I haven't been able to get online much since I got here on the 19th- so since I've missed days 1-5 I'm just going to do highlights. I mentioned all the wildlife that I've seen already in my email. Moose:Alaska=Deer:Virginia. But the moose always win here. I also talked about the daylight lasting about 22 hours and dark only gets to dusk before sunrise again. I acclimated to these conditions pretty fast; I think it'll be more of a shock going back to VA when it gets dark around 6. You can get so much more done in a day when the sun doesn't go down on you. So far most of what I've been doing is learning how the Lodge is run and getting the cabins ready for the season.
I went to Homer, a town at the end of the peninsula, with Jeanne (the owner) and Brian(a fisherman) two nights ago. We were in search of a band called "Three Legged Mule" to get them to play for our opening season party next Saturday (30th). We got to Homer around 9 p.m., checked into a hotel and took a little nap before heading over to the bar where they'd be playing. I forget the bar's name but it was perfectly set up and the band was an awesome bluegrass medley of a group. I tried to find their cd but have been unsuccessful so far. Two pretty interesting/peculiar things happened to me while sitting with Jeanne and Brian.
As a female in a mostly male populated region, I've been pretty on guard, paying attention to my surroundings and the people that approach me. I was not ready, however, for a girl to approach me and ask me for my name and number. She kept telling me how gorgeous I was and how badly they needed girls up in these parts. I was thinking to myself- well so do the rest of these guys at the bar and you're stealing all their potential picks. I don't think I've ever been hit on so hard by a female before, and definitely didn't expect it in a place like this, so I was kind of flattered, maybe. Anyway, within 5 minutes an older looking fellow comes up and starts a conversation with Brian and then turns to me and says "You look really familiar, I know I've seen you before". I told him I was from Virginia and had just gotten here a few days ago so that was pretty unlikely. Before too long I find out this guy is Dean Osmar- a famous dog sled champion around these parts. He won the Iditarod in '84 and has raced in the Yukon as well. He showed me pictures of his dogs (all gorgeous huskies) and signed one of them and gave it to me. He spent the next hour trying to convince me to mush his team of dogs with him this next year- it doesn't pay well but it'd be an adventure, so he claims. I doubt that I'll actually stick around for 24 hours of darkness and 40 degrees below freezing weather, however I may eventually take him up on his offer to take the dogs out training with a 4-wheeler this summer.
We were supposed to leave Homer at 11 a.m. the next day to make it back in time to get some work done. However Brian went to a bar around noon and started playing rippies. Never a good idea. He played until he was $700 in the hole and then won two $400 winners in a row. He was pretty psyched about being ahead after 4 hours in a dingy bar with pull tabs- I on the other hand was not so thrilled and slept in the car for 2 hours waiting for him to finish. Rippies are a culture in and of themselves up here- they have boxes of them in every bar and every convenience store. Not many people can sit at a bar and not throw their dollar bills into the toilet for a chance to pull back some tabs. I hope I don't come anywhere near conforming to the rippie gambling habit by the end of the summer.
Steve (Jeanne's husband and the other owner) came in last night and we did a lot of shopping and training today. This evening when we went down to check the pull-out (where all the fisherman pull their boats out on our property) a guy wasn't paying attention when his boat drifted away from the ramp and started heading down river. The guy jumped in and started wading/swimming towards it, but his waders, boots, and beer belly kept him from going very far or being efficient enough to grab the boat. He got right up next to it but then started bobbing from all the water trapped in his pants; we all thought for sure he was going to drown. Intelligently he gave up pursuit and started making his way back to shore. Meanwhile another fishing guide Justin rips off his shirt, runs and dives into the water, saves the boat, and rows his way back in. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but the water is about 35 degrees right now... I was freezing just standing on the bank, let alone watching them jump in ice. Luckily everyone was alright- and they all came back up to the lodge for some beer and steaks afterward. All the fishing guides were talking afterward and said that never happens - that I got "a dinner and a show" tonight. Somethin new everyday.
I also got to meet some local Alaskans (not quite eskimos, but close) the other night at the T, a bar and restaurant down the road from us. After talking to them for a few minutes they said I was just like "Alice and Wonderland, but fearless. Wholesome looking, but not intimidated". I wasn't lying when I said that's the first time anyone's ever told me that. I was really just surprised they knew who Alice in Wonderland was- sorry to offend all you native Alaskans out there reading this.
Overall things are going really well and I love it up here. The only difficult thing about it is that the work day seems like it's 18 hours long. I start when I wake up and there is no clock out time. I don't think I'll be sleeping as much as college Colleen did, but I don't mind being busy and I'm meeting new/interesting people all the time. It's definitely an experience.
