I am so happy that Christmas music is playing on the radio. I don't care how early it is, I love it! I have never been so excited for Christmas season in my life--probably because I have never been so stressed at school before. With some hot chocolate and a blanket I want to sit in a dark decorated room with the twinkling lights of the mini village and the "Charlie Brown tree" while watching A Muppet Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story... and all the Christmas classic movies. That would be so therapeutic... *sighs* At least it will be nice to have a break for Thanksgiving, but I will still be studying.

I am so tired. But before I go to bed...

I like food.

I like Alaska.

I went whale watching and to the Glacier and was feed at another Salmon bake yesterday.

I saw transient orca breaching and humpback bubble net feeding.

Today I worked until 2:00 pm then flew in a helicopter up the glacier to go dog sledding on top.

I counted only 42 days until I come home!

So happy Fourth of July everyone! We had our fireworks already at 12:00 am (that is when it was dark). I went and watched them over on Douglas Island at a house Camille is watching for free rent (:D This was to avoid the crowds and especially the drunk wasted people wandering the streets after. The fireworks were off a barge in the Gasenau Channel between Douglas Island and Downtown Juneau. This made for great acoustics because the boom of the fireworks would echo off the mountains on both sides. However visually they don't compare to home when the two churches competed with each other. There wasn't even a finale-they just ended! There also was a brief intermission during the show because they accidently lit some fireworks they weren't supposed to and the barge it on fire (at least that is my best guess from what I saw from the coast). It took about ten minutes before things started back up again. When it ended we were confused because of the lacking finale but we accepted it as over when we heard everyone yelling on both sides of the channel (that was cool). After we watched some hillarious late night infomercials and more lame stuff for about an hour, waiting for traffic to die down. So I ended getting to bed around 2 am. Then woke up at 5:30 this morning to go to work (btw I have not slept since). They kept me busy working and added on extra duties. I got stuck in the valley for 3 hours because of the parade. So I then I had nothing to do so I went and did some grocery shopping, ate a tasty feast of raisins fig bars and peanuts, and then stopped by Northstar Trekking to talk and socialize a bit. Then at 2 something I headed back to the valley and got stuck in the worst traffic I have ever driven in; I moved 20 ft or less in 40 minutes. But I suppose this is all ok because I ended up with 5 more hours of work in the end than I was expecting. I still feel fine and wide awake but gross. I bet I will be exhausted later. The only downside is that I was planing on going on a tour that would fly me to the glacier and then a guide would take us on a two hour hike on the giant ice cube, but I got back too late :( Oh well I still have two months to do that. 

Oh I got to wear jeans (b/c they are blue) and tennis shoes to work with my work shirt rather than black dress pants and dress shoes becau

se of the fourth. It was fun. We were also allowed to wear red, white, or blue shirts if they had collars-unfortunately I had none... meh.

Well once again--HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! TH

E FOUNDING FATHERS ROCK MY SOX! 

A view of the fireworks. Notice how the sky is still light behind the mountain still at midnight.

This is a view of downtown on a rare sunny day. My apt. is above the tourist shop across the street from the Red Dog Saloon (the big red building on the left). You can pick out the red pillars of the building in between the yield and curve ahead signs. The blueberry blue bus and the white bus with the blue and green stripe on the bottom are two of the smaller buses that are driven in the company that I work with. 

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you all Alex Trebek (the Jeopardy TV show host) was here last week and went on one of my coworker's tours. He said he wanted to answer every question he got in the form of a question but he refrained. LOL. 

Then yesterday Johnny Deep and Paul McCartney were here yesterday on a yacht together. I gave them both high fives when I saw them walking down the street. (JK. I never saw them but I saw their boat). Here is a picture (I didn't take it I found it on the internet btw)

With all these people talking about celebrities in town I learned that Harrison Ford was here last summer too. Someone said that he was rude and mean... I say meh he is a celebrity and I don't really care...but I can't deny Indiana Jones is awesome! So this place is crawling with famous people but I won't see Sarah Palin or her kids selling lemonade outside much around here anymore (you probably already know, but for those of you who don't she has resigned as governor because [according to the news] she doesn't want to take advantage of the government and it's money and just be a lame duck). I wonder what will happen to the trampoline in the backyard of the governor's mansion now? 

