1. I leave for Anchorage in a week and a day! I shouldn't be so excited, but I get to go to Skagway and everyone here is super grumpy.
2. In Alaska it can't just be cold. It has to be cold plus have wind that will go straight through your clothes and turn your blood to ice as soon as you are exposed. It had better be at least a little warm in Utah when we get back :).
3. Sarah works nights, so I have this deal with her where she will text me if the lights are out good so I can go see them. It works out quite nicely, since I don't want to be up in the middle of the night looking for lights when I have to work at 6 unless I am actually going to see them.
4. Asking Jessie to pick out books for you to borrow can be a little dangerous. She started out with two, then as we were talking kept saying, "Oh this one's good too!" So I left with five books. Good thing I go through them fast :).
5. Miles and I are in the middle of a silent Check Inn war. I like to have the screen off centered on the computer screen so that you can see Check Inn, Direct Inn, and the weather all at the same time, but he likes it dead center. So we both change it every time we work, and I think we are both driving each other crazy.
6. From being at Jessie's house I am now addicted to the games Hand and Foot, and Dutch Blitz. We should definitely add those to our New Years list I think.
7. This is the land of rainbows. The sky is almost never perfectly clear, and you can usually count on at least two rainbows a week. And often they stretch across the entire sky, from mountains to mountains. It's quite impressive. And then the sunrises. All those clouds make them pretty spectacular, and in the rare event that there are no clouds the entire sky turns orange. It's pretty amazing.
8. The new way to say "I am going to give Ashley a ride home" is "I'm going to haul Ash," compliments of Keith. Jessie told him she was going to "drive Ash" and he made fun of her, saying at the mine they usually "haul ash" they don't drive it. Jessie thought that was cute, and so it stuck haha.
9. The problem with working in an uninsulated metal train car; whatever it is outside it's the same inside. So lately when it's been 20 degrees outside, even with the heat on full all night the office is 40 degrees when I come in the morning. It's freaking frigid :).
10. Sometimes girls are pathetic. We have this system that if someone has reservations but gets here late we will leave out their key in an envelope with their name on it taped to the office door. If the key is still there in the morning, we charge the card on file the cancellation fee. So these girls reserved two rooms, and then didn't ever come so we charged the fee. A couple of days later they called and said they came, but it was dark and they didn't want to get out of the car to get the keys. There were six of them. I think they could have managed, but that's just me. We refunded them, but we all couldn't quite believe that they would rather all sleep in their rented van then go 15 feet in the dark to get their room keys.
11. Speaking of sunrises, the one right now is amazing. The middle of the clouds are all purple while the edges are bright pink. And of course I don't have my camera.
12. It has been an adventure and I'm glad I came, but I am also happy to be going home soon.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Alaska #9
1. Northern lights are pretty much amazing! And I am going to pick up the tripod that I ordered so hopefully I will get some good pictures soon.
2. The drunken antics of my coworkers somehow resulted in the screen door on our kitchen getting bent into a v-shape. Ya, it's not very useful anymore. And James just barely put that in this summer. I will never understand why people feel the need to get drunk.
3. Between the drunken antics of said coworkers and Lucy watching TV across our thin wall until 2 or 3 every morning, it's getting rather difficult to sleep at night. Oh well, I just see the lights more :).
4. The latest group project at work has been repainting the train car that is our office. James is way too perfectionist. He started grinding off all of the rust and started basically from scratch. So after a month of working on it, he only had a week before he and Brigitta left, so in our spare time everyone except Lucy have been painting the train car. It's fun, except the wind has been blowing like crazy lately so you end up with paint blown all over you and have to hold on tight when you're on the ladder or else you get blown over. At least we are finally almost done.
5. Walking 2.2 miles to church sure does a number on flip flops. I am on my third pair since coming here, and I only wear them to church and to the shower.
6. Most of the foreigners can't say "Wi-Fi." They get the Wi part right but always say Fee. So it sounds like they're asking if there's "wifey" in the rooms :).
7. We had a staff pizza party before James and Brigitta left on one of the slower nights in the office. Miles helpfully informed me that the drinks there were alcoholic, so I didn't have any. But everyone else did. It was an interesting night. Sheri gets super giggly when she's tipsy, and I've never seen her like that before. Miles would say something, and she would laugh for a couple of minutes, then say "You know you're kind of funny." By the end everyone was laughing for no reason or super grumpy, also for no reason.
8. Quote of the week. We were explaining to the Bulgarians about Labor Day, and Kiki was very confused. She said, "I thought labor was when . . . Phewsh!" Said while motioning downward from her hips :).
9. I no longer get Sundays off. Miles is always lucky enough to be there when Sheri is making the schedule and he has been asking them off lately. I don't get it. I am the only one that goes to church, and all he does in lay around in the kitchen/living room hung over. He can do that any day. And Lucy refuses to work mornings, so I'm out of luck :(.
10. I am addicted to the Gourmet popcorn place down in the Canyon. It is run by this super cute couple, and I get a local discount. I am going to miss that place. They have amazing chocolate covered popcorn, but they also have the best plain caramel popcorn I've ever had.
11. The clouds here are pretty spectacular. When it's partly cloudy the clouds hang so low and are so fluffy that they look fake. Also, sometimes there is a smooth layer of clouds across the entire sky, and it just looks like the sky is white instead of there being clouds. I would still be okay if the sun showed itself more often, but at least the clouds aren't boring :).
12. Apparently fall is the season for Martens. They are running all over the place, and are super cute.
2. The drunken antics of my coworkers somehow resulted in the screen door on our kitchen getting bent into a v-shape. Ya, it's not very useful anymore. And James just barely put that in this summer. I will never understand why people feel the need to get drunk.
3. Between the drunken antics of said coworkers and Lucy watching TV across our thin wall until 2 or 3 every morning, it's getting rather difficult to sleep at night. Oh well, I just see the lights more :).
