Howdy howdy hey!!!

How goes it??? Things are good here!! I have had a good week :) because Nat Geo left we have been back to our more regular schedule which is so nice! We also have Nadia here (although she leaves in a week :( ) so we get more days off.

So... as I am writing this I am currently on my handy dandy smart phone sitting on the roof of the boat :). This is my second time this week. I am with a family of four and Jordan. It's really fun. On Thursday when I went we went salmon fishing, bear viewing, then deep sea fishing. It was all really cool.

Me on the roof!!  The boat in the back was Luke and some of our other guests :)

The bear viewing was a first for me. It is so funny to me how when I was coming here everyone was telling me I was going to get eaten by a bear or something... Well.... It's been 3 months and no bears.. until now!! We saw 3 bears. A mama and 2 babies. This bear is used to people. She is kind of a pet of Luke's. She is very comfortable with him.  She was catching salmon. It was so cool to watch. I got some good pictures. :) it was cool to see them in their natural environment. They are magnificent creatures. So big.. But cuddly looking. :) don't worry... I didn't try to pet it. Tempting though... :)

Lunch time!!

Today (Friday) went whale watching :) we got right above them to the point that we could touch them. It was incredible. The whales never get old to me. That's got to be one of my favorite things to see. Catching huge fish is cool too :) and sitting on the top of a boat in Alaska.... :)

Well, those are the coolest experiences that I can think of... Oh!! Caitlin and I are making jewelry!! Did you know??? Many fish have ear bones called otoliths. They help the fish maintain balance. You can also cut them open and count the rings in them to find out how old they are. (Now you know!!!!)

But the part we like the most is that you can order supplies on Amazon and make earrings!! We are selling them to clients to hopefully make some extra money. We are waiting for our supplies so it may be a bit... But we sold 3 pairs to a man and his daughter already! We will mail them to him :) so this should be fun!!

To get the otoliths out we have to cut them out with a saw. You drill into their brain and then whack the fish head on the deck until the bone comes out :). I find it quite fun... who knew I would enjoy butchering fish so much!! :) the fish we use the most for this project are the yellow eye because they have nice sized otoliths. The bass have decent ones but they are harder to get out. So anyway.. Something else to keep Caitlin and I busy!!

Oh, quick explanation of the last picture with the beer can...We have no shortage of them around here and the first time I was cutting the otoliths out, Frank said "You need something to put them in.  Here." and he took his knife and right there cut off the top of his beer can, washed it out and then handed it to me.  He thought it was hilarious to see me carry it around.  Now we keep it for a joke.  He kept on saying that he needed a picture with me, the 'sawsall' and the beer can.  So that was why I needed this picture..and then the fish in the bottom corner with his head cut open and everything just made it perfect...couldn't have planned it better!!!

Well, that's about all folks!! Sure love you all and miss you!! Until next time!!

I am now a PRO at many things--eating, making sandwiches, making beds, sleeping when it is light outside..you name it :)

Hello everyone!  Sorry it has been so long again!!  We have been really busy once again, but I finally got a chance to write today!!  I will try to remember everything.  A lot has happened and I have been such a slacker--I will try to have a nice recap :)

I guess I should start with the fourth of July (wow..it really has been that long....sorry..haha).  The Fourth was sooo much fun!!  We had the people from National Geographic here (just the 15 of them--the cast for the TV show they are filming).  We went over to Russian Island--its a small island about 10 minutes away from our island.  We have a BBQ over there and we go over and set up bon fires. It is a beautiful beach with black sand.  It is a lot of fun over there.  We set up a volleyball net and we have horseshoes over there and stuff and a picnic table.  We have a nice little set up over there for our parties :).  Well, it was an interesting day because Frank, Caitlin, Nadia (Shannon's granddaughter from Hawaii-she came to visit/work with us before she starts her Senior year in high school-she leaves in the beginning of August) and I went to the island earlier because we needed to set it all up.  When we got back we were to help Brian get everything ready to go over and start the big BBQ which you have to do all by alder (I don't really understand all of that--but its cooking over the coals).  When we got to the kitchen, Brian told us that he had been stung by a wasp.  He was having a mild allergic reaction but he was doing OK--until about 10 minutes later.  He had a pretty bad reaction and was getting really sick.  So he told us that he wasn't going to the island so he gave us lots of instructions and put everything in our hands.  So we ran around getting everything ready and that was crazy.  We had to find someone who would be willing to cook the racks and racks of ribs that we had.  Luckily a guy from the cast volunteered to do it.

So, we got to Russian island, got the food set up and everything and people came and ate and it was wonderful.  We had a lot of fun.  Then everyone just sat around the fire and hung out, shot guns, played horseshoes and volleyball.  They had a guitar and so people just sat around, sung, danced, and just enjoyed themselves.  Around 11:30 (the sun was just barely setting) we hiked to a peak on the island and started setting off fireworks.  A couple of the guys on the survival show set off the fireworks.  They were so drunk at this point that it was a little scary but so funny.  It wasn't the whole group of us at this one peak.  I went with the group that went the furthest.  We were the group that set off the fireworks.  The rest of our group stayed further away on another peak because they didn't want to go as far.  I am glad I was where I was.  The fireworks were spectacular.  We had one guy playing the harmonica like a champ (this guys is incredible-he has climbed Mt. Everest 10 times, and pretty much every other peak that you can think of.)  We had the other guys and women who are also incredible people who have accomplished amazing things (such as winning the Iditarod, Hela-Skiing (skiing out of a helicopter) and other things) who were there too.  We had 3 of the guys who were setting off the fireworks.  They were soooo close to us.  It was crazy.  The sky was pink and then there were the beautiful fireworks right in front of us.  At one point, they accidentally let them go too soon...like behind them-hahahaha! Luke started screaming at Caitlin, Nadia and I to run as fast as we could..It was insane.  Fireworks were going off all around me and we were all panicking.  But no one got hurt thank goodness.  The finale at midnight was the best.  They decided to put all of the fireworks in a pile and set them off at once on the ground.  We all ran away except for the 3 pyros.  The explosion was beautiful--but the best part was the 3 'tough guys' running for their lives screaming at the top of their lungs.  It was a good end to a good day :)  And everyone made it back in one piece.


