Glaciers, Moose, Eagles, Oh My!

Awww....Alaska. I have been really enjoyed being in Alaska. It is going to be so hard to go back to Tekoa and Moscow. Before this trip I truly thought I lived in the most beautiful area, no offense to anyone in North Idaho/Eastern Washington, but Alaska is AMAZING!! I grew up in a family that went camping, explored, and got out to the unknown of the Northwest. I thought I had seen it all. I have been to ghost towns, Yellowstone, and many other National Monuments, and parks. I thought it would take a lot for me to be surprised or amazed at my surrounding. I have been in awe most of my trip here so far. Here is a taste of what I have experienced and there is more to come!
Sunday while I was driving through Anchorage a moose (yes a full size moose!) crossed the street. Now, I pictured Anchorage as a smaller "city"--bigger than a town but still small. Boy, was I wrong. It is a good sized city with more than one Target! And here is a moose walking down the street! It was absolutely amazing.

Monday I had the pleasure of visiting Seward and Soldonta High Schools on the Kenai Penninsula. I had some spare time in Seward before I left for my next visit and was able to visit Exit Glacier. This is my first experience with a glacier. I didn't know what to expect, but I was amazed at the beautiful color and the size of the glacier. As I was leaving the glacier a Bald Eagle flew right over me--it was amazing feeling to be engulfed by nature, only 8 miles from a town.

I was able to look at four different glaciers in the portage area later that day after all my visits and they were all amazing. Once again a different bald eagle appeared. I was able to pull over and take some pictures as it ate its fish that it pulled out of the stream. As you can see I was able to get very close!

Now, I should probably say something about the work I am doing up here. Every student that I have met has known someone who has been or is currently a student at the wonderful University of Idaho. I have been very excited about the students and the teachers that I have encountered. This trip has been a blast and tonight I started the fair circuit and was able to meet the recruiters from other institutions.

As always, more to come soon. Tonight I am in Ketchikan, tomorrow Sitka, the day after tomorrow Juneau....I am a traveling fool!

Give Moose A Break....

My favorite road sign that I have seen so far in Alaska has been the "Give Moose A Break" Yesterday I had quite the day before the day even got started for me! I went out bright and early to warm up my car because it was frosted over and I had high school visits in Wasilla and Palmer, AK. I got out there and my car was dead.
I asked the front desk and everyone in the hotel breakfast area if anyone had jumper cables. Everyone I encountered had a rental or a work vehicle and had none. But, once again, everyone was so nice. I walked through the lobby and over heard a gentleman re-asking the front desk for me! The front desk called a cab company who came and did it. The gentleman who had re-asked the front desk for me (he was about my dad's age) actually went outside with me when the cabbie came to make sure that he was legit and didn't kidnap me or anything! It was so nice of him!
Anyways, I paid the nice cab driver and got on my merry way to Wasilla. I pulled into Wasilla, turned my car off to grab a water and a coffee at a gas station and got back to my car and it was dead again! Ridiculous I thought to myself! I jumped out and went into the gas station, they luckily had jumper cables. I found someone to jump my car and when we got back to my car it was locked....WITH THE KEYS INSIDE IT. Not only were my keys inside it, but also my cell and wallet. I had nothing but my coat.
So I went back into the gas station and they called a cab company. I was about in tears!
The cab company got there and tried to start working on my car. The woman was kind of struggling with it and a guy filling up his car with gas came over to try to help. While he was working on it a competing driver came by and started to try to help. 10 minutes later he was in. No one would take any money for getting me into my car or jump starting my car! EVERYONE WAS SO NICE!
I went on to have spectacular visits--and was so ahead of schedule that even with all the drama of the morning wasn't late to any visits! Every student that I talked to knew someone who had or is going to University of Idaho and UI was in many of these students top three. The counselors were all very welcoming and allowed students to be pulled out of class and asked me to come back again soon to visit! It all turned into a great day--mostly due to the amazingly nice people that I met in Wasilla. THANK YOU TO THESE PEOPLE AGAIN!
Now...today (Friday) it hit me, that maybe the second time my car was "dead" it actually wasn't. I remembered later on, that I had a hard time turning the engine over when the guy hooked the battery pack up to it. He jumped in and said, "Well you need it in Park, honey" I had acidently turned off the car with it in gear. I drive a manual so I usually coast into a spot and pull the brake. So, maybe if I had checked that I would have never gotten into my second mess. I still haven't figured out the locked out, but I have turned the car manual inside out and found the pin access code for the keyless entery on the door.
Hopefully I will have no more car trouble for the rest of my trip. I find it funny now, but yesterday if anyone gave me a hard time about it I would have cried. It was stressful and not a very fun way to start a trip. Those of you who know me wont be surprised by this story at all :)

ALASKA!!

