I am still alive!:)

There is nothing quite as eery as walkng through the trees enjoying the quiet of the evening only for it to be interrupted by the loud un-nerving sound of 2 bears fighting.  oooohhh.... it still gives me the chills just thinking about it.  The Falls are right behind  Tuckerville (where the employees live) and you can hear lots of the bear fights that are happening, some sound like they are right outside the cabin. 
This morning was pretty funny... I was walking to work and ended up having to take quite the detour to get to the lodge.  There is a bear here named Amelia and she has a 3 year old cub with her.  (I am sure I have already wrote about her a little bit. )  Amelia brings her cub back to camp with her at night and sleeps right next to Rachel and Jason's cabin.  Morning time comes around and people start walking to and from the Lodge and it wakes the bears up... so then they are mozzying  around half awake and  that causes lots of encounters with them.  I turned the corner this morning and one of the park rangers was out in her Pajamas trying to haze Amelia a little cuz she has some people blocked in their room. She told me to take the cultural path down and around.  So I started walking down the path and hear a loud crashing sound and look up and there is the cub climbing a tree.  It was really funny to watch cuz the cub is 3 years old and is nearly as big as the momma.  I ended up getting to the lodge in time only to find out that i was not the 6:45 shift I was the 9:00 shift.  YEAY!  I ate breakfast then went back to bed for an hour. :) 
I have felt so exhausted lately... i feel like all I do is work, eat and sleep, though that is not a complaint.  Life is absolutely wonderful that way. :) The days are getting shorter and the dark slowly starting to overtake the light days.  It's definatly still light out until around 11:00pm but its a darker light.  Hard to explain, but for some reason that is really throwing me off.     Halfway through the season is both an encouraging thought and a sad one at the same time.  It's nice to be closer to going home but time flys and that is kind of sad sometimes. :)  My thoughts are on that little nephew I have at home now... I cant wait to meet the little guy!!  While waiting tables today a lady brought her 2 year old son in to sit by the fire and called him Kyle.   My heart jumped a little at the name... it made the desire to see him 10 times stronger!!:)  I CANT WAIT!!:) :) :)  
I can't express enough how grateful I am to be here this summer.  It's truely an amazing experience that I am going to treasure forever and possibly re-live for the next couple of summers. :)    It's so amazing to live in such an isolated place.  My friends and I joke about how we literally live in a little bubble out here.  It's such a true statement.  Living this way is so wonderful and I would reccomend this to anyone. :)  Realizing just how spoiled we are with all of the modern technology we have back in the real world makes me grateful also, but i have come to realize that I prefer to live without some of it.  My cell phone for one.  I was so addicted to my cell phone before getting here, but surprisingly I haven't had trouble giving it up for 4 months.  It's so peaceful!:)   One of the nicest parts about this experience is I am finally discovering exactly who Kristie is.  It's so GREAT!:)  I dont think any of u will be too shocked at the person who comes home, then again, you may be. :) 
Well, I can't think of too much else to say so i am gonna stop here. :)
LOVE YA ALL!:)
Ttfn!  Kristie ;)
About a week or 2 later
I am losing track of time up here.  I know what date it is, but i couldnt tell ya the day of the week. .  . . weird, I know.  We are in our busy season, as i have mentioned before, and work is literally all I do.  On my last paycheck I had 31 hours of overtime.  Not complaining cuz the check was really nice! :)  One of my co-workers and I are planning on going into King Salmon a week from tomorrow so I will log onto the Internet for most of the day and try to call everyone that I need to call. :) I am really excited to be able to talk to people!:) 
Yesterday I went to the Falls and counted 23 bears!  They are all over the place!!  I have that on video and lots of pics. :)  The most that I had ever seen prior to that at one given time was 17.   Walking to the falls now is dang near a suicide mission in certain circumstances.  Walking down the smaller trail can be real scary cuz bears come running down the trail chasing eachother, playing or just walking and dont like to move.  They wait till the last second to get off the trail and let people by.  Most of the time people are stuck standing in a certain place for a while waiting on the bear to make up its mind.    They are such playful creatures! I have TONS of videos of one of my favorite little sub-adults doing belly flops repeatedly in the water.  That is apparently his most effective and favorite method of catching fish.   This bear is absolutely genuine in personality! He is super bubbly and curious most of the time. :)   He does however manage to tick the other bears off quite a bit.           About 30 minutes ago I was leaving Tuckerville to walk up to the Lodge to eat and saw 2 bears heading down the road towards me.... I ran a few steps towards my cabin to grab the camera and ended up getting a video of them just as they were walking past the cabin.  There is also 2 or 3 Mama bears with spring cubs that have been hanging around the lodge.  Yesterday I was walking up towards the Lodge and was stopped by on of the Law Enforcement officers cuz there was one of the mommas and her2 cubs playing on the other side of Skytel.  I talked him into letting me get a close as possible and ended up getting an adorable little video of the 2 cubs wrestling around right outside of Skytel!  The perks of being an employees are awesome!:)  We were maybe 20 feet away from the bear and cubs behind the deck. :)
