{"id":286,"date":"2021-05-27T01:09:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T01:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/27\/alaska-day-2\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T22:52:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T22:52:51","slug":"alaska-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/27\/alaska-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Alaska, Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-height=\"960\" data-orig-width=\"1280\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/c49be6f1af05f50b4b889f321889e2fd\/516cc86d7c64a882-35\/s540x810\/3e110303f0422f35e96e90e68a15a3ccfd15bb2b.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" data-orig-height=\"960\" data-orig-width=\"1280\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>My second full day in Alaska, I set out to explore downtown Fairbanks. It wasn\u2019t anything like I expected. I pictured a little area of shops around the river; I found more of a ghost town. As it turned out, my most memorable moments from the day came from conversations I overheard among interesting people.<\/p>\n<p>Before I met anyone, I wandered the mostly empty streets. I noticed lots of street art painted on the sides of buildings. The bright colors of the Alaska mural (above) caught my eye in part because it was such a contrast to the mostly concrete colored buildings. In search of breakfast,\u00a0I walked toward the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.morristhompsoncenter.org\">Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors\u2019 Center<\/a>, hoping to see more options than the two places I\u2019d passed on the edge of downtown.<\/p>\n<figure data-orig-width=\"1280\" data-orig-height=\"960\" class=\"tmblr-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/e3722175bdaa751955cf1cc1bcd92fe8\/516cc86d7c64a882-f2\/s540x810\/d03ec7da4d59a539dd631cb68aca13e8e658b814.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"1280\" data-orig-height=\"960\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The sidewalk leading up to and around the cultural center had these beautiful mosaics, modeled off the colors and patterns of Native Alaskan tribal art.<\/p>\n<figure data-orig-width=\"1280\" data-orig-height=\"960\" class=\"tmblr-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/a6c37d8f68911161afbf4d3a50715cef\/516cc86d7c64a882-6f\/s540x810\/285ed6fbf9323e58b6a076076d2ae54c96a47358.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"1280\" data-orig-height=\"960\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>I returned to a breakfast spot I\u2019d seen earlier, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rivercitycafefairbanks.com\">River City Cafe<\/a>, for a fresh smoothie. As I enjoyed my breakfast, two women sat at the far table by the window. Their conversation was so interesting that I merged their stories into one character in the hopes that maybe she\u2019ll show up in my fiction sometime. Here\u2019s her story:<\/p>\n<p><i>My brother\u2019s a millionaire, owns his own company.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>My sister got two Bachelors\u2019 degrees and a Master\u2019s.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>And then there\u2019s me.<br \/>Two failed marriages.<br \/>Barely got my Associate\u2019s.<br \/>Living with my ex mother-in-law.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>I\u2019ve always felt that I had to make up for it somehow.<br \/>Prove my worth to this glorious family.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>So I work.<br \/>Eight hours at the call center.<br \/>Twelve hours at the hospital.<br \/>The night shift so I can get my homework done.<br \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>I\u2019m still in school.<br \/>I want to get my nursing degree.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Guess I\u2019d better get used to sleeping only 2 or 3 hours a night.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>After I\u2019d wandered around downtown a bit more, I made my way to the transit center and caught a bus back to <a href=\"https:\/\/pikeslodge.com\">Pike\u2019s Waterfront Lodge<\/a> where I was staying. On the way, I met another interesting character whose conversation with the bus driver sparked a flash fiction sort of story:<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cSeen any werewolves lately?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cI&hellip;uh&hellip;no&hellip;\u201d<br \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>I didn\u2019t know what she was getting at. Werewolves? You had to believe in those to see one. Right? I didn\u2019t think they were real.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>She\u2019d boarded my bus at the Behavioral Health Center. Black braces enclosed her lower legs, growing from inside the heel of her shoe, up her calves, and strapped around her shins. Her hands were full with a styrofoam take-out container, a white-handled paper bag with\u00a0\u201cBorn and Raised in Alaska\u201d printed in maroon on its front. She held the take-out container on a flat square thing, which she held with two hands. Even with all that and the leg braces, she stepped up impressively steady onto the bus. She wore her long brown hair wet, and her pants were a fun black and white plaid pattern.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>She\u2019d been the one to ask about the werewolves.\u00a0Mental issues, I decided. Until she spoke\u00a0again.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cRainbows,\u201d she said.<br \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>My brain relaxed. Rainbows. Her surgical mask had muffled her initial question. Rainbows. She was asking about rainbows.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cNot today,\u201d said the bus driver, keeping his eyes on the road.\u00a0\u201cSaw one yesterday though.\u201d<br \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cShould be having one today,\u201d she said, almost to\u00a0herself.