Well today has been another pretty normal day. Today I took my first group from the Baranof to the airport. They were from Arizona and gave me the only tip I got today. The rest of the day I had three minute transfers from one dock to the other for the zipline and the steamboat tours. Then I ended my work day with a Mtn Zip and Glacier tour. This was a family group of six and I loved talking to them. The mom was a nurse and the dad was a doctor. They actually met while working together in The CCU.  They have been married for 26 years now yet they said it seemed they had only been married days. They were so cute. It is nice to see couples with families still sincerely and openly showing love to each other. Most of the folks I drive around just talk about going to the bars and how they want to "eat, drink, and be merry." 

After work I was able to catch a ride home and then walked to the Senate Mall to pay rent and then to the thrift store to buy white shirts to tie-dye at the work softball kickoff party. I walked all the way there and guess what?!?! It was closed! So I walked back but took my time and stopped in the Capital building and gave myself a tour, went into the health foods store to look around and decided that eating that food wasn't worth the price, stopped in the Alaska Fudge Co. and talked to Wendy (who is in my branch), then went and met another girl who is in my ward but I still can't pronounce her name right so I won't bother trying to write it... Then I went home but not for long :) 

Cherish picked me up across the street from the Red Dog and drove me to work where the party was. I had a blast making a tie-dye shirt (I used one that I had brought up with me). Eating BBQ hot dogs and talking with coworkers. Some of us came back to the apartment then turned on "Hello Dolly" and that is what we are doing now. So with that being said I am going to enjoy the movie now :) Adios!

So I just got back from work at 9:30 pm and it took half an hour to walk home so I got home at 10 pm and the sun is still out! I am really happy that I am working some nice long hours. I have been snacking on food all day so I didn't bother eating a real dinner and instead ate pepper jack cheese-Yum! 

Okay, so funny story of the day... 

Cherish was running errands after work and ended up leaving her keys in the apartment and locked herself out. So she called Maria who was staging downtown and asked if she would drop off her keys so she could get back in the apartment. Maria was headed down when she was called to pick someone up and transfer them to a different dock. Cherish did not know this so kept on waiting outside for her at the Red Dog Saloon (it was the second time she had been waiting outside today). After a bit a man who was a bit testosterone happy and working inside came out and asked if she "was lost" because he had seen her out there awhile. After he proceeded to "hit on her" as Cherish put it. Then left and went inside but then came back with a free coaster with his name and number on it. Ooo la la. He was inviting her to a Fourth of July party  with lots o' booze when Maria showed up with a van and keys and saved her yeah! Maria was the knight in shining armor :)

Today I was supposed to do three transfers with Japanese people and I had studied the night before with Cherish and had learned to say "Good afternoon. My name is Heather. I do not know any Japanese. I am sorry." and "Welcome back. Did you have fun" and some basic words all in Japanese. But when I arrived at work I found out that I no longer was scheduled to take these people out :( Sad, but oh well.

Last night I went out to eat with Angelica, Suzette, Maria, Jordan, and Nick at the Baranof Hotel Bubble Lounge where we get a 50% discount as local employees for HAPA. I had Halibut and chips for the first time and it was tasty. I love fish. My goal it to try a bunch of different seafood stuff while I am up here. Ummm... I am tired.  I have work tomorrow at 5:30 am and I must leave half an hour early so I am going to bed now. Good night. 

Oh yeh! Today we rented "Hello Dolly" from Blockbuster (they have a much smaller selection BTW) and I am so excited to watch it soon :D 

Playing softball with coworkers Angelica is above I am below. Do you see how close I was to getting out! The yellow softball is flying right into his glove.

Ok. So the apartment came with wine glasses and when we were done using them that evening a contest broke out over who could fit their mouth over the top. It was hilarious and gross.
These two pictures were taken when Erin our roommate was baptized. Angelica was the one to introduce Erin to the church and she had no idea she was getting baptized. We had kept it a secret from her and told her that she was asked to give her own conversion story at a fireside that evening. She arrived on the plane that day and she was so surprised when she found out. Everyone else then surprised Erin by putting together a special musical number to sing at her baptism. The spirit was strong and we were all happy.
Erin and the missionaries :)

I have uploaded a youtube video. It should be running in a few hours. 

