Adventures

Taku Lodge

2009-07-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

I guess it has been 2 weeks since I last wrote. Things are going well. We have been entertaining kids, teaching them cool stuff, and hanging out in the great Alaskan wilderness as per our job. These two weeks were extra special for me though because Dan came up to visit. We hung out in Juneau and then the next day he flew to Skagway and we had almost all day together there. Finally we returned to Juneau the following week and he was still there. He met the ship as it docked in Juneau with a fabulous surprise. We finally got to go to Taku Lodge! A friend of ours, Betsy, works for the airline that sends out tours to the lodge daily. We also know the son of the owners of the lodge (Ryan Ward), but until yesterday, neither of us had ever been out there. It just happened to be our lucky day and we flew out there in the fog and rain. After a 20 minute flightseeing tour over 4 glaciers, the DeHaviland Otter landed and docked at the lodge. We got out and there was a guy standing next to a tree with a stick. Turns out, there was a momma black bear in the tree on the lowest branch, while her cub was lounging up higher in the tree. Just about 30 meters from the tree is the grill where they cook all the salmon for the feast we were about to have. Once all the salmon has been cooked, the guy with the stick lets the bear climb down from the tree and she gets to lick the oils that dripped down to the sandy bottom of the grill. They don’t feed the bear ever, but they allow her to have the fish oils. If they did feed the bears, they would probably have to shut the place down because the bears would expect to be fed and if they aren’t, they could hurt someone.

The lodge is very well kept up, with amazing flowers all around and a breathtaking view of the Hole in the Wall glacier. It is located on the Taku river and surrounded on all sides by the Tongass National Rainforest. After about a half an hour of exploring, we had a feast of king salmon, biscuits, etc and while we ate, Mike Ward (Ryan’s brother) gave us a little history of the place. Turns out, at one point it was well known for its sled dog breeding. A young woman lived there, bred sled dogs, and kept the place running as a fishing and hunting lodge, all on her own. She seemed like a pretty amazing woman, even traveling 1000 miles by sled to a snow festival in Fairbanks to show off her amazing breed of sled dog. She put the Taku lodge on the map and it is on the register of Historic Places. Hopefully next time we go back to Juneau we can spend more time at the lodge. It’s a pretty amazing place and I’m sure they have some good parties out there!

return to Alaska...

2009-07-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Ok so it has been AGES since I last wrote, but I am BACK in Alaska. Yes, for the third time, I made it back to the land of the endless summer nights and unpredictable weather. I am working again on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner, this time with a new gal, Abbey. I have the same job as last year, Ambassadors of the Environment Naturalist. It is a pretty sweet gig, but the cruise ship life has been a little rocky this time around.

To start, we got on the ship June 3 and were told that we weren’t supposed to be there. So we almost got sent home. Luckily that didn’t happen, they just placed us in a crew cabin. Now for those people who have been on a cruise, you know that the rooms are nice. And on a Regent cruise, the rooms are even nicer. The rule is that every passenger suite gets a balcony. That’s what we were expecting. But no, Day 1 begins in a room with no natural light at all! Not even a porthole! Needless to say I slept for over 14 hours the first night.

AS the week progressed, we got to know the crew and crew areas well, but were then informed that when the cruise was over, we would be placed in our passenger suite. BUT, that meant we had passenger status and we weren’t allowed in the crew area AT ALL. Sounds pretty silly seeing as how we were living in a crew area at that point. And the reason was that it was a liability; if we got hurt, the ship had to pay. However, they didn’t care if something happened the week we were actually living in the crew area, only after we left did they care. Something fishy is going on around here and I don’t like it!

We finally moved into our suite and it is pretty sweet! The balcony is fabulous and the scenery phenomenal. I can’t complain too much as it is a huge privilege to be able to stay in a six star cruise ship suite. It also means that as passengers, we have to eat with other passengers. Anyone who has ever been on a ship knows that the food is supposed to be one of the best parts of cruising! Free food 24 hours a day! YAY! Most people leave the ship 5 pounds heavier than when they started a week earlier. What happens to those who eat that food for 10 weeks? Is that 50 pounds? YIKES! It’s a little distressing knowing that I get to eat amazing food all the time and I don’t have a choice. The amazing food also comes with a price, we have to eat it with other people all the time. For the most part, one would say that’s not a bad price and that is very true and I totally agree, most of the time. But when you must eat dinner over a span of 2 hours EVERY night of the week, it makes it a little less charming and a little more like work, trying to make small talk and not spill something on your dress. Not only that, but the sommeliers come around and refill your wine glass 15 times during dinner. After 2 hours you can imagine I get a little tipsy! Lets just say, it’s less than ideal for someone who has to work afterwards and keep it up for 9 more weeks! I hope I don’t come home a fat cow!

Good news is, I am a certified personal trainer now so I can train myself as well as any others who want me to kick their butts. I need/want the practice and have been practicing on Abbey as much as possible. Hopefully that will help in the not becoming a fat cow department. One of my other workout buddies just left the ship as his contract was up, but another just boarded and he is in for it! There are a few others that are always up for a good hike or stroll around town so its nice to be surrounded by people who appreciate the outdoors and want to explore.

Now here is the fun part. I haven’t talked about any of the real good stuff about Alaska yet. So here goes… I finally got to go FLY FISHING! I have never been before in my life. I am not a fisherwoman. My dad and brother love it, but I almost never go with them. It seems as if I have terrible luck catching fish. I have only caught a few in my life, and the majority of them were here in Alaska over the last 2 years. This time was amazing though. A friend of Dan’s and sort of a friend of mine, named Jesse, invited me to go fly fishing with him one day two years ago. Now mind you, he met me, and not long after invited me to join him and his tour all the while we were out at the bar. Dan told me that he was just drunk and didn’t mean it, so the next morning, I didn’t show up. Later that day, Dan mentioned that they were waiting for me. Needless to say, I was not happy to hear that, as I took Dan’s advice and didn’t show.

