Well!

I'm home! And... failed at blogging on my travels. It's okay. I guess it was expected.

The rest of the trip went well, nothing extremely exciting to report. Aunt Bobbie's birthday party went very well and I got the pleasure of seeing some of my other cousins. I'm going to have to go back for another visit sometime sooner than another 7 years.

I parted with Mom and Dad in Seattle and stayed a week with my friend Kat and her folks. Got to meet her brother, his wife and their new baby (who is adorable). We enjoyed a week of being mostly lazy, but also did some fun things like going to a water park (none of the watery rides being open) and having dinner at a brewery. The time seemed to go by too fast, but I wasn't to disappointed to be on to the next part of my trip.

The next leg being - Honolulu! It was very nice to be in some warm country for a while, though in the beginning there is the possibility that I may have believed I wouldn't want to move for the next 2 weeks. My first night there, I participated in a zombie walk with Liz, the best parts being when we went to Jimmy Buffet's Beachcomber restaurant afterward and waiting at the bus stop at zombies. I had that "Let Me Be Myself" song from the caveman commercials running through my head all evening. It's hard being a zombie in the real world.

I didn't really do a whole lot the rest of the time I was there. It was just kind of nice to be a bum. Liz and I spent a little time at beaches and also went to the Dole pineapple plantation. We made it through the world's biggest maze, but had the most fun feeding the Koi fishes in the pond. They were crazy! Isaiah came to spend the second week there with me, so we had fun bumming around too. We got to visit with his cousin Jolene a bit and had a lot of fun with her. The other really fun thing was going out to Hanauma Bay with Liz and snorkeling. My favorite were the turtles and these tiny polka-dotted puffer fish!

After adventures in Oahu, I went to spend a little time with Damian's Jenny in Sequim and other places. We hung out for a few days and bought my bridesmaid's dress. I'm gonna be super cute in the wedding :) Then we drove up to Vancouver, BC for a the Cat Empire concert! Sooooo much fun! Crazy, happy madness. The next day we went down to Bellingham, WA for a Built to Spill concert, which ended up being the complete opposite. Instead of pushing our way up to the stage, we chilled in the back on some couches. Her brother Mike was there too and it was fun to meet and hang out with him... also got a sweet hat out of the deal.

The following day, Jenny and I made the drive down to Seattle and shopped for my bridesmaid shoes and hung out at her dad's house until Danica and Amy could make it up from Portland to steal me away. I only got to spend a few days with Dee, but it was fun (of course!). Can't wait to see her home for Christmas. And everybody else for that matter!

Spent two nights in Anchorage on my way home and did some grocery shopping for the house. And now I'm back in Nak! I can't say that it's the most fun place to be, but I'm definitely enjoying NOT living from a suitcase. Just trying to adjust to a different pace now and can't wait to have Bill's family back home from Mexico to divert me a little. Oh, and for Isaiah to come visit, but that's kind of a given :P

Alright! Now that you're all updated, I'll be signing off! Time to tear myself away from the happy crackling of the wood stove and think about laundry and what needs to be done in preparation for the holidays! Hopefully I'll make the time to post some more photos from my adventures soon!

East Coastin' Pt. I

Whew! Well it's been a whirlwind so far! I got into Anchorage the morning of the 11th, ran around with Mom and Dad all day, then we left the same night (or very early the next morning). The trip itself was mostly uneventful (except for Mom nearly losing her ID and Chile's not taking dinner orders past 11 pm - we got there at 11:15) and thanks to staying up way too late the night before, goofing off and finally packing, I slept a lot of the way.

When we got into DC, we went to get our car and they kept trying to upgrade us for just a little more money... heh. No. Silly sales-people. We did rent a GPS to take with us, however, which has become a bit of an adventure itself. It took us a few minutes to figure it out and I think it unnerved Mom a little trying to listen to a computer AND pay attention to the road. I... may have been convinced she was trying to get us killed. Here, I should probably reference the first photo in my new album (http://picasaweb.google.com/floundergirl/EastCoast09?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2b6ITwpIv6NQ&feat=directlink).

