For 4 years, on the first weekend of December, a group of friends and I travel the two and a half hours north to a small town called Talkeetna. There, we participate in a weekend full of fun and festivities called the Talkeetna Bachelor Auction and Wilderness Woman Contest.
Day 1
We generally get to Talkeetna around 6 or 7pm. We settle into our accommodations (we usually rent 3 places) and meet at the West Rib Pub for Burgers and Brew. From there, we head to the Fairview Inn for some beers, music and dancing. Around 2am, we head to our cabins and go to bed.
Day 2
I am an early riser whereas my friends will sleep until 2pm if I let them. I usually round up the gang around 10am for our favorite breakfast at the Roadhouse. We all usually get the 1/2 standard which is scrambled eggs, potatoes, and reindeer sausage or bacon. It also comes with a hot drink and a cold drink.. (coffee, tea, juices) From there, we head out to sign up for the Talkeetna Wilderness Woman Contest. Now let me explain the contest:
First round is running two empty 5 gallon buckets about half a block down the street. You pick up two water filled buckets and run (walk slowly) back to the start. You get 3 seconds taken off your time for every inch of water you spill.
Next round.... you have to run to a table, make a sandwich (mayo, cheese and meat), open a beer and run it to a bachelor who is sitting in an easy chair on the street.. from there you have to go saw a log, put it in a sled on the back of a snow machine (filled with other wood) and drive the snow machine around a track, stop, unload the wood and round 2 is done.
Round 3, you have a fishing pole with a tennis ball on the end of the line. The ball is covered with Velcro. On the street there are "Velcro fish" lying around. You have to snag a fish, run it over to a backpack, put it in a backpack, put on snowshoes and run over to a tree (about 100 ft away). On the tree are balloons.. you pick up a BB gun and have to shoot a balloon until it pops. Finished!
None of our group made it past the first round but we sure enjoy watching! I didn't participate thbecause I had pulled my hamstring muscle a week prior and it was quite sore. I've participated in years past though.. and those buckets of water are heavy!!
Bachelor Auction
The Bachelor auction had 42 bachelors in it this year. The earnings go to an abused women non-profit... Some women are there to win a bachelor and some of us are there for the fun of it. Some of these Bachelors know how to put on a show!! The auction lasts a couple of hours and it is a great time! From there, we go back to the Fairview for another night of dancing, drinking and music!
Oh... I should mention that throughout this weekend, there is another competition.. The Bachelor Society puts out a booklet of Bachelors with bios of each bachelor. The contest is to see who can get the most bachelor signatures. (this is hard because you never know which guy is a bachelor!).. Our friend Amy Lee LOVES doing this contest every year and this year she took home the grand prize: A rabbit fur can coozie. It was soft and pretty but it sure made your hands stink after awhile!
(below is Taylor holding the rabbit coozie)
Overall it was a great weekend and everyone had a great time. Can't wait for Bachelor Weekend 2011!!! For more pictures, click HERE!
