Bottling the Drifter

In the last five years I have lived in Vermont, Maine, Africa, Alaska, California, Wyoming, New Hampshire, and now Wisconsin. Before going to grad school I had to turn down a job in Washington state. I was a drifter, someone who moves from place to place in search of work. I usually only lived a in place for a few months and then moved on to the next job. I would ski in the winter, and was an outdoor educator in the spring summer and fall. Adventure, travel and first hand experience was what my life was about. Being a drifter was only supposed to be until I found a 'real job'. Temporary and seasonal work was just that, in case there wasn't anything better. Full time, year round work was what I really wanted after coming back from Benin. Or at least I thought. Knowing myself better now, I know that full time year round work somewhere wasn't going satisfy me. I'm a free spirit and dreamer. I always enjoyed having my next adventure, a roller coaster life. I also knew that it wasn't a long term solution to any problems.

Financial security sounds wonderful, health care also sounds amazing, being able to afford an apartment is pretty much what every seasonal employee dreams about sometimes. Not having to pack your car or your backpack every three months, not having to purge your clothes all the time, and thinking about shopping somewhere other than goodwill are realities for others, but not the drifter.

But once the drifter does quietly turn into a life of ease, being tired of the aforementioned things, surrounding themselves with the items from their storage unit and sleeping on a bed that has sheets they begin to realize something. At first they think it's great. They might have an oven, a toilet they don't have to share, wifi, a closet, and maybe even a reliable car. At night they don't have to worry about being cold, if it's going to rain and their tent leaks or if they're able to drive their car up the driveway at night. They've found the holy grail, a job that actually pays them what they feel they might need, and an apartment in their budget. So they snuggle in the comfort that financial and long term stability. Then they noticed that they have sacrificed things by living like everyone else. They begin to miss the job search, the unknown, the work hard and party harder lifestyle. They miss all their bum friends, who don't care about their clothes and lack of deodorant. They miss making new friends and family where ever they go. They begin to want that life again. It's a rash on your subconscious, always itching and the more you scratch and think about it, the worse it gets. Old habits die hard and you find yourself job searching, dreaming and thinking about how you're going to pack your car.

To say that I haven't thought this way would be a lie. New adventures are always on my mind. The drifter in me wants to pick up and go somewhere different. But I'll have to put it aside for now. Getting into graduate school on full scholarship is huge. I wasn't moving forward in my career with what I was doing. Something did have to change, and getting a masters degree is going to put me in a better place for a long time career solution. Outdoor environmental education isn't a fun way to spend a season, it's what I want to do. I know this, I know that I can have goals and can reach them. But I think everyone find themselves missing former lives, and feeling a pull from their past. Making the choice that's best for me, means saying goodbye for a little while to my drifter ways.

Being a Good Tourist

I have worked in the tourism industry for a number of years, doing different jobs here and there. I was a ski instructor, a lodging and reservations phone operator, front desk, waitress, housekeeper, tour photographer and now I'm the face of a nature center. I have helped people in and out of helicopters and I have also poured them coffee.

There are great people who come and are willing to pay for the services that these places provide. Many are happy to be there, have a great time, enjoy whatever things there are to do, and leave without too much fuss. These are the people that you want coming back, the ones that are hassle free tourists. These are the same people that graciously accept when there is a problem, understand that things don't always go according to plan and are flexible with their travel plans. It is much easier to find solutions to problems when the person on the other end is understanding.

Then there are the high maintenance tourists. These people are the ones that take up the majority of your time, they nit pick every little detail, they don't appear to be having any fun and they also complain about everything. They are uncompromising, always trying to squeeze every last amenity or service out of you that they can, they look for problems, and worst of all they are entitled. Their attitudes are 'Well I paid for the cheapest option, but I want the best.' They don't see staff as people instead they see them as servants. Staff are forced to grin and bear and apologize for services which were never part of their vacation in the first place, or cirucmstances that were out of their control.

"I'm sorry that you forgot to sign Joey up for ski lessons today in the middle of February break and ski school has been booked solid two weeks"
"I'm sorry the helicopters are loud"
"I'm sorry it's raining outside"
My personal favorite "I'm sorry the puppy you were holding was squirming and fell out of your arms and landed on your foot" keep in mind I was simultaneously trying to comfort a terrified puppy who dropped from a height of four feet and landed face first on a steeltoed boot.