This video covers my first 24 hours in Juneau. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8qIWsXUo_Y

A view of one of the cruise ships in port
I can get real close to these guys :)
Bald eagles mate for life. The female is on the left because she is bigger and has more defined shoulders. You can also tell the difference by looking in between there talons. The male will have a remote control in his clutches and the female will have a credit card in hers (tourists love this joke).
Me right before going on the zipline
With some roommates  (Cherish, me, Suzette, Maria, and Erin)(Angelica had not arrived yet) trying to get a photo of us jumping in front of the wall made entirely of skis.

Here is the 4 week update of Alaska:

The usual day:

I wake up 1 1/4 hours before I report in for work. On average this is at 6 am but I have gotten up as early as 4 am before. Then again sometimes it is at later in the day and I get to sleep in. I get up and make my bed (Cherish can testify for me) get dressed go down stairs and make myself delicious oatmeal with 1/2 c. oatmeal a small spoon of brown sugar and some fruit if I am lucky enough to have some. While the water is heating I make myself a peanut butter and honey sandwich (sometimes 2, depending on how long my day will be) and grab some other snack. As I eat my oatmeal, I contemplate life's mysteries and wonders. Afterwards I head back upstairs do my last minute primping, gather my things, and leave with some toast to eat on the way so work. I walk to the end of the hall and down the stairs and exit another locked door that leads outside between the tourist shops Chilkat and Island Diamonds. 

Because this is the usual day the rain of course is coming down in a moderate drizzle. I pull up the hood on my bright red work raincoat and walk south to begin my 1/2 hour walk to "the yarrrd" (say it like a pirate). I hum a hymn or two and pause occasionally to watch a cruise ship pulling in or to enjoy making eye contact with the bald eagles. No one else is around except for the few beat up cars that pass me as they also make their way to work. If I look up I notice that I can barley see the top of Mt. Roberts and the tram through the low clouds. After walking a mile I am at the base of "the hill." I refuse to slow down so I consciously keep a brisk pace. I continue another 1/2 mile until I walk into the driver room and say hello to the others also in the yard. After enjoying some small chit-chat I swipe my time card find my keys and DVIR (daily vehicle inspection report) and head out to my van. (To write the routine of checking the van would be rather boring but it is sufficient to say that we check the engine, interior, and exterior.) Everything is in working order as it should be... but oh dear, it looks that the previous driver didn't fuel the vehicle last night. Now I must walk to the mechanic garage and grab the fuel card. I am carful fueling the van because the pump doesn't stop when it is full and it can overflow.

Half an hour to departure time I arrive at the dock to pick up the cruise ship tourists. While waiting I talk to the dock reps. I have made good friends with some of them who I see often, but there is always still someone who I have not met yet. We converse in mostly small talk but it is still way fun.

When the passengers get in my car I transfer them to their excursion and then I continue work all day. (I will write up my tour material sometime in a later post.) During my first 1/2-1 hour of stage time I am usually napping in my van. Afterwards I either walk around breathtakingly beautiful Alaska, eat, read, call friends or talk to other drivers staging around me. My favorite place to stage is at the glacier or Brotherhood Bridge because there is usually someone I know out there staging with me who I can chat with. There are also some very nice walks around there. You can walk to the beaver dam and watch the cute fat rodent swimming around. He keeps his head above water and you can see the wake leaves behind his large brown tail. Or you can walk to Steep Creek where you can watch the black bears trying to catch the large red sockeye salmon that are jumping and swimming upstream to spawn. There is also of course the magnificent Mendenhal Glacier itself stretching across 1 1/2 miles between two mountains at the terminus and over 3000 ft tall. Occasionally you can catch it calving into Glacier Lake with the icebergs floating around in murky silt filled water. The Mountain goats hop around on the mountains above. The clean air is filled with the sweet scent of the Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, and Amber woods. Here I feel so small around this vast landscape yet I know that my life is still important and that I have great purpose and potential.

After dropping off my last passengers I radio in "This is (van #) I just dropped off my last passengers and am now done for the day and heading back to the yarrrd unless there is anything else I can do to help." a few second later I get the response "Nope. Come on back. Thanks for your help today." I quickly respond, "Copy that. Thank you." It is a bittersweet moment pulling into the yarrrd because I can go home and relax or do something fun but I would prefer to be working more hours. (Luckily, when I am a nurse there will be plenty of opportunities to work more if I desire.) I fuel and wash the van then do a post-trip , where I make sure everything is still in working order. After I walk back into the driver room and fill out my daily and monthly paperwork and then punch out for the day. 

