July 29: Old Woman

 I went on my first solo hike today!  I climbed one of the "easier" mountains in Kodiak, Old Woman.  It was hard.  Kodiak is going to whip me into shape for sure!

 

July 28: Near Island

We went on a walk to Near Island today, which, hence the name, is an island very near to Kodiak.  It has great walking trails and is kid friendly.  Arthur totally looked the part today with his camo hat that he picked out himself this morning. 

July 27: eat take. wick tanels.

That's what Arthur will tell you we did today.  And yes, we did eat cake.  And lick candles.  It was a great birthday celebrated these yahoos.  Arthur helped make my cake.  As you can see, it took intense concentration.

On another note, my Illinois drivers license expired today.  I went in to get an Alaska license and discovered I had to take an online driving test.  It was 20 questions long and I could only get 4 wrong to pass.  I failed by question 9.  Dang.  I guess I'll be spending the next few days studying the online practice tests!

July 26: Fossil Beach

We drove out to Fossil beach today.  It was almost an hour drive, but worth it!  Great views and lots of bison on the way out. 

I may not have been an Alaskan for long, but I am looking the part.  Pasty white!!

July 25: Nice little drive

Meg and Kyle got a house today!  This is the view from my house to their house.  No big deal.  It will also be the view from my house to school.  I can't complain about this commute :)

July 24: Summertime Narnia

This is the woods next to our friends' house.  It looks magical!

July 23: Mountain dog?

This dog has been hanging out with the mountain sheep too long. 

On a separate note, I HELD A CHICKEN TODAY!  For those of you who don't know, I am terrified of birds and have extreme anxiety when they are close by.  Meg and Kyle are staying at a bed and breakfast until they get their house, and the family there has a chicken coop.  Their 5th grade daughter thought it was funny that I was afraid of chickens so she made me hold a baby one.  I literally just stuck my hand out over the table and she left it there for a few minutes.  The chick was fine before I held it, but once it left me, it was acting all sick like it was dying.  I think it absorbed all my nervous energy.  Hope I didn't kill the little guy. 

July 22: Welcome to the Kodiak Airport

Yep.  That's it. 

July 21: Nothing like Chicago breakfast spots

I had always wanted to eat at the Bongo Room, but never got around to it.  Well, today was the day, and it was AMAZING.  This is what was left of our pancake spread.  Pancake 1: salted caramel pretzel.  Pancake 2: lemon blueberry.  Pancake 3:  Red velvet.

Thank you, Chicago, for this incredible last meal.  And to my lovely friends who came to eat it with me. 

July 20: Back in the Chi

THIS is Chicago summer, right here.   It's NEVER going to be warm enough in Kodiak to try this.

July 19: Congratulations, Katie and Ryan!

The wedding day is here!  My roommate of 7 years is married!  It is so weird knowing that not only are we roommates anymore, we now live 4,000 miles away from one another.  This is going to be hard.  This woman is incredible.  She has brought out the adventurous side in me.  We have climbed mountains together, jumped from planes, learned choreographed dances, taught ourselves harmonica, made movies and theme songs, snorkled, hosted epic parties, completed marathons and triathlons, and just lived life fully alongside one another.  She has been a wonderful friend.  Through everything, she has supported me and loved me.  She encourages me to walk more closely with my God, and for ALL of that, I am forever thankful He put her in my life. 

July 18: Wedding Bear

Brookie is the flower girl for Kate's wedding, so she got to make a wedding bear today.  She named it Allie.  Katie was half worried we would get to the workshop and Brooklynn would decide to get a stuffed minion in a wedding dress.  This girl is funny. 

July 17: Cutest gift wrap ever

These are the gifts for the groomsmen that Katie's aunt wrapped.  She is so ridiculously adorable.  I was questioning my femaleness when she brought them over.  There is no way I could create something that cute and coordinated. 

July 16: Wedding planning time!

I flew back to Michigan today for my roommate of 7 years, Katie's, wedding!!  We will spend the next few days getting last minute things done and prepping for her big day.  When I came downstairs to sleep tonight (which I was SO excited to do, since with the red eye flight I had been awake for about 37 hours),  I saw this picture hanging on the mirror.  Katie's mom is awesome!

July 15: Hide! Hide!

Arthur likes to play Hide! Hide! under the pillow.  I snapped this picture mid game.  He is so cute!

July 14: My yard

We went back to my house today to take pictures.  This is my view from my front window.  I can see a lake on 3 sides of my house.  It is nice and tranquil :)

July 13: Foster Elementary Flashbacks

I swear I took a picture today.  It is of Meg standing in one of those wooden houses that used to be at all the elementary school playgrounds.  I am pretty sure I asked my best friend to go break up with my boyfriend for me while I was climbing one of these house. 