4. The latest group project at work has been repainting the train car that is our office. James is way too perfectionist. He started grinding off all of the rust and started basically from scratch. So after a month of working on it, he only had a week before he and Brigitta left, so in our spare time everyone except Lucy have been painting the train car. It's fun, except the wind has been blowing like crazy lately so you end up with paint blown all over you and have to hold on tight when you're on the ladder or else you get blown over. At least we are finally almost done.
5. Walking 2.2 miles to church sure does a number on flip flops. I am on my third pair since coming here, and I only wear them to church and to the shower.
6. Most of the foreigners can't say "Wi-Fi." They get the Wi part right but always say Fee. So it sounds like they're asking if there's "wifey" in the rooms :).
7. We had a staff pizza party before James and Brigitta left on one of the slower nights in the office. Miles helpfully informed me that the drinks there were alcoholic, so I didn't have any. But everyone else did. It was an interesting night. Sheri gets super giggly when she's tipsy, and I've never seen her like that before. Miles would say something, and she would laugh for a couple of minutes, then say "You know you're kind of funny." By the end everyone was laughing for no reason or super grumpy, also for no reason.
8. Quote of the week. We were explaining to the Bulgarians about Labor Day, and Kiki was very confused. She said, "I thought labor was when . . . Phewsh!" Said while motioning downward from her hips :).
9. I no longer get Sundays off. Miles is always lucky enough to be there when Sheri is making the schedule and he has been asking them off lately. I don't get it. I am the only one that goes to church, and all he does in lay around in the kitchen/living room hung over. He can do that any day. And Lucy refuses to work mornings, so I'm out of luck :(.
10. I am addicted to the Gourmet popcorn place down in the Canyon. It is run by this super cute couple, and I get a local discount. I am going to miss that place. They have amazing chocolate covered popcorn, but they also have the best plain caramel popcorn I've ever had.
11. The clouds here are pretty spectacular. When it's partly cloudy the clouds hang so low and are so fluffy that they look fake. Also, sometimes there is a smooth layer of clouds across the entire sky, and it just looks like the sky is white instead of there being clouds. I would still be okay if the sun showed itself more often, but at least the clouds aren't boring :).
12. Apparently fall is the season for Martens. They are running all over the place, and are super cute.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Alaska #8
1. Danny is currently mowing the lawn around the hotel, and it's his first time. I don't think Gregg really told him what to do, cause he is kind of just wandering around in circles with the mower, not going in any kind of pattern :). It's kind of entertaining.
2. Jess and I did another 12 hour bus ride through the park. We didn't see very many animals this time, but we could see Mt. McKinley in all her glory for the whole way into the park. The clouds moved in on the way out, but we were just happy to see her at all. We saw a couple bears, but none as close as last time, and like 10 caribou. Their antlers are getting huge! On the way out we passed James and the housekeepers in one of our shuttles (anyone can drive the first 15 miles into the park, but only the park buses and tours go past there.) He was taking them in so they could see the park, since they don't get days off. It was kind of funny.
3. The day after our long bus tour Jess and I went back and took the free bus to Savage River (mile 15 on the park road) and hiked around. There is this big outcropping of rock that we climbed up to, but when we got there she didn't want to climb it. I was so surprised! But I guess not everyone is like our family and see's a rock and needs to climb it.
4. The problem with working front desk is I can't ever go into the park without seeing someone that's staying at our hotel. The first couple of times I didn't know what was happening (they recognized me, but I've seen a lot of people this summer) but now I just figure if someone recognizes me they are staying at the hotel. It's not bad, but it does kind of feel like I can never get away from my job.
5. Favorite quote of the week, "Ashley? You have that thing that will make my pencil sharper? What is it called?" :) It's fun working with the Bulgarians.
6. The other night at Jessie's we were talking about the northern lights and how we watch them. Sarah has a second story room at the Homestead (the gigantic housing for Princess tours) and she takes out her window and sits on the ledge. I either just stand outside and look up or climb the banister to the top of the bathroom trailer and watch from up there. But Jessie wins. In her words, "I think the best place to watch the northern lights will be in my hot tub!" The rest of us just wish she and Keith had come up with this hot tub idea earlier in the season . . .
7. I ran out of bread before our trip into the park, and wanted to bring a sandwich so I decided to just get some in Healy since there wouldn't be a Fairbanks run in time. The cheapest loaf of bread was $8.19. Yep, I will be glad to get back to normal prices.
8. An Australian guest's reaction to a 40 mph wind day, "Holy Maholy! Your wind is a tad bit crazy!"
9. This morning I got a call on the after hours phone at 7:20 from people complaining that the office wasn't open yet. So I called Miles (no answer) and then went and knocked on his door. He yelled "Who is it?" groggily, and when I told him he asked "Am I sleeping?" I didn't quite know how to respond to that one, so I just asked him if he was planning on going to work. That had a better effect of getting him over his hangover. I heard him leave 10 minutes later, so he was only an hour and a half late for work. It made me feel better about the one time I was 5 minutes late :).
10. I met this guy that teaches at a college in Northern California that came up here with his friend that works at an asylum. They are just wandering around Alaska, living off of Snickers and going wherever people recommend. They took the free bus to Savage River in the park because they were out of money, and wanted to use their last tank of gas before flying out to go to a little hot springs by Anchorage. You meet all sorts up here.
11. Jess is leaving on Wednesday. Sad day :(.
2. Jess and I did another 12 hour bus ride through the park. We didn't see very many animals this time, but we could see Mt. McKinley in all her glory for the whole way into the park. The clouds moved in on the way out, but we were just happy to see her at all. We saw a couple bears, but none as close as last time, and like 10 caribou. Their antlers are getting huge! On the way out we passed James and the housekeepers in one of our shuttles (anyone can drive the first 15 miles into the park, but only the park buses and tours go past there.) He was taking them in so they could see the park, since they don't get days off. It was kind of funny.
3. The day after our long bus tour Jess and I went back and took the free bus to Savage River (mile 15 on the park road) and hiked around. There is this big outcropping of rock that we climbed up to, but when we got there she didn't want to climb it. I was so surprised! But I guess not everyone is like our family and see's a rock and needs to climb it.
