Sea Lion!!

The students aren't in school yet, the first day of school is August 23.  So, for lunch I've been eating on the rocks in front of the channel that is between Japonski Island and Baranof Island.  The other day, I was eating lunch and a freaking sea lion popped out of the water.  I thought it was a seal at first, but nope.  Definitely, a sea lion.  They are big.  Animals sometimes come into the channel because the fish processing plants dump scraps into the water and sea gulls and apparently sea lions come for a free lunch.

Today, I was standing in the parking lot with Laura while this lady was throwing a ball into the water for her dog to jump in and catch.  They did this a few times, until a sea lion came up and tried to eat the dog.  It was awesome!  The sea lion came out of nowhere and was circling the dog, the dog, being stupid, was barking furiously at the sea lion and the lady was screaming from the shore.  The woman was trying to get the dog to get on shore and the dog continued barking while the sea lion circled closer and closer.  The dog, finally wising up went for the shore.  It got to the shore and the sea lion made a last minute charge, but didn't get the dog.  That was really cool!!  Sea lions are HUGE!

Totem Park

Mt. Edgecumbe (cross your fingers) the dormant volcano

Gym/Airplane hanger

Today is Thursday, August 12th and it is freaking beautiful out.  This is the first day that it has been nice since I've been here and it is amazing.  There are mountains that I could tell were there, but couldn't see and I saw the volcano, Mt.  Edgecumbe, for the first time today!  It was amazing.  This is also my second day working at MEHS.  The first day we had a tour of the school and grounds, which are extensive.  The facility used to be a military base during World War II!  What is now the gym used to be the airplane hanger, along with the University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka (which is teeny compared to Edgecumbe).  There is a room in the gym that is used for storage that has a giant map of Alaska on it that has been there since WWII.  Upper campus is where the dorms (3 girl dorms and 1 boy dorm), the cafeteria, the clinic, mailroom, and Kuspuk (another academic building) are located.  Lower campus has the gym and the main academic building. 

Main campus building

The main academic building is sort of in the shape of a pentagon and is open in the middle with a courtyard.  It is a really interesting setup.  You walk outside and under an overhang to go between classrooms.

Since it was such a nice day, Tracy (the previous AmeriCorps who met me at the airport), suggested that we go to Totem Park.  It was completely amazing!  We got there and it was low tide, so we were able to go out on the beach, which was quite rocky, don't worry though I am quite agile.  Catlike, as Darby might say. 

Totem Park beach, volcano, me and Laura trying to catch fish

The salmon are spawning right now and so if you stand on the beach you see fish jumping out of the water constantly.  It was really, really cool.  It was so neat to just be standing there and suddenly two fish are hopping out of the water on your right and then three on the left.  I've never see fish act like that and it is awesome!  We walked around the side of the beach, going towards the river entrance, which only caused the number of fish jumping around to increase. 

Eagles

We weren't on the trail at this point; we were sort of walking next to the trail on the beach, which I must say was really fun.  Laura decided that she was going to try and catch a fish and so she waded out into the river and tried to catch some of the salmon.  Well, needless to say she was unsuccessful, but quite determined.  At the beach, Laura kept finding little tiny crabs and jelly fish.  The little crabs were really cute, albeit annoyed with us.  We came around a curve in the river and saw two bald eagles sitting on the bank eating something (I don't want to know what).  Jonathan had never seen a bald eagle before so he freaked. 

It was awesome, though, they were just sitting on the shore and then they flew away with the mountains in the background, it was beautiful.  Eventually, we did get on the trail and went to the bridge which goes over the river.  The fish were just all swimming in one place.  It was very strange, but interesting, to see.  Look at the picture to see what I mean. 

Strange fish

Once again, Laura tried to catch a fish.  I mean, there were a lot of them in the river, but what possessed her to thinking that she was capable of catching one I do not know.  Now that we were back on the trail, we walked the trail backwards looking at all of the totem poles.  That was an amazing experience.  Sometimes the animals are difficult to decipher, but we tried our beast and Laura knew some of the Tlingit and Haida stories that the totem poles were based on so we got some of the history while walking around.  What a day!  After I got home, I walked down to McDonald's to take night pictures of Mt. Edgecumbe.  MickyD's has a stellar view right next to the harbor.  Such a beautiful day in Alaska!

