Top 10 Reasons Why I Left Alaska

Having to leave San Diego and await the criminal trial of our attackers after being kidnapped and held hostage is one thing. Having that state be Alaska is, well, like moving to a whole new world. A pretty one, but talk about culture shock for this Californian...

Here are the top ten reasons why we ended up coming back to Cali:

1) Living in the dark and cold for 20 hours a day for 4 months and most of that indoors would turn me into a gun toting, moose eating, winking like I have some sort of nervous tick, six pack Joe talkin' kinda gal. (Sound familiar)

2) Men's deodorant in Alaska smells a lot like fish

3) The road kill list, (being next on the list to pick up fresh dead moose meat off the road) killed my appetite

4) When the first snow came they called it "termination dust". Enough said.

5) People mowing their lawns at midnight in the summer is just weird.

6) Dating men in Alaska means you have to think the dead animals on his wall are sexy.

7) Driving by a church on Sunday looked like a re-run of Little House on The Prairie (trust me, they don't dress like Sarah Palin on the campaign trail up in them parts)

8) The art scene consisted of folk art and more folk art and a little bit of homemade crafts.

9) I almost overdosed on excessive flannel exposure

10) No Chargers!

What I did like...

Waterfalls in the summer (minus the bazillion mosquitoes), trekking the glaciers, the wildlife, how green it is in the summer (minus the bazillion mosquitoes), swimming in clear lakes, Girdwood festival, Northern lights in the sky, the sparkle of the snow at night, ice skating on the frozen lakes with my daughter, sledding down hills, Christmas time, off the beaten path places in the mountains, snow angels, the old gold mines, blues music at Humpy's and the best fresh halibut that has ever melted in my mouth.

I am grateful for the experiences and the healing that came from living in Alaska for an entire year. But I am oh so glad to be back home.