Okay, so I wanted to blog something fun so I decided to post pictures and list some of my favorite things from Alaska. Because it truly was an amazing experience and i was super blessed to be able to have the opportunities I did.
For some background info, i spent eight months working at a wilderness lodge on the island of Afognak near Kodiak island. There were about nine people who lived on the island and then the guests we cycled through for each season. Here are my favorite things in no particular order:
This is back bay. I loved boat rides around here on calm warm nights.
This is the bar with some great people. Chyenn, worked at the lodge with me. Mike, was a part of Nat'l Geographic's crew-he's awesome. Faith, Tyler's wife and now a good friend. And last but not least, Donna Rose, a lodge client. One of the funniest ladies i know.
Bear. This was the first bear I saw while at the lodge. Alive at least.
This poor bear nearly had a heart attack as we followed him with the boat.
Berry-picking with these girls was one of the best times I had there.
This guy is crazy. But I love him. Brian the cook everybody.
My first buck. Really cool. Introduced me to the hunting world. And now I kind of want to be a part of it. Frank was awesome enough to document it and tech me how to gut it. Frank is awesome.
This is one of my favorite spots. The burn pit. This is where we would burn trash and I would do it a lot and I really enjoyed it. Especially when back bay was so calm and beautiful. I would just sit and watch the trash burn and usually listen to my limited selection of tunes.
This is right out front of the lodge in Seal Bay, looking down the channel.
This was a good day. We were seine fishing and caught and processed salmon most of the day and took a break to barbecue some ribs on the beach. Nikkia was here then. He's great too. He would call me Diabla because I accidentally dropped his new knife off the dock and sent a barrel down the ramp at him. It's all good. We're friends. I sat in a sauna with him for a long time to prove it. I almost didn't make it. Those things can suck the life out of you.
An eagle. Wildlife everywhere. it was great. And normal at the same time.
This explains a lot. Crazy crazy girl. i don't know how i survived with her. Or without her too I guess.
Fishing off the dock with Sofie and Little Garrett. I caught a fish.
I also shot a fox. It was pretty great. Don't judge me but I loved it. And i think hunting is a pretty cool thing if you go about it with the right thinking.
This is foxy. the lodges pet fox. We could hand feed her and find her running around between the guest cabins. She's off limits for hunting.
Here is the fuel barge. It would come by every couple months give or take and fill us up. i think it was called the Retriever. Some kind of dog name I know. Their crew was always nice.
Haha, this is Garrett and Josh. It was an especially hot day and we were finishing up the construction of the generator shed and they just had the funniest outfits on. Garrett in his shorts and flip flops with his utility belt and Josh with his rolled gangsta status sweat pants and socks with crocs. I was dying.
Garrett, or G-$. He is my favorite. I don't know why I don't have a normal picture with him but he was really the best. And a lifesaver and the crazy lodge. He was the only person i talked to about things i would allow myself to talk about. And he taught me everything I ever learned at the lodge. And he understood my need to always be doing something and he was just always there. With his stories and teaching experiences to help me along. I miss him the most.
Say hello to Gunnar. i had the chance to babysit for this cute kid while his parents went bear hunting. How adorable is that crooked smile?? His parents offered me a nanny job in Colorado but i don't know how long I could take being a nanny for a one year old. As attached as I grew to this kid, I wouldn't want to become a motherly figure to him and I feel like that is what would happen with their family.
While the National Geographic crew was here, we went shooting for fun and i got scope bit so we tried to stretch it a bit to scare the crew with some added ketchup and dramatics. We had them going for a bit until the laughs and ketchup smell gave us away.
Sofia and Little Garrett. Love these kids. And their little sister Olivia. And their mom Huong. They definitely helped change the atmosphere of lodge life and made things bearable.
HAHA. This is Marty. You might recognize him from the show Ultimate Survival Alaska. He's a crack up.
Us girls helped Garrett assemble his seine net to pass the time. It was a lot of fun. And it included a lot of knotty jokes and good stories from Garrett.
This is Randy. He was quite the catch. And a lot of fun to have around the lodge while Nat. Geo. was here. He even made us an awesome cd. Oh, and that thing on the hook is a skate. Or sting ray. We ate it. it was pretty delicious.
Sandwiches. So many sandwiches. Always. While we didn't have to make this many every morning. I made soooo many sandwiches that summer.
here's my real scope bite. So yeah, we exaggerated it quite a bit.
So i fell asleep on the boat. it was a pretty normal occurrence. Especially after a long day of seining. That is not my beer.
My first snowman of the season. The place was so beautiful in the winter.
Whales. So many whales.
And the yelloweye rockfish. This is where one of my most favorite things about this summer comes from. Otolith earrings. The otolith is the ear bone in a fish and yelloweye have especially large ones since they can live to about 140 years. So we made earrings and necklaces out of them and I've been hooked ever since. And we made a killing on sales at the lodge. And Ke$ha's brother and filming crew bought some as well and the Nat. Geo crew too so that will be my claim to fame. Or a part of it.
And that's all i will post for tonight. That's only a fraction of eight months but it's a good fraction for now.
Here are some of my favorite songs while in Alaska:
Dust to dust by the Civil Wars
Bye Bye Blackbird by Joe Cocker
Daisy by Brand New
Go Your Own Way by Lissie
Hurt by Johnny Cash
And those are a few of my Alaskan favorite things.
Peace.