Mt. Verstovia behind one of the fish processing plants (blue)

Gavan Hill in the front(right) with Harbor Mountain in the back (left)

The Sisters, on the right side of the Sisters is Verstovia and on the left is Gavan Hill

SITKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the ferry at the crack of night this morning.  It was not even the crack of dawn.  Still all the way night.  Once on the ferry I headed straight for the Recliner Lounge and put down the sleeping bag and went to sleep.  I slept until the Purser came on the speaker and said that they were going to show a movie in the Recliner Lounge.  That is not conducive to resting.  So, now I'm up.  Lame, I know.  I was really hoping to sleep a lot more, especially considering how freaking tired I was, but alas, it was not meant to be.  There were still a few hours before the ferry was supposed to get to Sitka, so I did different things around the boat- I went to an extremely boring talk about Sitka given by a Park Ranger and tried to journal in my new notebook purchased from the Wal-Mart embassy in Juneau. 

The ferry and my beautiful blue baby are in Sitka!

We got into Sitka a little early so when I got off the boat the AmeriCorps people who were supposed to meet me weren't there yet.  Moms though must have some sort of sixth sense about things because I had no sooner driven off the boat and parked when mom called my cell phone to see if I was in Sitka yet.  I was!!! So we tried to talk, but reception was horrible- hopefully not a sign of what is to come.  At 2pm the AmeriCorps welcome wagon arrived and I followed them in my car back to my new house and dropped my car off and went to take a tour of Sitka in a giant van (I know- it's like I never even left home with that giant van).  It felt like the tour was at ninety miles per hour.  It wasn't, but they would point something out and say it was important as we drove past and I was like what? Where?  What was the name again?  There are about twelve miles of road in Sitka and I'm pretty sure I don't know how to get to anything because that tour was crazy.  There were four of us on the tour one AmeriCorps who lived in Sitka and this is her second year in Sitka, another who had been in Sitka for a month, one who had just arrived today also, but by plane, and me. 

Pioneer house

They took us by Mt. Edgecumbe High School so that we could see it because the other new AmeriCorps and I were both going to be working there.  We met the academic principal and found out we were starting tomorrow.  (WHAT?)  Well, then I'll be there tomorrow.  Good to know and excellent warning. 

View from MEHS.  Very foggy.  Rainforest

After the ridiculous tour, seriously we might as well not have gone on the tour for all I gained from it, Megan, the AmeriCorps who had been here for a month, took us new people to the grocery store.  Sweet Lord.  The prices here are ridiculous.  Seriously crazy.  I was buying milk and ramon noodles.  Makes me think of college.  That was a sweet lunch in college, a glass of milk and some ramon- protein and noodles.  Does life get bettter?  There was some serious sticker shock.  They have to ship everything in because it is an island and things are priced by weight was the explanation I got.  It makes sense I guess, but also think there is a lack of competition, for example- there are three grocery stores- two are the same company.  I don't know.  I hated business classes; it was like they were all taking in some weird language that I couldn't understand all the time. 

My new house!!!!

Finally, I got back to my house and went in for the first time.  No one was there and I wasn't sure which room to take, so I put away groceries and read a little bit.  A guy who used to live in the house came by to get some of his stuff.  Turns out he used to be an AmeriCorps ad worked at MEHS, so we talked about that a little bit and he told me that all the rooms except one were taken, so I picked the one with the best light and a bookshelf in it.  BOOKSHELF!  Yay.  Having one makes me happy.  When books are neatly on a bookshelf and organized by author it is one of the most beautiful sights in the world.  I also found out that my house has no Internet.  Lame.  So, if I want to get online, I need to go to McDonald's or go downtown because they have free Internet. 