So the next week and a half we have just been running around like crazy trying to make everyone happy.  We have had clients the whole time that we have this crew here and it has been crazy. So basically how the whole National Geographic thing goes is this:

The kitchen girls!! I love both of them..we have a lot of fun :)

*There are about 40 Nat Geo people here.  They are filming Ultimate Survival Alaska.  There are 11 cast members who are the people who are very outdoorsy and have done incredible things.  The rest are production/crew members for the show.  The cast members were here on the island for about a week for a little break.  The other guys got here the beginning of last week.  They have been on the island and then they go out and film for a few days and then all come back.  We make sandwiches for everyone for lunch everyday.  We also have turned our greenhouse into their dining hall so for breakfast and dinner we run food up to the greenhouse for them.  It is a lot of running, and a whole ton of sandwich making.  It is stressful because they are constantly coming to us for their food issues and changes of plans and stuff.  It can be frustrating but we are handling it well.  Everything is going to seem SO easy at the end of this!!!  They finish the filming tomorrow and will be leaving on Saturday.  At that point we will move back to our room (because they asked us to move so they can use it for their crew) and we will clean up after all of them.  Yay.  :)  It will be nice to have our island back!!!

*All the while we are also caring for our guests.  We have met some cool people.  Not too much excitement there though.

Now that is a salmon!!!!! (and the guy in the green is Luke)

*Yesterday we went 'snagged' salmon.  I had never done that before.  But I caught a super huge one!!  It was really hard to get in the boat.  It was really fun though.  I snagged him pretty much by the tail so he kept swimming away and I just had to hang on for dear life!!  It was really fun though.

*Oh, another fun thing, we learned to crochet from one of the cast members.  He is a Navy Seal.  So that is something I wouldn't expect!  He learned how to make beanies from one of the other guys on the show about two weeks ago.  Now whenever they aren't filming, he is making hats for people.  It was really fun to learn from him.  He is very serious about his crotcheting.  He calls our little sessions 'workshops'.  We even had a little motivational speech from him. :)  So another unexpected thing I have learned while on a little island in Alaska.

*Oh, and we had a helicopter come and land here which was really cool--it was for filming purposes but it was really cool to see.

Well, that's about all I can think of!! I am sure there is more...I am doing well and learning a lot.  I know that I am in Alaska to learn and grow and I am sure doing that!  It can be really hard to be away, but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  I learning a lot about people, the wilderness and especially myself.  I thank Heavenly Father everyday for this chance that I have been given. Thank you for your love and prayers.  :)  I appreciate you all!!!  Until next time my friends... :)

Sunset on the fourth of July :)  This place is so gorgeous...

Yep..I'm still alive!!! But lots of fish are not...:)

Hey kids!  Sorry its been so long!  Things have been so crazy here!!  It has been fun though of course.  Lot of work, some fun mixed in :)  

Not too many things have transpired--but I'll tell the exciting things.

*Our cook wasn't feeling well on Monday so I had the opportunity to grill the chicken.  I have never grilled before...so I found some BBQ sauce that I know is good because Brian is a champ at knowing sauces and what is good and what is not--so I knew it had to be good.  He set out chicken for us to use and it was these chicken breast/leg things.  I don't even know what to correctly call them!!  It was just an interesting experience...I didn't know what to do when the grill caught fire because it was burning off the residue of stuff and it caused me to panic and then Caitlin had to come rescue me so I didn't burn the place down.  We did good though :) The chicken didn't poison anyone.  I will gladly allow Brian to continue to cook :)  He makes awesome food.  It was fun to cook again though..I am learning so much from Brian though--so cooking when I get home will hopefully be awesome due to everything he is teaching me :)

*I attempted to wake board after my chicken making. :)  I say attempted because I didn't actually make it up at all.  I merely face planted a gadjillion times in the freezing water.  Thank goodness I was wearing a wet suit so it wasn't too bad...but I did find where it had holes :) haha.  It was a good time.  They sure had fun watching me get dragged by the boat time and time again.  I have been told that the trick is to lean back, get the board at the right angle, push up and the list goes on and on of things I need to be aware of. hahaha  I will figure it out someday :) I am determined to do it before I leave.

The anticipation......ahhhh!!!  I promptly face planted off of the dock moments after this was taken :)

My little baby yellow eye--Jordan is the guy on the roof :)
My other yellow eye was way bigger-
but no one had seen a baby yellow eye in person before!