Two years later, I run into Jesse again. The first thing he says to me is, “you stood me up last time to go fly fishing! But the offer still stands if you want to go.” So two weeks later, he had space for me again and I got to go! His tour consists of a floatplane ride out to the wilderness (aka the middle of nowhere) and we all get off, and the plane then takes off back to the airport. Next, they teach us how to cast the fly rod, add the fly to it, and we are off to catch some fish! Everyone has chest waders on so we are standing in the freezing water casting and pulling in, casting and pulling in, and on the third cast, I caught one! I definitely screamed because I was so excited and didn’t really know what to do at that point. He helped me get it off the hook, but I left my camera about 200 meters away so I kissed my fish and let it go. I spent the next hour or so chatting and casting on a high from my catch. Unfortunately it was the only one I had the whole time. It was a great experience though and now I know how to cast a fly rod. You learn something new every day! I really want to go again and Jesse invited me back, this time though when the salmon are running so I don’t catch a 3-pound Dolly Varden, but a 10-pound Pink Salmon! Maybe I’ll have to wait another 2 years for the opportunity again…

Funny story though, once the tour was over, the floatplanes came back to pick us up. Now the company that flies the fishermen around is called Ward Air. It is owned by 2 brothers, Ed and Randy and Dan used to work there. I know most of the pilots through Dan and they are a great group of people. Ward Air is one of the most well respected charter floatplane companies in Juneau. One of the pilots, a good friend of mine, Avery, came to pick us up. I was excited to see my friend and also know that he is a great pilot. We took off and started flying back to the airport. Since I lived in Juneau I knew, for the most part, where we were. After about 3 minutes in the air, Avery began to tug at something at his feet. He kept leaning down and pulling as if something was stuck. Finally he pulled so hard that whatever it was broke! Next thing I know, he whispers something to Jesse and he begins descending away from the airport. I thought, uh oh! What could possibly be wrong. I trust Avery completely so I knew that he would take care of us, but he landed on the water in the middle of nowhere, got out of the plane with the engine still running, stood on the float and said to the other passengers, “I have to fix something”. We were all thinking the same thing, what could possibly be wrong? Jesse turned to me and said he thought it was the water rudders on the floats. A minute later, Avery hopped back in the plane and said, “All better!” We took off again and headed back to the airport. We landed at the pond and came to a stop at the floatplane dock. After we all got off the plane he explains to us that his water rudders were down and when he tried to get them up, he broke the line. Now according to Dan and Avery, if someone sees you with your water rudders down while you are flying, you own them a drink. Avery did not want anyone to see him with his water rudders down so he made an emergency landing just to make sure that wouldn’t happen. HA oh the crazy bush pilots!

Other than that, I have been in Alaska for 4 weeks now, and so far I have seen a black bear, a brown bear, sea otters, orcas, humpback whales, gray whales, seals, sea lions, humpbacks bubble net feeding, mountain goats, sitka black-tailed deer, banana slugs, the rainforest, amazing flowers, glaciers calving, salmon jumping, Dall’s porpoise, sea stars, sea anemones, crabs, totem poles, it never ends! Alaska is an amazing place and anyone who has never been really needs to add it to their bucket list because it really is the last frontier, with pristine wilderness and awe-inspiring glaciers.

The end of the cruise

2008-11-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

I know that is has been months since I left the ship, but I miss it and I never finished my updates from the rest of the summer. Currently the Seven Seas Mariner is in Thailand, and it would be nice to be there with my friends. However, ship life is definitely something that you have to get used to. Since I have been off the ship, people have asked why I did not try and stay on to work in another position. I have to tell you, it was definitely something I have thought of. BUT, if you had seen my accommodations over the summer and compare them to what I would have with a different job, you would understand too. I lived with my coworker in a guest suite with our own balcony and walk in closet. If I got a new job, I would be below decks with the rest of the crew in an extremely small bunk bed and only the possibility of a porthole.

Would those living conditions be worth it if I got to travel the world (or at least the pacific rim)? Maybe, but I am also the type of person that enjoys getting to know the places that I travel to. It would be torture for me to be in a new place and only be able to stay for a couple of hours and then have to move on. The only benefit to the cruise style of travel is to be able to see a bunch of places to then know where you would like to go back in the future. So many people never get that opportunity to go back though. My remedy for this dilemma is just ask my friends, who have traveled around the world on any of the 4 seven seas ships, about where they would visit again. My only other idea is to apply for a spot on the Amazing Race.

Anyways, the rest of the summer ended well. Laura and I had so many amazing kids in our program. Some of them are my friends on facebook, and one family even mailed me a book. It was such a joy to be able to meet so many great people. I truly enjoyed my experience and I would definitely do it again. Maybe next year? I have been asked, but we shall see what I am doing up until that point. As of right now, I am totally free to do it again, but after this summer, I decided to be a personal trainer. i spent a bunch of hours in the gym with a variety of people on the ship. The drummer, trombonist, assistant cruise director, cruise director, ballroom dancer, trumpet player, sax player, guitar player, and Laura were all in my workout crew. I had so much fun training them that they got me excited about maybe doing it for a living. I am currently studying for the exam and will try and be a trainer part time or full time depending on if I go to graduate school. Lets just say, I'm all over the place when it comes to finding my calling in life, but I am enjoying every minute of it!

2008-07-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

As for ship life this week, we had the best time EVER. There were some really great, interesting people on board. One in particular was a guy who was very distinguishable amongst guests. He was very knowledgeable in photography so he helped me out with my camera. He was also a talented singer/songwriter so he and Laura stayed up late and played piano most nights. We also went on hikes with a few of the guests to Smugglers cove in Skagway and around the rainforest in Ketchikan. There was also a guest who successfully got kicked out of the crew bar. Also, this week was my birthday and 4th of July so we celebrated both. On 4th of July, the band played live in the crew bar for us, which was amazing. The party was actually put on by the Canadians because Canada Day is July 1st and they thought that it would be funny to celebrate on the day the Americans wanted to celebrate their own independence. The good thing about that is, the HR lady is Canadian so she threw an amazing party. As for my birthday, Laura was awesome, she got me breakfast in bed, had a mini surprise party for me and got the pastry chef to make this fabulous chocolate mousse cake for me. If you ever read this Laura, THANK YOU! At the end of the cruise, we had a little get together in our room to say goodbye to the band. We were a little loud, but we did not hear about any noise complaints so that’s good.

