Woah, so its been a while. I’ve been in a funk where anything productive, beyond the mandatory: show up at the boat, please people and clean, seems daunting to even think about. But a lot has happened! 

Sam, Kyle and I “got homeless with it” for a night in Anchorage on our way to Denali.

We had  from 8pm sunday evening to 8am monday morning to fend for ourselves on the rough streets of Anchorage. We hung out with Sam’s friend Simon, a 20 year old Russian studying photography, and his friends playing frisbee golf until it got dark (around 2 or so). Afterward Simon really wanted ice cream from McDonalds, we drove up and the intercom informed us that the ice cream machine was broken. Simon’s response: “We’re going to Denny’s! They probably have ice cream….and frappes!” in his russian accent. I loved it. So we went to Denny’s. It was when Simon dropped us of that Sam took leadership of the pack and found us a place to rest for a while (see above). We rested, brushed our teeth and used the electricity of the Anchorage Market and Festival (according to the sign) which is only active on saturdays or something, so it worked out perfectly. Around 6 or so, we figured that downtown anchorage has to have coffee shops opening that would provide us with warmth and energy. The only solution we came up with was to go to Bob’s Hotel. I don’t think I’ve introduced Bob. He owns the boat, a successful anchorage gift shop, a historic hotel, and probably some other stuff. He is infamous amongst his employees for firing the whole staff of his restaurant after catching someone stealing food. So, we we weren’t sure if we would be welcome in his hotel. We went, were reluctantly let in and got some coffee.

Marcelle met us at the train station that morning. She had been fully taking advantage of our unemployment and had spend the past three days jumping Whittier, Hope and Girdwood painting the town red with her brothers and friends from home. When her brother dropped her off his shoes were missing. Our group was now complete! The train ride was long; perfect for all of us to catch up on some sleep, look out the window and play plenty of uno. 

Arriving in Denali is like what I imagine arriving at summer camp is like. You get off the train with a ton of other people and get on some green and tan school busses that take you where you need to go. You just want to look around and see the new place that you’re in, but you have to figure out all of these things first, exciting and confusing. Karen, James and Lauren drove up and met us there with all of our camping gear. It was a hour or two bus ride into the park to get to the site we were staying at.

We got camp set up. The first night there was a session held by a park ranger about “scat.” It was fun, learned shape, size, color, and a song. I froze that night. I was not at all prepared for Alaskan camping. I had 3 plus layers on and a hood, didn’t cut it. Marla Burns would have been ashamed. 
Our only whole day that we had in the park we spent 8 hours on a bus, taking it through all of the paved path. Very long. But! We saw bears, caribou, a wolf, a lynx, a whole lot of ground squirrel, moose, and probably some more. And the mountain! They told us that only 30% of the people that visit the park get to see the mountain. Hard to believe when we saw it all three days we were there, but maybs its the red hair.

That night Marcelle, Sam, Kyle and I went on a hike up, what I would call, a mountain. We had to go through the weirdest terrain. It was like moss but extremely spongy, like walking on a gymnastics mat time 5, at least. It was so nice having so much light outside. On the train ride home we got upgraded to “Gold Star” class. We got free drinks and an earful of stories from the staff.

Back in Whittier there have been a few bon fires and a couple cruise ship nights. And the fourth of July! Despite the size of the town they had an awesome fireworks show. I don’t have any pictures because my camera broke while in Denali, but I’m saving up for a new one. The fireworks went off a midnight, when its still kind of light, so you could still see the ocean and the mountains, it was beautiful. Brandon and I worked in the kitchen all day listening to good music and making barbecue sandwiches. I think everyone here would be an alcoholic, but like the work, its only seasonal.

I don’t think that I’ve mentioned it, but we have lost a member of the wolfpack and gained two more. Anthony left when the boat broke to go fish somewhere. Nisha was our first addition. She is from LA and is always down for something new. Devin came just in time to help out with the cardboard regatta (boat race) that PWS hosted for all of the boats in town. He’s from Kyle’s hometown and fire dances! The tone of the house has definitely changed. We hang out more, have meaningful conversations and stretch together like a team.

Everyone that I like at the Inn has quit. There is no longer a support for Merle Haggard, the fish boil, or conversation. There is only Roger, who makes inappropriate comments and yells a whole lot. There are two new cooks that I met the other day though. They seem really nice and I’m sad that they have fallen into the position. I think that I will be following my friends soon.

