Alright. this is it. I'm moving. Well, i'm always moving, but this time I mean blogs. I just never really took to the way this one was laid out, and have moved onto greener pastures. Hopefully I'll keep motivated to update and all that jazz. If you want to check out my ramblings go to:

http://seebearclimb.tumblr.com/

Love you guys!

Today Jared and I went berry picking in a rain forest.
I'm pretty sure that it was actually Fern Gully, though sadly I didn't see any fairies.

The salmon are on their way in.
The boys have been super stoked about fishing and trying to catch one of those dudes, so I've been tagging along with Jared on his quest to catch.
Our location here in Portage is super convenient in that we have the river they run down on each side of our cabins, and its maybe a three minute walk out to the flats to fish.
My first casts with Jareds pole didn't go well at all...I caught a tree both times and messed the line up. Bad News Bears for sure.

Today though, Jared, Petey, and I went out to moose flats and walked down a path in the woods out to another area, further up the river from our cabins for some fishing. This time I got to use Jeremys' smaller pole, which I got figured out quick and ended up with the best casts out of the bunch. Still no catches though. Sad. I mean, we even tried Gummy Bears!
Those salmon are hard to get though, for sure. They don't actually bite the hook, just nibble at your bait and you have to have great timing in pulling the rod and hooking them.
We just don't seem to have the timing down very well.

I'm going into Anchorage tomorrow for a dentist app. and then picking up supplies for the AWCC so I'm going to stop and probably pick up my own pole and that sort of jazz so I can hangout more at the ol' fishin' hole.

What else...well I've befriended the black bears at the center. I bring them fresh fruits and veggies like every day. I'm going to see if I can train them a little bit. That would be pretty awesome and super rewarding....so we'll see how that goes. I just really like hanging with them none the less so whatevers cool with me for sure.

Lilly and I saved a lil' duck from a fence today! He was stuck halfway through and we had to carefully ease him backwards out of it. Hopefully he'll be okay!

Oh and so far while living here I have eaten Moose the past three days, already tried Reindeer, and Bison, and will soon be having Black Bear Bratwurst, and probably Caribou. Its crazy to think I was vegetarian and vegan for so long. But I do think there's a difference between these animals and those coming from factory farms. At least, at the moment I like to tell myself that. I think for sure though I'm going back to being veggie after I leave here.

Hmm I do believe that is all for now.

If my life was a music video, I think I would want it to be this one.
Not only is the song amazing, but the video is absolutely beautiful.

Dear life, Please make this happen.

Keyboard Cat!

I just ordered an amazing t-shirt.



It will go well with my Cat w/ lazer beams coming out of its eyes + two wolf shirts & my owl t-shirt.
Pretty sure I should just stick to buy/wearing clothes that have animals on them.
Best. life decision. ever.

If I would just get better at updating these post wouldn't be so long...

Welp as always look who is terrible at updating their blog.
I'm really not even sure as to why its so hard for me to just sit down and update this thing. Life here seems to move so fast, and this summer is racing by me, so perhaps that's a small bit of it. I think its mainly that I just never think that there's much to say, even though every day here is an adventure.
Here's a quick overview of life as of late:

Watched the bears (JB, Patrone, Hugo) eat a moose leg the other day.

Hung out with a black sitka deer named Julie



Went and explored an abandoned WW2 military building


Hiked a glacier-- the hike was 7.5 miles round trip, with a 4,000 ft elevation gain (I wanted to die), but I made it and am so proud of myself for that.



Had a wild bear come into the center and had to go into emergency lock down mode
Pet some baby moose
Weekly beer pong nights (are we back in college...?)
Met like a million other people from Wisconsin
Went to a festival in Girdwood, and hoola-hooped the shit outa that town



Danced whenever I could
Finally making progress on PQ'ing for Antarctica
Hitchhiked multiple times successfully
Saw some whales & PUFFINS!!

and probably some other cool stuff that I'm totally forgetting about at this moment.

I'm really glad though, that I decided to make the trek out here. I know for a while I was super nervous about the prospect of leaving home for four months again, having to again make new friends in a new place, and be away from everyone (all of whom I miss dearly). It makes me really appreciate what I have at home, but at the same time appreciate the world a little bit more and the fact that I'm so lucky to actually get to travel and see things and do things I never would have dreamed of. I'm meeting so many great people while I'm here, seeing so many beautiful things, and spending a ton of time with animals I have only dreamed of getting this close to.

I'm kind of excited to see what adventures are around the corner for me.
Antarctica for sure, but after that who knows?
I still want to backpack around Ireland when I get back, so if anyone's down for that drop me a line....

first hike in arraska.

Yesterday I took full advantage of my second day off.
Day off one I spent showering, doing laundry, hanging out with Jared in the ticket booth, and going on a little adventure to Anchorage with Ryan. It was a pretty good day, but I barely spent any of it outside (though it was pretty rainy the whole day).

So when I woke up yesterday morning and saw the sun shining I knew I had to get out and do something. I gathered my gear, which took me a while, since I couldn't decide if I wanted to use my pack or my messenger bag...I decided on pack and I'm very happy with that decision and the pack in general. I stopped by work for a minute saying hi to everyone and then was on my way down the highway.



I decided to head down to Moose Flats, since Ryan had taken me there the day before to show me it, and I noticed there was a trail that started there. Moose Flats was only like a mile away from the top of my road so it was a really easy walk to do. I got there and headed down the trail.
I was a little disappointed, since I realized it was basically just a gravel bike path, so when it crossed the highway I jumped off and headed back down the road.



I stopped for lunch where the trail would have ended if I had stayed on, which was a beautiful little lake. After I continued down the road, stopping off whenever I would see a little path or road to head down. I eventually came across a sign that warned of Avalanches...well I saw other people in the area so I figured it was alright to head down and check it out. I'm so glad that I did, this was one of the most beautiful places ever.



I arrived at the bottom of the mountain, which had this giant glacier coming down, so I hiked across the snow to this huge rock at the bottom and laid on top of it for an hour or so, reading Bukowski and listening to the water fall. It was a pretty awesome thing for sure. I explored the area a bit, and decided it was time to head back to the cabins. I gathered my stuff and was on my way.

I decided to take all of the Blue Ice trail back, just to see if there was anything interesting on it, since I had given up on it so quickly last time around. I found this path leading off of it, that takes you around the lake, and up the mountain into the trees, so I'm super stoked about that. I think Jared and I are doing a hike today so we will most likely head up that, and maybe camp out for the night.



After I got back from the hike, I stopped back at the AWCC and went to visit with the two baby moose we just got in the other day. Sooooooo cute! ahhh! I can't wait to get in their pen and hug them. Jack (who is about a year old) is cute, but these babies are soo much cuter (sorry jack)

Tomorrow Jared and I are heading to Anchorage with our awesome boss Eve to do some shopping, so that should be a really fun day too.
Man I love Alaska so much right now.