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!:)