We finally made it to aunt Sally and uncle Stephen's house and they fed us quite the feast. We had grilled scallops, crab, salmon, swordfish and meat along with corn, other veggies and MANY appetizers. We were stuffed, but then of course, aunt Sally had to pull out a cake. And it was covered in the best chocolate frosting I've ever had! Guess what. It only has two ingredients - melted chocolate and 4 cups of heavy cream. Oi. I've been giving aunt Sally a hard time for trying to fatten me up before I go to Hawaii :P

The next day was Columbus Day, so uncle Stephen had the day off and drove us around DC. We visited the National Museum of the American Indian, which was pretty awesome, but lacked a little in that the changing exhibits were closed :( The food was really good too, but the cafeteria was a little chaotic, so it took poor me a while to actually settle into a line and decide on some food (thanks to the help of my momma). Then we went to the Botanical Gardens and spent quite a while there. I think I probably added to the time because I felt a need to take LOTS of pictures with my new camera. I love taking pictures of flowers. After the gardens, we decided to call it a day and head back to Sally and Steve's. Shortly after we got there, aunt Carol and uncle Chuck showed up to join the party and we had an encore of the meal from the night before - plus some shrimp that our newest additions brought from North Carolina. Oh, and carrot cake. Holy. Any excuse to have desserts!

So Tuesday, we decided to just have sort of an easy day and not really plan anything out. I got to sleep in a little (which doesn't end up being much sleep because mentally I've still been in an Alaskan time zone... at least at night), then we decided we'd go to Potomac Mills (huge mall) and go shopping. We all picked up a few things along the way, but it was mostly uneventful. That evening for dinner, Carol and Chuck's daughter-in-law, Danielle, joined us for dinner and socializing. It was a lot of fun having her there and it convinced her to come up to Connecticut for a day and join the party here (bringing her honey, Patrick, too!).

So Wednesday, we started driving north. Somewhere around the time we got on the NJ Parkway, our GPS decided not to work. Dad thinks it was because of sunspots, but either way, we were VERY lucky that uncle Stephen had the foresight to print our directions into Brooklyn. If he hadn't, there's no way we ever would have made it to visit Christopher and Emily. We got into Brooklyn and found the right place okay, but it just so happens that the school across the street let out about then too, so it was nearly impossible to find parking. We drove around the block half a dozen times (and had a nice chat with a police man) and finally settled on a metered spot a little farther away. We had a walk around the neighborhood with Emily and the boys (William and Ezra) after nap time was over and got to taste a few local treats like pumpkin whoopie pie and some of their favorite pizza. We had a good time watching William chase squirrels too :) Shortly after we got back to the apartment, Christopher got home from work and we had a good visit (despite his lack of voice from a recent illness). We got all arranged with and air mattress for me and the pull-out sofa (a European one, which is apparently a bit more comfortable) for Mom and Dad.

Ahh... this novel I'm writing. It'll be over someday ;) So anyways, the next day, I guess it was Thursday, we continued our drive the rest of the way to Connecticut. We got to Guilford just before noon and had lunch at the Shoreline Diner before we checked into our room. It was nice to be off the road and spend some time getting ourselves situated to stay for a few days. We went over to the Hearth to visit aunt Bobbie before dinner, then took her to join the rest of the crowd at the Aqua. It's fun to have everybody here and the following days are looking like they'll offer even more fun! After dinner we were visiting around in each others' rooms (yes, we're ALL staying in the same hotel... on the same floor... in the same wing in fact). It was a mostly quiet evening over here in 107 and our only visitor was aunt Carol, who followed mom over for a glass of wine.

