The kindness of Strangers

We walked to the post office this morning to mail a few last minute things, and pick up some Christmas presents.  We had no idea that this is what we would be getting.

So the lady brings these out and says "hope you guys drove a big truck." 

We laughed and said, "nope, we walked."

Suddenly, people we had never seen or talked to before started offering to drive us home.  One man offered to take my snowboard home for me.  I declined. 

We had no option, so a lady drove me and all these packages home, while Dylan and Ruckus hiked back.  

The kindness of people here never ceases to amaze me.  At home the likeliness of someone offering a ride home would have been less.  Everyone here is so friendly and willing to help a stranger out in a time of need.  :)

Merry Christmas to everyone.  

I miss you all very much.

FINALLY

Last night Dyl let Ruckus outside for a few minutes and immediately we heard him down the road a bit barking like crazy.  Since it was kinda late, Dylan went outside to get him to stop barking.  A few seconds later he came running inside and asked if I wanted to see a moose!

So I ran outside (without a coat in -10F) and there were two moose standing in the road up a bit.  They were HUGE.  It was dark so I couldn't see them very well, but it was still very cool. 

Baby it's cold outside

Life is good.

I am loving my job and living in Alaska.  The people are so welcoming and supportive it's like everyone here is family.

Work has been going very well.  My day looks something like this: get the lift set up and running for the day, hang out for awhile, go snowboard, bump chairs for guests, go snowboard, make friends with ski school, snowboard, watch people fall down, stay warm in the shack, take down the maze and close up the lift for the night.  Pretty great job!  Yesterday it was a whopping 5F at the base of the mountain, so I volunteered to sit at the top shack for a couple hours.  It can be boring up there because there isn't tons to do, but I was inside where it was warm so there was nothing to complain about.  Until I had to go to the bathroom.

Usually the weather here is about the same as in Illinois, at least the temp, but it has been oddly cold the past few days.  Yesterday I think we hit 7F and a for the past few days it hasn't gotten over 15F.  I've been wearing lots of layers and staying in the lift shacks as much as possible while at work.  During the day it doesn't seem so bad, but as soon as the sun goes down it is COLD.

Speaking of the sun, I haven't seen it in . . . . well, I'm not sure how long.  It does come up however, just not high enough to get over the mountains.  So our sunlight is like a continual dawn/dusk (which makes the mountains look awesome).  It does get light enough to seem like day however.  The sun comes up around 9:30 and it is dark by 4:30.  It's really not as bad as I was expecting.  Also, it's almost winter solstice, so once December 21st arrives our days will start getting longer and longer.

Christmas is soon, and it's going to be weird to not be at home with family for it.  Dylan and I have the day off of work, so I'm hoping we sit around and watch a Christmas Story over and over.  We are talking about having friends over for a Christmas dinner so we will see what comes of that.  

I hope everyone at home is doing well, I love to hear from you!

Avalanche Bombs

I have been hearing (and seeing on Facebook) that IL got some snow yesterday.  So did we!  We got 6 inches at the bottom and 2 feet at the top of the mountain.  Went out yesterday and got some powder but it was so windy it wasn't very enjoyable.  They had closed chair 6 and the tram due to high winds and it sounded like chair 4 should have been closed too.  I was going to make a chair 4 run since it wasn't crowded but I didn't want to sit on the chair for 15 minutes in the high winds.
Anyway, because we had gotten all this new snow, this morning they had to shoot avalanche bombs to trigger any avalanches before guests arrive.  We learned this morning that Ruckus does not like these bombs.  They started around 8 this morning and Ruckus was soon laying on my face.  Seconds after the next one, he had found his way under the covers between Dylan and I.  It was pretty funny.  Reminded me of a kid during a thunderstorm.
In other news, things have been going well.  Ruckus ran away the other day and ended up being out in the cold (the high of 15F) for about 5 hours.  We decided to go snowboarding rather than wait for him so he got stuck out for longer than expected.
Today is our last day off before 4 days of work.  Dylan is out getting some powder, I was going to head out in a little bit but then he told me all the lower trails are pure ice, so I think I'll take the day off!  My toe edge is coming much better and yesterday I was rocking it in the powder but the ice makes me nervous.