Megan invited me and Jonathan (other new AmeriCorps) to the movies that night (there are apparently two theaters in town one movie a week and it changes on Thursdays).  I decided to go because I don't know anyone and there would be a lot of other AmeriCorps members there.  The movie was pretty good, we saw The Other Guys.  Not bad.  Afterwards, I just wanted to collapse because I was so tired.  Not a bad first day!  Exciting to be in a new place and tomorrow I'm starting at MEHS!  I can't wait.  I can look out my window and see mountains and the ocean.  My life is so cool.

Juneau- Monday 8/9

Sign at the Governor's Mansion

When I got the job at Mt. Edgecumbe, I called dad to tell him. To say he was surprised would be an  understatement. He kept saying, "Holy shit you're moving to Alaska" every few sentences. So, this is for you dad: Holy shit I'm in Alaska. I can't believe I'm in Alaska. I got into Juneau at the crack of dawn on Monday, August 9th. Literally. I couldn't decide what to do. It was so early. So early. I do not particularly enjoy morning, especially when being awakened from a nice warm boat floor when the sun was still unsure if it wanted to go up. As a general rule, I prefer to never see the sun rise unless I am still awake from the night before. I called the parents to let them know that I was off the boat (This was all completed from inside my car) and to complain about the ridiculously early hour. So, I had nothing to do until my ferry leaves for Sitka on Tuesday at 4:45 am. Ick, I know.

Mt Robert's Trail

So, I decided to go drive around Juneau and see what it looked like. I went to downtown first. This was mostly because they were giving out free maps of Juneau at the ferry and all of the maps were of downtown, not the surrounding area. So, downtown it is. The streets there are really steep. It felt like I was driving at a 45 degree angle sometimes. My car was less than pleased. I was driving around and I accidentally ended up on this road that lead to a trail, Mt. Roberts Trailhead.  I sat in my car for a while and finished listening to my book on tape, it was a good one by the way, and then decided to get out and see what was going on at Mt. Robert's trail. I did not go far, but I went in and looked around. Everything is so beautiful. 

Creek by Flume Trail

Next, I went across the street to Flume Trail, and that was nice. I was right on a little creek that was really beautiful. There is so much water here! I love water and it is just everywhere here. Even on the Flume Trail walkway there was water bubbling up out of the ground. There were all these beautiful red plants around the trail too. They were tall and gorgeous.

Red Plant

When I came out of the trail, I decided that I should try and sleep in my car because even after walking around and taking my time about it, it was still only 8:30am. Well, I didn't because that idea freaked me out to much, but I did sort of rest. That was a happening trail though and people kept walking by my car.

Mt. Juneau

So, I drove out of the trail and saw a sign announcing that the tiny one car bridge I was currently driving on was in an avalanche area. Obviously it is summer so that is ok, but I was taken aback by that sign. Definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Alaska State Capitol

I reentered downtown with the crazy steep streets and parked. (Which was extremely difficult to do, parking was quite the premium and there were signs everywhere saying that they would tow any car that didn't belong)
I was walking around when I noticed a sign on the State Capitol building saying that they were giving free tours of the Alaska State Capitol building. I have lots of time to kill and that sounded interesting so I went in to get a tour. It was really interesting.

Senate Room

We saw several committee rooms and a courtroom. We also saw the senate and the house meeting rooms. That was fascinating. Our guide told us that they have three buttons at their seats, one to vote yes, one to vote no and one to page. They apparently are not allowed to talk without permission and must page if they have a question. She told us that it is required that all people be present for a vote to the point of sending out police if they are not there. The guide assured us that this has not happened in many years, but once many years ago, police found a senator hiding behind a dumpster trying to avoid voting. We also went by and saw the Office of the Governor. 

That was really intersting.  Out front of the Capitol building there is a copy of the Liberty Bell. From there I decide to walk to see the Governor’s House. It was really cool and a little crazy to be able to walk down the street and see the Governor’s House right there. It was a beautiful house, and very normal looking. There was a totem pole out front of the house, it was spectacular. I saw one walking to the Governor’s House and then there was another one. It was a little strange, I have never seen one in my life and suddenly within five minutes I have see two it different places. Just in the front yard hanging out. I don't think my pictures really were able to capture the scale and impressiveness of these wonderful works of art.