The sense of entitlement 'Because I've paid for this my expectations are so high that they are impossible for you meet them'. They look down their nose at you, you are scum to them, someone they can complain to when they found a spot on the rug underneath the bed, when their coffee wasn't poured for them 5 seconds after they seated themselves, or when the weather isn't cooperating with their plans.

Being the understanding tourist is hard sometimes. When the answer isn't the one that you were looking for, you're forced to reevaluate. I find that remembering the person you're talking to has limitations to what they are authorized to do, helps. Accepting an answer and going up the chain, is sometimes your best bet. Also realizing that the staff are often times very busy, and there might be a larger problem on hand than running towels or lighting your fireplace.

I sometimes have felt the feeling of entitlement well up inside me when I'm on vacation. Perhaps it's because I worked in the tourism industry I begin to get overly critical. It's not a feeling I enjoy. I remind myself that the customer service respresentatives are people too, even if you're not speaking to them face to face. They aren't there to be harassed, or verbally abused by me. They get to go home happy, feeling good at their jobs.

While yes, there are times where a hotel has messed up, where the food is bad, or when your instructor is having a lousy day. It is not always tourists bad attitudes. If you're at a quality establishment then the place will recognize and do the best they can to make it right. If you really don't like the service you are getting, you don't have to come back. But please keep in mind that customer service representatives are people too and often times they are doing all they can for you.

Every 3 Months

Every 3 months I get the urge to go somewhere different. I want to pack up my car and head off. Since leaving the Peace Corps I've lived in Vermont, New Hampshire, Wyoming, California, Alaska and visited Maine, North Carolina, North Dakota, North Carolina, Minnesota among others which I have driven through.

Now that it's April it's time to move on. I've been here since December and Frankly winter has been awesome as far as snow and ski conditions have been, but as far as life events I'm ready for it to be over. That's one of the appeals to life as a drifter; you get to leave some of your troubles behind.

Didn't like your job?
People weren't the best?
Weather didn't suit you?
Someone hurt you?
You don't have to go back!
- Keep in mind that moving away doesn't solve everything.

On the flip side if you did have an amazing time somewhere you can choose to go back. I've had some people tell me that they would feel very stressed living this type of life. At this point I would be stressed out if I had to live a lifestyle which kept me in one place for more than a year. I'm not ready to settle anywhere. A friend of mine says 'I love beginnings but I hate endings'. I agree, it's always easier to start something than it is to end it. But then again, if you never end something you never have the chance to start something new.

North Dakota

My reason for going to North Dakota was to visit my parents. Sorry North Dakota, but you leave something to be desired in the way to scenery. However, it was actually very mild temperature wise. Most days were in the 20's and one day was up into the 50's. My parents took me a few of their favorite places, mostly in Minnesota as they live near the state line of North Dakota and Minnesota. Other than going to Itasca we celebrated a belated Christmas complete with roast beef dinner and tiramisu, our traditional Christmas desert which is only made once a year. We went out to their favorite state park near to where they live, my mom and I saw Silver Linings Playbook, and we went out to dinner a thai restaurant, and lunch at a place where it's name really is the only description for it 'The Blue Moose'.

 P.S. To anyone who is interested in making THE BEST tiramisu here it is. Warning: after making this and eating it you will forever be disappointed in any tiramisu you order at a restaurant.

TIRAMISU

Sponge Cake

4 eggs - separated

2/3 cup sugar, divided

1/4 cup hot brewed espresso (instant or regular coffee works)

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed sheet pan or jelly roll pan (14"x11" or 15"x10") with parchment. Beat egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar and hot espresso on high till thick and voluminous(6 minutes). In another bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites on med. speed. At soft peak stage slowly add remaining 1/3 cup sugar while mixer is running. Increase speed till whites form stiff peaks. Fold 1/3 of whites to yolk mixture. Then fold in remaining whites. Sift flour and salt over top of egg mixture and gently fold. Spread in sheet pan. Bake till cake springs back when lightly press,( about 12 to 14 min.). Remove from oven and cool 5 min. Run knife around edges and invert on cooling rack. Peel off parchment. Cool completely.

Mascarpone Filling

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup coffee liquor (Tia Maria)

pinch salt

3/4 cup mascarpone ( I use 8 oz pkg cream cheese)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Set up double boiler. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, coffee liqueur and salt. Whisk till mixture thickens ( 6 to 7 min.). Cool egg mixture by setting on ice bath. Whisk occasionally. Meanwhile Beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add heavy cream and beat until it holds peak. Fold cooled yolk mixture into cream mixture. Keep cool.