The thing that makes it funny though, is that the Cruise Director called us into his office on day 2 of the following cruise. We asked him what it was about and he said it wasn’t good. I went out on excursion and Laura met with the cruise director. Meanwhile we thought that we were going to get kicked off the ship because we broke a few rules the past cruise. Rule #1: no passengers in your cabin and no going to a passenger cabin – BROKEN Rule # 2: No crew in passenger cabins at all – BROKEN Rule # 3: Definitely No Parties – BROKEN. So lets just say, we were expecting the worst. As I got back from excursion, I got a text message from Laura saying…Big Trouble…So I start freaking out. For all of you who know me, I am the most straight-edge, follow the rules type of girl. I can’t believe it; I think that I am going home. So I check my voicemail. Laura says, “ Molly, we are in big trouble, I think we are going to get kicked off the ship – JUST KIDDING!”. Turns out, the Director of Entertainment on all the regent ships is on this cruise. We accidentally told him the wrong place to go for our activity only because EVERY other week we have had the activity in that specific place except for this week of course. I also accidentally gave him the wrong schedule because he asked me at an off time if he could have one. I handed him the one from the previous week without looking. Now, I consider these relatively harmless things that just by bad luck happened to the wrong person. The only thing is, shouldn’t we have been informed that the most important person in our realm of the ship was going to be on board and we should try and impress him? We were never informed of this so we made a few mistakes. If that’s the worst thing that we did, I think we are doing a pretty good job.

Enough of that, so this week I got to go on the Zipline tour in Ketchikan! So fun! I was way more excited than all the cruise ship passengers were. I was dancing to myself on one of the platforms because of all my excitement and some of the other guests caught me in the act. I would normally be embarrassed, but I think my enthusiasm rubbed off on them and they had a better time because of it. Go me!

I also went on a float trip in Skagway and the guide on that was HYSTERICAL. He is from Atlanta, GA and now lives in Haines, AK. Lets just say Haines is not the most interesting city (or should I say town) in the world. However, CP (the guide) made that town sound like the greatest town that was ever built. At the end of the trip he gave us his card. Everyone must check out CP’s website at www.cpglacialfacial.com ha.

The rest of this week was awesome. The kids we had in the program were really cool and interesting and I think we really influenced them a lot. Our Sea Otter excursions was extremely successful as well. We saw...
1. humpback whales
2. gray whales
3. sitka black-tailed deer
4. 2 brown bears
5. harbor seals
6. sea otters
7. puffins
8. bald eagles

Lots of sights. Also, because we are with Cousteau, the captain took us out in one of Jean-Michel's zodiacs. We went zooming around and i really thought that I was going to fall out at least 3 times. He raced that little thing around into fjords and around islands. We saw the strangest bird, the rhinoceros auklet. I will add pictures soon of that little thing. The pilot also went with us (the guy who steers the ship into harbor, who knows the areas really well) so we were with 2 of the most important people on the ship. I felt very fortunate and really cool.

a few photos

2008-07-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

So I got a few pictures up on my webshots if you want to check them out...

by mollymojo9

and the cruise goes on...

2008-07-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

The job continues here on the seven seas Mariner and I feel as if little has changed. Well, a lot has changed actually. First of all, I am used to telling stories of all the cool animal sights I have been seeing over the past couple of weeks. Now, all my stories have to do with other animals...the kids. Lets just say the kids on board have gotten more and more ridiculous as the weeks go on and now I empathize with my mother when she gets home from school completely exhausted, with story after story of a poorly behaved child. Probably one of the worst ever that we have had was a kid whose parents both looked like they were in their 60's. I'm not really sure how that all worked out, but lets just say a 4'8", 10 year old kid made the other kids cry just about every day. I honestly have never seen a kid in time-out this much in my entire life, let alone 7 days. What are these parents feeding him? Also, he escaped from the other kids program before his parents came to pick him up and they almost had to do a shipwide search to find him. yikes.

As for other news, I am still working on pictures for this blog, I have to make them all very small files to be able to upload, so when I get the time I will do it I promise. Also, most of my good friends on the ship are in the band. Somehow, with a change in ownership of Regent, the band is getting kicked off the ship (not for something they did wrong, just a change ). So come July 9 in Vancouver, many of my good friends will be gone ;( The good thing is, there will be a new band and maybe new cool people to hang out with so I wish for the best.

More to come...

the beginning of my job...for real this time

2008-06-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

So the first two weeks were laid back and super easy. I knew that would change, but man I didn't know it would change that much! We began week three a little under-prepared for what was to come but luckily I am still alive to tell you about it (no, thats an extreme exaggeration). We had some really cute kids on board. One in particular, Seth, was not even of age to come to our program. He seemed mature so we let him take part. He was officially the best kid ever! If I can finally get my webshots uploaded then I will add a pic of him. Adorable. Others were not quite so adorable but I guess thats to be expected with kids. Lets just say, starting from day 1, the kids were less than enthused to be learning about stuff so they just went over to Club Mariner.

Club Mariner is the main kids program on board. It is essentially the complete opposite of our program. We try and get kids out in nature, to look for wildlife, and to learn about Alaska and what's out the window. I mean we probably cruise by 20 glaciers in one week and most people have no idea. Club Mariner, however, just set up a Nintendo Wii in the night club where they do their activities. The night club doesn't even have a window. I hope that is clarification enough of what their goals are. So mainly we spent a week in opposition with CM because all the kids would rather be there. I guess if thats what they would rather do, go for it. I would take a program with only one kid in it every week if that one kid cared and wanted to be there. And Seth did, he really wanted to be there. We had another kid too, Luke, who was just hilarious. His mom told me that for a while he couldn't sleep at night because he was afraid of "global warming"! She finally had to convince him that all the documentaries and films about global warming were all exaggerations and that it was just to scare us. He does sleep through the night now hahaha but it does still scare him. I don't know about you, but I think that is the funniest thing that I have ever heard. And guess where he is from...good ol' New York City!