Today! (Hurrah! We're finally up to date!) It was breakfast in the lobby and kind of a slow morning. We all met for lunch at Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale (a family favorite going WAY back). I had some fried clams and found out later that it used to be my grandma's favorite thing to order there :) Next we went to Hammonasset Beach to look at how little beach is left due to erosion and go for a walk. The walk didn't actually happen for most of the crowd, it was a little chilly and windy. I went walking down the beach with my camera and ended up having my young cousin, Kelly, in tow. When we got back to the grown-ups, there was a fellow that showed up to feed the gulls some bread and I had more fun with my camera (as evidenced by my web album - *prod prod* you should probably look at it). After the beach we took a drive to Bishop's Orchard... which is much expanded from the apple orchard with which it first started. They have a little market now and I found all kinds of nice goodies to tempt me. I even bought some Greek yogurt (honey flavor) to have for my breakfast :) It'll be much nicer than a bagel. Mom and I went and looked at the llamas, alpacas and goats on our way to the pumpkin patch, then it was back to the hotel until dinner. Our meal this evening was at Malone's Restaurant (which most of my family still refers to as Lynch and Malone's). Aunt Bobbie had her meal paid for by Timmy Malone, whose father went to high school with Aunt Bobbie, so that made it even more special for her. Oh, and he got her a piece of cheesecake with a candle in it too. We had people over in our room for wine and scotch afterward and now the parents and I are just relaxing.

Well, it's all very long-winded, but I'm glad I finally had time to catch up! Thank Isaiah for being off reffing volleyball tonight instead of calling me. Look for more to come and I'll continue to post pictures to my web album!

Back in NAK

Well, like that title says, I'm back in Naknek now. Robbie brought me down on Monday evening, and it's a good thing too! The last two days have been nothing but rain (thankfully not much wind down here!). I guess the weather turned to wind and rain up on the Lake too, so there wouldn't have been a better time to bring me down. I'm glad I made it!

So because it's been raining and gray, I've been mostly sitting at my computer the last two days. It's funny how I just get stuck here, but never really accomplish much. I can't even say what I spent my time doing yesterday when I was on the computer... amazing how it all disappears from your head. Last night I did fix up my honey's myspace for him though, because apparently some boys just don't like to figure out the internet machine very much. That's a very new sensation for me. And another new realization - I'm the nerd in my relationship. Scary, huh?

Today my time was mostly spent shopping, but not buying anything. Good times. It's hard not being in school, because I don't know what I'm saving my money for right now, but I still don't feel like I should spend it. At the same time, it's kind of burning a hole in my pocket, but I've decided to save it for my travels mostly. I'm sure I'll find plenty of fun things to spend money on over the next month and a half.

I guess I've already told where I'm going in a previous post, so I'm not gonna say it again, but I'm taking off from home this coming Saturday. I'm getting pretty excited, but I really need to get my mind about thinking what to pack. It's going to be quite the challenge considering the many different climes I'll be staying in. I'm sure I'll manage SOMEHOW. Plus, there's always that shopping I was talking about. Guess I might be spending a little money on shipping stuff back...

I'm going to try to keep up on my blog a bit, but I don't know how much time I'll be left with, especially on this first, most family-oriented leg of my trip. I'll be taking lots of photos, though, so I'll try to keep those updated. Probably make a web album for that... I'll let you know when the time comes.

I guess I don't have a lot else to say. There are other things I could say, of course, but none of it is of much importance and I feel that I ramble a bit. So, here end my ramblings for the night. You know where I'm at now and we'll see if you (and I) can keep up with my adventures!

Oh! And I just remembered what I spent my time doing yesterday. The majority of my computer time yesterday was focused on sorting through ALL of my pictures to find suitable ones to put in a slideshow to share with my aunties when we go down to Connecticut. I'm still trying to weed some out and Mom has a ton more for me to look through. Oh joy!

Ooops!