One major frusteration I have come across lately is non-english speaking people.  This being a tourist trap draws TONZ of people from all over the world.  As I have mentioned before about 1/2 of these people do not speak english.  About 30% of them speak no english at all!  It is so frusterating trying to wait tables and give people directions and help them out when they cant understand you and you cant understand them.  No offense at all intended towards any old person, BUT, Old people, particularly old MEN are the worst!  They are stubborn, set in their ways, and dont really care about anything or anyone but themselves.   I had a man walk up to the Buffet line (without paying first... which you must do) get an overflowing bowl of soup and then proceed to carry that bowl of soup clear across the dining room and past me to sit at the fire and eat.  I caught him just before he got to the fire and told him that he needed to eat in the dining room and that food is not allowed at the fire.  He then told me, " I saw people eating soup by the fire all day and now you say that I cant?" I told him that nobody had eaten by the fire that day cuz I was in charge of that.  He instantly got a snippy rude attitude with me and slammed his bowl down, spilling even more soup all over the place and said, "Well the hell with this, I'll just go have another beer!!!"    HAHAHAHA... I was kind of speechless!  There was probably 10 people watching this whole thing, some were laughing, others were completely disgusted with this old guy, and others actually came up to me and appologized for this guys actions.  I ended up picking up the bowl of soup, taking it back to the kitchen and bursting out in laughter!  It was so stupid, the guy made a total idiot of himself and I just couldnt help but laugh about the situation!:) hahaha!  That is just one of the many stories!:)
I really do miss my job at the Police Dept... at least there I deal with most people on the phone. :)  Lots of co-workers here have commented on my facial expressions towards customers also.  Some people do the darndest things and I obviously cant control my facial expressions while observing their weird behavior, hence co-workers laughing at me and the occasional smack on the shoulder to snap me out of it.  DANG, people are crazy!!  For instance a guy brought a water picture up to the hand sanitizer dispenser and was practically disassembling the dispenser thinking that it was full of water.  When I asked him what he was doing all he said was, "water?" (again, non-english speaking!)  I took the picture and pointed to the word "hand sanitizer" on the dispenser and asked him to please take a seat and I would go get him some water. GOSH people are stupid! LOL sorry I'm jaded! :)  
7-19-10
OK, it's yet another day and i still havent posted this blog yet!  Hahaha... anyways I have another cool story to tell.  My days off are fridays and this last Friday I decided to take a few sleeping pills and sleep all day long. Well around 4:15 in the afternoon  I got a knock at the door.  Jackie came in told me to get out of bed and I had 5 minutes to get down to the beach cuz I was on the next plane out!  I was all confused and shocked and asked where the Plane was going.  She said she thinks I was going on a flight see tour.   This is a rare thing cuz like 90% of people cant afford to go on the tour and when they can some of the employees get to tag along if there is an extra seat free of charge.  I jumped out of bed, threw a hat on and was out the door.  We had to run to the beach to make it in time.  When I got there the owner of the company Sonny, and my friend April were there waiting for me.  I jumped on the plane and we were off.  It ended up not being a flight see tour but it was just as fun.  We flew out to the American River, landed the plane on the river and picked up 2 fisherman and their guide and then flew to Kulik (pronounced Q-lick) one of our sister lodges.  We got to spend some time at Kulik, went on one of the most beautiful boat rides ever and then hopped back on the plane and returned to Brooks.  Landing on the river in a float plane was AMAZING!!  I thought for sure were were gonna hit land but we landed on the river. :) Thank goodness I remembered to grab my camera, there is some pretty cool videos on there of that. :)  GOSH I love my boss... he made sure I was on that plane! :)   Kulik is a gorgeous lodge! DANG, its so amazing here!! :)
Just a few more days till we go into King Salmon... i cant wait for that! :)  I am dying to talk to my family and friends! :)  tomorrow there will be exactly 2 more months left of being here.  That is sad, but it seems like forever!   I wanna say thanks to all my family and friends for writing, your all so so so great!  Getting letters here is like Christmas for everyone... its so great. :)   One place I am really missing is the PD!  I wish like crazy I was still working there! :( I miss all of you there so much and hope that your all doing wonderful! :) Oh and Robin I got your card, thank you so much, it made my week!:) I will try to get pics and videos on here while i am in king salmon on friday. :)  :)
Oh, I should mention that everyone here, employees, and guests included look like we have some sort of crazy disease.  We have bugs here called White Sox.  There look like tiny flys but when they bite they make you swell up like crazy!  The bits not only swell but when you first get bit they actually bleed!  Then they itch for like a week!  white sox are everywhere here and most of us look like we have chicken pox.   They like to bite in warm areas on your body and they crawl into the smallest places.  I have probably 15 bites on my pants line and stomach and 11 at last count on my neck.  The bugs come and go here, if its not the white sox its the mosquitos.  UGH... they are really not fun! :(  
OK I am going to post this blog in the morning. :)
love and miss you all!:)
Kristie :)