So those were the most interesting kids on the cruise this past week. We did have a really cool sea otter tour this week though. We saw a humpback whale about 20 feet from our boat which was awesome! We also saw a raft of sea otters (about 100 of them) all hanging out together. The most amazing part about the tour though is that we went to this island called St. Lazaria. It is a bird sanctuary for guess what...PUFFINS! They are the cutest little birds ever. They can't fly very well, they are more adapted to "fly" underwater, so when they do fly, they crash land in the water. Its hysterical to see them land. They are actually part of a family of birds (the alcids) which all have this problem. They are kinda fat with little wings, so when they are in the way of the cruise ship, most of the time rather than flying away, they just swim cause it takes too much energy to get their bodies out of the water. We actually went to the SeaLife Center in Seward today and they had a bunch of these birds in an enclosure so we got the up close and personal view of them, but seeing them wild is so much more rewarding.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you about Tracy Arm. I went on this 6 hour tour on a small boat into Tracy Arm, which is a fjord near Juneau. The boat takes you up to a glacier and there is potential for a lot of wildlife viewing. Its an amazing place. The captain of the boat actually drove the boat up to the cliff wall and people were leaning off the side of the boat and touching the cliff face. That just shows that the mountain literally just goes straight down into the water. And for those of you who didn't know, a fjord is a glacially carved valley that got filled in by water so the mountains actually start sometimes 2000 feet down below the water level. It's pretty amazing to see. Along the way we spotted some seals hauled out on icebergs and I even got a picture of one with its pup. It's a great time to be in Alaska because many of the animals have babies and you know how much I love BABIES! On the way out of Tracy Arm and back to Juneau we saw a few whales feeding which was cool, but I was really hoping for some orca sightings. I still haven't seen one this trip.

As for on the ship, life has been pretty good. I am still meeting someone new every day. Everyone is still really nice and accommodating. It's sad though because all of the employees have different contracts so I will have just started to get to know somebody and then they leave. Life on ships is interesting. People typically have a 4-8 month contract, then they take off for 4-8 weeks and then hop back on another ship. Some people have been doing this for 10 years! I couldn't imagine. It is funny though cause all the employees know each other from different ships and different contracts.

And the nightlife on the ship is pretty good too. Every night it seems we go to the show and then to one of the lounges where the orchestra will play for about 45 minutes. Many of the dancers and others can go and have a drink at the lounge so we all meet up there and chat. Problem is, they don't want the crew to look like they are having a better time than the passengers so we can't "clump" meaning we can't sit more than 3 to a table. However, we do get kicked out of the lounge by midnight and then below in deck 4 there is a crew bar. Last week the Phillipinos had their Independence day party themed "dungeons and dragons" so the crew bar was hopping. Most of the time its pretty lame. Especially now that our best DJ just finished his contract and is no longer on this ship. So thats mainly the scene. Sometimes we hang out on the observation deck which is on the top level in the front of the ship. Thats where we get the most wildlife sightings and its a cool atmosphere. Unfortunately I have been rather busy and have not had much time to spend up there this past week. Maybe this week...

So thats about all for now, stay tuned for pics...theres a lot of them!

brief version of my first 2 weeks

2008-06-10T20:16:00.001-07:00

Ok so here goes…

I’ll start off with my job. I work for Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society. It’s a non-profit organization based on saving the earth’s oceans. OFS is divided into two parts. The first part is the expedition and film team. They go all over the world filming PBS specials (which some of you may have seen). The one that aired not long ago was about the Amazon. Jean Michel filmed there with his father Jacques (a household name) 25 years ago and so he decided to go back to see if anything had changed. I have not seen this film, but it sounds cool. I met the expedition team when I was doing my training in Santa Barbara and they are all really amazing people. Right now they are working on a film about Orca whales so I’m excited to see it when it comes out.
The second part of OFS is called Ambassadors of the Environment (AOTE). That’s what I am doing. AOTE is an educational program set up in some exotic locations around the world. Its goal is to get kids out into nature learning things hands on. The purpose is to get kids involved and to get them to understand how things work and what humans have done wrong in terms of affecting the earth and oceans, and what we can do to make a difference in setting it right again. As Jacques said, “We protect only what we love, and we love only what we know”. It’s a really cool program and I am really glad to be a part of it.
So what I do exactly is teach a kids program onboard a cruise ship in Alaska. I am on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner, which qualifies itself as a 6 star ship. I live in a passenger cabin with my coworker and old high school friend Laura Ostrov. We get our room cleaned every day and we have a balcony that looks out over the ocean so we can spot animals outside. It’s a pretty lush life. For fun on the ship, we can attend the shows and hang out in the lounges listening to music and such and we can go to the crew bar, which is always an experience. As a naturalist onboard, we get a lot of perks, like free shore excursions and stuff. So that means when we get to port, we go on an adventure. Already I have been fishing, hiking, on a train up a mountain pass, and on a sea otter and wildlife quest (twice). I also got to go out on one of the lifeboats when we went to Hubbard Glacier and get a piece of glacial ice from the water. It was amazing! We got up close to the glacier and some of it was calving. What an experience that was! Then today we went on the sea otter tour again, this time with our first AOTE participants. Unfortunately we only have one kid this week, so he is getting A LOT of attention.
The rest of the week has been pretty laid back, since we only have one kid and he doesn’t show up to all of our activities, we are free to roam around the ports. In Juneau, I went on a helicopter with some of my friends from the Mariner crew. We flew up to the glacier and walked around on it, looking into crevasses and drinking glacial water from one of the ice rivers. Then we flew back and hung out in town. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to see any of my friends from last summer yet, but maybe next week. In Skagway we just went for a hike to a waterfall. It was a nice hike, but I almost missed the ship cause it took so long!
Now we are leaving Ketchikan and today was great! Some of the members of the band on board took Laura and I to a Chinese place in town. We ate to our hearts content and then decided to attend the lumberjack show. I will post pictures of this even cause it is not to be missed! It was hilarious! Men in black and red plaid shirts and suspenders competed in a bunch of events like log rolling, climbing, axeing, and chain-sawing. Then when your team won, they gave out a piece of the wood that they cut. Well, at the end there was a guy who did a chain saw carving of a bunny but he “messed up” and cut off the top and voila! It turned into a little tiny chair! So cute. So I asked him if I could have it. Now out on my porch is my mini wooden carved chair. I think I’m gonna have a hard time trying to get that one home!

my triumphant return!