Governor's House

Side view of the Governor's House

So, now it is around 2pm and I still have many, many hours to kill. I remembered during the tour that the guide mentioned that there was a glacier in town. I don't really know what I was expecting. Something small I guess. But there is a freaking glacier right in Juneau. You just drive down this street and all the sudden there is a glacier. It is the Mendenhall Glacier. I just drove down Mendenhall Loop Rd and BAM- glacier at the end. That was the coolest thing I did all day. I guess it is a really big tourist attraction because there were a lot of people there. There are little trails and lookout points at the site. The glacier was blue. I don't know why I was surprised by that, but I was. It also didn't look like a smooth slope of ice, which I was expecting, but it was jagged and rough. The glacier ends in Mendenhall Lake which then goes into Mendenhall River and that empties into a channel by the airport. A lot of Mendenhall's I know.

Nugget Falls and some strangers

Once there, I went to the lookout and took pictures and I walked around. I went on most of the trails because it was really cool and I had plenty of time to burn. One of the trails was to Nugget Falls. Nugget Falls is a waterfall not far from the glacier. It was awesome! The walk was interesting, but nothing compared to ending at the base of a waterfall. So cool. We were close enough to the waterfall that mist from the waterfall was reaching us. Also, coming out that close to the waterfall placed us a lot closer to the glacier. I think seeing a glacier is one of the coolest things I have ever done, and on this trip I have done some cool stuff. I was at the glacier for a long time. After I left, I went to a small mall. The biggest store there was a Joann's Fabrics. Despite this, I walked around for a little bit. You know- just killing time! Now I was driving around Juneau again with not much to do and it was only 7pm- a little less than 10 hours until the ferry. While driving, I spotted a Wal-Mart. I pulled in and I was so happy to see it. After so long on the road and then the ferry and being in a town with no where to go for many, many hours, I felt like Wal-Mart was the embassy. 

The embassy

A little taste of home that I was really glad to get. So, I went to Wal-Mart. I think I went up and down every single isle in that store. After spending about 2 hours at Wal-Mart I decided to go back to the ferry terminal and if they were closing the terminal, I was going to sleep in my car. It was open though and so I brought a sleeping bag inside and set up in a corner of the terminal. I don't know how much sleep I got, but at least I was able to rest before getting into line for the ferry at 2 am. I was really hopeful that since they told me to get in line so early that I would get on the ferry earlier. Well, I did get on before 4:45, but I don't really think it was by much. There were these two truckers that were driving big rigs onto the ferry and then coming off without their cargo. They must have done that at least ten times each. In case you were wondering, that is not a fast process. I'm sure you were dying of curiosity. I was sort of interested the first two times, but after that I was annoyed. How long must it take to get the stupid things unhooked from the cabin? Speed it up buddy. I was in my car with the engine off and it was cold. However, my car has automatic lights if it is on and there were shining into the car in front of me which had two children in it and I felt bad keeping the car on. So, there I was in my car, freezing because Alaska is cold, and these stupid truckers were taking there sweet time unhooking the stupid cargo. Hurry up! Finally, I got on the ferry and went to the recliner lounge (did you miss me boat floor?) and went to sleep. I think passed out from sleep exhaustion might be a better description. I'll be in Sitka today! Scary and cool all at the same time!

Mendenhall Glacier

Ferry Time! - Friday, Saturday and Sunday (8/6-8/9)

The M/V Columbia

I'm getting on a ferry today! That information is both really scary and really exciting at the same time. The ferry leaves Bellingham at 6pm and I'm supposed to be there by 3pm for check-in. I had to leave my cute little cabin at the KOA by 12pm so I was kind of at a loss with what to do with myself for 3 hours. I went to a rest area and went through my car and organized my stuff for the ferry.

My car and I being raised onto the second
level car deck.  whoa!

I also obsessed quite a bit. I called mom to talk to her and I told her about obsessing. She was pretty much like your fine. Rub some dirt on it was the message I took away from that pep talk. Lol, that was just what I needed to hear! After checking in I sat in my car for an hour and a half waiting in line. That was boring. But by 4:45, my car and I were in the ferry, I had a locker with my crap in it and I was sitting in the observation lounge.