So apparently the address for my web album went and changed on me, so ignore that link below. Here's the new address:

http://picasaweb.google.com/floundergirl/Fall2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_LxoK4jK2-lQE&feat=directlink

What a bugger. We'll see how long that one stands. Thanks for the heads up, Karl. Hope that works for ya!

K, Soooo

Queso? Mmm... cheese. Not the baby kind.

Anyways! As per request of some person or other, I've put some photos online - not on Flickr, but on my Picasa Web Album. This fall's adventures are found in, you guessed it, the "Fall 2009" folder. Address showing here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/floundergirl/Fall2009

Hope you enjoy!

A Brush-Cutter No More!

As the title says, I'm done! My last day was Thursday and gosh was I happy about that. The last three days that I was out in the field, we were experiencing a little bit of snow, but Thursday was the absolute worst. It snowed for a couple hours starting late morning, then turned to rain. We were drenched, the wind was blowing, the brush was infuriating. Even I could barely keep my cool (figurative cool... I was very cool temperature-wise).

All in all it was a good gig. I'm glad I went back for this second shift to make a few more bucks. I also made some friends along the way and got to know people that I feel like I should have known before. I'm going to miss the social parts of it - like being chipper at 6 am before everyone has had their coffee :D

So now I'm hanging out in Kokhanok for a few days to a week. Rob and Beth got two horses recently and I'm having a lot of fun going with Beth to take care of them and helping her get things better set up for them. I've also been helping the brothers a little bit. Yesterday we ran up the bay to get a lumber mill. That was quite the feat of strength between us and Colter. We managed somehow, but part of me wishes that they had brought another man along instead of putting such a vote of confidence in the strength of their sister, as flattering as it may be.

And soon I have to think of the things I better do when I get back down to Naknek. I don't get to be there long until I'm off on my U.S. travels. Everything should be fine though. Like I always say - I can sleep when I'm dead.

Week down...

One to go! Not that... I'm that excited to leave.... :D Okay, I am. I'm looking forward to being done for good, as nice as making money is. I've just got too many other good things to look forward to!

Yesterday was FANTASTIC. We were working on fixing the O line for the second day. It started blowing a little bit. And then it started blowing A LOT. And then it was raining too. Better yet, we had to turn back the other way and walk into the wind. My face hurt. But it was great. No bugs, it stayed nice and cool, had my rain pants to protect from devil's club.... mmm... yeah... that's all I've got for being positive.

Today was better, there was a little breeze, no rain, and even a little bit of sun. We finished O line today and didn't have to climb the mountain (yay!) because Jesse came down and marked the line from his side. We were hoping that we would get done late enough that we wouldn't have to move to the next line, but unfortunately, as hard as we try to be slow, we're pretty much great at cutting lines. So now we're on line Q, the last line that we have to fix, then we can go on to making our own lines!

Hum hum hum.... I've promised myself that I'd go to bed early tonight, because I've been staying up too late hanging out with Kyle and Isaiah lately. It's both convenient and inconvenient that they're living right next door. Good night all!

F'n Mtn :(

Not my exact sentiment, but it was something that AES wrote on one of the lathes we picked up today. We thought it was pretty funny.

So, yes, it seems as though second day on the job is designated mountain climbing day. We were up in the fog all day today and went over a lot of rocks. It was a lot more fun than climbing Sharp (I think), but that might just be because I like to pretend I climb like a mountain goat. I didn't feel the burn as much on this little mountain, but I definitely had the shakes long before we were done.

It's okay being back, I guess. The first day back, I thought I had realized that I didn't want to do this, but it's going okay now that I'm back into it. We're redoing a line that another crew (AES) cut because they didn't have a very accurate GPS, so it's quite crooked. Davy worked one day with us (yesterday), but I guess he quit, so we were one person short today. I'm a bit disappointed in him, but I guess I don't know the full story, so I can't judge. BUT, because of being short a person, I finally wielded a chainsaw today (only when Tom went to fix the base). Now I'm a REAL line cutter.