2008-05-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

So after an eight month hiatus I will soon return to Alaska for more adventures, this time from all the little cities in Southeast (Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, and Skagway). Stay tuned for more stories from the last frontier...

Road Trip

2007-10-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

So there is a lot that I have not mentioned about my last weeks in Juneau and I will update you when I get the chance. But right now I am in Anchorage. My friend from college, Liz Mullen, came to visit me in Juneau. She stayed for 5 days with me and got to do some amazing stuff. The list includes: whale watching, flightseeing, white water rafting, kayaking, BBQs etc. We had a lot of fun and she got to meet my man Dan. But at the end of the week, it was the end of the season and time to move on. So come monday october 1, we hopped on a ferry from juneau to Haines and then rode with my friend Spencer all the way to Palmer which is about 40 miles north of anchorage. It was definitely an interesting road trip. He had his brother's cargo van and stole the back seat from a mini-van to put in the back of the van for the thrid person to sit. Also in the back of the van was his motorcycle and all of the stuff he brought to juneau for the 5 month summer. Liz and I took turns sitting in the back but the drive was amazing and worth it to get a free ride to the interior of alaska. There were snow covered mountains just about the entire dive up. It was gorgeous.
After 13 hours of driving we arrived in Palmer and slept on Spencer's parents couch. We woke up to his mom sending out his younger siblings to the school bus and promptly woke up when we figured out that he had not told her he had friends coming with him. We felt a little awkward so we got up, walked around his property, and headed out. His property was incredible. Behind his house there is a creek with salmon running so we watched them for a while, which was an experience. Then we left to get to anchorage to rent a car and drive up towards Denali National Park. Now the interesting thing about Alaska is that it seems as if this state is only open from May 1 to Sept 30 because thats when there is an influx of tourists. So needless to say, a road trip beginning oct 1 wasnt during the high season and pretty much everything here is closed down for the winter. So we stopped before Denali in a town called Talkeetna and stayed the night. It was a cute little tourist town with some quiant little lodges. The next day we drove up farther north to see more of the interior and stopped at a place called Byers lake. There was a 4.8 mile hike around the lake that Liz and I walked but we back tracked a bit so it ended up being more like 6 miles. All along the trail there were moose and bear tracks which was kind of freaky seeing as how us two girls were the only ones on the trail so if anything happened to us then no one would know. On the far side of the lake there were some great views of the Alaskan mountain range and Mount McKinley.
Once the hike was over, we rushed back to Talkeetna to take a flight up to see the Alaskan range and Mt McKinley from the air. The plane ride was beautiful and relatively smooth and in the middle, the pilot landed the plane on a glacier. The way he could do that was because the plane was on skis. It was really amazing because once we landed, we all got out into the snow and played around. It was only 15 degrees outside at the time. After about a 1/2 and 10 frozen tourists, we hopped back into the plane to fly back to Talkeetna. Once back, we zoomed on back to Anchorage to meet up with a friend who was flying back in after working up at the North Slope for a week. I am in his apartment now after a day of running and relazing before the travelling picks up again tomorrow when Liz and I fly out to Seattle.

FINALLY

2007-09-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

Ok so first of all, I hope that you guys havent stopped checking my blog for updates since i havent updated in a month. But if you did decided to check it out, I have a lot of things to update you on.

I am still in Alaska doing my thing...the season ends at the end of september so I only have another 3 weeks at my kayaking job then I'm out on my own again. I have been taking a lot more time off than I did before to enjoy myself here. The perks to being the manager is that you get to do other tours for free. SO I went on a flightseeing tour on a float plane over two glaciers, the Taku and Norris glaciers. It was gorgeous and so surreal. I went on a whale watching tour where the whales were jumping out of the water (or "breaching" is what they call it) and bubble net fishing. Bubble net fishing was one of the few things that I really wanted to see here and the whales did it at least 10 times. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries on this tour so I dont have very good pictures of it, but there is one that you can sort of tell that they were bubble net fishing.

(bubble net fishing, for those who are wondering what I am talking about, is when humpback whales get together to feed. So they dive underwater and blow a ring of bubbles to trap the fish. The fish get disoriented in the net of bubbles and then one whale will swim underneath and trumpet upwards making the fish swim towards the surface. All the whales then swim upwards with their mouths open and catch all the fish. Now the coolest part about all of this is that they all come up out of the water, one in the center, probably about half of its body is out of the water, and all the others lunge around the center one. Up to 15 or so 50 foot whales may be feeding on this same bubble net so thats a lot of weight all breaching the water at the same time...its unbelievable to watch!)

Other exciting Alaskan adventures include white water rafting down the great Mendenhall River. A river guide friend of mine took Lisa, Jack (her dad), and I down the river on a float trip. It really is a float trip cause the tour is about 2 hours long with only about 8 minutes of rapids. It is fun though, and the river guides are ridiculous. I also went Kayaking off of Sunshine cove which is about mile 32 out of 40 miles of road. My friend Dan and I stole a tandem kayak and headed out into what we soon found out was a humpback whale highway. We were surrounded by at least 7 whales. It was amazing until at one point we heard a whale grunt under water and lets just say, its a little unnerving to be in open water and not know where sounds are coming from. We quickly paddled back towards shore at sunset and enjoyed the last minutes of the day on the water before heading back to the car. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience...

Mer's Wedding!