The picture won't upload.  lame.

July 12: Salmonberry Pie

Michelle made AMAZING salmonberry pie for us tonight.  Salmonberry bushes are everywhere here. They are like raspberries on steriods, but a little more tart.  We love them.  The bears love them.  Kyle and Arthur love picking them.  They make awesome pies! 

July 11: Biker in the making

Another awesome day in the sun!!  We drove out to a beach that you had to do a little off roading to get there.  We spent some time with a couple that Meg and Kyle knew from the Coast Guard in Elizabeth City (Cory and Michelle).  I am teaching with Michelle this year.  They have been awesome.  They have shown us around the island, cooked us dinner, and given us the ins and outs of Kodiak.  Arthur loves their sons.  Today, Arthur learned to dirt bike.  He looked so tough in the gear.  I taught him how to flex and kiss his muscles.

July 10: Home?

We spent a large portion of the day today exploring.  It was a beautiful day, and the thing we hear from everyone here is: When it's beautiful, you get outside.  Meg and I hiked a cliffside trail along the ocean during Arthur's nap.  After he woke up, we all went to the park and hiked along a lake and out to the ocean again.  It was amazing.  I had the hardest time choosing a picture for today because they were all beautiful.  I am not sure when it will really dawn on me that I live here now.  This isn't just a month long vacation.  I know that winters here will be tough... as will spring and fall most likely, but I am going to ENJOY the sunny summer days when they come!!

July 9: Peterson Elementary

I was able to get inside my new school today, meet some of the staff, and check out my classroom.  I LOVE it all so far.  The staff is awesome and really friendly, and the rooms are great.  I can walk to the school from base.  I just love that in the picture, it looks like in order to get to Peterson, you have to climb down a cliff and weave your way through the woods.  It's easier than that, I promise.

July 8: Tiny house!

I have been apartment shopping the last couple days.  I found this tiny house and immediately loved it.  It's not technically a "tiny house" like you see on the shows, but it is SMALL.  I have always dreamed of living in a real tiny house, so this will be a close, somewhat more comfortable second choice.  You are all still welcome to visit.  You may need to sleep in my bed, in a tent in the yard, or in a hammock on my porch, but I will find a spot for you.

July 7: Picnic at the beach

For dinner tonight we picked up Taco Bell and headed to one of the beaches.  As you can see, beaches here are a little different than beaches back home.  Rocky and GORGEOUS.  Arthur is in heaven.  He loves throwing rocks into the water.

July 6: I don't think we're in Chicago anymore...

It's Monday!  Our first official day in Kodiak.  It's raining and cloudy.  We are staying in a hotel room with one bed.  One.  I bunked on the floor on my camping mattress.  Kyle went to work while Meg and I took Arthur to a play room for the morning.  For lunch, Kyle met back up with us and we went to a local restaurant for lunch.  The first place we tried was closed (duh.. it's Monday).  The second place we went to, we walked in and the lady told us "Since it's Monday we don't have a menu.  Just pizza, wings, and chowder today."  We got pizza and wings, settled down to eat, and were then greeted by a huge dog who was just hanging out in the bar.  He walked over and started licking Arthur.  Definitely not in Chicago anymore  :)  But I kind of love this overly relaxed atmosphere.  I have worn the same leggings for I don't even know how many days in a row, and I don't feel self conscious about it.  I think Alaska and I will do just fine.

July 5: Goodbye Homer; Hello, Kodiak

This picture is a view of the mountains from the ferry leaving Homer.  I fully intended to take a picture of Kodiak once we arrived... but it was so foggy we couldn't see, well, anything.  Welcome to Kodiak.

July 4: Independence Day!

We drove to Homer today and will take the ferry out tomorrow morning.  We got in town just in time to catch the Independence Day parade.  This was so Alaskan :)  God bless America!  And on a more serious note, a huge thanks to everyone who has served and continues to serve to make our country free.  You are appreciated!!  

July 3: I don't even know what to call this but it makes me laugh every time.

Arthur will probably never have a clean face again.  He was born to live in the wilderness.  Every time we turn around, he has a dirt stache.

July 2: Land of the Midnight Sun

Some people call Alaska "Land of the Midnight Sun."  That's cute.  Except when you are trying to sleep.  We watched a movie tonight and in the movie one of the characters goes into her room to sleep.  She turns the light off and it gets dark.  We all laughed because.. that doesn't happen to us anymore.  We haven't seen darkness for about a week.