For assembly

1 cup brewed espresso or strong coffee

1 oz unsweetened chocolate-grated ( I use cocoa powder)

Divide sponge cake into thirds. Lay 1st rectangle in a dish(Pyrex 9x12 baking dish works well). Brush liberally with 1/3 hot espresso. Spread part of cream filling onto cake. Sprinkle with 1/3 grated unsweetened chocolate. Repeat a layer of cake, espresso, filling and chocolate again and again (3 layers). Refrigerate ( 24 hrs is best)

Itasca State Park

To those who don't know my parents recently moved from Vermont to North Dakota. I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with my family so I figured I would take a spring break and go visit them in North Dakota  I flew into Fargo late on Thursday night and drove to their home. That next weekend they took me to Minnesota to visit Itasca State Park. Itasca State Park is home to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. 

Before we left I contacted my friend who I met in Maine and invited him to come join us for the day. I love catching up with friends and was excited that he could join us for the day. We rented snow shoes a the parks visitor center and did a 2 mile loop it took us by lakes and through the trees. The snow was about two feet deep in places and we were glad that we had rented the snow shoes. The trail itself was well packed and an easy snow shoe. Although, I will say that snow shoeing is much harder than hiking. 

The forest in the winter time is completely different than the forest in the summer time. I'm a strong believer that you can hike a trail every day and notice something different every time. The woods may seem quiet but they are always alive and changing. The snow deadens any sound that is made and the cold makes everything seem so still. However, it is much easier to track animals in the winter time because of the tracks they make in the snow. The hoar frost on the vegetation gave everything an ethereal quality. 

Being out in the woods magnifies memories and time instead of stealing them. Spending time outside always makes a day seem special and is filed differently in my memory bank. What a great day spent with family and friends! 

Busy Busy

I work in a ski town, and February kind of explodes for all of us. February is the month where everyone decides the snow has been around long enough and they can finally go skiing. I work at the mountain from 11:30 until 8pm. This generally speaking, give me the morning to do whatever chores I need to do and then I get to work. Lately however I've been working at a bed and breakfast as a waitress as well.

I worked at this place one summer mostly working wedding parties serving breakfast and doing housekeeping, as well as the occasional busing routine at the wedding. During this time between my junior and senior year of college I made enough in one summer that I didn't have to take out a private loan to pay my rent senior year.

When I'm in the area again I give them a call, it's not like it was when I could work there full time but the owner of the place does keep it in mind for someone to fill work breakfast. It works pretty well for me to serve breakfast and then go to my next job, it makes for a long day but it's a little extra money in my pocket. Usually I can buy groceries for the week with my tip money. This year I'm looking at this money as a trip to San Francisco.

However, during the Presidents vacation week the entire town blows up. Forget being able to get from Point A to Point B, get gas, get a dinner reservation, ski, or get a drink at the bar. I'm not complaining about this at all, I can do all these thing again when everyone leaves to go home, after spending lots of $$ in the area. This also means I work ALL THE TIME. 7am until 8pm. Next week is going to be crazy, but I'm glad for it. I'm looking forward to a nap next Friday.

Hiking

I love to hike, its is probably my favorite activity of all time. I also realized that I've been hiking in quite a few places. I now have made it a goal to try to go hiking to every state/ country I visit, even if it's only for a mile.

Here are the places I've already gone:

Vermont

This picture was taken just after returning from Benin. It's at Little Rock Pond near to where I grew up. 

Wyoming and Montana

I led backpacking trips in and out of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park one summer. This picture is taken at the lower saddle of the Grand Teton. I had pretty bad altitude sickness that day. 

Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin 

Park W

My fellow Peace Corps volunteers and I along with local guides took children on safari in the park and hiked through the three countries it is located in.  

Wyoming

This picture was taken at Heart Lake, beautiful spot but FULL of mosquitoes.

California

This was taken at Joshua Tree National Park. Absolutely stunning place. I really fell in love with Joshua Tree. Backpacking is really the way to go, the stars are unforgettable! 

New Hampshire 

I've been on many hikes in New Hampshire, but this was one of my favorites, hiking up Mt. Moat with my Wilderness First Responder friends! 

Alaska 

I was in Skagway for a time and this was taken at Lower Dewey Lake, a 3 mile round trip hike that is straight up hill, but well worth the hike. 

North Carolina

This was taken on my birthday last year we hiked at the Pisgah National Forest. What a great way to spend a birthday! 

I've also been hiking in New York, Maine, and Florida. 

