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.

Arraasska i is here.

Well I suppose this blog could be re-named Kat-laska...but that's going a little far.
I'm on my 9th full day here, and I absolutely love it.
In case any of you didn't pick it up from the other post (maybe I didn't even write it...who knows), I am now working at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and its amazing.
This place is so great, we take in injured and orphaned animals, and rehabilitate them and either set them back in the wild or they get to live here for everrr. I work in the gift shop/ticket booth/ cook in the snack bar. The cooking is my favorite though because behind me in the open air snack bar is the owl enclosure so I end up sitting and talking to them for a while.

But yeah things are great. We just got two baby mooses here yesterday and today, and they are adorable! There's also another orphaned moose named jack that they took in last year, and they all live up by the bunk house, so when I go to shower/laundry I get to go by them and pet them. Picts soon I promise.

I live in a pretty sweet cabin across the street from the center....well its more like down a really long road across the street but its tight none the less. I even have my own outhouse (no running water in the place, though we did just get internet). Its nice though, and the two boys I work with live a few cabins away from mine, so we hangout like every night. They are pretty tight guys for sure.

I'm feeling kind of lazy at the moment so I'm not going to put any photos up, but I promise I will put them up soon, I just found out I have the next like four days off, so there will be plenty of down time for surez.

I'm going on a hike tomorrow, so I'll post about how that goes.

Had the interview for on the ice, and the next day faxed back my official acceptance letter for primary janitor position.

So yes kids, its official, I am heading back down to the ice!
Crazy thing is, depending on when I leave Alaska, I may have as little as a week between the two!

I'm currently in packing hell, but think I have everything figured out and packed in my suitcase. I'm still a cronic overpacker, but I'm getting slightly better at it.

I got to hangout with Katy today, she drove up here to Manitowoc to shop and spend the day together before I leave. Pretty great time, and saw the new X-men movie. Totally not as amazing as the new Star Trek, but still pretty alright.

Flying out monday morning, hanging out in Mpls for 8 hours between flights with Justin and Sarah, and then arriving in AK at around 8:30 p.m.

Its going to be a long day for sure.

lately.

Well posting should hopefully be happening more now, that I will soon have more going on in my life than sitting at my parents house.

I leave for Alaska on monday the 18th. I will be working at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and I'm super stoked about it. Its looking like its going to be a great summer.

I also have an interview tomorrow morning for a job back down on the ice, so I will hopefully have good news about that as well.

Life is shaping up quite nicely at the moment.

The next two weekends should prove to be pretty fun filled and interesting.

Next weekend, May 2nd I will be headed to Chicago to hangout with some great friends and listen to great music. I'm going to be going to the Horse Feathers show and I am so excited about it. I just got their new album in the mail the other day and can't stop listening to it.

The weekend after that, May 9th I will be doing a Wems race up in Green Bay. For anyone that may not know what that is: its a 12 hour mountain bike race. I'll be doing it on either a 3 person or 4 person team. During the race you generally will ride for three hours, one hour out on the lap, wait while your team mates are out, go out again, wait, etc.

Other than that I've just been sitting around, still doing around 11 miles a day, and occasionally doing around 20 mile, rides weather depending.

This past weekend I went to MKE and tried to do a 60 mile road ride with other members of Team Pegasus. Yeah...that didn't work to well for me. I am definitly not up to the calibur they all are, and on top of that, I was riding clipless (haven't done that in a year), and on a road bike (haven't ridden gears in longer), I also forgot my inhaler (ugh duh), so after around 5 or so miles I headed back. I felt terrible for constantly making the team slow down/stop so I could catch up, so it was probably for the best that I just dropped and left. My goal someday is to be able to keep up, but I know thats a long way off, especially with leaving the state/country every few months.
I did save a turtle on the way back to the car though, so that was good. Spent the rest of the day reading and sitting in the sun, so overall it was an okay day.

if a tlark bike rides in the forest and no ones around, did it happen?

As of late I have been on a mission to get myself out of the house every day for exercise. Right now living at my parents house, and not having a job or even any friends in town, its really easy to let myself become lazy and just slump on the couch all day. I really want to get in shape and work on my biking, so lately I've been rotating riding and running (mainly running on days it seems way to windy to want to ride).
Tonight I decided to ride towards Point Beach State park, which is roughly 11 miles away from my house, so a pretty easy ride for the night. On the way I took the Mariners trail, which is a beautiful easy ride along the lake all the way to Two Rivers.



After following the 5.5 mile trail into TR I only had to ride maybe five minutes through the town to get to the next bike path. This one is called the Rawley Point bike trail, and it goes through a "pine and hemlock forest" and takes you right up to the parking lot for the state park.