Hello again!:)

Howdy my dear friends and family!:) Life here at Brooks is still going wonderful, not lots has changed as far as the job goes... just basically the same thing every day. We hit our busy time so between 4-5 of us girls we waitress for breakfast in the morning, then clean rooms and change between 25-40 beds in 2 hours, followed by serving lunch until 3pm, then we get a small 1 1/2 hour break and serve dinner after that. It keeps us pretty busy. No stress, just busy and tired. I LOVE that feeling!:) Lots of people are coming in and out daily including day trippers, campers and the lodge guests we usually serve around 80-90 people at lunch and dinner. I have walked up to so many tables and asked the guests if they would like something to drink only to realize that they are non-english speaking. If i had to guess i would say that at least half of our guests here do not speak english. They usually have 1 person with them that can understand us and translate, otherwise I am stuck trying to communicate with them with my crazy, pathetic, made up sign language! :) haha! The good thing about these non-english speakers is if you make a good impression they tip really well! One of the waitresses got handed a $100 bill this morning. Unfourtunatly we split up all the tips between ourselves and the rest of the staff or a couple of us would be super rich. :) haha!!! j/k!:)


Yes lots more bear encounters. They are becoming so regular that i dont know where to start telling you about them. Some of them have been pretty scary, others funny, and others just made me nervous. I have a couple of them on video. As some of you may know I am cursed with an amazing and annoying sense of smell. Some days i absolutely hate it, but other days i am thankful for it. I am very thankful for this sense of smell most every morning when i am walking to work, especially after it has been raining. Reason being is I can smell the bears that have been in the area for a while sleeping or just hanging out. Being able to smell them has saved me from a couple of close encounters. Bears STINK, especially when it is raining outside!:)

Tonight a bunch of friends and I went to The Falls and had a pretty intense bear encounter. There were 5 of us girls walking down the trail, 2 infront 1 in the middle and 2 behind. Cassie looked up and saw a bear running down the path. She said "bear" and not 2 seconds after that we saw a 2nd bear coming down the trail after the first one. The first one had a fish in its mouth and the bigger male was chasing it trying to steal its fish. The scary part is they were running straight for us. We turned around and started walking back the way we came and when that didnt work we ended up jumping off the trail to keep from getting trampled by the 2 bears. Right before they were going to pass us they ended up cutting off the trail just 5 ft infront of us. THAT was really scary!! Unfortunatly my sniffer didn't pick up on that one! haha!:) :)

I finally was able to see the "boil" as they call it. It's when all of the salmon are swimming up river, they are in such large groups that the water actually looks like it is boiling. It's so cool! I tried to get videos and pics of it but none of them turned out real well. I am not sure exactly what is going on but i heard from a couple of different people up here that there is not as many fish this year. Not sure why or how they tell but i dont think thats a very good thing. I am not sure if I mentioned this before or not but a couple of weeks ago we had an earthquake here. It wasn't huge but if you were awake you could definatly feel it. It was around 5:45 am and i was awake reading and getting ready for work. The big boss says that he actually heard the ground crack. When people mentioned there not being as many Salmon as normal I immediatly thought back to the earthquake and wondered if that may have had something to do with it. I doubt it though. Anyways... I am gonna end this blog here... I need to get to bed cuz i gotta be up super early in the morning. TTFN!!:)