Dave the Lingcod--Frank is the guy next to me..supporting the weight :)

*Caitlin and I went on the boat on Tuesday all day long.  We went with our clients who got here on Sunday.  --Side note about our clients.  We have 3 that are from Texas (they were referred here by our first guests that were here last month) and then a single lady who is a lawyer in New York.  This is her second time here and she comes to get away from the craziness.  They are all really cool people and we really love them.  So anyway, Luke wanted to take Caitlin and I out one last time before July and all the craziness hit.  Frank and Jordan came too so we had a nice crowd on the one boat!  It was sooo much fun!!  We basically fished all day long.  We caught a TON of bass, but I also caught 4 Lingcod, 2 yellow eyes, and a quillback bass.  I'll tell you what, it was nothing like fishing at Moon Lake for trout!! I do *love* fishing at Moon Lake and I will for my whole life because I have such awesome memories there that cannot be replaced--but man, this is something entirely different!!!  You barely get your line down and BAM! You have a giant fish!!  It is a workout every time to pull those suckers in!!  The Lingcod were the most fun.  They are monsters and they fight!  Definitely getting some arm muscles :) It is a little pathetic to watch me reel those guys in...good entertainment for sure!  I am pleased to announce that I caught the biggest fish of the day.  I named him "Dave" in my father's honor (I know I already named one Dave, but this one needed to be Dave too--so we will have to make due :) ).  "Dave" weighed a total of 53 pounds!!!  Yes, he made it in the boat!!  I am becoming an Alaskan Woman after-all--kind of! :)

Our catch of the day!!!  Super awesome! :)

*Today (Wednesday) was an interesting day.  We had people from the National Geographic cast come on Tuesday night on a boat.  There are about 15 of them.  They are here just taking a break before they have to go back out and be filmed again for their show.  The craziness for the show doesn't really start until next week.  We will have the whole crew here sometime next week--that will be about 40 people total.  Plus we will have clients too.  It is going to be INSANE!!!  It will definitely help the month go by fast!  I think it will fly--this whole time has already!  The people in the cast seem to be really nice.  Very accomplished, cool people.  They are all very nice.  Back to today--it was a crazy morning trying to figure out logistics and everything.  Caitlin and I needed a break and it was just a beautiful day.  So we went on a hike and took our books.  We found a nice set of big rocks on the coast and read our books in the sun.  There was a perfect light, summer breeze, and it was just beautiful.  It was very relaxing.  We stayed there for awhile but then had to head back to the lodge because...wait for it....we were going to do YOGA!!  One of the women in the cast for the Nat Geo thing asked us if we wanted to do yoga with some of them.  We said "sure, why not?!"  So we met them at 4 and set up on the dock.  As we were doing our yoga, with our nice music and everything going on, Frank runs down the ramp as fast as possible and jumps in the little Boston Whaler that we have.  I got up really quick and asked what was up.  He said that there was a plane that went down and he went to help.  It turns out that a guy was flying and didn't check his gas.  He ran out and miraculously was able to land.  It could have been a really nasty situation, but he was OK and so was his airplane.  Frank pulled him in (as we were still doing yoga...haha..it must have been a sight to see).  Then we decided to end our little yoga session.  It was really fun actually.  I think we might do it tomorrow too :)  We had a great time doing it.  There were 4 other people besides Caitlin and I doing it.  The things we get into here...:) Its awesome.

*OK--so one more funny thing that happened today (Wednesday)--Caitlin and I were in charge of making the homemade ice cream tonight.  We discovered something very crucial.  No matter how many Oreo cookies you put in, it won't taste right unless you put in the SUGAR. :)  Needless to say, we ended up using the ice cream that Brian made earlier.  They just didn't have options.  Oops :)

Well, that's about all folks!  I am sure there is more, but it is time for me to get to sleep!  Remember, I love you all and miss you!!  Thanks for staying up with me!! Stay tuned for more!!!!!!!

Just more people,slugs and whales. That's all...or not :)

Alrighty folks!!!  I am just going to just jump right on in!!!  It has been awhile since my last update and that is because it has been a mad house around here!!!

Last Monday Caitlin and I were asked to go and help the guys get some salmon.  Now this was not an ordinary fishing trip.  We were doing subsistence fishing.  Basically, we let out this really long net around a school of salmon and we drove the boat in a really big circle and it caused the salmon's gills to go in the net and they got caught.  So then we had to pull the net up and the guys pulled the salmon out of the net and threw them in buckets.  Caitlin and I were the ones to run the salmon back to the fish holds.  We had to either stab them or rip their gill first though so that they would bleed out (if they don't bleed out then that causes the fishy flavor...fun fact :) )  So we did that for the whole day basically.  We got 320 fish!!! (oh, that was our job too...counting the fish as they pulled them out).  We unloaded them all and then had to fillet them.  That took FOREVER!!!  I am getting better at filleting salmon now though!  We were at that for awhile but then had to go and help with dinner and mingle with the guests.  That was fun.  We got a family of 4 (mom, dad, two girls ages 16 and 13).  They were a really nice family.  Jordan and I were the only ones at dinner because Shannon was at the doctor in Kodiak and everyone else was helping with Salmon.  It was fun to entertain :)  After dinner we ran out and helped the others.  We ended up working until 12:30 a.m.  It was a long night but with us all working together it wasn't so bad :)

So that was the kick-start to our week!!  The rest of the week was relatively normal. We had more guests come in on Wednesday.  It was a group of 6 men.  They were all older guys: 4 from France, one from Switzerland, and one from Australia.  The 4 couldn't speak English so that was interesting...especially because Caitlin had to go and take them on a tour of their cabin and they couldn't understand her at all.  Haha!  It was really fun to watch :)  (now I kind of see what it is like to have a little sister!)

