Tales of a Lady Lost

Onward to King Salmon!

2010-05-22T21:40:00.008-04:00

Flying from Pittsburgh to Anchorage was no big deal. Lots of flying and waiting and more flying. Found an amazing Indiana Jones Pinball machine while stuck in the Minneapolis airport during a 4 hour layover. Wasn’t much to see on the flight into Anchorage due to lots of cloud cover, so the pilot would say something like this: “…and if you look out the left side of the plane there is Glacier Bay…” and everyone would rush to look out the window and then the pilot would continue, “oh! but there isn’t much to see today, is there? ::chucklechuckle::…”
After I arrived in Anchorage I went to see if my bags made it to the baggage claim area and, while waiting, accidentally dropped my cell phone and watched in horror as it broke into two pieces. This was perfect since I won’t have cell phone service for the next 5 months. Thanks gravity!
I used a crazy looking payphone to call Dale, the guy whose couch I was going to sleep on, and then just kind of blindly headed out into Anchorage with a couple of hours to kill.
The short sum up of Anchorage would be: very little sleep, tons of shopping, delicious beer and pizza, and, well, craziness.

Soon it was time to fly out to King Salmon. It wasn’t until I was on a little plane (which is actually pretty big compared to the plane I would fly out to Brooks Camp on) flying over an ice covered landscape complete with a smoking volcano that it hit me—What am I doing?!?! >< Clearly much too late to turn back, I put in some complimentary ear plugs and ate some pretzels.

King Salmon is...well...quaint? no, not quite. Think tiny Alaskan town with two bars, small grocery store, an airport, visitor center, “moth-balled” army base, and a couple other buildings. Here we stayed for 2 weeks while we went through training and kept our fingers crossed that the lakes and rivers would thaw.
We watched beluga whales as they moved up and down the Naknek River with the tides; their presence heralded by flocks of horary seagulls (specifically glaucaous-winged, mew, and bonaparte gulls). We went out and counted birds for the Annual Bird Count Day (my group saw 45 different species! Wow!).
We went out and picked large containers of lingonberries, which I baked into some pretty badass bread.

But mostly we filled our brains with as much information as we possibly could and spent pretty much every waking hour hanging out (mostly playing cards) with one another in a tiny dorm space. There were some priceless musical jam sessions in which we turned the write-ups on the back of VHS tapes (yes, VHS tapes)and books like “Catamount” into amazingly orchestrated songs that brought tears to any listener (from the beauty and shear genius, I’m sure).

Oh! and I can’t forget to mention the amazing “King Ko de Ocho” party at one of the bars. It involved playing pool and shuffleboard (which I totally kicked ass at, btw), drinking $7 beers ($21 pitchers)—welcome to Alaska!--, listening to an awesome live band, and, of course, dancing around like a fool).
We also went through a “Dunker Training” course where we learned how to get out of a float plane if it flips over. The final day of training involved being strapped into a PVC pipe cage wearing a flight helmet and PFD and then the cage was pushed, flipped, and shaken underwater in a swimming pool and you had to get out. Each person did this three times. It was intense!!! But now I know what to do…
My last weekend in King Salmon I went to Naknek for some last minute shopping. There is an Alaskan Peninsula highway which is two lanes and only 17 miles long that takes you to the cannery town of Naknek, which is an Alaskan fishing/cannery town where the population goes from very few to thousands (mostly of men) when it is time to catch some salmon.
I also jumped into the Naknek River. All I can say is: it was extremely cold, but awesome. ^_^

Next: Orientation Flight! (AKA where exactly am I going to be, again?)

Blog Resurrection!

2010-05-03T23:09:00.003-04:00

In Alaska, so why not?

Magpie (they are everywhere here)

Some Hummers being transported (real deal Army Hummers!)

Gnome Art in Anchorage

Anchorage

Anchorage again.

I don't have much time,but I will write more and give a King Salmon update as soon as I can!

Oklahoma City bombing memorial

2009-12-31T23:12:00.003-05:00

The chairs represent the victims, laid out for each floor of the building and the tree in the middle is an elm tree that survived the force of the blast, now called the "Survivor Tree"

Chairs again and the reflecting pond.

The museum was really well done and the whole thing was super sad.

Oh, Oklahoma....

2009-12-30T23:45:00.003-05:00

Ad at a gas station called "Kum & Go":

Human-sized hot dog at a gas station making itself delicious with some ketchup--yes!

Oklahoma City office buildings at night....Wooh! Bible Belt? (can't wait to explore tomorrow ><)

St. Louis and the arch

2009-12-30T23:41:00.003-05:00

arch between buildings

...walking...

almost there!!!

tiny tram to the top of the arch:

St. Louis from above!!! (in the arch)

2009-12-30T23:36:00.003-05:00

catch up: Christmastime in NYC

2009-12-30T23:19:00.002-05:00

Cold and crowded!!!

Fun hangout time with my sis, but i think we both prefer places where shoes are not judged by uptown snobs and there is enough room to dance around if needed. (oh, and trees...wild and crazy plants...and maybe she would prefer a bear or two? rrraaaarrrraaaahHH!)

I heart NYC, but I heart SPACE waaaay more (no offense). >.<

Big Man and Johnson's vinyl mulch and what it will grow

2009-12-17T16:57:00.002-05:00

part of a giant lego recreation of the Miami Strip (i should've taken more pictures...)

2009-12-17T16:53:00.001-05:00

origami creature with jet pack made up out of candy wrappers.