Fire and Earth

I'm an April baby, born on the cusp of Taurus and Aries. So astrologically speaking, I'm a little torn. Here is what I found online as a small description of us cusp birthdays:

They enjoy challenges of all kinds, whether it is in business, sports or intellectual areas. They play as hard as they work. They are known to be flirtatious, bold, opinionated, strong, quiet, talented, sensitive, humorous, money-oriented, eloquent, dependable, practical, patient, aggressive, helpful, aloof, stubborn, jealous, moody, fickle, over-sensitive, quarrelsome and changeable. Quite a handful, aren't they?

Thank you alwaysastrology.com for that assessment.

Also Taurus is practical and well grounded while Aries is impulsive and aggressive. Where am I going with this you might ask. 'where are you going with this?' I've recently done a few impulsive things lately. Such as, buying new clothes (not something I do), drinking most of a bottle of wine by myself, and the biggest thing, buying a plane ticket to San Francisco to visit my friend. I had been trying to plan a time to go visit Sarah and I was talking with her one night and realized that my financial situation isn't so dire and that I could just book a ticket to see her. So in a matter of an hour and half I went from 'I can't come' to booking a ticket.

April is a slow month for me. I stop working at the mountain because it closes, and I don't start work until the end of the month. So I have this time on my hands. Normally, I'm so busy with work without the choice of getting some time off that I don't get to plan anything. I figured that instead of wallowing at my Aunts house and watching billions of movies all April I could instead travel. Carpe Diem. My April is shaping up quite nicely, going to North Carolina to visit my brother and future sister in law/ best friend, then directly on to San Fran to visit Sarah and then from there I go home and go to camp for my birthday, then I start work again in New Hampshire. A whirl-wind of a month but I can't think of a better way to spend it than visiting family and friends.

Tourists

After dogs the biggest part of my job is keeping tourists happy. I make my money off tourists, they are what pays for everything. I never for a second forget that they are the reason why I can be here and living the way that I do.

The town I live in is a cruise ship port. People are all on vacation and they come off their cruise and then go into town and do their shopping thing/ other excursions. You can see the buses full for the tours going by to try gold panning or go to some sort of salmon bake. They go in and out of shops and there are shows that actors dress up in period costume for. After all this town was a bit of a rough place during the gold rush and people enjoy attempting to go back to that time period.

I have been on a cruise before, granted it was to Western Caribbean, but still they are all pretty much the same. In every port there are a series of excursions that you can do and there is usually a town that you can go shopping in. The towns have pretty much the same stores. I'll let you in on a little secret: when you're doing the cruise stops keep in mind that a lot of the shops are all owned by the same people in every port. So a company will have a shop in port #1, #2, #3... they will also have multiple shops in the same town attracting a different audience. The tourists come off the ship... walk around... and then get back on. There are thousands of tourists on each ship.

Now one would hope that if you were paying for an excursion you would be interested in the tour offered. Boy was I wrong! In an ideal world, yes this is what happens, but in the real world some people just look at the price tag and say 'well it's the most expensive it must be good.' and so that is how more people than I imagined get up to Dog Camp and are not actually be interested in dogs. Many people are, but then you have some who are more interested in the snowmobiles. It's very sad for the mushers when they would rather sit on the snowmobile and take pictures rather than pet a dog who is dying for attention. They also are the same people at the end of the tour who are not interested in puppies. I wonder if they have a soul....

Most tourists are nice but then every now and again you get the one or two that just don't get it. They treat you like you're less-than they don't accept 'no' as an answer. They pick on my sunglasses tan and don't listen when I tell them things. Yes I realize they are on vacation but when I say 'It's time to go towards the helicopter site' I don't actually mean 'please take 15 more pictures of puppies and take your gloves off, take pictures of you jumping with a dog team in the background, and go to the bathroom.' Funny how it seems that when I close the box full of puppies people seem to think that RIGHT THEN is the time to take more pictures... even though I've warned them it's going to be closed soon. Tourists do love their picture taking. Another thing they love is to ask the same questions 'When are you getting out of school?' 'Do you live here?' 'Do you have another shot of us?'

