Mold

So today Shannon left to go to town. Note: Shannon likes to save food. Like if there was a piece of cheese that was 90% mold she would probably try to chew around it. Ok not that bad, but she simply does not throw food away. So today we pretty much just spent the entire day throwing away old gross food while she was gone so she wouldn't see. I told my dad and he laughed pretty hard. I guess it's funny, but it's going to be a lot less funny when she gets back. I can tell you that right now.

So there are a lot of things to do in Alaska. For example Brittany and I really enjoy hiking and kayaking. Everyone else here really likes drinking. I mean, really. They could drink you under the table. They're all way cool about the fact that Brittany and I don't, but I get a pretty big kick listening to them talk about stuff and acting like I know what the heck they are talking about. For example today Ward said that when you drink Jim Bean you always end up driving the bus to which I laughed at and he asked if I knew what that meant. Um no. So for those of you that also don't know... it means when you are hanging on to the toilet bowl and your arms are up like you are driving a bus. Dad, aren't you glad that you sent me up here to learn all these great things...:) Haha. jk.

Here's some quotes to further explain the love for drinking here...

Roy: Whiskey? It's the best bad habit you'll ever start.

Ward: Beer... the currency of Alaska.

Oh also, interestingly enough, Ward and Roy both know where Bunkerville is! How crazy is that?! Ward owns land in Mesquite and at the same time Brittany and I said "Mesquite, Nevada?!" Ward called it the Arkansas of Nevada or something like that. Sounds like our Polygamist ancestry's no big secret. Haha. Maybe I should bring it up at dinner next time we have guests. >:) haha. Oh and on that note... my great great grandfather (maybe that should be 3 greats) anyway Edward Bunker Sr who settled Bunkerville who had 3 wives is in fact mentioned in 'The Mormon Way of Doing Business', which I recently read and which is definitely worth checking out.

Well I'm sorry that these last couple of posts haven't been anything too exciting or adventurous. I'll work on it. Tomorrow morning I will get up and say, "I will live today as if I was going to blog it tonight!" I think I should cross stitch that on a pillow.

Jews? I love Jews.

So as you may have heard my boss is a little... shall we say loopy? So yesterday while Pam (head cook) and Shannon (boss) were discussing the sandwiches for the lunches the following conversationg ensued.

Shannon: Ya, we use the rye bread for the sandwiches.
Pam: Well not everyone likes rye bread.
Shannon: Ok, well she looks like she could be Italian or Jewish so...

mk? Can anybody explain how that is in any way, shape, or form a logical train of thought.

1- Just because your ancestors came from a given geographic area does not mean that you will like all foods originating from the same geographic area. Just because my ancestors came from England doesn't mean I like black pudding.
2- According to the history of rye bread (via Wikipedia) rye bread is from Finland, Denmark, Russia, and the Baltic countries. Hello? Did I hear Italy or Jerusalem? No.
3- I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell my boss is not an Anthropology specialist. I'm pretty sure she has no real knowledge that would be able to lead her to the decision that someone is from an Italian or Jewish background.

Well other than that exciting bit for you all, not too much has been going on. Just a-cookin my life away.

I could add on to the ridiculously ignorant statements I've heard here, but I think I will spare you. For now. :)

Kayaking Adventures

(picture of my room via reguest of my mom)

Wow, what a day! Well I was planning on writing about the new cook and how she is a cool person and how she totally butts heads with Shannon, but then something that was actually exciting happened. Oh man folks, hold on to your seats!

So after we finished dinner clean up Brittany and I decided that we need not squander our precious time in Alaska so we declared that we were going kayaking. We decided to go to a nearby island and get off on the beach. It's called Russian Island. Just fyi I guess. So we go and chill on the island, enjoying the blissfully sunny day.

Then we found bear prints on the sand, which was pretty neat, but was somewhat of a disincentive to exploring the inner island. So we are sitting on a rock just chatting when the weather gets cold super fast. We ran across the beach (about 100 yards) and by the time we got back to our kayaks an insane amount of fog blew over the whole island. At first I thought it might just be a cloud and so I told Brittany that we should wait a minute before trying to take off in the kayaks. We waited for about 15 minutes and it became pretty clear that trying to navigate home would be no easy task.

Luckily, we had our radio with us and we radioed in to the lodge and they sent the guys to come fetch us. I felt really bad that they had to make that trip just for us especially because I wasn't sure if it really was necessary. (We realized on the ride back that it definitely was because the fog was so thick in some parts that you could not see any of the island around.)