Having a full house of guests kept us very busy for the rest of the week!!!  Everyone was gone by Saturday morning so Saturday was a nice little breather.  We just organized things and such.  It was nice.  The guests were all really nice and it was great to have a diverse group of people.  The family was from Minnesota.  The girls were really sweet and it was fun to chat with them and have 'girl talk' a little.  The parents were very friendly as well.  The European group was a little more tough because we couldn't understand each other super well and our cultures are very different--but it was really cool to experience that.

On Sunday we had a crazy, crazy day.  We had two guests come in.  They are from South Africa.  They are some of the most genuine, respectful people that I have ever met.  I loved them instantly!!!  Peter and Lynda are their names.  Peter is retired and they just like to go on trips!  They take about a month out of every year to do one big trip.  They have been planning this one for over a year.  They absolutely love it here!  Lynda keeps saying that she doesn't want to go back.  They want to move here.  :)  They just GUSH about his place.  They are so cool :)  So they came in the morning.  After they got here and then got on the boat, Caitlin and I had to to help set everything up for the camera crew that was coming.  We were running around like crazy for most of the day setting things up.  By the evening we had most everyone here.

Now to explain about the camera crew:  I can't say too much due to 'confidentiality' and things like that.  What I can say is that there is a film crew here doing a reality TV show.  It will hopefully be airing this fall--so I'll keep you tuned in on that!!  It will be interesting to watch though.  Probably quite dramatic :)  But its been fun to be in on a lot of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.  We are basically just providing food and shelter for the crew.  They are filming everything (except for beginning interviews) off of our island.  Having everyone here though is hectic!! There are about 14 people here for the crew.  Everyone is really nice though and they have cool things to share with us.  Its been fun :)

Also on Sunday we made more slug trap things because slugs are taking over our garden.  Its awful!! I am so sick of those buggers!! Just a fun fact.

Yeah..I make a pretty good boat captain if I do say so myself :)

Because Sunday was so crazy, Luke said he would take us on the boat on Monday.  We went out with him and Peter and Lynda.  It was really nice to get away, but it was kind of a bummer because it rained all day.  It was really windy too so that made it hard.  We didn't get to see any bears or anything and we didn't do any fishing.  It was really rocky and we got a little sea sick.  Especially Caitlin.  It wiped her out for the rest of the day the poor thing!!  I did get to drive the boat for a bit which was way fun!!  We also saw a cute little fox that we took lots of pictures of on one of the beaches.  We also saw a bunch of Harbor Seals.  It was cool.  Despite the weather and sea sickness, we did have a good day. :)  We got lots of rain, that's for sure!!


Tuesday was average...so let's get to Yesterday!!!  Yesterday was awesome!!  It was just an ordinary day of making lunches, eating food, cleaning cabins, and cleaning our floor.  Then, Josh and Frank were like, we are going to go one up the film crews and get "good footage"--want to come be our cast?  We jumped on that one really quick!!!  We had a guy here with a drone that Josh decided to hire while he was here to get some airiel shots of the property and other areas of Afognak that are just gorgeous.  They wanted other people in the shots to show what it is like for guests.  So we grabbed two other girls who are here with the film crew who are more of the 'office workers' doing the paperwork and stuff. They were happy to get some sight seeing in :).

My little Salmon :) Poor guy didn't stand a chance with that hook!
His blood dripped down my arm...Nasty :)  I am fearless!! haha

We went off and found Luke and his guests where they were fishing.  We ended up fishing as well and I caught my first Halibut ever!! It was awesome!!!!  I am telling you what, those fisheys are HUGE!!  It took forever!! It also took forever because we were in 300 ft deep water and they are fighters! It was soooo much fun though!! I named him Dave after my father because we have a tradition of naming fish after each other :)  Right after that workout, I caught my second on!  It was a baby one though so we threw him back.  It was so fun!!!  After that we were in another spot and other people were catching halibut.  But then I got a fish and we thought it was a halibut but it felt different to me...when I got it up, it was a pink salmon!  They were all shocked to see that it was over there..I guess it was in an unusual spot!!  So that was fun!! It was very exciting.  I love fishing here :)

After the fishing, we were going to go and see some sea lions.  But on our way, we spotted a whale so we chased after that.  We ended up spending probably the next 2 hours or so watching the whales.  It was fabulous.  We chased them all over the place.  We saw pods of them.  At first it was just humpbacks for the first hour and a half or so.  It was incredible.  They got really close to the boat and were flipping their tales and it was just awesome!!  All around us you could see them blowing water and oh man, I can't even describe it!!  It was an amazing sight!!  Then, out of nowhere, in the middle of the humpbacks we saw Orca (Killer Whale) fins!!  They were in a pod--and there was even a little baby!!  We all got SOOO excited.  The guys said that it was really rare to see Orcas mixed right in the humpbacks.  It must have been good feeding :)  So we just followed the whales.  It was so amazing.  All we kept saying was "this is so cool."  "This is amazing!!" We were so close to them!!  Oh man, I could go on and on and on!!!!  Frank (the handyman who has lived in Alaska for a while now) said that it was more fun watching all of us than the whales because we were so excited and into what we were seeing.  It was so breathtaking though.  You couldn't help but smile.  I am so grateful for that amazing experience :)  I hope to have more like it!!

And think..I didn't even have to use zoom for this photo!!