2007-08-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

SOOOOOOOOO I took 5 days off of Alaska and headed to Colorado springs for my sister's wedding! We stayed at this gorgeous hotel called the Broadmoor. And Mer and I shared a suite at the hotel. The weekend consisted of arrival in Denver. Lisa and I drove a convertible from Denver to the Springs with our gas station bought sunglasses and cowboy hats. After a nap we had a BBQ and then headed to the Golden Bee bar for yards of beer and some sing-a-long fun. I became an expert at throwing the sticky bees that the waiters throw at people while you are there. The next day was all wedding. After mani/pedi's with mom and mer, we bought some cowboy boots and had a bridal luncheon. Then we moved back to the hotel for the rehearsal and then the girls all came to our room to get a cowgirl'ed up. Off to the rehearsal dinner hoedown with a country band and lots of dancing and a talking moose. The night ended with another bee throwing sing-a-long at the cheyenne mountain lodge (with the singer/pianist from the golden bee). Finally the wedding day arrived. I took pics of mer doing everything on her wedding day. We had breakfast, got our hair and makeup done and got all beautied up for pictures. The bridal party took pictures at the front of the hotel. It was beautiful. Mer looked so great and all the attendants as well. We finished taking pics just in time to get Mer back into her room so Sean could come down and start the ceremony. A few readings later, Mer jumped the gun on the first kiss as husband and wife. She had to wait till the breaking of the glass then got her chance. It was cute. The reception started immediately with margaritas and wine right there on the lakeside patio while the families of the bride and groom waited patiently to take pictures with the new couple. Once those were done, we walked in, announced, to the reception room. Not much food was eaten. I got carded and was not allowed to get a drink at the bar cause I didnt have my ID in my dress. Oh well. Dinner was fabulous, dancing was even better to the lovely grateful geezers! Especially the dance to super freak. I will always remember that and Sean's stunning performance with the washboard. Definitely was a fantastic evening. Cutting the cake and toats were next. Best Man Nate spoke first and when he grabbed his glass of champagne, got his whole tux sleeve covered in icing. I was next with the toast. I think it went well...a little nerve racking, but I was so happy to do it. The fathers made toasts after me and those were entertaining too. More dancing ensued afterwards. I dont think I have ever pulled some of the moves I did at that wedding. After the reception was over, we all hopped on the bus back to the other hotel for a hot tub party at 2 am, got kicked out and eventually passed out at around 4. What a night. Sunday was nice with the send off brunch luau themed. I got to say bye to all the people I have gotten to meet over the years through Sean and Mer and it makes me sad that I dont know when I will ever see them again. Once most people left, I headed to the pool...finally! Got a little tan with Lisa, rode the water slide and swam a bit with the cousins before the lightning storm hit. Dinner with family ended in a night with Riley in bed and an early morning to ride the convertible back to Denver and then made it back to Alaska in one piece. That was a whirlwind vacation that I will never forget.

and here are pics

by mollymojo9

sorry its been a while

2007-08-01T11:26:00.001-07:00

I lost internet at my apartment so its been a while since I have updated everyone! Unfortunately my life hasnt changed much since I became lead guide of kayaks at Alaska Travel Adventures. I pretty much spend my days running errands, such as replacing the headlight on the van that carries all the paddles, getting gas for the chase boat, backing trailers onto the beach, talking to my boss who has no idea what she is talking about, yelling at seals so that maybe they will remember my voice, and teaching the ukrainian guy how to speak english. Thats right, my boss hired a ukrainian guy to lead kayak tours in alaska... how would you feel if you got off of your cruise ship to go kayaking and the guy giving you the tour can barely speak english...lovely! So thats my life right now, I am leaving for 5 days next week for Mer's wedding! I can't wait to be there. Although i look silly cause the sun out here is really bright so you can get a tan very easily, but since its still a bit chilly, I wear long sleeves. So my hands are very very tan, but the rest of my body is always covered and not quite so tan anymore... I think I'm gonna look really nice in that bridesmaids dress!

I uploaded more pics to prove I have friends!

2007-07-09T22:44:00.001-07:00

by mollymojo9

They are at the end so you have to scroll through to the back!

Things that happen at my job...

2007-07-06T21:49:00.001-07:00

- A family voted and said that I look like Kate Middleton..Prince William's ex-girlfriend
- I had a guy on my tour yesterday who is an extra in movies and stuff...he was in a few episodes of nip/tuck.
- there was so much fog on the water that we couldnt barely see anything but the trees on the islands that surround our little bay. It was so mysterious amd amazing!
- I successfully convinced a fisherman to give me some of his alaska king crab for my birthday! he gave me 2 legs! YAY
- a woman sang "I'm proud to be an american" as the bald eagle flew overhead
- a sea lion barked at me and then splashed me
- I now sort of know how to back up a truck with trailer
- We tried to pull up a crab pot to see what was in it, not realizing that you need an electric crank because the rope is around a hundred feet long
- every day people are cleaning king crab in front of me and they wont share!
- the salmon jump all around us but I dont have a fishing pole to catch any!
- one guy was too fat to fit in the kayak
- my coworkers homemade a pinata for me for my birthday and filled it with the most random stuff imaginable: toothbrushes, corn on the cob holders, minnie mouse lollipops, maxi pads, and other little trinkets
- the float plane pilots wave their wings at me when i wave my paddle
- in most kayak races, I lose, which is really pathetic on my part
- I had two people from Andora on my tour...tried to speak catalan to them very unsuccessfully

yesterday at kayaks

2007-07-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

Everyday I go kayaking for about 3 hours. Everyday, I go out of the channel towards open water in the hopes of seeing whales and never see anything. Yesterday, that whale appeared! It came into the channel and started jumping around. We paddled as close as I felt comfortable with and watched it for a good 20 minutes. Really cool. Those things are HUGE! So then we paddled over to where the bald eagle likes to perch and took pictures of it at about 10 feet away. Thats amazing as well. Watching them just doesn't get old. On our way back to the beach, a sea plane flew over my head. My pilot friend was flying to he was looking for me. I waved my paddle at him and he flapped his wings back and forth to say hi and I could see him waving at me out the window. Soo cute! Its such a cool atmosphere out here. And my office is a body of water surrounded by mountains and islands on all sides. Pictures to come!