So, I have made it. I have been in Anchorage, AK for a little over eight hours. Why am I here you may ask? University of Idaho sends recruiters to Alaska every year to talk to potential students etc. Alaska fell into my area so here I am. I am all alone in a new city, new state, new timezone! I love adventures like this!
Today I cruised around Anchorage to try to become better acquainted with it, talked to some locals and decided that there is just too much to do in this one trip. Oh yah, I am also supposed to work on this trip :) Tomorrow I head to Wasilla and Palmer to do High School visits. Friday I am sticking around Anchorage and Monday I will explore Seward and Soldonta. I do get the weekend to explore freely--I am very excited about that!
This trip is different than any I have ever taken before. I will be gone for 15 days. Shane and I have never been apart for that long. Weird. He is busy with fall work and maybe by the time I get back he'll be done...probably more around Thanksgiving time he'll be completely done. So, no Shane to join me. It is a weird feeling to have someone who you want to call and share each new experience. A friend of mine who is married told me this would happen.
"Traveling alone just isn't the same. You want to share everything with your spouse."
I laughed and told him that I had traveled enough alone that it would be fine. I had been to Hawaii, New York, D.C., and plenty other places alone and while I would call my mom to catch up, I never had that feeling of wanting someone to experience it with me. I was fine being a lone traveler.
Not even 24 hours into this trip, I am wishing Shane were with me. I called him when I got my rental car. I called him when I got to my hotel. I called him when I ate my first meal alone in Alaska. I called him when I returned my rental car because it smelled of cigarette smoke. I swear I am bugging him, but I guess that may be the price he pays while he's driving a tractor in Idaho!
Some notes on Alaska. The first thing I noticed was that people in customer service jobs are NICE. They are genuinely kind and good at their job. Now, I have only encountered 5-6 people in these positions, but all were extremely welcoming and effecient. Not something that I have always encountered during my travels. I am loving this town (the little I have seen) and am looking forward to getting more and more acquainted as the week goes by!

My Birthday....

My birthday is tomorrow, Oct. 3--the best day in history. I know of a couple people who agree. On October 3, my parents had their first child, their only daughter and I have been a constant joy ever since, (just ask them!) My grandparents (both sets) were blessed with their first grandchild, thus making me the favorite for the rest of my life.
My Grandpa Tes used to tell me that I was the only one who could say certain things to him. Those of you who knew him, know that he didn't always take a joke directed at him very well--but I for some reason could get away with making smart-aleck remarks.
On a great October 3 while I was in high school my amazing cousin, Ellie, was born. It is a very special thing to share a birthday with a child. We had horse themed birthdays, and Dorah, and many more.
My favorite would have had to been last year. Ellies parents and her siblings and my parents and Zack and Shane all came together in Moscow. Early in the afternoon Shane and I had lunch with his parents (Dennis and Terry) and my parents (Jon and Teresa.) This was the first time they had met, and it was a lot of fun. Shane and I both agreed that they seemed to get a long well (which was nice--we got engaged a couple weeks later.) After lunch time we hung out together for a couple hours and then Ellies family and my family came together in the house I was living in last Fall for a BBQ dinner, lots of birthday cake, and a little tailgating for those of us who were old enough. We all loaded into the cars and headed to the Vandal Football game. We wont that game, which was awesome, but the best part of it was having everyone come together once again for the birthday celebration.
Many people believe that farmers are only busy 3 months of the year. That farmers just twiddle their thumbs and stare at each other after harvest. This my friends, is not true. It is weird how you have to take care of the soil, fertilize the land, plant seeds and work on equipment so it is always ready to use. This for me means that farm work is not even close to being done.
Not only will this be the first time in 9 years that I am not with my parents or Ellie and her family to celebrate my birthday, it will be the first time I'm married. This is the first time in a long time that I have actually felt a birthday.

I feel old. Should I feel old? Another thing is that Shane has been working long days (11-13 hour days) I am not sure if he has time to even remember that it is my birthday tomorrow. So, I am going into tomorrow with no expectations. We will wait and see--keep your fingers crossed. If nothing happens, I can do my best to be understanding towards him. He loves farming and it does require long days--we signed up for that together. I knew going into it what was required and expected.

Till tomorrow!!