4. The problem with working front desk is I can't ever go into the park without seeing someone that's staying at our hotel. The first couple of times I didn't know what was happening (they recognized me, but I've seen a lot of people this summer) but now I just figure if someone recognizes me they are staying at the hotel. It's not bad, but it does kind of feel like I can never get away from my job.
5. Favorite quote of the week, "Ashley? You have that thing that will make my pencil sharper? What is it called?" :) It's fun working with the Bulgarians.
6. The other night at Jessie's we were talking about the northern lights and how we watch them. Sarah has a second story room at the Homestead (the gigantic housing for Princess tours) and she takes out her window and sits on the ledge. I either just stand outside and look up or climb the banister to the top of the bathroom trailer and watch from up there. But Jessie wins. In her words, "I think the best place to watch the northern lights will be in my hot tub!" The rest of us just wish she and Keith had come up with this hot tub idea earlier in the season . . .
7. I ran out of bread before our trip into the park, and wanted to bring a sandwich so I decided to just get some in Healy since there wouldn't be a Fairbanks run in time. The cheapest loaf of bread was $8.19. Yep, I will be glad to get back to normal prices.
8. An Australian guest's reaction to a 40 mph wind day, "Holy Maholy! Your wind is a tad bit crazy!"
9. This morning I got a call on the after hours phone at 7:20 from people complaining that the office wasn't open yet. So I called Miles (no answer) and then went and knocked on his door. He yelled "Who is it?" groggily, and when I told him he asked "Am I sleeping?" I didn't quite know how to respond to that one, so I just asked him if he was planning on going to work. That had a better effect of getting him over his hangover. I heard him leave 10 minutes later, so he was only an hour and a half late for work. It made me feel better about the one time I was 5 minutes late :).
10. I met this guy that teaches at a college in Northern California that came up here with his friend that works at an asylum. They are just wandering around Alaska, living off of Snickers and going wherever people recommend. They took the free bus to Savage River in the park because they were out of money, and wanted to use their last tank of gas before flying out to go to a little hot springs by Anchorage. You meet all sorts up here.
11. Jess is leaving on Wednesday. Sad day :(.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Alaska # 7
1. Lucy's mom Gina came up for a few days from Wrangell, AK. I didn't get to see her very much since I was working, but I did go to dinner with them at 49th State Brewery. She speaks English very well but still has a strong accent (she and her husband came here from Prague.) She got the shrimp tacos at 49th, and kept saying "These good, fat, breaded shrimp." I liked her a lot.
2. I went to the Tenana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks with Jessie and her kids, Jess, and this other girl in our branch Tiffany and her kids. It was crazy but fun. Jess and I were on stroller duty while the older kids rode some of the rides. And I had a pretzel for lunch :).
3. Danny and Kiki are going to stop in Paris for a couple of days on their way back to Bulgaria. Kiki, "I have never been there, but already it is my favorite city!" Her goal is to get to the top of the Eiffel tower and scream at the top of her lungs.
4. Sheri and Gregg have a little dog that they named Steve. James keeps getting confused, and whenever he's talking about Gregg he will call him Steve. It cracks the rest of us up :).
5. Snezhana, "In Bulgaria I only drink Vodka. But here. Here I drink everything!" And then she told me I could help myself to any of her liquor, since I'm not old enough to buy it. I was like, um, I'll pass.
6. I got to go canoeing on Otto lake with Kaymbra (the RS president) and Linda (RS 1st counselor) and their kids. It was fun, even though for most of it Kaymbra was trying to get her son Seth to relax whenever the canoe moved at all. We had a picnic lunch on one of the islands in the middle of the lake, and then Linda got me back in time for work.
7. Danny is obsessed with Oreos and Mac'n'cheese. I swear he lives off of those :). We are in the office, and he has one of those packages that have 6 oreos each. He offered me one and I said no thanks (I just barely brushed my teeth :) ) Then he said "Good! I only have two left." Haha
8. The bears are dead. Our branch president killed two of them, Keith killed a third, and another guy in the branch killed the fourth. That's the Mormons, keeping our town safe from crazy bears :).
9. I finally hiked Mt. Healy. It isn't a very long hike, just 6.8 miles round trip, but it goes straight up the side of the mountain and then you come straight back down. According to a hiking book I found, the total elevation change is 11,800 feet (I don't really know what that means, but it sounds impressive :).) The views from the top were worth it though.
10. Sheri and Gregg have been gone the past four days for a trip to Seward, so Mickey has been playing manager. He takes it very seriously. Usually Sheri will only be in the office from 9-12 and then an hour in the afternoon, but he has been coming in at 6 and not leaving until 11 at night. He is definitely dedicated, that's for sure.
2. I went to the Tenana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks with Jessie and her kids, Jess, and this other girl in our branch Tiffany and her kids. It was crazy but fun. Jess and I were on stroller duty while the older kids rode some of the rides. And I had a pretzel for lunch :).
3. Danny and Kiki are going to stop in Paris for a couple of days on their way back to Bulgaria. Kiki, "I have never been there, but already it is my favorite city!" Her goal is to get to the top of the Eiffel tower and scream at the top of her lungs.
4. Sheri and Gregg have a little dog that they named Steve. James keeps getting confused, and whenever he's talking about Gregg he will call him Steve. It cracks the rest of us up :).
5. Snezhana, "In Bulgaria I only drink Vodka. But here. Here I drink everything!" And then she told me I could help myself to any of her liquor, since I'm not old enough to buy it. I was like, um, I'll pass.
6. I got to go canoeing on Otto lake with Kaymbra (the RS president) and Linda (RS 1st counselor) and their kids. It was fun, even though for most of it Kaymbra was trying to get her son Seth to relax whenever the canoe moved at all. We had a picnic lunch on one of the islands in the middle of the lake, and then Linda got me back in time for work.