I went to Homer, a town at the end of the peninsula, with Jeanne (the owner) and Brian(a fisherman) two nights ago. We were in search of a band called "Three Legged Mule" to get them to play for our opening season party next Saturday (30th). We got to Homer around 9 p.m., checked into a hotel and took a little nap before heading over to the bar where they'd be playing. I forget the bar's name but it was perfectly set up and the band was an awesome bluegrass medley of a group. I tried to find their cd but have been unsuccessful so far. Two pretty interesting/peculiar things happened to me while sitting with Jeanne and Brian.
As a female in a mostly male populated region, I've been pretty on guard, paying attention to my surroundings and the people that approach me. I was not ready, however, for a girl to approach me and ask me for my name and number. She kept telling me how gorgeous I was and how badly they needed girls up in these parts. I was thinking to myself- well so do the rest of these guys at the bar and you're stealing all their potential picks. I don't think I've ever been hit on so hard by a female before, and definitely didn't expect it in a place like this, so I was kind of flattered, maybe. Anyway, within 5 minutes an older looking fellow comes up and starts a conversation with Brian and then turns to me and says "You look really familiar, I know I've seen you before". I told him I was from Virginia and had just gotten here a few days ago so that was pretty unlikely. Before too long I find out this guy is Dean Osmar- a famous dog sled champion around these parts. He won the Iditarod in '84 and has raced in the Yukon as well. He showed me pictures of his dogs (all gorgeous huskies) and signed one of them and gave it to me. He spent the next hour trying to convince me to mush his team of dogs with him this next year- it doesn't pay well but it'd be an adventure, so he claims. I doubt that I'll actually stick around for 24 hours of darkness and 40 degrees below freezing weather, however I may eventually take him up on his offer to take the dogs out training with a 4-wheeler this summer.
We were supposed to leave Homer at 11 a.m. the next day to make it back in time to get some work done. However Brian went to a bar around noon and started playing rippies. Never a good idea. He played until he was $700 in the hole and then won two $400 winners in a row. He was pretty psyched about being ahead after 4 hours in a dingy bar with pull tabs- I on the other hand was not so thrilled and slept in the car for 2 hours waiting for him to finish. Rippies are a culture in and of themselves up here- they have boxes of them in every bar and every convenience store. Not many people can sit at a bar and not throw their dollar bills into the toilet for a chance to pull back some tabs. I hope I don't come anywhere near conforming to the rippie gambling habit by the end of the summer.
Steve (Jeanne's husband and the other owner) came in last night and we did a lot of shopping and training today. This evening when we went down to check the pull-out (where all the fisherman pull their boats out on our property) a guy wasn't paying attention when his boat drifted away from the ramp and started heading down river. The guy jumped in and started wading/swimming towards it, but his waders, boots, and beer belly kept him from going very far or being efficient enough to grab the boat. He got right up next to it but then started bobbing from all the water trapped in his pants; we all thought for sure he was going to drown. Intelligently he gave up pursuit and started making his way back to shore. Meanwhile another fishing guide Justin rips off his shirt, runs and dives into the water, saves the boat, and rows his way back in. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but the water is about 35 degrees right now... I was freezing just standing on the bank, let alone watching them jump in ice. Luckily everyone was alright- and they all came back up to the lodge for some beer and steaks afterward. All the fishing guides were talking afterward and said that never happens - that I got "a dinner and a show" tonight. Somethin new everyday.
I also got to meet some local Alaskans (not quite eskimos, but close) the other night at the T, a bar and restaurant down the road from us. After talking to them for a few minutes they said I was just like "Alice and Wonderland, but fearless. Wholesome looking, but not intimidated". I wasn't lying when I said that's the first time anyone's ever told me that. I was really just surprised they knew who Alice in Wonderland was- sorry to offend all you native Alaskans out there reading this.
Overall things are going really well and I love it up here. The only difficult thing about it is that the work day seems like it's 18 hours long. I start when I wake up and there is no clock out time. I don't think I'll be sleeping as much as college Colleen did, but I don't mind being busy and I'm meeting new/interesting people all the time. It's definitely an experience.
Oh my god! Have any of these people been to the mainland lately? Can you say "aurora borealis," if you know what I mean? Find at least two or three people you really trust (and have done background checks on) and always go out with them. And, if you could, get me a photo of you with Sarah Palin and/or her husband Todd (maybe the Iditarod guy could help with this) and get autographs (theirs). Keep us up to date! We love you and are keeping our fingers crossed! :)
ReplyDeleteLove, Robbie