Not sure what else to write, so here's the board I am hoping to get for Christmas:

K2 Turbo Dream 157cm Wide

Happy Late Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great holiday!  It was weird being away from home for Thanksgiving, it made it feel like just any other day.  I had the day off from work, so I took Ruckus for a walk into town.  Not my brightest idea, he isn't the world's best walker and likes to pull on the leash, a lot.  My arms were already very sore from bumping chairs the day before at work, so he was not helping.  

After our walk, I headed up to the resort to get some runs in.  It had been snowing all day (we got from 6-8 inches at the base of the mountain) so I thought riding in powder would be good practice and a softer landing.  The snow was very sticky and was slowing my board down a lot, which was helpful, except for when it would stop me on a slope.  I met up with a co-worker who helped teach me how to use my toe edge, something I have not been able to do.  He was very helpful and patient and I got a few good turns in before my legs were so tired I decided to call it quits.
Later, we went over to a friends house for a Thanksgiving dinner.  It was nice to actually do something on Thanksgiving.  I ate a lot of turkey and got to talk to some new friends, which was very nice.

Yesterday I went back out to the mountain and Dylan helped me with my toe turns some more, and I am getting them down!  Yay!!  I fell hard a couple times and came home with a swollen knee and sore wrist.  Oh well, that's a snowboarders life, I guess. :)

Peace and Love

1st day of work

Did you know that Alaska gets a lot of earthquakes?  Nope.  I didn't either, until one woke me up.  Well, technically I'm not positive it was an earthquake.  It may have just been Ruckus.  I did find a website (err, Julie gave me a website) that has earthquake info on it, and there had been one that night.  It was less than 100 miles from Girdwood but also small, so I'm still thinking what I felt was Ruckus.
Today was my 1st day of work at Alyeska.  Actually first day of training.  It went pretty good, I made 2 GIRL friends.  I'm pretty stoked about that.  There is an over abundance of boys here so it was nice to talk to some girls. I had been kinda nervous all day about taking a run down the mountain since I haven't been snowboarding since January and that was in IL and I was not awesome at it.  So naturally I fell immediately getting off the chair lift, in front of all the other trainees there.  Well, at least I got that embarrassing moment out of the way!  I ended up doing pretty good the rest of the way down, only fell twice, which for me is really good.
We also have gotten a PO box, so please send all love letters, winning lotto tickets, candy, care packages, etc.  to:

PO Box 1175

Girdwood, AK 99587

School friends:  I will write back, so send lots of letters! :)

Peace and love

Hand Tram

The other day Dusty, Dylan, Ruckus and I hiked out to the hand tram in Chugach State Park.  It ended up be a 7 mile hike from the Alyeska Resort back home.  A 4 hour, 7 mile hike, in 2 feet of snow (for the majority of the time), through the mountains.  Wow!  I was not at all prepared for that.

The view of the water fall was well worth it though.  The water was so crystal clear and blue, I wish my camera had done a better job capturing that.

After the bridge over the falls there was another mile to the hand tram.  The trail we were on was very steep at this point and I was afraid that if I stepped in the wrong spot the snow would give way and I would be sliding down the mountain.

The hand tram was just this basket that you stand in and pull yourself across an 80 foot gorge.  This is Dusty going across first.  I didn't take a single picture from inside the tram because I was too focused on everything that was going on around me.

On the way back home, I got to see the very small town which consisted of a couple shops/restaurants, the Mercantile (a grocery store about the size of a large gas station), and the Post Office.

Needless to say we were all exhausted by the time we finally made it back home.  Ruckus was so tired he went straight to bed and didn't get up for a couple hours.  It's entirely possible that I did the same thing too. :)

 Peace and Love.

Rainforest

Did you know Girdwood is in a temperate rainforest?  Nope.  Neither did I.
Dylan tried to tell me the bird sound I heard was a Toucan.  He didn't fool me.  I pushed him in the snow.

Welcome to Alaska

We finally made it to Alaska!  

Dylan and I successfully got all of our "most cherished" belongings into 6 suitcases, 4 carry on bags and 1 dog kennel with the most important of all belongings in it, Ruckus!  We got set up in our triplex and walked around Girdwood today.  I met my new boss and saw the Resort I'll be working at.  

Dylan and I spent some time playing in the snow with Ruckus along our walk.  I was hoping to run into some wild animals but instead I just met some local dogs in the neighborhood.  It is absolutely beautiful here despite the rainy weather.
I really am not sure what to write, so please ask questions, request photos, whatever.  


Peace and love.