7. Danny is obsessed with Oreos and Mac'n'cheese. I swear he lives off of those :). We are in the office, and he has one of those packages that have 6 oreos each. He offered me one and I said no thanks (I just barely brushed my teeth :) ) Then he said "Good! I only have two left." Haha
8. The bears are dead. Our branch president killed two of them, Keith killed a third, and another guy in the branch killed the fourth. That's the Mormons, keeping our town safe from crazy bears :).
9. I finally hiked Mt. Healy. It isn't a very long hike, just 6.8 miles round trip, but it goes straight up the side of the mountain and then you come straight back down. According to a hiking book I found, the total elevation change is 11,800 feet (I don't really know what that means, but it sounds impressive :).) The views from the top were worth it though.
10. Sheri and Gregg have been gone the past four days for a trip to Seward, so Mickey has been playing manager. He takes it very seriously. Usually Sheri will only be in the office from 9-12 and then an hour in the afternoon, but he has been coming in at 6 and not leaving until 11 at night. He is definitely dedicated, that's for sure.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Alaska #6
1. There is some unspoken rule up here that every Sunday is super windy. It makes it kind of a pain to walk to church. I should have brought heavy straight skirts instead of flowy ones. It's especially bad for the first part of my walk down the big hill to Healy. I usually end up bunching as much of my skirt as I can into a ball at my side and hold it so I don't end up flashing everyone on the highway.
2. I just tried to get some lotion from the bottle we have at the front desk and it squirted past my hand and onto the paperwork for today. That was fun to clean up.
3. Keith assigned himself as my home teacher. I guess he figured I would be an easy one to check off his list each month since I am over at their house at least once or twice a week. So now he is my home teacher and Jess is my visiting teacher. Works out great :).
4. More housing woes. You have to pull the string for the lights about 50 times hard every time you want to turn them on or off. Even then sometimes it gets stuck halfway and the lights flicker and then you have to pull it another 50 times. It's really annoying when you got to go haha :). Also the toilets make noises like they are going to eat you. I'm not sure what that means.
5. Both Lucy and Miles do these type of jobs year round, just moving from place to place. Miles was in New Zealand and Australia not too long ago, and Lucy is going to spend this winter in Hawaii.
6. We all dread people reserving the train combo special. Not only do we have to get all their information to book at the hotel, but we have to call and make their reservations at the train station. So when we get one of those reservations, it easily takes up the next hour of our time, with a lot of that time spent being on hold with the railroad.
7. We have this guy that came in on the railroad (so we provide his transportation with our shuttle) and is staying here for 10 days. He is from South Africa, and he keeps cancelling his plans because he thinks it's too cold here. So he has ended up spending most of his time loitering around the hotel. I just think that's such a waste.
8. Jess and I went on a 4 wheeler ride last night. It was so fun! She has been going around with Keith and knows all the good places to go. She took me to this lake out in the middle of nowhere that I am definitely going to have to go back to when I have a camera. After that we decided to explore and take a road neither of us had been on before. It would around for a little bit, then went straight up. We ended up by the cemetery, right up the road from the hotel. Who'dve thunk? :)
9. It froze for the first time the night of July 30.
10. Healy has a current infestation of black bears. They have been killing pigs, sheep, and chickens and dragging them off. We are finding scat in places that we would rather not (like right behind our kitchen trailer). A lot of guys in the branch are doing a bear hunting expedition. They are getting a little too close for comfort.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Alaska #5
1. Starting today I have eight straight days of 6:00 in the morning shifts. Maybe I will actually get used to waking up that early now :).
2. I'm pretty sure I sprained my peroneus brevis tendon when I twisted my ankle hard the other day. Since then it has survived a 4 mile round trip to the bank, a whole day of shopping in Fairbanks, and another 3 mile trip to the post office and then Jessie's house. I should probably stop going places for a while.
3. There are 5o million caterpillars living in the plants outside our kitchen. They are everywhere! If you don't watch where you put your feet when you walk you will probably squish one every other step. I'm not even exaggerating that much.
4. The standing joke up here is that wood frogs make the best pets. All you have to do when you go on vacation is throw them in the freezer :).
5. Jess and I have babysat for Jessie and Keith twice now. It's the easiest babysitting I've ever done. Cecy and Lance are super shy and want nothing to do with me, so Jess takes care of them and I hold Mitchell. Also Jessie and Keith always make sure they are home in time to put the kids to bed. I get the feeling they don't leave their kids much.
6. The other night after Keith and Jessie came home and put the kids to bed we all played Hand and Foot, talked, and listened to the kids music album that the Bare Naked Ladies did because Jessie said it was hilarious (and it was :). Keith insisted that that band had been on Sesame Street, but Jessie didn't believe him so he decided to look it up and pulled out his phone. Then he exclaimed, "Bare Naked Ladies probably isn't the best Google search, huh?" So he handed the phone to Jessie and she looked it up, just in case :). (In case you were wondering, they have done a song on Sesame Street but it wasn't the one Keith was thinking of. So they were both right).
7. It was actually warm and sunny enough that I got a little bit of a sunburn the other day. I never knew a sunburn could feel so good :).
8. Some interesting last names from the tour group we got in today: Speshynskiy, Zaikovskiene, Abdurakhmanov, and Puluikiene, among others. I'm not sure where they were from, but I'm glad I didn't have to try to pronounce their names.
9. We sell Jimmie Dean breakfast sandwiches in our office, and I am getting addicted to the sausage and egg croissant ones. They are pretty much amazing.
10. The last time I checked my PO Box the topmost piece of mail was a catalog addressed to Keith Clark. I happened to be going to their house after that, so I just brought it with me. Apparently I have his parents' old box. Random.
11. There are probably 8 or 9 different companies that do flightseeing around here, so we have about as many planes flying overhead as if we lived next to an international airport (at least one of the ones in Alaska). There is also an Air Force base in Fairbanks, and they have been doing fighter plane training the past few weeks. When they fly over the ground shakes and it's as loud as it is at Stadium of Fire when they do the National Anthem flyover.
2. I'm pretty sure I sprained my peroneus brevis tendon when I twisted my ankle hard the other day. Since then it has survived a 4 mile round trip to the bank, a whole day of shopping in Fairbanks, and another 3 mile trip to the post office and then Jessie's house. I should probably stop going places for a while.