<\/i><\/p>\n<figure data-orig-width=\"3120\" data-orig-height=\"4160\" class=\"tmblr-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/64.media.tumblr.com\/291061cad7514828a79bac30a3e2470d\/516cc86d7c64a882-84\/s540x810\/ca654d3fac3a156613d45d2cbfc29826dd48d6c8.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"image\" data-orig-width=\"3120\" data-orig-height=\"4160\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>I smiled as I logged the conversation in my memory to write about later. When I returned to my hotel, I walked across the parking lot to the bar at <a href=\"https:\/\/pikeslodge.com\/pikes-landing\/\">Pike\u2019s Landing<\/a>, ordered a pint of Alaskan White beer, and wrote her story.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the day\u2019s inauspicious beginning, these colorful characters brought the town to life, brightening my day by simply going about their own lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My second full day in Alaska, I set out to explore downtown Fairbanks. It wasn\u2019t anything like I expected. I pictured a little area of shops around the river; I found more of a ghost&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[41,47,43,29,33],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel","tag-alaska","tag-fairbanks","tag-nonfiction","tag-travel","tag-wwol"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Alaska, Day 2 - Monica J. 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It wasn\u2019t anything like I expected. I pictured a little area of shops around the river; I found more of a ghost...","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/25\/alaska-day-1-a-kid-named-river-shirtless-no\/","url_meta":{"origin":286,"position":0},"title":"Alaska, Day 1","author":"Monica Williams","date":"May 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"During my trip to Alaska, I carried with me a small notebook that I bought at the gift shop at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the first day of my trip. I\u2019ll use those snippets of writing to tell a story of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":285,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/28\/alaska-day-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":286,"position":1},"title":"Alaska, Day 3","author":"Monica Williams","date":"May 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is train day. I\u2019m riding the Aurora Winter Train for the 12-hour trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage.My traveling companion has also joined me. We\u2019ve found our seats, and I watch the other passengers board.\u00a0\u201cHave you seen any bears?\u201d a woman asks\u00a0a couple sitting a few rows ahead of and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":284,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/08\/alaska-day-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":286,"position":2},"title":"Alaska, Day 4","author":"Monica Williams","date":"June 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Freedom! I got a rental car and drove down the Seward Highway from Anchorage to Seward. Mountains, the sea, blue skies, and white fluffy clouds were my view almost the entire time.\u00a0The drive is supposed to take about 2.5 hours\u2026I took six hours because I stopped wherever I wanted on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":281,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/24\/alaska-day-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":286,"position":3},"title":"Alaska, Day 6","author":"Monica Williams","date":"August 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Scene: A coffee shop called\u00a0Resurrect Art and Coffee. I sit in a leather armchair, finally warm after a damp day. Wood shelves lined the walls, and they were filled with all sorts of local creative works: paintings, greeting cards (my downfall), jewelry, used books, and even a small line of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/660367305722773504_0.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/660367305722773504_0.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/660367305722773504_0.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/660367305722773504_0.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/660367305722773504_0.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":283,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/08\/alaska-day-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":286,"position":4},"title":"Alaska, Day 5","author":"Monica Williams","date":"July 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I woke up to my first full day in Seward motivated to get out and explore. My first stop: the offices of Kenai Backcountry Adventures\u00a0to book a guided hike. Although I hike alone all the time at home, I didn\u2019t really want to do that in Alaska because, you know,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/30\/first-days-in-lisbon\/","url_meta":{"origin":286,"position":5},"title":"First days in Lisbon","author":"Monica Williams","date":"July 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"July 13, 2022 Portugal is burning. Record heat marked our first days in Lisbon.\u00a0We\u2019d come to this city hoping to get lost in the narrow streets and alleys of the historic Alfama district. We\u2019d rented an apartment near a metro station in an area of the city on the outskirts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/691239075320152064_3-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/691239075320152064_3-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/691239075320152064_3-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/691239075320152064_3-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/691239075320152064_3-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437,"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions\/437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}