Kristie:)

Hello, hello! :)

Life is still going good here in Katmai National Park. :) I received news that on June 22nd my long awaited nephew was born. :) I am so so so so excited to see pics of him!:) His name is Kyle Thomas Cook.... and i am sure he is the cutest kid ever!!:) That is probably the most exciting thing for me to count on is getting home to meet him!!!:) I will never forget the moment i got the news of his arrival.... my boss Rachel came in with a paper in her hand and motioned for me to go over to her. I thought for sure i was in trouble... haha... BUT.... she said, "congrats, you are now officially an Auntee to Kyle Thomas!" I couldn't stop jumping up and down and seriously almost started crying cuz i was so so happy!:) Anyways... that is how i found out... i wanted to post that for my little sister to read. :)

The first salmon of the year was caught on i believe the 19th of this month. The bears have and amazing way of knowing exactly when the fish get here cuz the same day quite a few more bears showed up around camp. There is a huge bear that hangs around here called Popeye. He is real dark in color and kind of mean. he hasn't charged anyone that I know of, but he is pushy and kind of grouchy with people. A friend and I were walking to the Falls the other day after work and had the unpleasant opportunity of running into him. he was probably 20-30 yards away from us and watched us like an Eagle. When we spotted him he had already spotted us and was walking towards us... when we realized what was going on we started yelling at him and acting real submissive towards him and he ended up stopping and walking back down towards the river. He is SO big and i was real nervous! There was also a time about 4 days ago that I walked out of Tuckerville, (the employee housing area) and started walking down to the Lodge only to look up and see a bear walking straight towards me on the same path. This time I was about 30-40 ft away. This bear was a sub-adult, (about 2-3 years old) and looked up at the same time i did. When we both realized what was going on we both got a little nervous. I started saying "hey bear" and backed up real slow. he got super nervous and turned and ran the other way. Not long after that I was in the laundry room with a couple friends and looked up and noticed that there was a bear walking just outside the laundry room. It was the same bear. As soon as we started talking to him, he booked it out of there. I have a video of that one.

I have found a new hobby up here that i want to grow and develop. Kayaking!! I LOVE it! The water is like glass here, you Kayak next to huge mountains and in amazing Ice Blue water. It is paradise and one of the best ways to clear your head. Not only is it so beautiful but its a pretty intense workout for the arms. :) hehe! I would go every single day if i could, but the wind kicks up and makes that dang near impossible. On work days the Lodge Keepers, (my job) get a 3 hour break everyday from 2pm-5pm. On my breaks I usually go Kayaking or hiking. 2 days ago I went out Kayaking with Paige and we decided to cut straight across the lake to the marina... (aka finger mountains) This is quite the distance to go but we were pretty confident that we could make it, and we did but came home exhausted. :) The fun part about that adventure was we had some pretty close encounters with a couple of Airplanes. :) haha. One airplane was taking off when we were about a 1/3 of the way to the middle of the lake. We thought that was pretty intense cuz it just lifted off the water when it passed us and flew over top of us. THEN we had just made it to the middle of the lake and heard a plane coming in!! We looked over and there was a Float Plane headed straight for us on a pretty steep decent! Me being an adrenaline junkie and nerd started digging for my camera so i could record it, and Paige on the other hand started paddling as fast as she could to get out of the way!:) hahahaha!! I got it on video!!:) Paige didnt have a heart attack, though I was sure she was borderline! :) haha... and we are still alive to tell the tale!:) THAT was intense!:)

The famous Brooks Falls! WELL, They are pretty famous and people come from all around the world to see all of the bears out there. I live here and had to walk up to the Falls 8 times until I finally saw a bear there! Every time I went to the Falls I would come home disappointed that I didn't see anything. Then as soon as we got back across the Bridge and in camp we would see bears. UGH! Oh, and the time that I finally saw a bear at the Falls was the only time that I didn't have my camera with me! hahaha... typical huh!:) hahaha!:)

As I have mentioned before I have been running with my friend Jen. I have made it up to 4 miles. We bounce back and forth between running 2-3-4 miles so i can build my endurance up. I am still shocked that I can actually run that far without stopping! The best part about running is the end when its all over with you get an amazing sense of accomplishment! Though I am totally exhausted I still feel amazing! :) Most of the time we go on our 3 hour break if I am not gone Kayaking or hiking the Mtn.