kayaks

2007-07-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

I have been at my new job for 5 days so far. I lead my own groups around this channel looking at the glacier and getting pretty close to some bald eagles. Two days ago, the president of the company came out to do some safety training and I was officially promoted to lead guide. HA! After 4 days in a kayak I am in charge of things! Here are the things that I can't do:
1. I dont have a car or bike so I actually can't get to the site where we kayak without someone picking me up
2. I can't back up a truck, let alone a big one with 16 kayaks attached to the back on a trailer
3. I can't drive stick, so most of the company vehicles I can't drive
4. I'm really bad at docking a motor boat and we have one that goes out and follows the kayaks to make sure nothing happens to anyone.
5. I can't make the best tips cause I am not from juneau and i went to princeton. No one thinks I need money! haha

The only thing that I can do it be nice, smile, and kayak around. BUT since I'm over 21 and am here all season, I got the job!

I'm writing this to you at 2:30 pm knowing that I have to work at 4 and there is no one to pick me up from my house and I can't get ahold of the other girl I am working with cause she dropped her cell phone in the port-a-potty! Thats funny to me...

new job

2007-06-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

so sunday, I officially quit my job at Orca Enterprises. They would not let me out of the office so I told them I was leaving. End of story. So yesterday, I started my new job as an Alaska Travel Adventures kayak guide! They hired me over the phone and before I even turned in al my paperwork, I was out on the water as a co-guide on my first trip. the group was nice and the other guide on the water with me is a native alaskan. So he tells stories of his life in Alaska and all the crazy things that they do up here and tells nothing about the surrounding area or of the islands we are kayaking around. I figure to each his own I guess. Three hours later a new trip comes and I was to lead a group of 12 people around the Gastineau Channel. Its not like I haven't kayaked before, but I have definitely never led a group around. And lets just say this group didnt really want a tour, they just wanted to go wherever. So by the time we had to go back in, my group was spread around the channel, not even shouting distance away from me. Some of them were interested in what I had to say, some just wanted a splash fight, and some were there to enjoy the scenery with no one else in the way. Needless to say, I made 0 tips on that trip but I did get asked what my myspace page was...

Yeah so this is my new job, I work from noon to 7:30, go out on 2 kayaking trips and chill out with the other kayak guides who are all ages 20-30...not a bad life. Why didn't i decide to do this earlier??

Gustavus!

2007-06-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few things before I get into the story about Gustavus
1. I uploaded more pictures onto my webshots, so click on the thumbnail and you can view them!
2. I met a Desmond! And for those of you who don't know what I'm referring to...check out the Beatles "obla-di-obla-da"

Ok so onto Gustavus. Somehow I met the Juneau-ites who have the hook up cause I was personally flown in a Cessna by aforementioned Desmond and my friend Dan to the town of Gustavus. I don't know about you, but i don't usually hop into a plane with a pilot who is younger than me, but Desmond did a very good job. Yeah so we flew around Auke Bay (which is where the whale watching companies go to see whales) looking for whales, but to no avail. As we kept on, Desmond and Dan (who is another pilot, but does not have quite as many hours so I wouldn't let him fly haha) pointed out all the landmarks to me. At 1,500 feet you can see just about everything pretty well. As we got to the mountains, we flew much closer to them looking for animals. And luckily we saw about 4 mountain goats (and they looked exactly like the one you emailed to us that one day, landry) on a ridgeline and 2 HUGE brown bears (or grizzly bears, whatever you want to call them). It was pretty amazing. We got through the pass and headed down to the airport in Gustavus. Gustavus is a tiny (emphasis on tiny) town on the coast just west of Juneau. But the only way to get there, as in Juneau, is by boat or plane. There are a bunch of wilderness lodges out there, a general store, one pizza joint, and a golf course! So we got off the plane, hopped into a truck and headed to the golf course. After a few hits on the driving range, us amateur golfers set out on the course with our borrowed golf bags. After an 11 shot hole, I got a little frustrated, but moved on to play 5 more holes which took just about all afternoon (there are pics of my fantastic swing in my webshots). After 6 holes, we were pretty much spent, so we raced back to the clubhouse, which is basically a little shack with golf bags in it, and hopped into the truck towards the general store. An hour later we were back in the plane and back to Juneau. I have never had a more breathtaking view of any place in my life and can't even believe that I can just hop into a plane with one of my friends and just cruise around. It seems unfathomable to me, and I just did it!

So that was my trip to Gustavus...today it's possible that I get to go to skagway or maybe fishing!

2007-06-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

by mollymojo9

SPIRAL OF DEATH

2007-06-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the beach last night, I saw one of the coolest animal behaviors i think I have ever seen. In order to claim dominance over another eagle, two bald eagles will fight over an object. But the fighting isn't physical, its more like playing chicken. They both have their talons locked on the object and they literally sprial around towards the ground until one lets go, thus the name: Spiral of Death. Sometimes, neither will let go and they will both hit the ground hard and bounce. These two didn't hit the ground but they came close and one of them bailed out proving to be the weaker of the two.

Bald eagles will also swim or drown themselves. If they reach into the water and catch a fish that is too heavy for them, they have grabbed so hard that they can't pry their talons back open to release the fish. So if the fish swims downward, it takes the eagle with it, drowning it. CRAZY

sorry, I have an obsession with animal behavior...

False Outer Point

2007-06-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with few expectations for the day. My job gave me the day off so I pretty much could do anything, but without a car to get anywhere, finding something to do is rather difficult. I had camped out at a friends house last night and first of all needed a ride home. After a few phone calls, my friend secured me a ride with some of his coworkers who were driving past my house on their way to work. It just so happened that their "office" is in the bay off of the island where I live, and their job is kayaking guide. As I mentioned before, I was looking into maybe switching jobs and becoming a kayaking guide, so on the 10 mile drive, I went from a ride home to a guide interview. In an hour I found myself in a tandem kayak paddling in the bay and watching harbor seals play in the waves. With the glacier off to the east and the Chilkat mountain range to the north, I couldn't imagine a more fantastic office. Maybe when it rains it might not be quite as fun, but thats a chance you have to take.