We were weathered in at the Weathered Inn until about 10:30 today. We tried going out at 7:30 as usual, but it was too foggy up in the hills to set up our base station. We saw a lot of ptarmigan while we were up on the mountain today, so that was fun... except it made me hungry.

I think that cousin Kyle is to be our bear guard soon, so it'll be fun to have him around. The other good thing is that, even though he just went on break yesterday, Nils is back to fill our empty spot, so I'll get to spend time with both of my cousins :)

Hrm. I can't think of a lot else to say right now. Oh, I have a room mate this time, Honalee, she's a bit older, but she's laid back and I'm having an okay time talking with her.

Oh, and I love cheese. That's all.

Adventure Cancelled

Well, one of my adventures has fallen through, so it looks like I'll be going back to Iliamna for another stint of brush-cutting starting the 11th. It'll be a good opportunity to make a bit more money for my travels and to see my new friends one last time. Everyone needs a little closure ;) The weather has definitely turned into what we around here call fall weather - a lot of rain. So it looks as though we may be spending a few days fogged in when I get back up to the Project. We'll see, either way, I get paid.

This weekend I'll be heading up to Lake Clark with the family for a cousin's wedding. That should be a lot of fun, then I'll spend the rest of my time until my shift starts in Kokhanok, exploring the countryside (maybe) with my dog.

Looks as though after this my life really gets busy. I'll be traveling to Connecticut, Seattle, Honolulu, Portland and Victoria, BC (for a concert :D). I can't promise a lot after mid October, but I'll try to keep you updated a bit on my adventures. Should be a lot of fun, but it'll be really nice to finally get back home!

The rain has definitely put a damper on activities around here and probably my biggest point of productivity the last few days was making a couple discs of pictures to send out to people. And I sure wish the fuel-mobile would show up and fill our tank! Chilly weather plus no heat doesn't always equal happy. In fact... I'd say it rarely does. You know me though, always upbeat ;)

Well, I got back from Iliamna on Friday afternoon for my two weeks off, but I'm still not sure whether or not I'm going back. I need to talk to some fellow adventurers and see what our adventuring plans are.

It ended up not being such a bad job. Brush-cutting/throwing is definitely not my cup of tea, but it was well worth the time and money for now... as I've nothing better to do. I think it could have ended up being a bad experience if it was a poor work atmosphere, but the people were really nice and I had a lot of fun when I wasn't tossing sticks, so I think I'll be able to block out the boring parts rather nicely. We were well-fed and I had fun hanging out with some of the Kokhanok boys and the Zongers especially. After about the first week I somehow found out that my surveyor is a huge Monty Python buff, so I had endless entertainment after that :D Also, I'm in love with helicopter flights. I always wanted to get my private pilots license for airplanes, but I think I may have changed my mind to try to fly helicopters. SO FUN!

And despite the unpredictability of some of my activites this summer, I'm still rather unsurprising in other aspects. Last night Nathan and Dena brought dad's boat down from Kokhanok and when I was helping put it on the trailer I ended up just wading right in and getting my jeans all wet.... Nathan made me mad talking to me like I don't know how a boat is supposed to be on a trailer.... So a little while later I was talking to mom and when I had gone with dad to go get the trailer, she had said she would hold the bow line, but wouldn't do anything crazy like Laurinda and wade in. Thanks, glad to live up to everyone's expectations.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure my team members from Iliamna think I'm a bit special (that's nothing new). I was busy examining every new mushroom I saw and taking pictures of bugs, berries and rocks. I have an inquisitive mind.... what can I say? That's what keeps me going... the little things.

