Working Sundays in Anchorage gave me a weekday off. I chose a Friday so I would have a break. Jenny from Utah, Kady and I went out to breakfast to the Smoke Shack. Genni is a waitress there and the food kicks butt!

The Smoke Shack is in a part of town called "The Train Wreck." There are 4 railroad cars parked in a diamond. One is a bike shop, another is Exit Glacier Guides, and a hotel, and the last is the Smoke Shack. As you can tell is it quite cozy on the inside, with only 6 tables.

I got a breakfast burrito and it was large. This picture doesn't even do it justice.

Although I am a good eater, I didn't "win."

Myself, Jenny, and Kady full and happy.

After breakfast., Kady and I headed back to the SeaLife Center. She has to work and I was having my mid-term evaluation (even though it was my day off. Amy, my boss, and I are very busy and this was the only time we could do it.) Don't worry, I didn't get fired. :)
Then I was supposed to go hiking with my friend Nate from work. The plan was to leave at 10am and do Lost Lake, a pretty 14 mile hike. I had to work at 6pm at the hotel, so it would have given us plenty of time. But Nate overslept, leaving me time to watch a little Harry Potter and take a short nap.

Once Nate picked me up, we headed over to Exit Glacier due to time restraints. Unfortunately, they don't allow dogs. We had Nate's dog Saba with us. Very cute pup, but not cute enough that the rangers would allow him in the park. I didn't want to leave Saba in the car even though it was cool out. We decided to give Lost Lake a try anyways.

It was totally worth it. I was a half hour late to work, but what can you do?

Alaskan scenery



View from the top of one of the ridges.

Nate and Saba

A terrible picture of me. Can you see me protesting to Nate about the low angle?

We made it to the lake. Yeah!

Me and Saba before he rolled in bear poo.

Somewhere in the past few weeks, I had time to organize a kayak training class out at Miller's Landing. There were 8 of us (me, Kathy, Travis, Morgan, Gwen, Lauren, and Cindy). The first half of the lesson was on land, where we learned about different brands and styles of kayaks. Then we watched Eddie, our guide, show us different ways to paddle.

Next we went into the water! Everybody got their own kayak and we went south for a little bit to practice our strokes. It was so awesome to be so close to the water. I could smell the salt and as I was drifting along, I could hear the water lapping on the shore. It was perfect. My technique, however, was not so perfect. I am a horrible kayaker.

The final part of the lesson was getting dunked. Part of sea-kayaking is wearing a "skirt." It basically covers the hole you sit in to avoid getting wet. However, if your kayak flips, you are stuck. So the important thing to remember is how to get out as you are sitting upside down in extremely cold water and trying not to perform the mammalian reflex (aka inhaling). This is the reason why I wanted to take a lesson. I have heard horror stories of people drowning because they didn't know what to do.

I survived my tipping! But my wetsuit didn't have sleeves, making my pretty cold. Eddie asked me if I wanted to practice getting back in the kayak (another thing I am nervous about) but I was too darn cold! Everyone else but me and Travis (who was also in a sleeveless wetsuit) got back in the kayak. Oh well. I have met a few people who kayak, so I hope to try it a few more times before I head back to MI.

Our 20 year old guide, Eddie.


Me, Travis, Kathy, and Morgan

Us in our skirts. Notice our friends laughing.

Kathy and I looking cute.

Me trying to mentally prepare for Resurrection Bay's icy waters.

Yeah! I did it!

I had breakfast at Gwennie's which was down the street from my hotel. It seems to be a pretty famous place in Anchorage.


The Anchorage office is huge and had a large tank. I was able to spend time in the director of development's office. Isn't it nice? You can't see it all, but it is rather large with a leather lazy-boy loveseat and a whale vertebrae for use as a footrest.


I am pretty sure this is how Tim spends most of his day though...

It was a gorgeous day so when I got back to Seward, we had a campfire at Tim's campsite. He was down in Seward for 2 weeks working at the Center.

Ok Sunday #2. HARRY POTTER!!


Our booth at the market.

Nicole and I outside the movie theatre...

I actually stayed in Anchorage that night so I could visit the Center's Anchorage office the next day. On a co-worker's recomendation, I went to the Bear Tooth Theatre and Pub, which is the sister establishment of Moose's Tooth. They have a movie theatre there and you can order dinner and beer to enjoy during the show. There are tables in front of each seat (and not like the ones on the arms from college either). You should check out their movie schedule. There is an excellent mix of classic films, new releases, and independent films. I wanted to see "Back to the Future" but there were only matinees. So I saw "Hot Fuzz." It was made by the same guys who did "Shawn of the Dead." You need to see "Hot Fuzz." It was hilarious. Do it.

Then, just down the street was Chilkoot Charlie's. Inside, you will find 12 different bars. Unfortunately, only 3 are open on a Sunday night. I spent most of my time in the Bird House Bar, which has bras and undies hanging from the ceiling and the floor slants toward the bar. It is an exact replica of sorts of the original Bird House bar, which was in FL I think.


There was a random trophy case with a mug dedicated to Bob Tubbs. Must be a relative of sorts...

ok. Here are pictures from my first Sunday marktet.

Have you ever seen an ice rink in a mall??


Silly tourists!



Kathy and I outside Moose's Tooth.


Artsy picture on the drive home.


The secret bridge is to our left, with the river that flows under it beind us. Aren't we cute?

Denali was amazing. Hands down. I will post about that later. There are other things I have done but not yet shared with you. Some of it will be out of order, so please bear with me.

So, after 4th of July, I worked at the hotel the following few nights. That Sunday, I went to Anchorage for the Alaskan Market. The SeaLife Center had a booth promoting our Sea Train pogram. The fair mostly consists of craft booths, photography, art, and food. Delicious! We worked 3 Sundays altogether.

The first Sunday, my friend Kathy came up and helped out at the booth. We hit up Best Buy and Walmart on our break. On the way home, we stopped at Moose's Tooth for take-out pizza. Yum! Amy also took us to a secret bridge off the highway on our way back to town. Kathy and I got some cute pix.

The next Sunday, my roomie Nicole came up because Harry Potter's new movie was on our agenda! Excellent film, I highly recomend it. My boss' son and his friend came with us too.

Yesterday, my other roommate, Kady came to the market. What a trooper! We didn't get home from Denali until 1:30am and then were on the road by 6:30am to head back to Anchorage. Not only were we exhausted, but it was downpouring and cold all day long. Luckily, my boss said we only had to work until 2pm instead of 6, so we high-tailed it out of there. We stopped at Wal-Mart, got some Starbucks, and headed home.

So now I will post the pix for each trip.