This trail started a little harder than the last, mainly because it wasn't paved (crushed gravelish??) and I was on my track bike with thin tires that kept trying to get stuck in other peoples tire grooves. But I pushed on, and came to the point where the trail meets the road and I could have either:
a. hopped on the road and followed it the rest of the way to the park
b. continued on the trail into the forest, even though I most def was not on the right type of bike
c. turned around and gone home

Well I went with ... B! Yes I took my poor little fixed gear into the forest, running over sticks and stones, through dirt and mud, snow piles, and hopping on and off of wooden bridges. Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I actually got pretty far into the forest before deciding to take a break re-fuel and head back (the sun was getting mighty low and I was w/o lights).



Me looking oh so cool in the forest: It was warm enough today to ride w/o a jacket the whole time!!



My poor dear bike that puts up with so much abuse and still keep kickin'.

On the way back home a deer ran out on the trail in front of me. I love nature.

The reason I've been riding out to this park in particular is because I actually have an interview with them on saturday. I think it would sound good to the interviewer if I was able to say that I ride out to the park on a regular basis, and that I've even been on some of the trails. You know, makes me look like I'm outdoorsy and have an interest in the park.
Well....thats all for now!

To go to alaska or not....

Well I'm a little unsure at the moment where my summer will take me now.
I got a phone call today about a job in the next town over I had applied to, before the Alaska job.
It would be working at the State Park, which would be a lot of fun, its 11 miles away so I could bike there, and live at home (which means free food). I would also be making at least 400 more a month than living and working in Alaska. With my 1,000 a month student loan payments, that money is going to be needed. Badly.

But. Its Alaska. I've always dreamed of working there. I don't know, I guess I should see if I even get offered the job here, I mean I may be getting ahead of myself, they only asked me to come and interview.

I took my dogs up to the park today, since I had never been there, and thought it best when I interview to be able to say I had at least walked one of the trails once. We had a good hike, I think we only did like 3 or so miles, so it really wasn't much, but it with it getting dark I felt best to turn around. The park is really nice, not as nice as the actual wilderness, but still really beautiful.

I'm going down to Milwaukee this weekend, its the Team Pegasus party, so I'll get a chance to see some friends and see what they have to say about this situation.

Till next time..

oh i know a new update I can post...I cut my hair! gahhhhh.

I told ben, and he re-assured me it would grow back, but still...

Well, well, well...look who's back on the blog. As if anyone hadn't noticed or couldn't tell, I am bad at keeping things such as this updated. At some point down at the ice I was more interested in living the experiences and much less enthused in writing about them. Silly as that may be, trust me its how I tend to be at times (ask my mom).
But here I am, giving this blog a second chance, perhaps a second life.
I make no promises that this will be continually updated either, but I will really do my best, and that's really all one can ask for isn't it?

Ah well, anyways onto different business. I am back from the Ice. Yes, I survived my first season, and left wanting more.
I spent about a week in New Zealand, hanging out with good friends, eating fresh food, and seeing birds and puppies and kitties. Everything I was hoping for and more. I watched a guy do a basketball street show in Cathedral Square, at Burger King as my first meal when we got to NZ (it was the only place open I swear), and got to live in a concussed world--story on that real quick....

Two days before I was to leave the continent, I was sleeping in Bens room, when his alarm went off that morning I somehow ended up falling out of his bed --it was about 5+ feet off the ground), and fell directly on my head (or so we presume). I ended up going back to sleep, but thankfully waking up, going to work, and I honestly have no recollection of any of it. My dear friend Kendra brought me to medical, they concluded it was a concussion and I was sent home and told I didn't have to work the next day, my day off. How lovely. Now I don't remember much of that or really even parts of my time in NZ, though I'm sure it was all grand.

--back to the main story.
The sad day came when I had to say goodbye to Ben. It was a bummer, but we had gotten to spend three days together in NZ which was more than we originally planned for. I spent my last few days with dear Sarah Bear and Tim, we rented a car with our friend Danny, and had our Sketchy car trip 09' which will forever live in my memory, and in video form.
Then I flew back to MKE, after 24+ hours of flying, I landed, shed some tears over my lost luggage, hugged my best friend holly and set out for Jimmy Johns and a grocery store (!!!)

Now I am back in Manitowoc, sitting at my parents house, thinking about all the people I dearly miss, wondering what will happen next, and mainly when I will get to go back to the ice.

So far I get to officially apply for two positions, coincidentally the two I really wanted, so my fingers are crossed for those. (!)

Now for the summer plans. I can't just sit around on my parents lazy boy all summer, first...that would get very very boring very quick (as in now), and second I just don't have the money to afford such a lifestyle...soo its off to different places and new adventures called....

Alaska! I got a job up there for the summer in Denali.

I think its grand that I will have gone from the bottom of the world, to almost the top of it, and hopefully right back down to the bottom. What more could a kid want?

well, that's all for now, I will really do my best to keep everyone posted on updates and life in general.