To get home I sometimes can hitch a ride from someone else who is leaving but if not I walk back past the shops and the Red Dod Saloon to get home. Now it is a much different story then walking to work. In fact, the streets are now crowded with tourists. I usually stop in Del Sol and talk to Kendra and the other Del Sol employees and chat a bit before I continue walking back home. i make another quick detour right before I get to the apartment and stop in Chilkat to talk to my roommate Suzette who works there. We can chat for a few minutes or over 1/2 an hour, it just depends on how busy we are and our moods. 

I step into the apartment and walk to the couch and rest a minute reset my mind and then go upstairs and change into clothes that are way more stylish and comfortable then my uniform. Afterwards I may do a variety of things depending on the time and day: go on a tour somewhere for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D, clean, eat, sleep, go on a walk around town, call family/friends at home, get a group to go an a hike or grocery shopping, hang with friends, or go to a church activity. 

There are so many things to do with the YSA branch up here. Sunday is church and choir practice is after then in the evening the downtown group comes to our apartment (since it is the best location) and we all eat dinner together. Monday night is FHE and after we always play volleyball or basket ball until the building closes at 10 pm. Wednesday night is institute and volleyball again after until 10 pm. Thursday night is softball at sandy beach park (this is with work but it might as well be a church activity because there are so many of us there). Friday night we are assigned to clean the church building but we have an activity after such as movie night, volleyball, or just eat food and chat. There are also random activities such as BBQ on the beach, dances, etc. 

When it comes to getting on free tours this is what I have done so far:

Pilots Choice helicopter tour--2 times but different pilots. They take you over a bunch of glaciers and land on two of their choice and walk you around. Breathtaking and large!

Dolphin Tours Whale Watching--We only saw one which is actually unusual considering we have the best feeding ground for humpback whales in the world here. I will have to do this again.

Glacier Gardens--Juneau's version of the Desert Botanical Gardens but with a creative twist like the blown glass. They have flower towers and plants grown in shapes, among the normal plants too of course.

Mendenhal Glacier--many many times

Salmon Bake--old-fashioned cooking with old-fashioned atmosphere and entertainment. The king salmon is delicious. The guitarist/singer performed songs like "Big Rock Candy Mountain," "Grandma's Feather Bed" and other old cowboy songs... I asked if he knew "Old Four Holer" later and he did not.

City Tour--2 times, unfortunately you cannot see Russia from the Governor's Mansion

Taku Lodge--you fly in a tiny float plane over the largest glaciers in the Juneau Icefield then land at a historic well kept lodge where they feed you an excellent fresh salmon diner cooked over an alder wood fire. Then you go on a hike to the waterfall and watch the bear come and try to take some of the cooked salmon he smells [we are safe inside the lodge btw] less then 20 ft away. He does not get any b/c we ate it all :) but he licks up the tasty salmon oil drippings.

Mt. Roberts Tramway--3 times. Ride to the top of the mtn. where there is a great view of the Gasteneau Channel and Juneau, fun hikes, an injured bald eagle in captivity, a movie about the wildlife, a movie about the native Tinglet tribe, and of course a restaurant and gift shops but I don't go there.

Salmon Hatchery--learn about how they run everything and salmon facts. Then they have salmon jerky and cream cheese you can eat as you walk around the aquariums they have inside.

Zipline--I am now a pro at flying at speeds of 45 mph over 180 ft high (:D

Things I still have yet to do:

The other zipline (so fun!)

Summer Dogs (the actual Iditarod dogs pull you in a car thingamabob but on dirt)

TEMPSCO Dogs (tourist version of the Iditarod on the Juneau Icefield)

Steamboat Tour (replica of old ferry and history lesson of the mines)

Mine Tour (a gold digger I am!)

Northstar X-trek (flying to then hiking on top of the glacier for 3 hours)

Evening Quest (more whale watching)

Interesting occurrences:

Two stalkers are after me (no mater where in the world I go these type of people still find me)

My roommate Erin was baptized

Camille from my university ward is also up here for the summer and in my same ward

Kendra is in my ward :)

The Randalls, who are in my university ward, came on a cruise and visited me. I gave them a tour of the glacier and took them to the top of the tram.

A bear damaged the boys apartment's grill because they forgot they left a fish outside.