First Day on the Pebble Project

So, funny story, I'm being housed at a place called Gram's B&B here in Iliamna. On the sign it says the proprietors are Elia and Myrtle Anelon.... hmm.... that sounds familiar. Oh, by the way, we have wireless. Surprise? Probably not, since I'm posting this. And aside from Davie Alvarez being on my team, Willie Mike is also working around here somewhere (not line-cutting, but I see him at meals). I didn't leave King Salmon until around 3 today and the pilot assumed since my last name was Hill, that I would be going to Kokhanok. Boy did I surprise him. And as soon as I got in, I had about 3 hours of training... only about a half hour of which was talk, the rest was watching some videos. I also got the walkthrough of one of the helicopters - have to do the other two in the morning. It sounds like my team got through a lot of tough brush today, so now it's going to be a lot of walking up and down hills. What joy! Not really. I'll be ok... and at the very least have strong legs by the end of two weeks. These Pebble people are sure good at making you think they're good guys. And I guess I don't think they're so bad... this is actually helping to still a few of my fears. And I guess I can't really say "these Pebble people," because for the time being - I'm one of them.

Brush Cutting?

This afternoon I got a call from my brother Karl. To make a long conversation short, he offered me a job brush-cutting somewhere up near Iliamna and I said I didn't want to... about 4 times. Guess where I'm going tomorrow? Iliamna.

I guess in the end it's an offer that's hard to refuse. I'm really not doing much else right now (see: dinking around on my computer, watering plants, cooking dinner and hanging out with Bill's family) and 10 hours a day for 2 weeks at 30 dollars an hour adds up to... a decent chunk of change. You can do the math if you so choose... I don't want to flaunt it too much. Who knows, maybe this is just the job I need to have the money to go to say.... Norway?

The job is through Iliamna Lake Contractors and goes at a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off kind of clip. I think I would work more than one 2 week shift, but I have other adventures coming up (which I'll save to talk about later. Can't spoil all the surprises). We'll see how much I can work in.

So here I am, 11pm, laundry waiting to go in the washer and still not sure what time I leave tomorrow. It's ok. I was a bit stressed about it earlier, but right now I'm at the point of tired that I'm just ready to take things as they come.

Itching Feet

It's pretty strange staying around Naknek this time of years. I guess being out of college means a lot of changes that I never really though about. Like... that time of year when everyone else is taking off to Anchorage and other places? I'm staying here - holding down the fort (or at least peoples' dogs). And there's no end in sight. It's kind of a scary thing.... not scary in the sense of "Oh my god! The monster is gonna get me!" But more like, "What, really, have I gotten myself into?"

Sure I have plans for travel - going to the East Coast to visit family and Hawaii to visit a friend - but I know I'm coming back to Naknek afterward. And, sure, I have thoughts about what I'm going to do after this year... but nothing's definite. I mean, if I don't get into the grad school I'm looking at, I may end up staying another year here. Then I'd have to get a job. Yay. Not really. I guess I'm a bit afraid of change, a bit afraid of going out in the world, so I can't really fathom leaving here if my tentative plans don't work out. It's hard to move somewhere else to a completely different life. I could go somewhere that I know people, and I probably would if I did leave, but I guess we're in a recession (though you wouldn't know it by looking around here), so I can't expect to just move somewhere and find a job. I'd have to plan ahead.... not always one of my strong points.

I don't really know what I'm doing right now. I'm just a bit bored, so you get the benefit of my random thoughts. What else, what else? I guess I've kind of run out of steam for now, but I'm sure there will be a lot more entries like this. Lots of random. Maybe next time I'll promote a marvel called "dobok."

Home Again

Well, I've been home for almost a week now. The internship was good in all, but I think no matter who you're with, it's always going to be a little bit hard to live on a boat with 5 other people for a month straight.

The Stella is a lovely 58-foot trawler out of Kodiak. In general, the experience was nothing like roughing it. Instead of a galley table, she had a leather couch, loveseat and a flat screen TV. On this flat screen TV, we had the opportunity to watch many of Skipper's collection of 600 or so movies. There was even a shower, so we got to bathe regularly. I'd say we were pretty spoiled.