Well, that was our day yesterday!! It was a great end to the day!! I am happy and doing well.  I miss everyone from back home, but I am grateful for this once in a lifetime experience! I hope you are all well!!!  Please keep me in your prayers--I can tell they make a difference!! I love you all and invite questions, comments, or whatever!!!  Keep it real!!!!!!!! :D

The two girls from the film crew, Caitlin and I and our fish :)  This photo was taken on our dock.

Has it really been a week??

Hey all!!  It's me, Alicia again!  It has sure been a crazy busy week here!  Loving it though!!   We have had some awesome experiences this week so I am excited to share!!

We have had the family from Texas here all week and that has been so much fun.  They are really cool people.  They left here on Saturday morning which was sad, but it was great to get to know them as much as we were able to.  They couldn't leave on Friday as planned because of the weather and they couldn't even fly out on Saturday due to fog, so they were taken in on the boat by Luke!!  For the extra day that they were here we ended up just hanging out, watching movies and playing games.  It was fun.  It was also great to get some much needed rain :)

We had a great time with this family and they seemed to love their time here.  Some things we ended up doing together include: Whale watching at sunset, bonfire at Russian Island, a party here, and we ate every meal together.

The coolest thing by far was watching the whales at sunset.  Jordan, Caitlin and I set out in the boat one night to see if we could find some whales, but they were really far away.  We ended up deciding just to watch the sunset from the roof of the boat.  As we were sitting up there, we saw the other boat coming our way!  Luke and the mom and dad of the family that were here were coming out to watch the whales at sunset!  They wanted some good pictures, so they decided to come out and the kids stayed in.  So Luke told us we could come with them!  So we dropped the anchor and hopped on the other boat and took off!!  We went a little ways and we found some whales!  It was an amazing sight!!  They made some really interesting noises and we could see them/feel them blowing water.  It was really beautiful to see them at sunset.  It was so serene and peaceful.

 

At one point, Kathy, Caitlin and I were standing at the front of the boat taking pictures and the boys were all inside staying warm.  We were just chatting and playing with our cameras when all of the sudden a huge 'ole whale was coming right for us!!  We thought we were going to go under FOR SURE.  So Kathy screamed and grabbed Caitlin and I and we were screaming at this point too holding on for dear life!!  We thought we were going to be bumped by the whale and overturned or something!!!  But nothing happened. :)  The boys were inside laughing their heads off at us.  Kathy said that if she was going over she was going to take us with her!  Haha.  It was really funny..so that was my first close encounter with a whale!!  It was an amazing experience as a whole and I am so excited to experience more amazing things like that!

Another cool thing this week:  We went to Russian Island during the day to prepare the bonfire and there was an eagle right on the beach!  It was wounded so it couldn't fly away so I got really close to it!  I'll tell you what, those birds are so beautiful!!  No wonder the bald eagle is our national bird :)

Aside from those things, there wasn't too much else!  We have just been working in the kitchen and garden still with doing random little jobs on the side.  We are kept really busy and are enjoying our time here together.  This week we have a family of 4 coming in tomorrow and then we have another group coming in on Wednesday.  I can't remember the group size right off the top of my head...but it will be fun!!  I am excited to have more guests :)

Well, I sure love you guys and miss everyone!!  I hope all is well and encourage comments/questions/stories/packages/letters..whatever!! Tell me what is going on in civilization! :)  Much love!!!!

'

The signs read: "We aren't starving...Keep it coming!!" :)  Love you!!

Let the summer BEGIN!!!!

Hey everyone!!  Me again :)

This week has been good.  Busy busy!  Another whirlwind!  I will just make a brief list of things I have done this week..the things I can remember that is.. :)

• Painted the BARn floor--didn't finish until 11:30 p.m. :)
• Made slug traps out of yogurt containers and a homemade yeast mixture that we found online because the boys didn't want us to use their beer..haha
• Dragged trash cans into the forest and filled them with moss to put them in the bottom of the hanging baskets
• Picked spruce tips (if you don't know what they are--I didn't..--they are the very end of the spruce tree that buds and then flares out and gets all fluffy.  You pick them when they are still little and you can cook with them!!)
• Put this wax stuff on the bottom of the boat so barnacles and stuff don't grow on it
• Moved lumber
• Hosed off the cabins
• Deep cleaned inside the cabins
• Helped in the kitchen etc. etc. etc

Here we have the lovely Caitlin modelling the rain gear and safety techniques for the four wheeler :)

There is just a brief list of my week.  Its been really busy!!  We had much needed rain all day on Friday.  It was fantastic!!  We did have to wear this really goofy rain gear (which I will have to take a picture of at some point :) ) so that we could work in it.  I still got pretty wet though :)  As we were hosing off the cabins (in the rain..haha) we were trying to figure out if this hose worked or not and it turned out it didn't--and my face was the victim of that one!!  I was already wet so that fact that I sprayed myself full fledged in the face didn't make much of difference..but it was funny :)

So we got our first guests of the season here yesterday!  They are a really cool family from Texas.  The dad is the Mayor of Round Rock Texas.  The mom and dad have been here before and love it.  This is the dad's first time and the mom's second time.  They wanted to bring their two kids (ages 21 girl and 19 year old boy).  They are loving it so far.  It is fun to have other people around to get to know :)

My schedule will be a tiny bit different now that people are arriving.  It is tentatively as follows:
7:00-7:30 in the kitchen making lunches for the boat/helping get breakfast on the table although Brian does and AWESOME job at that so we mostly just do lunches.