I take their action shot while they are sled, and it's moving. As I'm sure you can imagine this becomes quite challenging 'Everyone smile and wave! Now look at me! 3..2..1!' most of the time it turns out just fine. Then there are times when someones hand is in someones face. I will retake the photo if this is the case. However I will not take the photo if your own hand is in front of your face. I counted you down, I warned you, and then your musher told you too. Not my fault. Also the people who will keep their camera in front of their face I will not retake their picture, they will have some amazing video of me taking their picture and telling them to look at me. Then they ask why I have a picture with either their hand or a camera in their face. Tourists will often times take so many pictures that they do what we call the 'virtual tour' which means that they never taken their camera away from their face and just look around... with their eyes. They are constantly looking through the lens of their camera, rather than with their own eyes. You'd rather watch the tour instead of experience it.

Hundreds of tourists come and go and I've yet to have an unhappy tourist. The ones that stick out in my mind are the ones that do something incredibly stupid like ask 'so do you ever get cold up here?' or 'Do you helicopter the dogs in every day and out every night?' my personal favorite 'is this really your career?' or 'so what is your goal in life really?' Well it sure as f*ck isn't to take your picture lady, get back on the helicopter.

At the end of the day we all share our stories, after all we do need to vent about our day. But like I said we all keep in mind that without tourists our job wouldn't happen. With that said we all wake up again and paint on our happy faces to greet the next batch of tourists.

Dogs

 I realized that I haven't really talked about dogs yet. Dogs are a very big part of my job. Everyday I get to play with dogs, comfort them, hold them, love them... it's great. You know when you walk in the door after being gone, even if it's only 5 minutes, and your dog is super excited to see you every time? Imagine that happening but with 40 dogs. At 6 am when we wake up and start scooping poop they all bark, wag their tails, run in circles and look at you with those excited eyes 'I love you! I'm so glad you're back!' Not a bad way to start your day.

 There are a couple of types of sled dogs. The one pictured above is a racing dog. They are a little smaller, about 50 pounds or so and they are bred to race. Another type is a large fluffy dogs. These dogs are bred for freight, pulling heavy gear over long distances rather than moving fast. Sort of the difference between a marathon runner and a football player, each strong and athletic in their own way.

Then of course, there are the puppies! There are currently 12 total on the glacier. 8 are 3 weeks old and 4 are about 10 days. The older puppies are just starting to look like dogs but they're still little butterballs. It's my job to hand them out to tourists. It's tough... but someone has to do it.

Small Town, Alaska vs. Small Town, Vermont

Now I've lived in some small towns in my life but nothing like small town, Alaska. And so in this post I would like to take the time to compare my small town in Vermont (aka Belmont... I challenge anyone who doesn't live near me to find it on a map without using the internet, it's almost as fun as where's waldo)

Belmont, Vermont is a sleepy little town filled with quirky, but lovable residents. There are really only two paved roads which go back to ether one or two routes. They meet in the middle where there is a 4-way stop sign. At the four corners there is a church (baptist), library, town green and a general store. The general store has a deli, sells pizza and burgers, a few tourist sweatshirts, and a limited variety of food. It also sells lots of beer. There is a the Odd Fellows Hall which is up the hill a little ways and lives on Star Lake, which is basically a pond. Belmont is the town that tourists hope to find on their scenic driving tour of Vermont. There are about 1,500 residents year round but in summer, fall and winter on weekends the town gets up to about 4,000 (on the high end). There is no cop, instead there is a constable who pulls people over every now and again to remind everyone that he does still exist and does still have authority. But really he's a nice guy and you have to work to get any sort of ticket. and frankly if you're in Belmont you're probably in no rush to get anywhere. There are town festivals such as Farm Days and Cider Days (my personal favorite) where people gather on the green or up at the lake for demonstrations of different things. Things locals like to do are: hunt, fish, smoke weed (after all they are from Vermont), drink beer, ski/ snowboard, snowmobile and generally have fun.

Comparing that description to the current town I sometimes 'live' in. Town has 700 residents and about 20 police employed. Town goes up to about 10,000 residents when a cruise ship or two is in port. There are four bars which mainly get their revenue from tourists wanting to drink something mildly cheaper than cruise ship booze. The four bars stay open at night for the seasonal employment crowd. They are a brewery, another bar which has a mystery raffle Thursday, another which has pin-up style porn on the walls and hosts a weekly dance night, and the last which closes at 5am and opens back up at 7am for breakfast. I've done extensive research already on all the watering holes in this town and have decided the last bar mentioned are where the true locals hang out. The town is mostly paved roads, about 20 blocks and is filled with jewelry stores and fur shops Most everything is based on the tourist industry. Unlike Belmont it is by no means a sleepy town. In fact it is quite lively (having only been here in the summer though I can see where this would not be the case in winter). Town here has a much younger feel, whereas Belmont has been around for a couple hundred years. This town began with the gold rush and has a reputation for being rowdy. There is a grocery store and a hardware store where locals buy pretty much whatever they need. If those two places don't have it, you don't need it. You better not anyhow because it would suck to ship it here.