Saw a porcupine using the crosswalk

I have eaten glacier ice and drank glacier water

I have hiked to the ice caves

I am the music chairperson and choir director and backup pianist in my branch

I bought a ukulele off ebay to practice since it is sooo hard to get to a piano

One of my awesome coworkers is a professional pianist: Elise West (she is on itunes)

Another coworker of mine is Lawrence Diggs. He has written a book on the uses of vinegar, had his own cooking show in Japan, helped set up a humanitarian organization in some African country which recently sought him out and had him return to give him a medal, paints... and a ton of other krazy kool stuff.

Well I am going to go watch the ship leave the dock with Cherish now bye! We built this city on rock and roll! :)

Another view on the glacier.
The only way in and out of juneau
a grouse. makes really weird noises. rolled around in the dirt like a dog. really weird.
On top of Mt. Roberts.
I should have headed this sign. I slipped on the ice three minutes later and bruised my hip.

Some pictures of my adventures:
This is in a helicopter flying over the Tongass National Forrest (largest one in the US) I saw about seven mountain goats around here.
This is the pilot Scott and the helicopter on 1 of the 39 glaciers in the Juneau Icefield. 
ME in front of the helicopter on the glacier. This Ice is over one mile deep. It takes 100 ft of snow to make 1 ft of glacier ice
ME straddling a crevasse that is over 150 ft deep. The rocks are pulverized pieces of mountains over 12 miles away.
ME in the helicopter. Ain't she sweet!

This is the closest I have gotten to seeing a bear. Don't worry I will see more in June and July during salmon season :)

This is a close-up view of glacier ice. The ice is blue underneath because there is no air inside and it is so dense that it has a perfect crystal structure that absorbs all color wavelengths except for the shortest--blue. :)
This is the group that I went wale watching with: Allen, ME, Maria (rommate), Cherish (roommate), Braidey
Me on a boat in Auke Bay with Mendenhall Glacier in the background.
Bald eagle on top, sea lions on bottom, Chilkat Mtn Range in the back.

First week

Well I have had quite a but of change from two weeks ago but I am loving Alaska. Sorry I haven't been able to post any videos I have taken quite a few but I can't post any yet because I need to buy a special cord to hook it up to my computer.  Until then though I will relate all I can in my blog here. Today I have the day off so I have plenty of time to update it :)

"Let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start"

I arrived at the International Juneau Airport a little after 1 pm on Sunday May 17. This airport has only five gates and has one flight to Canada. I was greeted by my roommates who came to pick me up after church. They gave me a half hour drive through tour and then we headed to the apartment. 

The apartment is in the downtown historic district above some tourist shops. The apartment is really nice. Downstairs we have the living/eating area, kitchen and bathroom. Upstairs is another bathroom and three bedrooms- two that face the street and the Gasteneau Channel where the cruise ships come in and one that faces the mountain.  Cherish and I share the one that faces the mountain, so we have the worst view and don't get much sunlight in it but we have learned that it has its advantages. Because we get less light we can fall asleep easier because it is not completely dark until around eleven pm. We are also never disturbed by loud outside street disturbances late at night or early in the morning that our roommates tell us about. 

The very next day I started my training as a driver guide. I learned how to "pre-trip" my mini bus (these are much larger then the 15 passenger vans I thought I would be driving, they are more the size of the handicap busses) and then Rick the manager had me drive to most of the places I  would be driving with tourists.  The hardest part was learning how to back into parking spaces at the Franklin Dock, but I learned and have done it many times since. After work we went to FHE and learned about how to be grateful and played volleyball.

Tuesday they had me work! Usually they send new workers on a ride-along with someone who had been there the previous year before they have you do it yourself... but not me apparently. I was really nervous but my co-workers were helpful and told me facts and stories I could tell my passengers.  I was assigned TEMPSCO PC all day. This means that I would transfer cruisers back and forth from the dock to  helicopter tours on the icefield and glaciers.  Apparently I was a good and entertaining driver because I got decent tips. After work we had the missionaries over to teach my roommate Erin more about the church. She has been investigating and is really interested. I am sworn to secrecy and cannot say anymore at this time but I will tell you more when I can *wink* ;)

Wed I was assigned the same thing but did not receive any tips. I was still good it is just that some cruise lines passengers are better at tipping than others. When I was done though I was told to drive to canoe lake and switch my vehicle with Maria's broken one. I could not remember where it was so I had to ask for directions and even then just barley found it.  

...Well I am going to go on a free-for-me-tour to the Glacier and the Salmon Bake so I will finnish updating later. 

This is the music for my jazz class and partner dance classes :)