3. There are 5o million caterpillars living in the plants outside our kitchen. They are everywhere! If you don't watch where you put your feet when you walk you will probably squish one every other step. I'm not even exaggerating that much.
4. The standing joke up here is that wood frogs make the best pets. All you have to do when you go on vacation is throw them in the freezer :).
5. Jess and I have babysat for Jessie and Keith twice now. It's the easiest babysitting I've ever done. Cecy and Lance are super shy and want nothing to do with me, so Jess takes care of them and I hold Mitchell. Also Jessie and Keith always make sure they are home in time to put the kids to bed. I get the feeling they don't leave their kids much.
6. The other night after Keith and Jessie came home and put the kids to bed we all played Hand and Foot, talked, and listened to the kids music album that the Bare Naked Ladies did because Jessie said it was hilarious (and it was :). Keith insisted that that band had been on Sesame Street, but Jessie didn't believe him so he decided to look it up and pulled out his phone. Then he exclaimed, "Bare Naked Ladies probably isn't the best Google search, huh?" So he handed the phone to Jessie and she looked it up, just in case :). (In case you were wondering, they have done a song on Sesame Street but it wasn't the one Keith was thinking of. So they were both right).
7. It was actually warm and sunny enough that I got a little bit of a sunburn the other day. I never knew a sunburn could feel so good :).
8. Some interesting last names from the tour group we got in today: Speshynskiy, Zaikovskiene, Abdurakhmanov, and Puluikiene, among others. I'm not sure where they were from, but I'm glad I didn't have to try to pronounce their names.
9. We sell Jimmie Dean breakfast sandwiches in our office, and I am getting addicted to the sausage and egg croissant ones. They are pretty much amazing.
10. The last time I checked my PO Box the topmost piece of mail was a catalog addressed to Keith Clark. I happened to be going to their house after that, so I just brought it with me. Apparently I have his parents' old box. Random.
11. There are probably 8 or 9 different companies that do flightseeing around here, so we have about as many planes flying overhead as if we lived next to an international airport (at least one of the ones in Alaska). There is also an Air Force base in Fairbanks, and they have been doing fighter plane training the past few weeks. When they fly over the ground shakes and it's as loud as it is at Stadium of Fire when they do the National Anthem flyover.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Alaska #4
1. I finally was able to go flightseeing! Normally a flight will cost $350 but we went for $25. Awesome! The flight started at the company's little private airport south of the Park entrance. We flew to and all the way around Mt. McKinley and then back to the airport. It was kind of hazy, but there was a lot more sunshine than there usually is so the view was amazing! Definitely worth the $25 :).
2. I get to go to Skagway when I'm done with my season up here! I discovered it was cheaper to buy round trip tickets to Juneau so that I can still use my original ticket to get home, so I'm going to fly to Juneau and then Skagway on September 21, spend almost a week there with Chrissi, then we are going to take the ferry back to Juneau on September 27 and she is going to fly home via Seattle and I am going to fly back to Anchorage and then fly home via Phoenix. We will both get home on the 28 within a few hours of each other. It worked out perfect.
3. I found out that the state of Alaska recognizes "Denali" as the official name of the mountain (it means "high one" in Koyukon Athabaskan) but the United States government still goes with Mt. McKinley. I also found out that it is the tallest mountain on land. Everest and Aconcagua have higher elevations, but they also start at higher elevations.
4. I had my very own Princess Diaries moment. I was brushing my hair and the handle broke off my brush. At least it was a dollar store one and not a fancy one with a wooden handle like in the show. Gotta love curly hair haha.
5. I am extremely glad I brought up two filtered water bottles. I have been using them the whole time, and I have to scrub them out good every week or so because they get this filmy residue inside. I am just hoping that the filter does a good enough job and I am not drinking that the whole time.
6. I finally get to go to Fairbanks this week. Miles is disappointed since he can't have me buy his liquor (and I am hoping he just has James do all of his shopping so I only have to worry about mine and Lucy's). It should be fun, but it's going to be a long day. They usually leave at about 7 am and get back at about 5:30.
7. Finally it was better to have Verizon than the Alaskan favorite AT&T, since their tower went down and most of the state didn't have AT&T coverage the whole weekend. I was grateful for my random sporadic coverage then :).
8. We have discovered that it's easiest to blame Alaska when all of the guests call multiple times complaining about the wireless. Our now standard answer is "This is Alaska. Sometimes it just doesn't work." Too bad that doesn't usually help. It's crazy how people just can't live without their internet.
9. The walls between our bedrooms are super thin. You can hear basically everything the person in the next room does or says. That fact makes me grateful that I am on an end, and that I am on the opposite end from Miles' room and his one night stands. Ya. And Lucy said she can always tell when I take a shower because she can smell my hair products through the wall.
10. I still have yet to see darkness since getting here. I thought that it would get dark faster after summer solstice, but still when I can't sleep and decide to make myself useful and do laundry at 2 in the morning I don't even need a flashlight to go around outside. I never thought I would miss darkness, but it would make it a whole lot easier to sleep at night.
11. There is about an inch gap between the floor and the bottom of my bedroom door, so I get a lot more bugs in my room than I would like. The other morning I woke up and there was a spider on my pillow. Ya, that was a little freak out session. Mosquitoes also like to get in through that gap, and they are so big up here that their buzzing is super loud and annoying, especially when you are trying to sleep at night.
12. I went with Lucy down to The Canyon and to the Thai food trailer (it reminds me of Giavanni's) and we both got Pad Thai because that's her favorite. It was so good! It wasn't even too expensive. Only $10, which is kind of amazing for up here. Now I will have a hard decision between Thai food and Subway when I'm down there.