Both places have their good qualities and both have their downfalls. Belmont I picture on a winters night on new years eve, where as this town I like in the summer for a brew and dancing. Hope you enjoyed a little tour of Small Town, Alaska.

Weather

'Some days are diamonds... some days are rocks... ' -Tom Petty

So not every day is a sunny day out on the glacier. This past week we had a 'weather day' which means that the weather made it impossible for helicopters to land on the glacier. I'm not talking about extreme wind or freezing rain that's falling sideways, nope just clouds. The elevation from town to the glacier is a change of 4000ft, and dog camp is only about 2 miles from town. This drastic change in elevation means that town as completely different weather. When town is overcast it means that the glacier is above the clouds. We can see into the valley and sometimes it is a like a lake of clouds. Other times on the glacier we can't even see the mountain which is right next to us. When the pilot can't see the ground they can't fly, end of story. Unfortunately, tours get canceled. The helicopter base does try to do weather checks on an hourly basis, so they know the moment that they can start tours again. Some days we might have an hour or two canceled, other days canceled until lunch and then some others, canceled all day. At dog camp we just sit around and wait all day, not that we have anywhere to be. These days are not bad, but not good either. It's nice to have a break but its' also nice to make some money, no tours= no $.

Then there's the day that we had yesterday, beautiful, sunny and clear for miles. Tours every half an hour. It was hot, and all the employees were walking around in t-shirts. The heat is reflected off the white of the snow, and since white is the dominant color in the landscape it gets pretty hot. Tourists come off the helicopter in their fur coats (no joke, some people actually wear fine fur coats to go and play with dogs) and helly hansen ski pants and we're in jeans and t-shirts with ball caps on. These are good days, the best tours happen days like this. These days are also the days that everyone gets sunburned, everywhere. Because the sunlight is being reflected from the snow, which is everywhere, you get sunburned in places you wouldn't normally think about. Such as under your chin and up your nose. You feel like a grease ball all day long because you're also sweating. When I get back I'm going to have an amazing sunglasses tan, watch tan and potentially a strap tan from the camera bag I wear around.

Living on a Glacier

So I've been living on a glacier for about a couple of weeks now. The first week I was up with a small crew and we build dog houses all week long, along with shoveled out groomers, walk through 2ft of fresh snow and of course, as always, take care of dogs.

This past week the full crew was up and we transported another 100+ dogs to camp. There are 13 people living on the glacier with me. There are mushers, dogs handlers, tour assistants (that's me!), the cook and our manegment team.

Tours started on Monday and have been going ever since. We have tours every day. We never have a scheduled 'day off' without people coming up the glacier. On certain days of the week there are less tours than others and during those days we are flown down from the glacier (via helicopter!) and we get to have the next two nights in town and then we are flown back up in the morning. For those who are curious my schedule goes a little like this:

5:50am alarm goes off

5:55 roll out of bed and put rain pants/ boots/ jacket on

6:00 grab a shovel and start finding poop, put poop in a 5 gallon bucket. Usually a dog yard of 40 will have approximately 2-3 buckets of poop

6:30 feed dogs if necessary, put eye drogs in irritated dogs eyes and use zinc on any part of the dog that's pink to prevent sunburn.

7:00 breakfast! (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, pancakes, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit....coffee...)

8:00 first helicopter lands full of tourists! I unload the helicopter of the tourists/ gear and put gear back on.

Next I lead tourists to mushers after they recieve their safety speech

I then go and stand in the 'photo spot' and wait

I take an 'action shot' of them on the sled

I then walk briskly back to the photo tent where I edit and print off the pictures

I hopefully am ready a few minutes before they get back to the camp so that I can get their pictures organized.

I remember that I sell thousand dollar a night condos when I'm trying to get these people to purchase a picture of themselves

I then lead them back to the helicopters 'no I'm sorry you cannot change seats...' and get them ready to go

Once the helicopter lands I help the new tourists in the helicopter and then I put the old tourists, photos hopefully in hand, back inside. I then unload the gear/ load our gear into it.

This process repeats itself every hour. Tours on 'slower' days run every hour, a full day is every half hour.

5:00ish-7pm tours stop. we feed dogs/ water/ poop scoop once last time.

7:30pm we eat.