 So yes, the crew and I have been unemployed for a few days now, which has left us with more than enough time to do a few things around the town.

One day Kyle, Amy and I explored the Buckner. This was my first time in the building, it was pretty cool; about 6 floors of broken glass, fallen walls, and graffiti. We went through most of it. Obadiah later said something about there being tunnels under it; next time. Here are a couple of our findings:

The Roof

Argument: “CHEVY RULES”
Rebuttal: “Not over a ford, but a Dodge for sure.” 
There were a lot more “chevy” tags than you’d think even existed. “sounds weird.”

Dark hallways full of water

The next day, still having nothing to do, Karen, Marcelle, Lauren and I went to the head of the bay to climb the old oil tanks that are in the process of being torn down. We had to hop a fence to get in. There was a large opening, but there was a man standing there so we found a low part of the fence that was a little bit more discrete.

First, we went inside.

 
It echos incredibly in there. 

 
Then we went up. Half way up I started to think, maybe they are getting rid of these for more than the fact that they’re an eyesore; maybe the 60 year old welding on the dinky stairs wasn’t all it used to be. But I was comforted by the fact that Mike climbs up them all the time to sunbathe, and I made it to the top.

There’s Whittier; it looks small because it is small. At the top we could feel the wind blow into the tower beneath us, and it didn’t take long for me to want to get back on the ground.

A few days before, Ian told Marcelle about some old abandoned bunkers, curious, we went.

We found four total. Ian said that the last one was not locked and it was possible to get in, but it wasn’t. Then Obadiah, who seems to know all of Whittier’s secrets, says there are two more we didn’t find. The bunkers were cool, but it was disappointing not getting into one. The highlight of this trip was that Karen found a geocache! 

We left a Major Marine Tours pen that Lauren had in her purse and took nothing.

Now, when James and Karen returned from Seward, they reported that Gary said to “make sure morale stays up.” So, we went to Girdwood where the price of alcoholic beverages is considerably less and had a bon fire. Amy put on her Michael Jackson shirt and lost her phone, momentarily only. Kyle and Trisha danced with fire. We met Marcy and her friend Alanis from Georgia, and three fellow Texans.

In addition to these adventures, I found a job. When I told my mom I picked up a gig working at the Inn washing dishes she was in a meeting, she frantically said “You kidding, I have to call you back.” In no way do I regret my college education, but I have to confess that I like working there. Matt and Brandon are the cooks. Really cool guys that play JJ Cale and Patsy Cline. I can kind of zone out and have time away from people. Plus, I get to organize things, which I’m obsessed with.

Amy also found a job, which should surprise no one. It should also not be a surprise that she found it literally within 20 minutes of being told that we wouldn’t be working for two weeks. She works at a new cafe in town called The Outpost, I visited for breakfast and it was delicious. I’m working on a new logo for it, just to get some creative juices flowing. Here’s what I’m working with so far. Let me know what you think. I can’t figure out why this thing doesn’t have a comment option (if you know, please tell me), but email me because I would love some feedback.

That’s about it for now. If you made it all the way through that, you’re a good friend, thank you. Sam, Kyle, Marcelle, Karen, James and I are planning on going to Denali this week, so keep you’re eyes peeled for some updates!

Kyle had a birthday:
We had an outing to swiftwater “swifty’s” for dinner. They have an excellent calamari burger and a nice patio looking over the marina. Then we made a visit to Joey at the Inn. Amy ran home singing a song from high school musical the whole time. Amy locked herself in the bathroom “everythang hurts” was born. A phrase that will probably amuse us throughout the summer.

Meet you at the Cross-Sound:
Every saturday and every other monday the Klondike is going across the sound to Valdez. We take princess cruise passengers on about a two hour trip, they see a sea lion rookery and order lots of bloody marys. For the crew, its the best. We have to wake up early and be at the boat a 6:30. But 6:30 is just as light outside as 9:30, so it feels like you should be awake anyways. And you don’t really have to work, at least not too much. And you get the whole day off afterward.