2. I get to go to Skagway when I'm done with my season up here! I discovered it was cheaper to buy round trip tickets to Juneau so that I can still use my original ticket to get home, so I'm going to fly to Juneau and then Skagway on September 21, spend almost a week there with Chrissi, then we are going to take the ferry back to Juneau on September 27 and she is going to fly home via Seattle and I am going to fly back to Anchorage and then fly home via Phoenix. We will both get home on the 28 within a few hours of each other. It worked out perfect.
3. I found out that the state of Alaska recognizes "Denali" as the official name of the mountain (it means "high one" in Koyukon Athabaskan) but the United States government still goes with Mt. McKinley. I also found out that it is the tallest mountain on land. Everest and Aconcagua have higher elevations, but they also start at higher elevations.
4. I had my very own Princess Diaries moment. I was brushing my hair and the handle broke off my brush. At least it was a dollar store one and not a fancy one with a wooden handle like in the show. Gotta love curly hair haha.
5. I am extremely glad I brought up two filtered water bottles. I have been using them the whole time, and I have to scrub them out good every week or so because they get this filmy residue inside. I am just hoping that the filter does a good enough job and I am not drinking that the whole time.
6. I finally get to go to Fairbanks this week. Miles is disappointed since he can't have me buy his liquor (and I am hoping he just has James do all of his shopping so I only have to worry about mine and Lucy's). It should be fun, but it's going to be a long day. They usually leave at about 7 am and get back at about 5:30.
7. Finally it was better to have Verizon than the Alaskan favorite AT&T, since their tower went down and most of the state didn't have AT&T coverage the whole weekend. I was grateful for my random sporadic coverage then :).
8. We have discovered that it's easiest to blame Alaska when all of the guests call multiple times complaining about the wireless. Our now standard answer is "This is Alaska. Sometimes it just doesn't work." Too bad that doesn't usually help. It's crazy how people just can't live without their internet.
9. The walls between our bedrooms are super thin. You can hear basically everything the person in the next room does or says. That fact makes me grateful that I am on an end, and that I am on the opposite end from Miles' room and his one night stands. Ya. And Lucy said she can always tell when I take a shower because she can smell my hair products through the wall.
10. I still have yet to see darkness since getting here. I thought that it would get dark faster after summer solstice, but still when I can't sleep and decide to make myself useful and do laundry at 2 in the morning I don't even need a flashlight to go around outside. I never thought I would miss darkness, but it would make it a whole lot easier to sleep at night.
11. There is about an inch gap between the floor and the bottom of my bedroom door, so I get a lot more bugs in my room than I would like. The other morning I woke up and there was a spider on my pillow. Ya, that was a little freak out session. Mosquitoes also like to get in through that gap, and they are so big up here that their buzzing is super loud and annoying, especially when you are trying to sleep at night.
12. I went with Lucy down to The Canyon and to the Thai food trailer (it reminds me of Giavanni's) and we both got Pad Thai because that's her favorite. It was so good! It wasn't even too expensive. Only $10, which is kind of amazing for up here. Now I will have a hard decision between Thai food and Subway when I'm down there.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Alaska #3
1. Denali National Park is amazing! I took the 12 hour bus tour that goes all the way into the park as far as the road goes. We saw7 bears, caribou, a red fox, and moose. We were even in the 30% of tourists that got to see Mt. McKinley. (Which entitles me to a shirt from one of the gift shops, even though about 90% of tourists by those shirts :) ) One of the bears we saw was eating right on the side of the road, so the bus driver stopped and we all took pictures and watched it for a while. Another one we saw was wandering around outside the visitors center while we were there. The park rangers had their work cut out for them trying to keep all the tourists a safe distance away from the bear. And then he ended up tearing down the hill, right towards a family of hikers. Don't worry, the park rangers saved the day and got the hikers to safety.
2. Coffee (and the people who drink it) is insane. Every morning when I come in to work at 6 I make a 12 cup pot. You'd think that would last a while, but some days it's gone by 6:30. Some guests will come in for 7 or 8 cups, then get mad at me when I don't have the next pot ready in time. They just stand there, tapping their feet or drumming their fingers on the counter until it's done. And then these kids came in today, got coffee, and put 15 packets of sugar each in their cups. I would not like to be their parents later.
3. Alaska is definitely not a desert. It has rained, at least a little, every day for the past month. And then because of the permafrost layer, the water can't drain. So my 4-wheeler ride the other day (it's completely illegal to drive them on paved roads, so I was on sketchy 4-wheeler trails the whole time) resulted in muddy water being splashed all over my clothes and my new skater shoes. Note to self; don't ever wear shoes I care about when I go to Jessie's, I never know when I might end up on a 4-wheeler.
4. Up here, when someone says "I'm going into town," they mean they are driving 2 hours to go to Fairbanks.
5. The Bulgarians all bought phones on the last Fairbanks trip. Only they went with the cheap provider, and didn't find out until they got back that they get absolutely no service whatsoever here. Needless to say, they were not very happy about that. And speaking of cell service, which even with Verizon is sketchy at best, it makes it a pain in the neck when guests are calling from the road. You can always tell when someone is calling from a cell phone while driving in Alaska, because the conversation will take place in 2-3 sessions.
6. There is a work camper couple that get a place to park their RV for the summer in exchange for doing odd jobs and being the official shuttle drivers. Their names are James and Brigitta. Brigitta is from Holland originally, and she is super funny and cute. I like her a lot. They have a black retriever named Sadie who comes and visits me in the office sometimes.
7. Basically every time I go down to Denali (which at most is once a week) I get Chrissi's and my signature sandwich at Subway. I usually end up at the ice cream shop too, and get a single scoop. 6 inch sandwich = $6.25 and one scoop of ice cream = $3.75, so my meal ends up being $10 even. I figure it's a heck of a lot cheaper than dinner and dessert at any of the other restaurants (though I really do need to try something new eventually)
8. Jessie has a book collection that almost rivals Jared's. (As a result of Keith bribing her to stay in Alaska she gets a monthly book fund, and I'm pretty sure she could single handedly keep Amazon in business) So her house has also become my summer library.