8pm a crew does dishes/ we hang out.

I usually go to bed sometime between 9:30 and 10pm.

The picture is of what I'm living in. Note the snow is above the door on either side by about 2ft. I'll keep you all posted about what's going on but for now I'm oging ot get my things organized again to go back up to hang out with the 240 dogs!

Getting to Small Town Alaska

I have spent my first 24 hours at my home base for the next 6 months. Once again out of respect for my company I'm not going to disclose the name of the town, if you're interested in knowing my address please just email me, mperry421@gmail.com. I flew into Juneau at about 7:30 and then got to my hotel where I made a few phone calls and went to bed. I didn't wake up again until 5am, 30 minutes before my alarm was going to go off. I was getting up early because there are one of two ways to get my home base and both leave at ass-crack-of-dawn o'clock. The first way is to fly in a small plane from Juneau. When I say small I mean an 8 seater cessna. The other way, which takes longer but is much more relaxing and scenic, also has no weight restrictions on baggage (big plus!) is to take the ferry. I've flown into Rutland, VT before which has about the smallest airport one could ever ask for. The one here in this town is the same size. When sizing up my options I thought about the flight from Boston to Rutland and how it was beautiful, it also got tossed around a lot. I also thought that I hadn't yet traveled by ferry. So my choice was easy. Ferry it was!

Continental breakfast at my hotel didn't start until 7am, which was a bummer because it meant that I had to get breakfast on the ferry. I also like to eat a big breakfast from the continental counter because then it means I have to pay for less food later. At 5:30am the coffee wasn't brewed let alone the bagels set out. So on an empty stomach I set out to discover how one travels by marine highway. Now here is an interesting tid bit of knowledge- if you own a car and wish to drive it on the ferry you MUST be there two hours in advance. However, if you're a traveler with an excessively large bag and nothing else besides yourself you can pretty much arrive 30 minutes before the ferry leaves, even though the website says an hour. So I could have slept another 30 minutes, but what did it matter? I still would have missed breakfast anyway. I had bought my ticket in advance which means that I reserved it and would pick it up when I arrived. The kid who gave me to my ticket was very nice and I asked if I could board and he said yes, if I wanted to. I figured there might be breakfast, or at least a cup of coffee on the ferry so I went straight for the boats. I checked my abnormally large bag and walked onto what was about the size of a cruise ship.

I then saw a sign for the cafeteria, and went to investigate. After going up 3 flights of stairs I saw it, with a big sign that said 'Open at 11:30am.' I was crushed. I had some pistachios and some granola in my bag as snacks that was going to have to do until 11:30. There were people milling about but it seemed to me they were mostly people who just wanted to sleep in the cushioned booths. I walked away feeling a little let down, and surprised. 'Really they'd have this place open for boarding but not serve coffee... huge money loss' I then saw someone come out of a door from the cafeteria with a steaming cup of coffee. I retraced my steps to find that the place where they sell the food isn't visable from those walking around. I then got my cup of coffee, nothing else seemed to interest me so I was going to wait for lunch and have granola instead. This was a good decision. BEWARE they only take cash and there ZERO atms on board. I had enough to get my lunch but not enough to get lunch and breakfast.

After my cup of coffee I found the front viewing deck and fell asleep again. Totally worth it. When I woke up I watched the beautiful scenery as we passed. The mountains were still snow capped and came right up out of the ocean. I saw a whale and some porpoises along with an eagle or two. The landscape was clearly rugged and wile. Nothing for miles, we didn't see any sign of human impact besides the occasional abandoned lighthouse. If you have the chance to take the ferry out of Juneau I highly suggest it.

When it was a respectful time to call others I tried to reach those picking me up in my town. No answer. I left a message. I tried two hours later. Still no answer. It got the point where they were supposed to pick me up in an hour and half, still no answer. I finally call a person who I'd been speaking to in Juneau and no answer, I asked that she try to get a hold of the ground crew in my town so that someone would be there to pick me up. I was stressed at this point. I realize that I'm on this kick about trusting others, to know that they care about strangers... blah blah blah. I still believe this, but as far as trusting others with my logistical plans I generally try not to leave it to fate. Benin has taught me that especially in travel, if you're planning something, you cannot leave it up to others to follow your schedule. So I confirm all hotel reservations, double check flight times, check in early, weight my baggage, speak to those I need to speak to in advance, and so on. I also realize that I should have called about a week ago, or even the night before. Because I didn't calls someone before all I could do now was cross my fingers and hope for the best. I hadn't heard from anyone until the ferry was 50 feet from the dock of where I was getting off. I got a phone call and they said that someone would be holding a sign with my name on it and they were there right now. I thanked the travel Gods and skipped off the ship to get my luggage.