8:00--we eat breakfast with the guests

9:00ish--clean up breakfast and tidy kitchen

The rest of the day will be spent doing chores and such-whatever needs to be done.  We should be getting a little bit of free time in between.

Pondering the meaning of life..is there more to pinecones and gardening?? :) haha..OF COURSE!!!

Around 4-5ish we will show back up in the kitchen and help with dinner prep in any way we can.  Dinner is at 7ish (depending on when the guests get back from fishing and other things of the day).  When guests get back with all the fish, at some point I will be helping with cleaning and prepping the fish for vacuum sealing.  That will be fun :)

We will clean up after dinner and then do whatever prep is needed for the next day and then do whatever the guys ask us to do!  Then we will call it a day :)  So that's basically what I will do as far as I understand.  We will see how it is when it comes down to it!! :)

I do like it here a lot.  It is definitely an adjustment and can be hard, but overall I am learning a lot and I am happy.  It sure is beautiful.  The most serene place I have ever been.  I am so grateful for this opportunity and am so excited to see the summer fly by as I stay busy and meet some really cool people!!

Well, thanks for all of your support!!  Keep being awesome! :) 

Yet another shot of how beautiful it is here

Here we go again!

Okay...so I don't have too much to report on actually!! Just a few little experiences--so this won't be such a novel---I think :)

We went kayaking this week!! One morning Josh asked us what we were going to do for fun.  We said, "Gardening of course."  He said, "Gardening?  You are going crazy if that's what you call fun around here."  We just looked at him.  I then said, "Well, what would YOU do for fun?"  Josh responded, "Sure not gardening!"  Then he suggested that we take the kayak out.  So we did that!  It was really fun.  It was a beautiful day and we just paddled around close so we didn't get lost.  (For those of you who don't know..the GPS was created just for me :) )  It was really awesome.

When we were out in the Kayak, our rock carrying golden lab decided it would be a good idea to follow us the whole time!  She is quite a swimmer!!  But it was quite a swim for her!!  We felt really bad that she was trying to keep up--then she would try to come in with us and that as simply not happening!!  So needless to say she has been pretty dead since that experience!

Yeah..the sunsets are pretty amazing when we are out on the boat :)

For the rest of the week, we have been working our little hearts out in the garden and making the flower beds all gorgeous for when the guests come on Saturday!  That will mostly be our tasks for this week.  Working hard to get the grounds all ready for the guests!!  We are excited for when they come.  Our work will change a little bit then.  I will update you when it happens so I give an accurate description. :) I still don't know quite what to expect.

I have been going running this

We went out fishing again this week and watched the sunset (which was gorgeous!) and that was very fun.  I included a little video that I thought you all might enjoy :)

I sure love you guys and hope that all is well!!  Keep smiling and being cool!! Life is good :)

Hey there kids!  It's time for more shenanigans with Alicia! Yay!!!!

So really quick, if you recall the last blog post with the gnat story, I decided to put together a little something that I hope will make you all laugh and shake your head. below you will see Caitlin and I in our bug getups.  We like to call this "the evolution of the bug net".  Yes, we really did this.  Desperate times my friends.  Desperate times.

The evolution of the bug net

The Adventure Continues

Well Folks,  time here is flying--and dragging at the same time oddly enough!  I haven't posted lately because (1) there hasn't been time and (2) I haven't had much to update you all on!!  Things have gotten significantly more exciting though--so I thought I would give some recaps of events!!!

Our work has changed a bit now that the hunters are gone.  Our job for the first half of the week has been pretty exciting---wait for it....wait for it.....we have become champions at picking up PINECONES!! Wooooooooo!!!! On Monday and Tuesday...and Wednesday we raked, and painstakingly picked up pine cones and sticks by hand so that we could make this the LOVELIEST little place ever.  When we began this task, we thought it would not take too long. Oh how wrong we were.  We have been picking up pine cones for days.  It has been a blast :)  

The gnats are really terrible here right now.   I think you all will get a kick out of this story--we were weeding and picking up pine cones next to one of the cabins and the gnats were absolutely TERRIBLE.  Caitlin was getting really fed up so she pulled up her hood, tied it as tight as she could and put on her sunglasses.  That worked for her for awhile but she couldn't breathe that well.  I tried to do the same thing, but the sweatshirt I was wearing didn't have a draw string.  So I just ended up pulling it around my face and biting it.  That was hard to breathe with too!!  So we got really annoyed with that and were running around in circles screaming.  :)  Yeah...it was a pretty sight.  So we decided to come to our room and try to come up with something to help.  Well, I have these really cute scarves that are light weight and it turns out that you can see through them a little bit!!  So I wrapped Caitlin's head up in one of the scarves and it was wonderful!!  She looked pretty funny, but we didn't care.  So I grabbed another one of my beautiful neon scarves and tied it around my head.  We walked down the stairs and Luke had been looking for us to relay a message from his mother.  He saw us and was like---uh...what are you guys doing?  You look ridiculous.  We started laughing and told him that we were trying to save ourselves from the gnats.  He said, "you know, we have bug nets that you can wear."  That was the best news we had heard all week!!!  Those things work wonders!  Whoever invented them is my hero :)  We will have pictures on the way of the evolution of our head-wear.  It was pretty funny. :)  The nets have been our best friends ever since.  Gnats still get in every once in awhile but they do made a huge difference! 