So the guys pulled up and I pushed Brittany out into the water and grabbed my kayak. It was obvious I would have to get my feet wet to be able to push in the kayak and then get in so I kicked off my shoes and rolled up my jeans and got the kayak in. In case nobody sent you the memo, the water in Alaska is crazy cold, so of course I tried to hurry into my kayak seat. Well unfortunately nobody sent me the memo that I just am not all that coordinated, so I tipped in the water and got drenched. Truthfully it wasn't that bad, but everyone made a pretty big fuss about it. Just another day in paradise. :D

Note: I'm going to start making the pictures small because otherwise it takes forever and a half to upload them, but you can click on the picture and it will make it a lot bigger, so there ya go!

Human Sacrifice

Brittany & I

Luke & Ward

Da River

So when they made me cut devil’s club in the rain I was a little concerned. When I had to haul tree limbs and logs across the mountain I was a little concerned. But now I am sure of it. They are trying to kill me. Yesterday we went on a 14 mile hike. A 14 mile hike! Do you know how far that is? Let me tell you how far that is. Very. And this was no regular 14 mile hike. Oh no. Do not think you can jump on your treadmills at home and walk 14 miles and know what I went through yesterday. Let me take you through a play by play.

First of all we were hiking up a river, which means that we had to wear galoshes. Most everyone’s galoshes here go up to their knees, but Brittany’s and my galoshes go about mid calf. This means that if you don’t want to carry a gallon of water in each boot you have to have very precise stepping, chart every step you are about to take, look for every shallow spot and rocks. So I was doing pretty well for myself and all the sudden I had to jump pretty far, but thought I would be ok since I had just seen Brittany make the same jump. Well I made the jump, but what I did not calculate was the slipperiness factor. So down I went. Flat on my butt in the freeeeeezing cold river. So the next 8 miles I got to walk in my sick squishy boots. Slosh, slosh, slosh.

Oh I forgot to mention the pushki. Regardless of the fact that I had already been warned to not touch it, I had a wee bit of a hard time avoiding it being as half of the hike was through thick forest that we were trying to trek through. Somehow or another I got a horrendously itchy arm from this ridiculous Alaskan killer plant. Lovely.

So our destination was this stupid lake and after some 3 hours of hiking everyone finally agreed that it would not be the worst thing on earth if we didn’t see this lake. That night at dinner we found out there is no lake. Yes, no lake. Might I mention that I asked numerous times if there really was a lake, to which everyone laughed? Yes. And speaking of dinner, I should also mention that this hike went on from about noon to 7:30 and I had not eaten since breakfast. Eventually though I am pretty sure that my stomach ate some of my other vital organs because the hunger did go away after awhile.

But we did see elk.

Meh

Ward

Me

This is Autumn fishing last night.

So today was just really blah. It was Brittany's and my day off, but it was raining so there wasn't a whole lot we could do. The guys were going out to clear riverways so that the salmon could get upstream so they could go catch them so we went with them and hiked around a bit and just enjoyed how pretty it was. It was really cold too though so that was a bummer. These slow days make me miss home a lot more. I guess there won't be many more slow days though because our first guests are coming on Wednesday, pretty exciting. We're also getting a new cook, which I'm a little skeptical about just because Brittany and I already have a way of working together in the kitchen that has worked out well and I'm not sure how adding someone else in the mix will go. She's in her 50s and has worked in resaurants and such so she definitely knows what she's doing, but it was just kind of fun for us to be in charge when it was just Brittany and I. I guess we will see how that goes.

Scrub-a-Dub

So yesterday the guys gave Brittany and I a job to do and we were pretty excited because there was finally something that we would be best at and that only we could do. Mostly because we were the only ones small enough to fit in the hole to the water tanks. Brittany and I had to get into these tanks and scrub them out hard core. So the first tank we just lowered the ladder into the tank so we could crawl out but the way the second tank was situated we couldn't get the ladder in. So we told the boys and they said they would help pull us out. So we got done and tried to get out ourselves. I boosted Brittany up out and I was a bit stuck. Finally we figured out if we put the broom across the hole I could grip that and swing my legs up through the hole and manuever my way out. I wish I could have video'd it because it had to have been so funny looking. Well Brittany got a kick out of it anyway. Ya, that's a picture of our water tank. It's really just a buildup of iron. Orrrr at least that's what I had to tell myself to make me feel better about the fact that I've been showering in that. ... more or less.