Uh oh

I was extremely concerned that I was going to be seasick, and I was armed with Dramamine for just such an event, however, it proved to be unnecessary though.

The ferry ride was so freaking cool. I sat outside on the deck until I was too cold and had to come in. We passed island after island, all covered with pine trees and increasingly rarely a house dotted among the trees. The island look to be pure rock, but still tree sprouted from all available surfaces looking like a lush green carpet. Everything has a certain savage beauty and elegance to it.

The crazy people

When I booked passage, I didn't get a cabin because it was ridiculously expensive on top of an already ridiculously expensive trip. The website said that most people without cabins slept in the solarium in sleeping bags. That was my intention. However, when I went in search of the solarium I discovered that it was outside with a teeny overhang. Some people were duct taping tents to the boat and others where rolling out sleeping bags and settling in. I took one look and was like hell no.

The recliner lounge

That night, I slept on the floor in the recliner lounge with the other sane people.

Trash?  I guess its go to go
somewhere

On Saturday, I saw whales!!! It was spectacular. There were 4 or 5 of them and I could see their dorsal fins and backs coming out of the water and then spraying water into the air. How can anything living be so big? I wondered that in Washington about the trees, but this was a whole new level. Most of the rest of the time I read of watched a movie that was playing. I saw Iron Man II. Not good. Avatar = Awesomeness. How to Train Your Dragon - I saw that in theaters with my pookas Delaney and Emmett. They showed others, but those were the only ones I watched during the trip. It rained on Saturday night, so I stayed in and went to sleep. Trust me when I say that sleeping on the floor of a boat is not conducive to a good nights sleep.

Docking at Petersburg.  Those are the columns.  I think they
look flimsy in the photo, and they did from far away too.
However, when you get close to the columns they look big

Sunday night I wore my winter coat like a jacket on deck and watched as we docked in Petersburg. I was cool to be out on deck and night. Cool both figuratively and literally in this case. I fear I am unprepared for the weather. It was really interesting to watch us dock at these harbors. There were these strange columns that came out of the water that were made out of wood and then the ferry would throw out ropes and the men on the columns would catch them and try the boat up. I’m sure it is really far more complicated than that, but that was my impression.

Monday morning at 6am I get off in Juneau to wait for my ferry to Sitka on Tuesday at 4:45am. Ick. So, I'll be spending the day in Juneau.

Mt. Rainier National Park- Thursday

Mt. Rainier

I drove to Washington today. It seems a little surreal. I left Oregon without going to the gas station because I didn't want to have someone else pump the gas for me again. That was strange. I decided yesterday that I wanted to try and go to a state park today because my driving time was only 5 1/2 hours. Looking at the map of Oregon and Washington, the one that stood out to me was Mt. Rainier National Park. I was slightly hesitant because it was at least an hour out of my way, however, mom threatened to tell Uncle Steve if I didn't go. So, I took off for Mt. Rainier intending to stay maybe an hour.

The drive to the park was so beautiful, for several miles there was a river at the base of a mountain winding next to the highway. Washington is so amazingly green. I stopped at several viewpoints along the way, one was a waterfall. It was so awesome. I can't believe how much water there is here. Next, I stopped at a Mt. Rainier viewpoint and got some pictures. The mountain almost seems to fade into the clouds. Very cool! My last stop before the park was the Palisades. It was a rock face with strange vertical rock formations that looked green. No one else was at the stop and I felt like the only person in the world. When looking at something so incredible, I wonder how people can doubt that there is a God. It seemed almost magical.

When I arrived at Mt. Rainier, I tried to pay with bills and change. The "friendly" park ranger semi-politely requested that I use a credit card because she didn't have anywhere to put the change. It wasn't like I was trying to give her 1500 pennies. I tried to give her $14 in bills and 4 quarters. Yeah, I agree. I would be pretty hard to keep track of 4 whole quarters. Rude Ranger Ruby.

Man those boots are awesome!