The pine-cone-raking-picking-cleaning etc has been interspersed however with random odd jobs.  For example, we carried flowers to the greenhouse, watered in there, learned how to work the hose, and other various jobs.  We were also recruited by Josh and Jordan to help them move a whole ton of pipes and debris to the opposite end of the property.  That was  a good time.  It was actually great to be doing more work like that.  The time went by a whole lot faster!  

The best part about this week (except for the discovery of bug nets around our heads) is that we finally got to go out in the boats!!  Both on Wednesday and Thursday night!!  Jordan took us out on Wednesday and we went and saw a whale carcass, and the beautiful sunset!  It was amazing!! We also had the opportunity to go FISHING!! Yay!!  I caught my first sea bass!  And it was teeny!  Haha..Caitlin caught one at about the same size and it was huge!  It was pretty fun to fish there though.  Jordan is one of the guides when the season starts so he gave us some pointers and would tell us where the fish were etc.  So we caught quite a few!  We just threw them back, but man, it was fun!!  We also went to Russian Island.  It is a little island that is just down the way from us.  It is a pretty cool place.  I guess we will be going there for some summer barbecues and parties.  On July 4 we here that we have a huge firework show on the beech there.  It will be pretty cool :)  While we were on Russian Island, Jordan took us up on a peak and we he taught us how to shoot.  We shot at seagulls and I don't think I even got in their vicinity!  I will have to practice :)  We saw some otters and watched the sunset from the boat.  It was really cool.  

The lovely whale carcass--I was pretending to throw up and it grossed Caitlin out :)

Sunset last night.  Isn't it beautiful? :)

We went out the next night with Luke and Jordan and we went fishing.  It was really fun.  The awesome thing about fishing here is that you just let down your line as fast as you can until you hit the bottom and then reel up a few times.  Then you just put it up and down and up and down and before you know it, you have a fishy!  One time I just barely let it down and within like 7 seconds I had a fish!  I didn't even get it down to the bottom!!  It was amazing!  Another time, I had a fish but I got it to the top and it got off--but he was still interested in my line for whatever reason so I played with it at the top and watched him try to get it until he finally gave up.  That was kind of fun to watch!!  I will really enjoy going fishing for the even bigger stuff!!  The guys were telling me that they are excited to take me fishing for halibut because I will freak out.  Its also funny to see me fish for these big fish because my arms are so weak and my pole goes everywhere.  So it will be interesting to see me with the REALLY big fish!!  

Night 2 of fishing--so stinking fun!!!!

So that's most of the really exciting stuff folks!!!  I will keep you posted when there is more to report! Stay tuned!! :)

Background: Afognak Wilderness Lodge--Who is here, and what I do (so far :) )

 Afognak Wilderness Lodge functions as mainly a hunting lodge.  Right now we are on the tail end of the bear hunts.  We have three guests here right now: A couple and their son.  As soon as they get a bear they will be leaving.  The longest they can stay is to May 16th.  So right now, that is what we are looking at as far as guests for the rest of May.

This Lodge has been created from the ground up by Shannon and her late husband, Roy. It has been around for 40 years or so and has many returning guests.  It is a homey place and is a wonderful refuge from the world.

View from the float plane coming in

We came in on the blue float plane at the very end :)

Our Lovely garden...complete with peas in the back!

The next couple of weeks for me are going to be getting this place all ready for when we have photographers and fishermen come for the summer.  We have currently been very busy with weeding the garden and planting the vegetables.  It has been very tedious and we have been working extremely long hours.  It has been great to be outdoors though. It is so beautiful here!  We have been enjoying the bald eagles that sore above us.  We are enjoying the sun--which doesn't go completely down until 11 p.m. or so...now that's a little strange for me for sure!!  It has been great for Caitlin and I to get to know each other as well. We sit in the garden and just chat and ask each other questions. That's been fun.

Our workload will change a little bit once we have a steady flow of guests.  We will be working full days still, but not quite like we are doing now.  It sounds like we will have a more structured schedule which will be nice :)  From what I understand we will be helping in the kitchen, making lunches for fishermen on the boats during the day, as well as processing fish and packaging them etc.  We will be learning all sorts of new skills and I am very excited for that!

So that's a little bit about where I am.  I can't explain how beautiful it is here.  I will try to post pictures to display the beauty.  Its amazing :)  The people are great too..as far as I can tell.  Here is a little bit of a preliminary background for each of them. 

Shannon:  She is the owner and main operator of the lodge.  She manages the schedule, paperwork and things like that.  She is a member of the LDS church for about 30 years.  She has LOTS of stories and talks quite a bit!  In short, we have to be very careful when we go in to ask her a question...because we might not get out for an hour or more!  She is a good person though and I will enjoy working for him.

Josh and Luke: They are Shannon's sons They lead the bear and deer hunts and are great outdoor-men. They both pretty much do everything!  They have helped build many of the buildings here, they maintain the grounds, take guests on the boats and out hunting, and basically everything around this place.

Jordan: I have only briefly talking to Jordan, but he is a nice guy.  He is Shannon's grandson.  As far as I understand he does much of what Luke and Josh do.

Brian:  He is an outstanding cook.  So far I have eaten soooo good!! I planned to lose some weight this summer/fall, but I don't think that will be happening if I don't watch what I eat better!!  He has made some of the most amazing pastries, great potatoes, venison, scallops in rice, many different salads, different breads and the desserts are superb!!  I could go on and on!!

Caitlin, Sadie and I :)

Sadie:  Sadie is our little golden lab.  She is so cute!! She enjoys carrying around rocks and won't play with anything else.  We have enjoyed playing with her in the garden.  She doesn't bark and is just awesome.