Blogg'd

Alright well not too much has been going on since my last post. The sun FINALLY came out today which was awesome. I just sat outside and read all day long. Brittany and I hiked over to a nearby beach and lied out on the warm rocks. I finished the second half of Harry Potter 6 today and I am freaking out about the 7th book! A little over a month and it will be out. I am thinking that will be one thing that I will have to order in on this island. I swear those books are addicting, once you start you can’t stop.
Anyway, something to add to the list of wildlife, I saw a group of eagles the other day. That was pretty rad. Oh also today when Brittany and I hiked back from the beach we saw a group of sea otters and they were playing and fighting in the water. I think one had food and one of the others kept trying to get it. It was whining and it was the most obnoxious noise I have ever heard. It was pretty funny.
I think I’ve finally settled into the fact that I really am staying here for the next 2 ½ months. (Yeah! I’m already ½ a month down!) Haha. Well I am really hoping that we don’t have guests for the last week, because I’m hoping if not I can get permission to come back a week early, which would be absolutely amazing. I’m stressing out a wee bit about having less than 4 days to prepare for school and drive up to Utah.
Oh ya this next week is going to suck, because we went over .1 Gigs on our bandwidth and so they threatened to cut us off and now we basically have to not use the internet for a week. So I guess this won’t be up for another week. Ha.

K I wrote that about a week ago, so I’m going to add a little bit. Today was super sweet! Brittany and I are macho so we went out and helped the guys move branches and logs. Then we went and made lunch for everyone. It was pretty good, too. I am going to be a cooking fiend when I get home. I hope y’all like seafood. Haha. So after lunch we went out and did some more branches and when we were done the guys wanted to go kayaking. (pictures to come) It was such a blast. I really love kayaking. Brittany and I had a double and Ward, Frank, and Josh were all in singles, but we still had a hard time keeping up. I am hardcore sore.
I can finally say that I am really glad that I chose to come here. I spent the first week or so questioning my decision, but now I really like it here. Even today after lunch Brittany and I went to our room for our break, but we ended up just going out and helping them. How many jobs would you rather be out working than taking a break? Probably not too many. All the guys are real fun and I’m liking my boss more and more. It’s fun cooking for everyone, too. Last night one of the pilots from the floatplane came in for dinner and he just about died he loved our food so much. He asked if we seriously ate like that every night. He said he was more accustomed to Ramen Noodles. I guess I shouldn’t have been too flattered after all. Haha, but it really does feel good to be appreciated when you make something good. Ooh and I found a movie maker program on my computer so I’ve been working on a video of freshman year in my free time. Fun fun.

So I was going to put these all in with the posts that they go with, but it was easier to put them altogether. Anyway here are a few pictures of my time here in Alaska.

Crazy big sea lion bull

Brittany being a gangsta

me in my shweet rain pants

robin eggs we found while cutting down devil's clubs

the lodge

my first fish!

So, a new handyman/ guide came here last night. His name is Ward and he just turned 50. He's a real nice guy and kind of goofy. So anyway today while Autumn and I were cooking in the kitchen, everyone else was out hauling trees and branches around. So I don't really understand what exactly happened, but somehow Ward cut his leg real bad with the chainsaw. He had dirt and crap all up in his cut, too. To get off our island you have to take a floatplane. To drive a floatplane you have to have clear skies, which is semi-uncommon here. Like tonight. So none of the floatplanes could come in and so another one of the guys (Luke) offered to give him stitches. So I am sitting in my room waiting for them to finish so I can resurface. Pretty sick, huh? Aw, just another beautiful day in Afognak. Haha.

Sea Lions and Sun

Alright, so I better get going on this, while I have some time.

So last night the sun finally came out. It looked like mid-afternoon at 9. haha. It is so weird to be out in the sun when I am ready to go to bed. So we all got on the boat and trolled around. We went to Sea Lion Island and the sea lions were so stinking huge, and speaking of stinking, they reeked. so bad. Brittany, Autumn, and they guys all got out, but I stayed back on the boat to take pictures of them, oh ya and because I value my life. Actually almost all of them, but there were a couple of bulls that just stood there like "Ya, what are you gonna do? I'm as big as your boat." They were crazy funny.