After the kayaking, I was finally driven back to my house where I got to lounge around and waste the beautiful day away sleeping outside on my front porch. A few hours later, another friend showed up and drove me out to a trailhead. We set off on our short hike through the temperate rainforest, but after about a mile, the bugs were too bad so we had to turn around. The trail eventually leads to a cabin out in the woods off of a lake. The cabin is fully equipped with a canoe so that whoever rents it out can paddle around the lake. Not a bad place to spend the night, Im sure. Hopefully we will get to go back there. On our way back into town, we were inspired to cook so stopped in to get supplies for fajitas. My lovely roommate Lisa intervened and decided that we should picnic and watch the sunset. Not a bad idea. So Lisa and I and two of our other friends drove down to False Outer Point, drank some corona, and cooked our steak fajitas over the fire as the sun slowly set. The alaskan sunset lasts for hours and begins to set at around 8 so by the time it sets, its close to 11pm. As it set, a bald eagle flew up to the rock 20 feet away from our fire and sat there majestically until it eventually flew off. Then, after a batch of s'mores, we headed back to the house to get some sleep before a long day of nothing tomorrow...

I don't know how many times I have said the word amazing, but thats truly what this place is. Life is good...

Day 2

2007-06-12T19:31:00.001-07:00

Officially thought that I would kill myself in the first 3 hours of work. And I'm not even kidding. Most boring and menial job EVER. Until they told me I could go out on the boats to film! A pod of Orcas showed up within our viewing area and I got to watch them swim around for about an hour! Tons of humpbacks swimming around the area as well which was pretty amazing. They are so big, their tails get up to 15 feet long! So if i get to go out on the boat once a day, I think that I have the coolest job ever. If I dont, I have the worst job ever. Ha...we will see what happens tomorrow!

First day at work...

2007-06-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

so I had my first day at my new job...lets just say it wasn't the best day I have ever had. First of all, I don't have a car here so I have to walk to town. Now that wouldn't be so bad, but here in Alaska, it rains A LOT. Which is fine, except when its cold and rainy. Since I am optimistic and excited about my first day, I trudged across the bridge and off to town to my next adventure. Unfortunately, the boss seemed to have hired someone to take my place while I was deciding on the job. AWESOME. I will still get a chance to video, but who knows how long I will have to work in the office until that day comes. I'm definitely not happy about this and am about to quit. So any suggestions as to what else I should pursue? I'm thinking of calling up the company that does white water rafting...sounds pretty hardcore and there are lots of young people there!

HA!

2007-06-09T14:05:00.001-07:00

Official weather in Juneau AK, June 9, 2007 = 67 degrees
Official weather in New York City June 9, 2007 = 71 degrees

pretty close...

Beards

2007-06-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

Is there some requirement that I haven't heard about that requires all men in Alaska to grow a beard? Just wondering...

What is the saying...

2007-06-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

The odds are good but the goods are odd. So far that has proven to be somewhat correct. I haven't met anyone well enough to really know, but everyone does have an amazing life story...so different from anything I had expected. So here is the story. I met Captain Larry today. If you want to see a pic of him, check this out: http://www.orcaenterprises.com/1-Our%20Tour.htm

I went into Orca Enterprises for my interview and after chatting with the owner, I was bussed away for the second part of my interview on a big purple bus out to Auke Bay where they keep their whale watching boats. I join in on the Orca Odysea with only about 8 other people and set out into the Bay for some whale watching. The two guides, Captain Larry, and Sean both have some amazing beardage. I have never seen a beard/goatee/mustache that resembled sort of a cross shape from just under the nose down to the tip of the chin and from the middle of one cheek to the other. But that aside, Sean was one of the nicest and most knowledgable (in terms of Southeast Alaska and its wildlife) people I have met so far aside from probably Captain Larry. Sean's previous jobs include, Bear guide (which seems completely ridiculous to me...what does he do? find bears?), charter boat captain, fishing tour captain, and now whale watching captain. I'm sure he had more on the list, but I don't remember. I was in shock with the bear guide when he described one experience where he had to help a researcher by crawling into a hibernating bear's den to get some footage. But luckily he is still here to tell the story.
So as we are motoring out into the bay, on either side of us the land juts out of the water and rises dramatically as either a pine-tree covered or spectacular snowcapped mountain. And thats just the scenery. We aren't on the tour for that. After gazing around the 360 view of these mountains, someone squeals and jumps out of their seat pointing out of the front boat. Apparently a juvenile humpback whale is playing around breaching the water. Meaning, for fun, the juveniles literally jump out of the water and smack back down. They smack their pectoral fins on the water and also swim vertically and smack their tails on the water. Apparently this is like a once a week sight and we got to see it! So if I had any reservations about taking this job, they were entirely brushed away in my awe of this glorious animal. I soaked in all the information Sean and Captain Larry so generously shared with us. There were many more humpback sightings but none quite as good as the first juvenile. I'm pretty sure that I will be working with these people as a videographer and photographer on a few trips a week to work on a DVD. I cannot think of a more amazing job than that. Its like national geographic status!

I MADE IT!

2007-06-05T23:33:00.000-07:00

So I flew into Juneau today. Randomly sat next to a Princeton seminary student on my flight to seattle who was a bouncer at cloister. Good kid. My flight to Juneau was rather different. The snow-capped mountain tops stuck up through the clouds just about the entire 2 hour flight. As we descended below the clouds, the landscape is entirely green and amazing with a glacier in the distance. As i got to my new "house" I saw a bald eagle resting on a branch about 100 feet away and the mountains across the bay. Lets just say this is definitely NOT NYC.

And I'm off...

2007-05-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

So I guess the whole point of this blog is to update my friends and family about my adventures. I'm leaving New York City to embark on an adventure in Juneau, Alaska. Hopefully I'll have some stories to tell along the way and that people will join in on the fun and respond to them!