So far that is the staff!! There will be a couple of other people joining us, but for the most part, that's it!!  I look forward to getting to know each of these people better!!  

And so it begins...

Here is the beginning of my adventure thus far:

I left for Alaska on Monday, May 5.  I left with Caitlin, the other girl who is going to be working with me this summer.  Quick background on Caitlin, she is 19 and is from Logan, Utah.  She is a very nice girl and we are becoming great friends already :)

We flew out from Salt Lake around 11 on Monday.  To make a very long story short, we had several connecting flights--and we ended up getting stuck in Anchorage due to fog in Kodiak (where we were going to stay the night and then take the float plain to Afognak Island where I will be working.)  We had to do a lot of figuring out--but ended up getting a flight out for the next day at 6:25 a.m.  Because it was already 12 --a.m., we opted to stay in the airport--that was really fun :).  We got to Kodiak the next day around 8 and finally checked into our hotel.  It was glorious!!  We got stuck in Kodiak for longer than expected due to the fog again, but we tried to stay very positive.  After a lot of phone calls and coordination, we were given the call that they were going to fly us in!  

When we got to the dock, I was amazed at the beauty. There were 3 float planes at the dock.  The pilot came and introduced himself.  His name is Peter.  He is a nice guy who is probably around 27 years old.  He has been flying here for about 2 years and loves it.  He is originally from Austin so this is a change for him!  He was a big tease and reminded me a lot of Brian (both in looks and personality! haha)  He loaded the plane and then it was time for us to head off! I sent off texts saying goodbye to the world like I wouldn't be able to see everyone again..then on the plane we went!  We were taking two men with us that we were dropping off at Kitoi Bay along with their mail.  As we were about to get on the plane, Peter turned to us and said "Ok, I need someone to fly up front with me and the rest will be in the back."  Everyone just stared at each other awkwardly and I finally said "I'll do it!!"  So I had the privilege of hopping in first.  I was really excited to experience riding in a float plane!  I didn't really know what to expect, but I was really looking forward to the experience.

I must say--this was like nothing I have ever experienced before.  We put on our big 'ole headphones and the engine revved up.  We started taxiing out of the bay like a boat would.  Suddenly we shot forward and then up in the air!  As the plane rose up my breath was taken away by our beautiful surroundings!!  I can't even describe how beautiful it was!!  Although it was foggy in parts and visibility wasn't completely clear 100% of the time, that enhanced the beauty!!  The lush mountains would just appear seemingly out of nowhere amongst the puffy clouds and eerie fog.  I can't wait to send pictures!!! (I gave Caitlin the job of taking pictures because the back seat was less obscured).  We made several stops so that we could drop off mail to the various places.  So the first stop was Kitoi Bay.  It seemed to be a more industrial island--like a hatchery. It was beautiful.  We dropped off the two men with us and then we headed off again! The cool thing about Peter is that he wanted us to really get the full experience especially for our first time. So he flew by the dock at Seal Bay (our bay)  He pointed and said, "That will be your new home!"  There were people on the dock and they waved at us as we flew by.  It was really cool because he dipped way down low so we could get a good look.  It was amazing.  Next we headed to Blue Fox bay which is another lodge, but this one is more like a getaway for families and just for relaxing.  Our lodge is much more centered on hunting.  It was fun to meet our neighbors.  They seem pretty cool :)  I doubt we see them again! The last place we stopped before home was Port Williams.  Port Williams used to be an old cannery. It was really cool!  There were these old run down buildings and old boats tied up.  It looked a little creepy and abandoned!  But there was a man there who we picked up.  He had been alone on that island for a month!  It's a wonder that he wasn't insane!!! 

As we flew, Peter told us fun facts about the places and we just chatted a little bit.  It was just such a great experience all around!  We saw a whale's tale briefly. The lay of the land is just gorgeous!!  It was amazing!  The plane didn't even make me sick!!  It was actually quite a comfortable ride! The taking off and landings were very smooth.  It was just a really awesome experience!! :)

We finally landed at Seal Bay where we were promptly greeted by Shannon with hugs and we unloaded the plane.  They got on their way shortly after that.  We dragged our stuff upstairs to our quarters right after that--and Sharon showed us around.  We live in a building that is all staff.  Right now it is just us upstairs in the upper left corner.  Our rooms is not huge, but it is a nice size.  We like it!  There are several rooms upstairs that will be occupied by the handyman that will be here in a couple of years.  He has worked here for about 5 years and Shannon says he is a sweetheart.  Luke and Josh, Shannon's sons, live downstairs.  Their cousin Jordan is down there as well.  There is a kitchen down there as well as a living room with a TV and such.  Downstairs there is a room with all of the tack and a lot of firs and guns and things.  Next to that room is the processing room where they process the fish and deer and things like that when they come in.  That's our house :) 

After our tour of the lodge we live in, we unpacked and got settled.  We were then introduced to the cook, Brian.  He is a really cool guy--really nice.  He has been cooking since he was 5 (now he is 60-his family owned a bakery).   He is an amazing chef.  We will be working with him a lot (as we understand thus far..)  

The rest of the day we spent unpacking and getting things all ready for our stay here.

This is quite a detailed account of the start to this adventure--but this is acting as a journal for me :)  I will be interested in hearing your feedback or questions that you have for me about my adventure here in Alaska. :)  It is an incredible place--the most beautiful place I have ever been!  Stay tuned for the next installment!! :)