2009-12-17T16:50:00.001-05:00

2 hearts

2009-12-17T16:49:00.002-05:00

2009-12-07T12:15:00.002-05:00

I know it seems like I've forgotten all about this.
but i haven't.
i just can't post any pictures right now.
when i can, i most certainly will.
(it won't been too much longer, i promise.)
^_^

dead bird

2009-11-21T15:25:00.001-05:00

view at the French bistro

2009-11-19T23:15:00.001-05:00

paper from my pocket

2009-11-18T19:21:00.000-05:00

rooftop sunset

2009-11-17T20:28:00.001-05:00

3 day hiatus!

2009-11-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

last minute!

2009-11-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

i miss.

2009-11-10T20:14:00.000-05:00

so lazy things have begun to grow....

2009-11-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

underwater

2009-11-08T21:08:00.002-05:00

soon.

2009-11-07T22:51:00.000-05:00

a re-cap of the infamous and nearly fatal "Stone Crab Incident" of 11-5-2009

2009-11-06T21:12:00.001-05:00

waiting....to go out....

2009-11-06T17:44:00.001-05:00

hanging out (>.<)

2009-11-05T16:03:00.001-05:00

bored doodles...frog-bird-fish creature and bruce

2009-11-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

gas station at night

2009-11-04T21:12:00.001-05:00

catching some rays! slanty, winter rays!

2009-11-03T15:47:00.001-05:00

rough day. bad at life. big glasses help.

2009-11-02T20:07:00.001-05:00

already? yes, i'm afraid so.

2009-11-01T17:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween! (from my bathtub to you! ><)

2009-10-31T19:53:00.001-04:00

my sister's is the owl and mine is the pheonix

2009-10-30T21:09:00.000-04:00

oh, overalls....

2009-10-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

from the one last drive.....

2009-10-29T22:51:00.001-04:00

moustache

2009-10-27T18:49:00.003-04:00

sorry to say i am going on a travel hiatus until thurs the 29th.
i will resume postings upon successful relocation. ^_^
goodbye VA!

chopping onions

2009-10-25T19:00:00.000-04:00

so bad at packing....and there is totally popcorn in that white bowl.

2009-10-24T17:20:00.001-04:00

still not feeling well....

2009-10-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

not feeling well.....

2009-10-22T16:47:00.001-04:00

must finish book!!! ><

2009-10-21T18:19:00.004-04:00

my book is so gooood and i am so close to finishing!

and here is a bonus picture of two stick bugs working hard at making more stick bugs (a.k.a. lovemaking) ohhh...love....::sigh::

ah! to be fair...a wink. (this one took me by surprise, but i've been practicing)

2009-10-20T17:19:00.003-04:00

also: i feel a cold coming on... o.O

quick sketch because time is for packing today!

2009-10-19T18:45:00.001-04:00

untitled.

2009-10-18T19:55:00.000-04:00

feeling blah. i think it has to do with the bear that got hit by a car today.

2009-10-17T20:25:00.000-04:00

tomato soup and grilled cheese day!

2009-10-16T15:15:00.001-04:00

cold/foggy/rainy day.

2009-10-15T15:50:00.000-04:00

oof.

can't resist coloring with crayons!

2009-10-15T15:49:00.000-04:00

me as a tree

2009-10-15T15:44:00.003-04:00

well worth the distraction!

2009-10-15T15:42:00.004-04:00

leaves are changing and things are getting crazier

2009-10-11T20:48:00.001-04:00

tea mixed with blackberry cordial makes for a good end to a day...

2009-10-10T21:30:00.001-04:00

last evening program/night hike of the season is COMPLETE! ><

86 in October

2009-10-09T19:39:00.003-04:00

worked on the top secret portrait today!

2009-10-08T19:48:00.004-04:00

Totally right here....

and totally TOP SECRET! ><

hair cut!

2009-10-08T19:42:00.004-04:00

Befores and Afters

I know, i know. my hair looked better before, but it had to happen. it will grow. ^_^

how i look right before i dash out into the woods at night to investigate strange noises!

2009-10-07T20:05:00.002-04:00

seriously long day.

2009-10-06T21:01:00.005-04:00

The intensity of last night/this morning:

Aaand the end result:

Also: i have no future as a party planner. it worked out okay, but i maybe almost cried.

door

2009-10-04T19:10:00.000-04:00

a bit of a creepy one...

2009-10-04T13:22:00.000-04:00

library

2009-10-02T16:08:00.001-04:00

katerdash

2009-10-01T23:44:00.000-04:00

FRIDAY!

2009-09-30T19:12:00.000-04:00

let the cold come!

2009-09-29T18:42:00.001-04:00

power re-established.

2009-09-28T19:10:00.002-04:00

no power or phone lines...but at least there is face paint and fading daylight!

2009-09-28T17:09:00.003-04:00

2009-09-26T20:56:00.000-04:00

mimic (but not as good!)

2009-09-25T19:53:00.002-04:00

rainy day scibble portrait

2009-09-25T12:42:00.000-04:00

animal friends

2009-09-25T12:35:00.001-04:00

2009-09-24T18:29:00.001-04:00

mobile

2009-09-22T18:46:00.002-04:00

fan

2009-09-22T18:45:00.000-04:00

lemons and ears

2009-09-22T18:38:00.000-04:00

lampshade fire hydrant

2009-09-17T13:15:00.001-04:00

oof.

2009-09-15T18:40:00.000-04:00

2009-09-13T14:05:00.006-04:00

tried to mimic

2009-09-09T20:19:00.000-04:00

B-O-X B11

2009-09-08T18:58:00.001-04:00

myself as a marshmallow

2009-09-07T21:44:00.002-04:00

cleaning day!

2009-09-06T20:58:00.002-04:00

dedicated to awesome whistles

2009-09-05T23:55:00.000-04:00

day 3 i think? will try to keep up!

2009-09-04T23:11:00.001-04:00

2009-09-03T18:23:00.001-04:00

2009-09-03T18:21:00.000-04:00