Lots of tourists have asked how us employees live with so many bears around all the time. It's funny cuz some people are so afraid that they wont leave their front porch. I was asked a while back by a lady if I was scared and I really had to stop and think about my answer. Yes I do get nervous around the bears and I think its safe to say that there is a healthy fear there. BUT at the same time I am not afraid. Its hard to explain, but living in bear country is not much different than living in an area with lots of crocodiles and alligators. That same lady ended up walking back from the Falls with me one night and walked so close to me that I could have given her a piggy back ride home! haha!:)

All in all life is great here!:) I am having the time of my life!:) Sorry, no pics again, I cant get them to upload onto this computer. HOWEVER.... for those of you who have Facebook.... my mom should be receiving a flash drive in the mail from me in a couple of days that has TONS and tons of pics and videos on it. She told me that she would upload the pics onto her facebook page and then tag me in them so they will be on my facebook page shortly if you wanna keep an eye out for them. :) Oh and today is my Daddy's birthday, so Happy birthday daddy!:) I love you so so so much!:)

Love and miss you all!:)

Kristie!:)

Another little update :)

It has been a few weeks since i have been here and I am still loving every minute of it! on a little less positive note, I am starting to get a little bit homesick. Not too bad but every time I get the chance to log onto Facebook i see a little bit of what people are doing and I get a little twinge in my belly. Guess thats what happens when ya move away from home huh!:) usually it lasts just a few minutes and then I am all better again. :)


Working here just doesnt feel like work. I feel like I am on an extended vacation all the time. I have been taking in every little thing that happens around me, then writing it all in my journal. How could a person not be happy doing that? I am probably the happiest I have ever been right now!:) :) I have learned what it is like getting to know all sorts of people... some i dont care to get to know and others i just cant wait to learn more about them. I am still kind of in shock at how much people differ in ideas, cultures, religions, and looks! haha i had to say looks cuz i am one of those people who stares and we get quite a few odd looking people! :) I am not judging them, just looking at how different people look!:) haha!

I am getting really used to the bears already... they havent really started hanging out in camp lots yet but i see them most every day. they are so cute!! dont get me wrong cuz they make me pretty nervous too. The tourists have started coming in and we are supposed to tell them whenever we see a bear. i guess there was a couple that came in last week that didnt get to see a bear, they left kinda depressed. i dont blame them... Brooks Lodge is known for their bears and when people come expecting to see them and dont get to see any they get kinda upset.

I find more and more that i am kind of having a difficult time with the transition from a law enforcement postition to just regular work. i guess you just have to have worked in it to know what i mean.

All in all life is GRAND!:) One of my friends is a marathon runner and i have been taggin along with her on a couple of her runs... i have done the 3 mile run so far with more success than i thought i would have. :) She did one of her long runs yesterday (12 miles) and i went with her on a bike. I could have rode the bike at that pace all day long, except for the fact that my butt hurt SO bad when i got back!:) hahaha... its been a long time since i rode a bike. :) I definatly dont think i wanna go as far as running a marathon but i do want to be able to run 5 miles by the end of the summer. i dont think i am going to have a very hard time with it. after a while your legs get kind of numb and you feel like you can run forever. Along with running, hiking, waiting tables, making beds, and walking back and forth around camp all day i should be in pretty good shape by the end of the summer!:)

I do have to apologize to the people that i told i would call. I just cant afford it right now, however if you get a call with a 907 area code it is most likely me so answer your phone so i dont waste tons of minutes. :)

Dad, Mom, and Josh.... i miss you all so much! I have some stuff i will be sending you soon... i think you will really like it!:) It will be a few more weeks but it is coming:) Mom you will have to take a picture of dads face when he gets his little gift!:)

Ash and Tom.. I miss you too!!:) I also have some cute things to send ya... along with an adorable present for my nephew!:) I cant wait till you have him!!:) PLEASE mail (like send it in the mail, not email) me some pictures of him when he is born!:)