The town I live in is very small approximately 700 people. I can walk anywhere and they even loaned me a bike, which I realized the seat was set for someone who's about a foot taller than me. I tried to lower the seat but it was rusted in place. The rest of the bike looks good (thank you Peace Corps/ Papa Velo for training me about bikes) tires were solid and the brakes/ gears worked, chain needed oiling but other than that it appeared to work well from the time I spent poking it. I also found the laundromat, public library, grocery store and local hardware store. The joke about the hardware store is that if they don't sell it you don't need it, true statement. I left with all the items on my list. Overall I'm happy to be here and interested in exploring my area before I get on the glacier, but still anxious to start working!  

The Three Days of Green

 Some thing that I love are: Breweries, Hiking and Beauty. Not in that particular order and for my birthday I got to experience all three! My birthday lies between two interesting dates on the calendar, April 20th and April 22nd. Now I'm not going to explain 4/20 I expect if you are reading my blog you can go look it up if you don't know. April 22nd is Earth Day. I like to refer to this series of days as 'The Three Days of Green'. April this year is also the month of unemployment for me. Ski season ended early and my job starts late. While some would view this as a negative thing I saw it as an opportunity to take an extended vacation. I've been staying with my family in Vermont, and then I came down to North Carolina and am spending a week or so with my brother Jason and his fiance/ my best friend Lynn. They took me to spend some time in Ashville for my birthday weekend.

I met some really great people in Ashville, going from my last blog post. I spent some time with Rachel and her husband Bryan. While Rachel wasn't a perfect stranger, she's Lynns sister and I've met her before I didn't ever spend enough time to get to know her. Bryan I had never met before. I'm glad that I did, they're both great people. Bryan plays in a band and we went to see him play at the Pisgah Brewery. The reason why I love breweries is because they're 99% of the time laid back places to enjoy craft beer. This unpretentious attitude lends itself to attracting people with the same outlook on life. Overall, it was a great night good beer, good music and good people.

 The next day, on my birthday, we went hiking in the Pisgah National Forest with Lynns cousins and their dog (because what is a hike without a dog?). We looked at the weather and saw that there was an extremely high chance of rain. The hike that was chosen was one that was along a river. The original plan was to go until we wanted to turn around. The river contained swimming holes and beautiful scenery. Unlike when one hikes to a destination such as a waterfall or summit there was no specific place to turn around. This made it perfect for a rainy day. When one is hiking in the rain, even for those who like hiking, there is a fine line between enjoyable adventure and painful endurance. If you leave the car and view the day as a hardship to muscle through, you might as well of stayed home. You have to choose that it is going to be a good day. We all did just that, we all decided to enjoy ourselves. When we began it wasn't raining, but about 15 minutes into the hike the rain started, it was slow and then when we decided to turn around it was a soaking rain. The hike was beautiful. I would come back and camp there. Coming out of the woods we felt good, refreshed, and at peace, we were also soaked. When I go hiking I remember what I love about nature, it gives you much more than just beauty or opportunity for exercise. Wild places have a soothing effect on people. After hundreds of thousands of year of evolution people weren't meant to live in boxes. We weren't meant to keep our lives free of bacteria and movement, we evolved to be outside we adapted to the natural environment not the one that we created for ourselves. Now, I realize that it is extremely difficult to live 'off the land' and that I personally wouldn't want to do it. The developed world is a great place. But there is a piece inside all of us that is wild, and instinctual.

On Sunday Jason took me to see the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you haven't ever been there, it is beautiful, and  when you go you're left without a sense of awe I would question if you had a soul. We ended up parking going on a stroll, I'd be hard-pressed to call it a hike (it was only 1/5th of a mile on mostly boardwalk and pavement), to a waterfall. We then relaxed and watched a couple of guys catch trout out of the pool beneath the falls. They were almost catching good meal-sized ones every time. It must have been a man in his 40's and his father. I'm glad to see others enjoying this natural place. Getting people to care about nature is the first step toward gaining the support to preserve wild places. We then ate lunch at the Pisgah Inn, which is a restaurant that overlooks the Appalachians. After our exhausting weekend Jason, Lynn and I returned back to their apartment and fell asleep. Overall a great way to celebrate The Three Days of Green.