2. Coffee (and the people who drink it) is insane. Every morning when I come in to work at 6 I make a 12 cup pot. You'd think that would last a while, but some days it's gone by 6:30. Some guests will come in for 7 or 8 cups, then get mad at me when I don't have the next pot ready in time. They just stand there, tapping their feet or drumming their fingers on the counter until it's done. And then these kids came in today, got coffee, and put 15 packets of sugar each in their cups. I would not like to be their parents later.
3. Alaska is definitely not a desert. It has rained, at least a little, every day for the past month. And then because of the permafrost layer, the water can't drain. So my 4-wheeler ride the other day (it's completely illegal to drive them on paved roads, so I was on sketchy 4-wheeler trails the whole time) resulted in muddy water being splashed all over my clothes and my new skater shoes. Note to self; don't ever wear shoes I care about when I go to Jessie's, I never know when I might end up on a 4-wheeler.
4. Up here, when someone says "I'm going into town," they mean they are driving 2 hours to go to Fairbanks.
5. The Bulgarians all bought phones on the last Fairbanks trip. Only they went with the cheap provider, and didn't find out until they got back that they get absolutely no service whatsoever here. Needless to say, they were not very happy about that. And speaking of cell service, which even with Verizon is sketchy at best, it makes it a pain in the neck when guests are calling from the road. You can always tell when someone is calling from a cell phone while driving in Alaska, because the conversation will take place in 2-3 sessions.
6. There is a work camper couple that get a place to park their RV for the summer in exchange for doing odd jobs and being the official shuttle drivers. Their names are James and Brigitta. Brigitta is from Holland originally, and she is super funny and cute. I like her a lot. They have a black retriever named Sadie who comes and visits me in the office sometimes.
7. Basically every time I go down to Denali (which at most is once a week) I get Chrissi's and my signature sandwich at Subway. I usually end up at the ice cream shop too, and get a single scoop. 6 inch sandwich = $6.25 and one scoop of ice cream = $3.75, so my meal ends up being $10 even. I figure it's a heck of a lot cheaper than dinner and dessert at any of the other restaurants (though I really do need to try something new eventually)
8. Jessie has a book collection that almost rivals Jared's. (As a result of Keith bribing her to stay in Alaska she gets a monthly book fund, and I'm pretty sure she could single handedly keep Amazon in business) So her house has also become my summer library.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Alaska #2
I am just going to copy Chrissi all out and do this in a list of interesting things. Thanks for the idea, Chris :)
1. Rafting the Nenana river was super fun. They had us all get in these wetsuits that covered our clothes and had rubber feet and tight rubber lining on the sleeves and neck. I was grateful, since the river is from glacial runoff and the water had only been water for less than 24 hours (according to our guide.) We went through 10 rapids, ranging from class 1 to 4, over a one and a half hour trip. The first time we all got a facefull of water our guide yelled out, "That's what we like to call a glacial facial!" It was Kiki's first time rafting, and before we left she just kept saying she was panicking, but when we were on the trip she was whooping with joy :) It was a good employee outing. (and we got to do it for free! regularly $87 each!)
2. I got my boss back good the other day. He is constantly teasing me, and Chrissi gave me the idea that maybe if I'm mean back he would stop for a little while. So he was teasing me about doing sprints at 4:30 in the morning (and it's their fault I have to go so early, they want me to work at 6) and Sheri asked what sprints were. He told her it was running fast for short distances. Then he turned to me and asked "I run slow for short distances. What is that called?" I told him, "Wishful thinking." That shut him up for almost 10 minutes! ( a record, I assure you :)
3. I met Jessie at church the first Sunday I was able to go. She invited a bunch of the summer workers over to her house for a movie night. She has three kids, Cecilia, Lance, and Mitchell. Her husbands cousin Jessica is staying with them for the summer, and she is the person that I have really started to hang out with up here. I think I am going to end up spending a lot of time at Jessie's house this summer :).
4. A random guest at our hotel told me I should look into joining the Army, and I'm trying to decide if it was a sign.
5. The fire marshal came in the other day to talk to Gregg, and he wasn't in. I was wearing the new feather earrings I got in Denali gift shops, and the fire marshal saw the speckled feather and got all excited. He showed me a picture on his phone of a fly fishing fly that he wanted to make that he needed a feather like that for. Then he asked me if I would mind parting with that feather in one of my earrings. I was like, uh, yes. Yes I would.
6. Moose hang around our hotel a lot. I haven't gotten a really good picture yet, but they are everywhere. And the other day when I was walking home from Jessie's after a movie night a mother moose and her two tiny babies crossed the road not far in front of me. I love it!
7. I bought Psych season 6 on Amazon Instant Video and downloaded the episodes onto my laptop when I was in the office so I could watch them in my internet-less room. I only have one left (whoops :).
8. I want to learn Bulgarian. When they come into the office to Skype their families it sounds so cool! And I really like the way my name sounds in their accent. Just sayin.
1. Rafting the Nenana river was super fun. They had us all get in these wetsuits that covered our clothes and had rubber feet and tight rubber lining on the sleeves and neck. I was grateful, since the river is from glacial runoff and the water had only been water for less than 24 hours (according to our guide.) We went through 10 rapids, ranging from class 1 to 4, over a one and a half hour trip. The first time we all got a facefull of water our guide yelled out, "That's what we like to call a glacial facial!" It was Kiki's first time rafting, and before we left she just kept saying she was panicking, but when we were on the trip she was whooping with joy :) It was a good employee outing. (and we got to do it for free! regularly $87 each!)
2. I got my boss back good the other day. He is constantly teasing me, and Chrissi gave me the idea that maybe if I'm mean back he would stop for a little while. So he was teasing me about doing sprints at 4:30 in the morning (and it's their fault I have to go so early, they want me to work at 6) and Sheri asked what sprints were. He told her it was running fast for short distances. Then he turned to me and asked "I run slow for short distances. What is that called?" I told him, "Wishful thinking." That shut him up for almost 10 minutes! ( a record, I assure you :)
3. I met Jessie at church the first Sunday I was able to go. She invited a bunch of the summer workers over to her house for a movie night. She has three kids, Cecilia, Lance, and Mitchell. Her husbands cousin Jessica is staying with them for the summer, and she is the person that I have really started to hang out with up here. I think I am going to end up spending a lot of time at Jessie's house this summer :).