Hello to Brian, Lisa, Fred, and the rest of the Grisham family!:) I miss you all so much! Cant wait to be able to see you again!:) You are in my thoughts all the time!:) I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life to its fullest. :) Please keep in touch and if any of ya wanna write a letter I would be so so happy to write ya back!:) :) I love ya all!:)

Well I am gonna wrap things up for now...

until next time!:)
p.s.  sorry pics are not gonna be up until i can fly into King Salmon. give me a few more weeks

Kristie!:)

First couple of weeks up here

Hello there everyone! :) I have been in alaska for close to two weeks now and i am loving every minute of it!:) It is light here all the time but to be totally honest i dont really notice unless i stay awake late. Most of the time I am so exhausted that i get to bed by 9 or 10pm. i actually kind of like that it doesnt get dark. My cabin is pretty good as far as lighting goes, we have 3 windows and they are all covered all the time so it makes it easy to sleep. Let me clarify on the not getting dark part. when it is like 2 or 3 in the morning it is just barley dark... still light enough to see though. kind of like it is about an hour after sundown. it stays that way for just about 2 or 3 hours max and then it gets light again. We have what we call East wind days here. Those days are kind of the crappy days. They usually make for a pretty bitter cold day.


Since being here there has only been 2 days that i have not seen a bear. usually no matter what there is a bear around. They love to walk right through the camp by the lodge the bathrooms, etc. Most of the time they are down by the river or on the beach. Most of them walk around the camp, but some just dont care where they are, which sometimes causes a couple of surprise encounters. So far i have not had a surprise encounter. There was a time that a couple of friends and I were down on the far end of the camp and had a bear come in really close to the workshop where we were at. Well me and another girl ended up walking down to the other end of camp shortly after the bear left and looked over and noticed that the bear was walking parallel to us. He was very aware of our presence but just kept going. We ended up taking a corner that eventually led us and the bear to cross paths. We got probably 30ft away from the bear and then stopped. The bear stopped also and then ended up turning around and walking the opposite direction so he didnt have to cross infront of us. The bears up here are so used to being around and seeing people that they for the most part just ignore our presence. That is what it seems like anyway. i will probably be eating my words when the salmon start running, but we will wait and see :)

There are so many cool people up here... lots of people from the eastern side of the USA, and a couple from the west coast. My roommate is originally from England but lives here in Fairbanks most of the time. She is such a genuine girl. Her name is Trey, she is 26 and she has traveled all over the world, with intentions of traveling more. What she has done in her life are things that I really want to do. I have a couple of pretty close friends and the rest I am still in the process of getting to know.

I have already lost weight since being here... its kind of hard not to. Most of the employees here have. We work lots and while at work we walk tons! from one end of camp to the other TONS of times a day! Its not small by any means, especially when you are hauling loads of stuff in little hand carts all over. :) My job is a Lodgekeeper. I clean rooms, make a ton of beds, the wait tables and cover for the bartender. Havent been able to unload planes yet, there is a group of guys that do that part.

In my spare time I do TONS of hiking and a little running. I have never been a huge fan of hiking but here that is a totally different story! It's impossible to live in Alaska and not hike. There is a mountain right next to camp called Dumpling. I have been here just shy of 2 weeks and have already hiked that Mtn 6 times! it is amazing exercise and lots of fun to hike with friends. When you finally get to the top is the best reward. The Scenery is AMAZING!! I will post pics of that. Not only can you see the Lodge, you can see 2 different lakes and a couple of rivers! It is amazing! The funnest part is when you get to the top there are clouds that are at your level covering the mountains across the way.

A couple of days ago I got to go to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. Most people think its a pretty boring trip and that all they get to look at is a bunch of barren land with old volcano ash all over. Well they are totally wrong! All they have to do is hike a couple of miles back in and they are in for a life changing experience! There are some of the most amazing formations, waterfalls, rocks and ash there ever! I cant describe the beauty of it! I also have pictures of that. I have a couple of videos also but dont think I will be able to download those cuz it takes forever to get a video downloaded on here. By the end of the year i would like to hike clear to the volcano Nova Rupta itself and camp over night there. My friends who have actually been to the volcano say that what I have already seen is nothing like what that is. I am going to experience that first hand for myself. Seriously, I cant imagine the beauty of the volcano.... especially after what i have already seen! Mountains of hardened Ash, furious rivers that flow SUPER fast, and amazing formations! I never knew just how interested I was in this type of stuff.