Open Mic Night:
Every week Swiftys hosts an open mic night. It usually starts with the guy that wears cammo suspenders and grows something close to a fu manchu, accompanied by the guy that plays the mouth harp. The crew of the Prince WIlliam Sound (PWS) wrote a song about their cruise called “kittiwakes,” our world famous crew wasn’t just going to sit and not respond so Kyle went up and did his thing and Amy attempted to freestyle. It was hilarious. It was clear that this was new for the staff of Swiftys. Then the crews joined forces for “Everything Hurts” 

Anchorage day:
Will works on the Emerald Sea and recently bought an old toyota camry. It has those kind of seatbelts where the top strap is connected to the door frame and automatically straps you in when you close the door. That feature is broken. So the car beeps the whole time. We found a good radio station of drown it out for the hour long drive. We went to an asian market, crammed tons of groceries in the back, and watched the basketball game at the peanut farm. Amy and I made origami animals while the guys watched the game.

KABOOM
Yesterday on the ‘dike I was on the upperdeck handing out polarbear smooches and picking up trays, and KABOOM. The starboard engine died. Captain Tom turned the boat around and headed for our ocean dock, for use incase of emergencies. We made it safely and some of the passengers blamed their own bad luck for the engine. 
We had a crew meeting and Gary informed us that we were, for the most part, unemployed for two weeks.

So now I’m not sure what we are going to do. If Marcelle and I can score some free passes for the train to Denali, I think we’ll do that. Amy and I are about to walk around town to see if anyone needs help for a couple of weeks. I’m 95% sure that I’ll go crazy if I don’t find something to do. 

So, I’ve been up here for almost two weeks now. It doesn’t seem like that long, but it seems like forever since I’ve been in Texas. Thats a weird feeling. We don’t always have internet up here because this place is so small. The only thing for us to do on our days off is ride on one of the two other cruises or do laundry.

The flight in was beautiful, I was glued to the window most of the time: mountains, ocean and icebergs! When I landed in Anchorage and went to the luggage claim, I saw a family with three large dogs, rubbermaid tubs as luggage and at least five guns claiming their things. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t fly in most places, but I guess this is Alaska.

Sarah Palin’s cousin was on the no. 7 bus I took to downtown Anchorage. No lie. Anchorage was a nice town, from what I could walk in a few hours. It’s light outside until about midnight or so and then gets light again around four or five. It makes it hard to feel like you have to go to sleep.

Barry, I’m not exactly sure what he does but I think he might be Gary’s boss, picked me up from the hotel the next morning for the drive from Anchorage to Whittier. Barry is a middle aged man who often wears a vest, likes books on tape, and reminds Amy of my dad. He is my first experience for what this summer is going to be like. The drive along Turnagain Arm was almost like a tour; 60 minutes of trivial facts about the area, Alaskan history, and talk of crappy cell phone service. 

Whittier is small. You can probably see most of the town within an hour on foot. We live in the Begich Towers. There is only one, so I’m not sure why it is plural. Most refer to it as the BTI, and I don’t know what the I stands for. This place is a little weird. Amy is my roommate. We’ve been friends since 4th grade when she gave me a big leaf on the playground because she felt bad for me because I would have rather looked at rocks than play with other kids. Marcelle has the room next to us and is expecting a roommate any day now. The other side of the apartment is the guys’. Michael & Kyle, Anthony & Sam, and James. The boys are boys; they like to talk about poop and private parts. They like watching basketball and seeing who can win the most races in mario kart. Laura and Karen live up on the 10th floor. 

Work is work. I feel like I’m still trying to play catch-up; learning lines, schedules and facts. The most enjoyable part is the wildlife and glaciers. So far we’ve seen orcas, humpbacks, porpoises, huge sea otters, harbor seals, kittiwakes, bald eagles, and mountain goats. It’s pretty wild that those things are everyday up here. We make a stop at Surprise Glacier and usually see some pretty big caving.

The routine is a little draining because there is nothing really to mix it up. It is a lot harder to get out of town than I was anticipating. The train is expensive, extremely slow and only comes once a day. Only 3 of us can drive and even then no one wants to play chauffeur. I would like to use my time to be productive but the monotony leaves me uninspired, like when you’re tired because you slept too much. Hopefully I’ll snap out of it soon.

A few days ago Laura, Sam, Kyle, Anthony and I met up with Cassie, one of the park rangers in Girdwood for dinner. Seemed like a cool place we were in a bit of a rush to make the tunnel back into Wittier but it was a good time. Good company, burgers, pizza and beer. Definitely nice to be on the other side of the mountains for a while!