So let's see on the boat trip before that I saw a wild bear and caught my first fish, pretty exciting. Oh ya I also saw puffins last night, which was fun. I really like the puffins. Also a couple of days ago us girls took a walk to the lake on the island and we saw a bunch of lake otters. Brittany tried to get a picture of them, but they jumped in the water as soon as they saw us. They were hissing at us and stuff. I guess they are pretty mean, too. Like they always try to fight with the dog when he comes.

The guests we had a couple of nights ago were really neat. They were travel writers. One was from Scotland and he was really funny. We were talking about the Guardian, and he said, "egh ya, I'd rather drown than be saved by Ashton Kutcher. ...'No, Ashton, it's ok. I'll just swim from here." Ha, crazy scots.

Week 1

So this isn't everything and hopefully I can get my pictures up soon, but here's a start for ya...

I am sitting in the lobby of Best Western Kodiak. I’m not sure that I’ve fully comprehended that I am actually here, in the middle of nowhere, 10 hours (by plane) to anywhere else I’d want to be. The plane ride wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I mean I kind of assumed it would be horrendous so when it was only awful I was content. On the 1st plane I was stuck between a girl who fell asleep immediately (which I was pretty jealous of after having only slept one hour the night before) and another guy. He was pretty tall and I am pretty sure that he was under the impression that they would give him a set of those pin on wings that they give to little kids if he could successfully do the splits in his seat because I have never seen anyone sit with their legs that far apart. He was practically kneeing the girl on the other side of me. Seattle to Anchorage was long, but nothing of real importance to talk about.
Then on the flight from Anchorage to Kodiak (45 minute flight) we took off and half an hour later they had to turn around. Luckily though that plane was super empty so there was plenty of room for everyone to have their own row, but I ended up sitting by an older couple and they were so sweet. They’re my new friends and they are from Scottsdale, which is pretty random. We were talking about what we were doing in Alaska and stuff and I told them I had been at school in Utah and had worked for my dad before and he randomly said “You’re a nice Mormon girl, aren’t you? Ya I can tell.” That made me laugh; I guess they have some good friends from Salt Lake City. Then while we were waiting the guy in front of me talked to me about the island because he was headed to the one next to us and then the guy sitting across the aisle from me told me he knew the man who built the Afognak Wilderness Lodge and he said it is incredible and that he wanted to take his family there, but couldn’t spend $700 a night. I guess it’s a good thing they are paying me to be there and not the other way around.
The hotel room stay was interesting. I was kind of nervous to walk around town by myself, but the lady on the plane basically told me that I had to watch out for the guys here like as if they were going to attack me or something. So I went and got dinner and bought some stuff at the grocery store. Kodiak is a weird city. The streets are all deserted except for a few random fishermen. (Have you seen Deadliest Catch? I think they film that here. Ok not really, but it looks just like it! They just had some crab extravaganza last weekend, no joke.) Now I am stuck here in my hotel room because it is too rainy for the little floatplanes to take off. Man, this has been a crazy ride.
Random bit o’ the day: I’m watching MythBusters. Guess what. They tested a bathroom and the floor had more bacteria on the toilet seat, which was nearly bacteria free. Weird, eh? Ooh, and a dog’s mouth really did have less bacteria than a human’s.

5-30-07
So, I finally got to the floatplane and was pretty stoked about going on it. It was a half hour ride. The first ten minutes were so sweet, but then something turned, and all the sudden the exciting float plane turned into the place where I was trying not to throw up all over. Really, it’s a good thing we landed when we did. Last night I just unpacked and we had dinner, which was really good. I guess I’m going to have a lot to work up to. Uh oh. This morning I woke up around 9ish with Brittany. Everyone’s pretty laid back right now while we don’t have any guests. We had breakfast and then Brittany and I started working on some gardening out front. It took about half an hour to get ready. I wore rain pants for the first time today. Haha. It is so cold and rainy, but it’s not too bad since we are all bundled up. I’m really excited for tomorrow because we are baking cookies all day and will be inside. So let’s see… my room is kinda cute. It’s just Brittany and I up here. The water here is yellow because of the iron or something like that. It’s really weird, but apparently it doesn’t hurt anything. The people up here all seem pretty cool. The guys are pretty funny and one of their girlfriends is up here and she is sweet. Their mom who is my boss is nice. It’s kind of tough right now because I don’t really know what it is that people want from me, but I’m trekking through.