There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again :)

The thing about setting out with vague intentions, is that sometimes you achieve them without realizing it. I can now see that I already was the strong and independent woman that I thought Alaska would make me. Hind site is a precious thing. Brandy and I joked that I would find my Moose-ball jacket up here, I can now say, I'm pretty sure I already had one. This has been hands down, the best summer of my life, but this girl is coming home!!

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let me tell you about the AMAZING week I've just had. Finally admitting to myself that I was ready to come back to TX gave me the freedom to truly enjoy this last bit of time I have up here. My brother will be flying to Anchorage in a couple days, I'll show him a taste of Alaska (just enough to make him NEED to come back!) and then we will head south! I'm so excited to get back on the road and I love that I'll get to have Doug with me.

So, a week ago I left my little cabin in the woods for unknown adventures in Whittier. I had no idea how much fun was in store for me :) The drive was lovely, as always, but unique in that to get to this town you must drive 2 1/2 miles through a mountain!! Sounds cool, and is very cool, but there's a point about 2/3 of the way through the tunnel where you start to get a little uneasy feeling, not a bad, or scared feeling, just an 'ok, I'm ready to see the sun again!' feeling.

On the other side of the tunnel.

I called and meet up with a guy named Seth who is a friend of some friends of mine in Austin. He was still on the clock, so he invited me up into his huge tanker truck where I was greeted by his super cool lil dog Cody. We drive down to the water and watched the cars unload from a huge ferry boat. Once they were all unloaded Seth drove us into the belly of the boat so that him and some other guys could gas it up. Never once had I even wondered how these massive outfits receive gas, and now I was finding out first hand. If that wasn't enough to make me feel like I was a part of Alaska, afterwords we drove down to his skiff, (where I drove a boat for the first time - hell yea!) and headed out to the spot where his shrimp baskets were. We baited the baskets and drove around to find the right depth to toss them back in.

Captain Cody

Meanwhile, I haven't stopped grinning since coming out of that tunnel. For the second time since coming to Alaska, I felt an amazing sense that everything was as it should be (I'll tell you about the other time shortly, this is going to be a long one!) From the turquoisey-blue water there is no direction that you can look and not see mountains, and most of them come right down into the water. It really doesn't seem real, like Seth put it, it's like stepping into Lord of the Rings or Avatar. So amazingly beautiful, I tried to capture it in pictures, but I'm afraid you'll just have to come check it out for yourself :)

That thing I do...

I spent about a week tagging along after Seth on fishing and shrimping trips everyday. I had fresh halibut and smoked salmon for the first time in my life. One day we caught 90 shrimp and ate like kings while drinking beer in the sunshine. I know when I look back at my time in Alaska, this last week will be my fondest memory - in fact, my brother doesn't realize it, but that's where I'm taking him for his 'taste.'

Trifecta!!

Sorry, I know I'm going out of order, I was just really excited to share that :) So, since I last wrote, I finally did get a job! I was working at a local liquor store called Brown Jug. It was really fun work and the time always flew by. The pay was ok, but they hardly took out anything for taxes, so it seemed to go even further. I hope they forgive my short-notice, I plan to send them some pralines from TX this Christmas.

Spent lots of time in Seward over the last month or so, maybe three trips down there? I just can't get enough of that drive. Spectacular views of mountains running into the water. They say there are whales in the water, but I haven't seen them yet. Been staying at a really cool hostel down there called The Nauti Otter, I highly recommend it if you're ever in Seward! Staying in a hostel always gets those wheels spinning again for me. I'm hoping to start volunteering at the hostel in Austin when I get back, learn as much as I can for when I start my own. That's something else moving up here has taught me; stop talking and start doing! So, my plan to open a hostel is going to be moving up from the back burner when I get back :)

Exit Glacier near Seward

I've also fallen for a town called Girdwood, which everyone told me I would love. I may not have done anything but drive by it, but they have a really cool festival each year called the Forest Fair. And it was there, that for the first time I really did feel at home. It wasn't quite an Eeyore's Birthday type crowd, but it was close! So many things from that weekend stand out to me, but essentially it was a bunch of hippies in the woods listening to music, drinking beer and playing in the river. 

My people!

As always, I know I'm forgetting something, but I can always drop things in later. I can't wait to touch base on my way back to Texas, I don't know our route yet, but I'm planning some hot springs and perhaps the Grand Canyon and Vegas, also a ghost town called Jerome in Arizona. God, I'm so excited to get back on the road :)