaska, and I have to tell you all about it. After we had a great practice, we went back to the hotel, and got ready for our Alaskan outing. We left in our coach bus, and drove about 50 miles north of Anchorage. The bus ride was amazing. The view that we had was like nothing we would see in Ohio. Out one window, we saw the base of a huge mountain only feet away from the road, and out the other window, there was the ocean with ice caps moving on the water. On the way there, all of us were taking pictures, and then some of the girls took a nap on the bus because they were tired from playing hard ball the past 2 days.
| Zach making a snow angel |
So we arrive to our destination, which was the Aleyska Resort that was in a valley of mountains. It is a really nice resort, and was big. So they inform us that we are going to be going up the mountain in a tram car and eating lunch in the restaurant at the top of the mountain. "WOOOO HOOOO!" We all got really excited. It was snowing, and it was gorgeous. Everyone fit on this tram car at once. We pile in—coaches (4 of them), players (all 11 of us), managers (2), Kelly and Jeff, and Dana, who is our director of basketball operations (she's awesome at her job by the way). There were 20 of us on this tram way, plus the two guys that were trained to run this car and get us up this mountain. So 22 all-together (what a great number!). It was a fun ride. Some of the girls were a little scared, but not me. This car was going up a 2,300 ft mountain! The ride took about 7 minutes and I can't say enough that the view was breathtaking. The majestic mountain and the spruce trees were covered in white snow. We were looking for wildlife, hoping to see a big moose or something, but we didn't see any. They said that in the summer, you see wildlife everywhere.
So we reached the top, and we were all hungry for some food. I ate a yummy halibut sandwich, just for the halibut. HAHA! Some people ordered the reindeer sausage!!! Kahla Roudebush got that, and she said it was good. I'll just take her word for it.
After lunch, we went outside to this deck that overlooked the best picture background ever. Here is the team having a blast in Alaska! And here is a picture of our manager, Zach, making a snow angel. Once he had a chance to play in the snow, he turned into a little kid! He loves the snow and was rolling around in it for about 20 minutes. He wasn't the only one though. The funniest part was when Jeff and Coach Moore started a snowball fight, and then it turned into a wrestling match. Those two were pushing and pulling each other in the snow and throwing snow in each others faces. The rest of us were just watching and cracking up. I would say that both of them lost the snow fight.
Then we got back on the tramway, and headed back down the mountain. We got down safely, took more pictures, and here is one from inside the tram car. Before we left the resort, coach let us do some exploring, and buy some souvenirs in the gift shops if we wanted to. I bought a small keychain that looked like an Alaska license plate, and it had my name on it. I also bought one for my boyfriend Shane with his name on it. I'm so thoughtful aren't I :)
| Jeff and me with our special Alaska hats |
So then we left to go back to the hotel. On this trip, all of us wanted to see some sort of Alaskan wildlife. No one had seen anything yet. All of a sudden, Jeff yells while pointing out the window, "Look, a dog!" For one second, all of us got excited, looked out the window, and then realized what he said. We started laughing as we saw just an everyday, regular dog outside running in the snow. He is such a trickster. A dog is not as cool as a moose, but at least we saw something. We got back to the hotel and had to start packing to come back home. We left the hotel at 10:30pm, got to the airport, and were ready to fly home. A very nice 5 hour flight was ahead of us to get us to Salt Lake City, and then another 3.5 hour flight to Cincinnati. We made it! It was an awesome Alaskan trip, and we are all grateful that we had the opportunity to go to the Great Alaska Shootout.
I also just want to give a shoutout to Coach Ehlen, because he said that he wants me to mention him in one of these blogs, so here ya go Coach 419. Also, my mom told me to tell her hi, so hi mom. And also, I want to say thank you to all that made this trip possible for our basketball team. Thank you!