Well for my family and friends who are reading this I sure hope you enjoy!:) I miss you all so much! I have only been here 2 weeks and if it wasnt for my Bestie getting married I am not sure if I would be coming back as soon as i planned. Dont worry Rikki, I will for sure be back for your wedding!:) This traveling place to place to work for temp periods of time could get super addicting! ;)

Ash I hope you are doing ok... I think about you daily! I hope everything continues to go well. I can wait to get news of that beautiful nephew of mine being born!:) I have the cutest little Brooks Lodge shirt for him that I will be sending home shortly!:) I wont be able to Skype from here due to the internet situation and i am sorry for that. :( PLEASE send me tons of pics when he is born. ;)

People I love to get letters so if you would like to write please feel free to do so :) My address is: Kristie Grisham

C/O Brooks Lodge

P.O. Box 278

King Salmon, Alaska. 99613

As far as the phone situation goes I am pretty much not able to call anyone for quite a while. The reason for that is that we only have 1 satelite phone here and it costs $45 for a special phone card and access to the phone for 30 minutes. Its pretty expensive and the boss here uses that phone for emergencys. So phone calls are pretty much a no go for a while until i can get into King Salmon and get cell phone service.


I have pics to post but will have to in a seperate post.  please be patient so i can get these posted :)

First night in Anchorage

Well, i am here!  I am staying in Anchorage tonight at the Quality Inn.  My first flight to Denver today was good, however my connecting flight from Denver to Anchorage was delayed by about an hour.  That wasnt very fun, but the plane made it here:)   In the morning I have to head back up to the Airport and catch a different plane to King Salmon, AK., followed by a tiny little float plane that will pick me up in King Salmon and take me out to the Lodge. :)  Cant wait to get out there and get to work :)  
My feelings right now... Hmmm.... I guess the best word to describe how I feel right now is, empty.  I really feel empty.   I have never in my life been totally on my own, I have always had a friend or family member traveling with me.   Missing my whole family and other people so so much!    My daddy and Brian took me to the Airport... and i am so glad they did . :)   I tried so hard not to cry when I left, but the harder I tried the more i cryed.  SO when I left Dad and Brian I only looked back twice.  haha  yeah i am a total nerd :)  
Anchorage is beautiful... the part that i am in right here by the airport reminds me tons of Estes Park Colorado.  Mtn town! :)   All in all i think I am really happy to be here.  Give me a week and I will be happy as a clam :)    Well, i really need to get to bed, i have and early morning :) 
Good Night!:)
Kristie Michelle Grisham :)

LAST DAY OF WORK

Nothing like reality hitting HARD!!! Today is my last day of work.  It is 3 am and I have 3 hours left working at Green River Police Dept.  I promised myself that I would not cry.  Hahaha, I am sitting here choking back tears! What on earth am I doing??  This was my horoscope for today-  Life might be a bit too much for you today, so see if you can get your friends to cover for you. All your major responsibilities should be covered, but you still need some approval. -  Yeah, that is pretty much right on the dot!  LOL :)  
  I don't usually have many doubts about my decisions and am always able to push through and make the best of what I decide.  This decision has by far been one of the hardest, yet easiest decisions I have ever made.  Like I have said in most every other post on here, I want to travel and live my life! :)  I cant wait to get out of Wyoming and live the life that I know I am meant to live.  Maybe coming back to Wyoming will be on my agenda, that is also just as unlikely. :)  In three hours I will be unemployed and will be stepping out into the unknown.  DANG!  Reality Check! 

Today is also pretty stressful because my little sister went into labor.  That should be exciting, but she is almost 2 months early!  NOT exciting, its scary as hell!  I am praying so so hard for her and Tom and for the health of that beautiful baby!  PLEASE, dear Lord, watch after them and let things work out for them!

13 days left till I leave for Alaska, and there is still TONS of shopping to do!:)   One event that is happening soon is I will be going to Utah with my bestest friend ever, Rikki, to shop for wedding dresses for her!:) THAT is going to be a BLAST!!!   The funny part of that situation is her wedding date is September 25th, and I will be getting home from Alaska on September 22nd! :) haha!  Pushing it super close, but SO excited!:) I just hope I fit into my dress when I get home. LOL!:)

There is my nervous vent for the day!:)
Will write again soon :)
Kristie