This picture was taken at 11:45 PM.

July 1 : Flat tire

As my good friends Emma and Liza helped me pack my CRV with everything I owned, I remembered thinking, I sure hope I don't get a flat tire because we will have to take all of this out in order to get to my spare.  And there is no way I will be able to get this crap back into my car. 

Well.

Day 2 into Alaska and I got my flat.  We were on the Alcan, way into the wilderness.  No cell service and miles from any town.  I posted the picture of the tire on Facebook, but the picture below is Meg in her rain gear watching for traffic while Kyle and I unloaded my car into the rain along the side of the highway.  A magpie (which for those of you who don't know is a decently large black and white bird found all over the place here) was making a habit of landing on one of my boxes and peering into the back of my car.  I hate birds.  

Kyle knelt on the wet road, using a pool towel and a snuggie as padding, and successfully fixed the tire.  I have changed a flat tire before, but had I been by myself, this may have been the end for me.  I was very glad to have Meg and Kyle with me!

About an hour after we got back on the road, Arthur barfed in the car.  This day of driving sucked.  But we made it to Anchorage this evening!  We were staying in Anchorage for a few days before catching the ferry to Kodiak, so we were happy to be able to take a break from driving for a couple days. 

June 30: Canadian rest areas

These are legitimate rest areas along the Alaskan-Canadian Hwy (aka Alcan).  There were "rest area ahead" signs leading up to each stop.  The rest area is literally a single pit toilet with a small gravel parking lot next to it.  And a lot of beautiful scenery behind it.  Didn't do much to help my soda cravings, but it is on my list of most beautiful places I have ever peed.

June 29: Sunroof Photography

So here it is: my best shot out of my sunroof while driving.  I know, it's not very good, but I never claimed it would be.  If you want to see the majesty of the real thing, you have to be willing to put a few thousand miles on your car!  It was worth it though!

June 21: Totally safe

And the journey begins! We have over 4,000 miles and 2 weeks of driving ahead of us.  I am praying that I can avoid any kind of traffic accident... Or even sudden stops of any kind because it will be immediate decapitation by picture frame.  Does anyone know where I can purchase a periscope, because I would really like to be able to back up without running someone over.

June 28: wildlife alert

This day was amazing! We saw 2 bears, 7 mountain sheep, and 9 bison, all wild and just hanging out along the side of the road. I knew bison were huge, but I had no idea exactly how massive until we were driving right next to them!

June 27: scenery

I can't stop oohing and ahhing over this landscape. I took over 15 pictures by holding my phone straight out my sunroof while driving. Shockingly, none of them turned out. This one in my side mirror was ok though. I could have pulled over every 5 mins to take a scenic picture, but then I would turn this into a 2 month trip rather than a 2 week trip. Side mirror and sunroof pictures will have to suffice.

June 26: Telestory

Arthur discovered my Telestory app (if you have kids who are a little older, I highly recommend this app. Kids can make their own movies with costumes and props). Arthur loves putting the costumes on and staring into the camera.  

June 25: Lake Louise

This is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I fully intend to come back to Banff because one day here was not nearly enough time. We walked around Lake Louise, took a gondola ride up the mountains, and saw 2 grizzly bears!

June 24: Glacier National Park

We made it to Glacier. This was our first "fun" stop if he trip.  We spent a couple hours driving through and seeing the beautiful scenery. Then we jumped out of the car and went on a hike. The trail was a little over a mile long... All downhill. Arthur literally ran most of the way down. The trial opened up into this gorgeous waterfall ( it is extremely difficult to just choose one picture to post).  We played for a while and then headed back up the trail. Then we jumped in the car and headed to Banff.

June 23: twenty four states

Many of you know that one of my life goals is to run in all 50 states. On this trip I was able to hit both North Dakota and Montana, bringing my grand total up to 24... I think. My map I use to track them all is buried in my car somewhere so I will have to check when I unpack. If I am wrong, then this picture is ridiculous. This is me in Montana celebrating 24!

June 22: travel buddy

I got to hang with this cool dude in the backseat for leg 2 of our journey.  Travel buddy duties include:

-Watching Free Willy on repeat and commenting on every time Willy jumps. 

-retrieving magnets from the floor when they get "dropped"

-hiding Mike Wizowski in various places over and over again. 

-applying stickers to anything and everything including our bodies

-adhering to the "you can play with me but not too much or else I might slap you" rule

  We drove through North Dakota today and stopped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and saw the badlands. I got my first stamp in my National Park Passport book: something I was super excited about. I told the ranger it was my first stamp.  He didn't care.