The Skipper, Peter, is a funny Irish man with his 7th child on the way. He runs a tight ship, but was also fairly personable. The best way to whip him into a verbal frenzy was to ask him about his racing pidgeons. Yes, pidgeons.

His son, Kalvin, was the cabin boy and general jack-of-all-trades. In some marvel of 18-year-old patience he commonly did dishes, swept the carpet, took wheel watches, helped us pick and stack the net and even managed to have a little time to hang out with us techs. Maybe more notably, he is a decent welder and loves being a big brother.

The Stella's other crew man is Rolf. His main jobs were cooking, running the hydraulics on the reel, helping Kalvin stack the net, and taking wheel watches. He's quite the character and I don't think any of us will ever forget such things as the 9-minute mile or his calling Reid "Reese."

The other techs both live in Alaska currently, one in Anchorage and one in Dillingham. Reid was on the test fishing boat last year, so we kind of looked to him to be a little bit of a leader on technique and protocol in the beginning.

Cody had a bit of a commanding peronality and ended up being good for keeping the team on task and keeping an order to the madness. He's done other kinds of fishing before, but gill-netting was a new experience for him.

I quickly became known as "the professional." Whenever a very tangled fish came over the side they would call for the professional. It made me feel good, but I was proud to watch their fish-picking skilly develop. They almost didn't need me at the end there.

As far as sampling, it ended up being a bit monotonous and frustrating at times. The computers that were supposed to take data didn't always run smoothly and there were days that we hardly got a break between 5 am and 6 pm because the sampling took so long. We were taking both scale samples and tissue samples from the reds that we caught and tissue samples from chum.

Our usual routine was to fish 6 sets on the way out from Port Moller one day and fish the same stations back in the next day. This was so we could turn our data and samples in every 2 days. Port Moller is a very small place, which consists mostly of Peter Pan cannery. There were lots of bears roaming in the area waiting for the dump truck's runs to the garbage dump.

There are probably so many more things that I could say about the whole experience, but I don't want to weary anyone with my prattling.

It's good to be back home again, but it's been a bit strange missing that chunk of summer. Everyone is getting ready to take off now (and some already have). Mom and I are still plugging along trying to catch a few more fish. There really haven't been many this season. It's been a bit of a disappointment for everyone here, but it's always difficult to predict how the season will be.

This weekend is Fishtival, but I don't know how much I'll be participating. I look forward to being at the parade with Gabriella tomorrow and going to the bazaar. That's about as far as my interest lies. For now I'm just ready to settle back into my room and give my dog some TLC!

A start

You wouldn't think a fish out of water would last long, would you? You would be amazed. Northern Pike are said to cross the tundra here in Alaska. And it makes sense. How else would they populate all the little lakes and ponds across this landscape? People even say they find whole pike skeletons out in the middle of nowhere. Apparently that fish didn't last. 

And what about flounders? When the tide goes out, sometimes they get stuck on the mud flats, sucking air. Somehow they manage to stay alive until the next tide comes in.

Why then am I a fish out of water? Surely I'm not a fish! No, just checked, I'm mostly human. But here's the thing, I go out into the world, but I always dip back into the waters of home to refresh myself. ALWAYS.

My upcoming adventure is test fishing. I'm leaving for Port Moller tomorrow. I've never been that far south on this side of AK, so I'm looking forward to seeing some new country. I'm excited to be the first girl on this particular crew too. I'll show them what a Bristol Bay girl is capable of. Maybe I'm just tooting my own horn, but I think we're a pretty special breed around here (you can decide which sense of "special"). I'm a bit sad too, though. I'm leaving home just before the rest of the family and fishermen show up. I'll be missing out on some stuff, but I should be back in time to have a little fun.

I don't know how well I'll keep up on this blog or how much computer access I'll have while I'm down there, but you can count on an update around mid July when I get back to the bay. Wish me luck and I'll try out some fish whispering and see if I can't send them in the right direction!