4. A random guest at our hotel told me I should look into joining the Army, and I'm trying to decide if it was a sign.
5. The fire marshal came in the other day to talk to Gregg, and he wasn't in. I was wearing the new feather earrings I got in Denali gift shops, and the fire marshal saw the speckled feather and got all excited. He showed me a picture on his phone of a fly fishing fly that he wanted to make that he needed a feather like that for. Then he asked me if I would mind parting with that feather in one of my earrings. I was like, uh, yes. Yes I would.
6. Moose hang around our hotel a lot. I haven't gotten a really good picture yet, but they are everywhere. And the other day when I was walking home from Jessie's after a movie night a mother moose and her two tiny babies crossed the road not far in front of me. I love it!
7. I bought Psych season 6 on Amazon Instant Video and downloaded the episodes onto my laptop when I was in the office so I could watch them in my internet-less room. I only have one left (whoops :).
8. I want to learn Bulgarian. When they come into the office to Skype their families it sounds so cool! And I really like the way my name sounds in their accent. Just sayin.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Arriving in Alaska
I like reading Chrissi's updates, so I decided to try and start a blog too (and it will give me something to do at work haha.) Who knows if I will really keep up with it, but here goes.
I arrived in Anchorage at 1:00 am and had nothing to do until my shuttle left at 7:30. I tried to sleep on a row of chairs at the airport, but seriously the only people in the airport at that time of morning are old men that like to argue loudly all night long. Not really conducive to a good sleeping environment. So instead I got on Facebook and updated all my information, and then read one of my books until 4:30 when I figured it was late enough in Utah to call mom (at that point I was hiding out in the bathroom to get some peace and quiet.) After talking to mom for about an hour I wandered aimlessly through the airport looking for something to do. I happened to meet Elyssa who was taking the same shuttle as I was, and she told me I was supposed to reserve a spot. She had the phone number still, so I called and reserved the last spot on the shuttle that day. Thank goodness I met her.
The shuttle ride was a pretty uneventful 7 hours. We stopped every couple of hours at grocery stores and gas stations to get out and walk. Elyssa informed me at one of the grocery stores that she needed to find a pregnancy test because she was starting to get worried (first indication of how different it would be up here.) I arrived at Denali Park Hotel at about 3 that afternoon and was greeted by my employers Gregg and Sheri. Gregg has long hair tied back in a ponytail (he informed me that he hasn't cut his hair for longer than I've been alive) and multiple piercings in each ear. Sheri is a little more mellow, but they both can swear like sailors. Gregg gave me a tour of the housing and then put me to work cleaning a bathroom so that I would have one to use.
The employee housing is a haphazard arrangement of thrift store rejects and hand-me-downs that the hotel has outgrown. The windows don't shut properly (or if they do they leak) and the kitchen linoleum is held down by plywood and random bits of carpet. The bedrooms are covered with pieces of different carpet left over from renovations to hotel rooms, that is trying and failing to cover up the stained, painted carpet underneath. (Not a big deal, but it sure makes vacuuming a pain.) There are 4 trailer like things for housing; two have 4 bedrooms each, one has 3 bathrooms and the laundry room, and the last one has the kitchen and a tool room. I was going to make something for dinner, but the water came out pink with antifreeze and it looked like none of the dishes had been washed the last time after people used them the year before. I had a granola bar.
I was the first employee to arrive so I had the whole place to myself that night. Miles and Nat arrived the next day, Lucy a couple of days later, and the Bulgarian housekeepers Daniel, Kiki, and Snezhana a week after that.
I arrived in Anchorage at 1:00 am and had nothing to do until my shuttle left at 7:30. I tried to sleep on a row of chairs at the airport, but seriously the only people in the airport at that time of morning are old men that like to argue loudly all night long. Not really conducive to a good sleeping environment. So instead I got on Facebook and updated all my information, and then read one of my books until 4:30 when I figured it was late enough in Utah to call mom (at that point I was hiding out in the bathroom to get some peace and quiet.) After talking to mom for about an hour I wandered aimlessly through the airport looking for something to do. I happened to meet Elyssa who was taking the same shuttle as I was, and she told me I was supposed to reserve a spot. She had the phone number still, so I called and reserved the last spot on the shuttle that day. Thank goodness I met her.
The shuttle ride was a pretty uneventful 7 hours. We stopped every couple of hours at grocery stores and gas stations to get out and walk. Elyssa informed me at one of the grocery stores that she needed to find a pregnancy test because she was starting to get worried (first indication of how different it would be up here.) I arrived at Denali Park Hotel at about 3 that afternoon and was greeted by my employers Gregg and Sheri. Gregg has long hair tied back in a ponytail (he informed me that he hasn't cut his hair for longer than I've been alive) and multiple piercings in each ear. Sheri is a little more mellow, but they both can swear like sailors. Gregg gave me a tour of the housing and then put me to work cleaning a bathroom so that I would have one to use.
The employee housing is a haphazard arrangement of thrift store rejects and hand-me-downs that the hotel has outgrown. The windows don't shut properly (or if they do they leak) and the kitchen linoleum is held down by plywood and random bits of carpet. The bedrooms are covered with pieces of different carpet left over from renovations to hotel rooms, that is trying and failing to cover up the stained, painted carpet underneath. (Not a big deal, but it sure makes vacuuming a pain.) There are 4 trailer like things for housing; two have 4 bedrooms each, one has 3 bathrooms and the laundry room, and the last one has the kitchen and a tool room. I was going to make something for dinner, but the water came out pink with antifreeze and it looked like none of the dishes had been washed the last time after people used them the year before. I had a granola bar.
I was the first employee to arrive so I had the whole place to myself that night. Miles and Nat arrived the next day, Lucy a couple of days later, and the Bulgarian housekeepers Daniel, Kiki, and Snezhana a week after that.
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