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!