Once inside the park, I stopped at the first site to go look at a river. I put on my sweet hiking boots. I traversed all over in those boots all day and didn't get a single blister. Excellent choice Aunt Sally! Thank you! The next place I went was to Falls Creek. I was a beautiful waterfall. I climbed up to the top-ish area and tried to take some pictures, but I forgot my tripod so the photos show me running in or my head because I tried, unsuccessfully, to balance the camera on a rock. Not so much. Next, I went to Nickel Creek which was freaking amazing. You couldn't see the creek from the road, but you could hear it, so I went traipsing around to find it. It looked like a huge rock had been sheared in two and the creek was pulsing loudly from deep in the crevice.

This is a sidewys view of Nickel Creek

Sweet pic

I climbed all over those rocks - Darby, I was quite catlike. I saw a man on the other side of the creek. We waved, but no point in talking because I couldn't have heard him over the roar of the water. I took one picture at the edge of the land, where the trees were growing out of the rock before it fell away, plummeting down. I am really proud of that picture because it was close to the edge but you can’t really tell how high I am or that close by the cliff ends. Alas, it was cool despite the picture.

Nickel Creek

Next, I went to Box canyon. It was very neat. 180 feet to the bottom, it doesn’t seem like that in the picture, but it sure did when I was up there looking down! After that, I turned around and began to make my way out of the park because I had spent much more time than I had planned there. On my way out I stopped at a Mt. Rainier viewpoint to eat lunch and get a picture of Mt. Rainier and me. I don’t think a sandwich had ever tasted so good. (In KC before I left, I went to the store and got some lunch meat so that I could make sandwiches on my trip and then I wouldn’t have to buy any additional food)

I set up the tripod on a picnic table and then I had to hop a little fence and run (not gracefully) to get into the picture. This had to all be accomplished in 10 seconds. There may have been a few mishaps, but I got a couple of ones in the end.

 After I left the park I was driving north along the east side of the park. I think I must have stopped at all of the viewpoints and pull offs there were. It was mind-blowing. There were waterfalls, outstanding cliffs and canyons.

White River and me!

One river, White River, was amazing and again, I was the only one there. It seemed to me to be an air of wonder because this is such an amazing experience and I am so fortunate. Finally, I got to my campsite six hour later than if I hadn’t gone to Mt. Rainier, but I am so glad that I did. This was such a fantastic experience. To think, my life was so boring a week ago.

Oregon Trails

Red Rocks in Utah

Did you know that in Oregon it is the state law that all gas stations are full service?  Does Oregon not trust us to pump our own gas?  Why not?  This is not an overly complicated task, nevertheless I was not allowed to pump my own gas.  Lame I know. 

Utah Rocks!

I left Lyman this morning and was in Utah in under an hour. Utah is amazing.  It was so beautiful.  I thought that Utah was going to be boring.  I was so completely wrong.  It was absolutely amazing.  I made a stop in order to take some photos of the ridiculous scenery that was going on and I had a blast.  It was so cool.  There were little trails that you cold walk up to get a better view.  I traversed one in order to get a pretty spectacular view. 

I climbed to the top for a better view

At the top!

Ever since we went to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, I have associated red earth with Wyoming and I was feeling very disappointed because I didn't see as much of that as I thought I would.  Utah was red.  The rocks that seemed to be trying to explode out towards the roads were rust colored.  Simply amazing. 

Idaho was boring.  I took three pictures in Idaho.  One of the welcome to Idaho sign and two of a dust storm.  I was stuck in Boise forever.  Boise sucks.  It took me over an hour to go less that 12 miles. 

Either a dust storm or I have callously
placed a photo of a fire online.
Pretty sure it was a dust storm though

Finally, after escaping Idaho (which I feared was never going to happen when parked on the highway in Boise) I arrived in Oregon.  It was almost instantly beautiful.  The hills are curved and carved. 

They make me think of fairy tales and magic.  I have told this reference to two people both of whom did not get it, but the hills reminded me of The Lord of the Rings.  Now, I know some of you got that reference.  I got to the camp grounds late, the sun was already setting (thanks a lot Boise) and I put up the tent in near darkness.  Patrick- thanks for the if you have to set up the tent in the dark tips!  They were helpful.  Tomorrow its off to Washington!

A river I came across in Oregon after I had to use an alternate
route after the gas debacle.