Just to give you an idea of what this place I'm in is like:
Seward, Alaska
Distance from Anchorage: 125 miles/2ish hours(depending on numbers of tourists)
Access: car (one of the country's most scenic drives), train, cruise ship, ferry, bush plane
Snow-capped mountains: 360 degrees!
Nearby glaciers: more than 8
Accomodations: lots of RV/tentsites; small B&Bs; a hostel; a few small motels/hotels
Population: <3000 year-round
Population on July 4th: over 10,000
Town Size: 2 miles long, 4 streets wide
Pubs per capita: 1837495
Churches per capita: 1384955
Industries: tourism, fishing, coal, tourism, fishing, tourism...
Adventurous opportunities: great hiking, kayaking, ice field exploring, Sea Life Center, Kenai Fjords National Park, dogsledding, plane tours
Fun facts: -Seward hosts one crazy Fourth of July celebration.
-Mt. Marathon looms over the town and, when there's still snow on it, makes a great sledding run if you hike up in rainpants. On the 4th of July, the town holds a big Mt. Marathon race.
-Everyone here has a dog. I swear. It's insane.
-Seward is actually a rainforest! The annual rainfall is pretty substantial, so I'm glad Oregon has trained me before I came here.
I'm currently living in a "development" called Camelot, on King Arthur Rd. Fishermen, mostly, put in roads a few years ago and, since it's outside of the city limits, no building permits are required. This means anyone can throw up a house on whatever affordable property they find, so there are some pretty interesting characters up there. The family I'm staying with, and for whom I will soon be house-sitting, run limited power off a generator and use a rainwater system rather than hooking up to city water and power. I don't even know if you can do that down in Camelot. Anyways, I'm living there and house-sitting once they leave into the beginning of July.
Well, the library's closing so I've got to sign off- hope everyone else is doing well! Leave a comment if you feel so inspired- it's fun to see who's reading :-) Or drop me an email if you're having troubles leaving a comment. Love to all!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Food for thought
I stumbled into the wrong part of the Alaska Vocational Technical Center the other day when I was trying to find my CPR class and found myself in the culinary academy. A really good mistake of my life. In asking for directions to the correct building, I was briefly led into a classroom filled with chefs in the making and desperately wanted to stay. Fortunately I was running a little late and wasn't too tempted to stick around and ask questions- ok, I was really tempted to- but I just walked out the door and made a mental note to investigate later.
Now with a glorious internet connection that lasts more than 30 seconds (a hard thing to find in these parts!), I've been able to surf the web a bit and learn more. Checking out the program has left me with 2 thoughts:
1. I want to go to some kind of culinary school at least, if not this one!
2. Damnit. I wish I were an Alaskan resident so I could pay in-state tuition.
So, hmm... maybe I'll investigate this Alaskan residency thing first. I might be staying here for a while, something I definitely would not mind! As long as my employment with Kenai Fjords is long outlived by my stay here, I'd be happy.
Speaking of which, some advice I've learned here so far: small businesses are where it's at. Repeat that ten times now. Working for a small business is far more rewarding. This is my first experience working for a bigger company, and I never realized until now how fortunate I've been with some really amazing jobs. Being inside the office at the dock just pisses me off every time. Small business, man- I'm not joking.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Kendra and Nick and Joel. It can get a little lonely up here- I'm usually either alone or around a TON of people I don't know very well (on the tour boats or at employee housing). It'll be nice to see good friends again and have adventures.
Living situation update: here in Teri and Chip's guest cabin till Thursday night (they are so cool! I should write a whole blog on them), then moving into a tent! There are some good unofficial tentsites down Exit Glacier Road, a few miles off of the Seward Highway, that a few people recommended to me. I'll be able to shower, do laundry and maybe even cook as needed at employee housing. Sweet.
Two more last things to leave you with that have been intriguing to me recently:
Road Trip Nation's Indie Trip Grants
Americorps NCCC
Now with a glorious internet connection that lasts more than 30 seconds (a hard thing to find in these parts!), I've been able to surf the web a bit and learn more. Checking out the program has left me with 2 thoughts:
1. I want to go to some kind of culinary school at least, if not this one!
2. Damnit. I wish I were an Alaskan resident so I could pay in-state tuition.
So, hmm... maybe I'll investigate this Alaskan residency thing first. I might be staying here for a while, something I definitely would not mind! As long as my employment with Kenai Fjords is long outlived by my stay here, I'd be happy.
Speaking of which, some advice I've learned here so far: small businesses are where it's at. Repeat that ten times now. Working for a small business is far more rewarding. This is my first experience working for a bigger company, and I never realized until now how fortunate I've been with some really amazing jobs. Being inside the office at the dock just pisses me off every time. Small business, man- I'm not joking.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Kendra and Nick and Joel. It can get a little lonely up here- I'm usually either alone or around a TON of people I don't know very well (on the tour boats or at employee housing). It'll be nice to see good friends again and have adventures.
Living situation update: here in Teri and Chip's guest cabin till Thursday night (they are so cool! I should write a whole blog on them), then moving into a tent! There are some good unofficial tentsites down Exit Glacier Road, a few miles off of the Seward Highway, that a few people recommended to me. I'll be able to shower, do laundry and maybe even cook as needed at employee housing. Sweet.
Two more last things to leave you with that have been intriguing to me recently:
Road Trip Nation's Indie Trip Grants
Americorps NCCC
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Day One on the job
I went out on one of the tour boats today for the first time. Deckhand training (finally) ended Thursday with the completion of CPR training; and as I found that I had yesterday off, I decided on the spot to go to Anchorage one last time before the boys leave for Valdez. I enjoyed one of the most beautiful drives in the country for the second time in four days, impressed with how much it had changed already. Between snow melt, blooming fields and flowers, it promises to be a breathtaking and much-photographed drive throughout the season.
In Anchorage, I ran some much-needed errands and also picked up a bike that I found on Craig's List. Timm volunteered to ride it back to Ian's house since all 3 of us left little room for a bike, and promptly got hit by a car. Poor guy! Fortunately, he was fine and the front tire just got a little warped, but it's still ridable.
Anyways, I started today with little clue of what to do or expect. Training left me only with a strong dislike of OSHA and pretty strong feelings of impatience to be actually doing something. I got put with a really stellar crew: one guy was actually from Maine, and all were really friendly and fun to be around. My first day was long but so amazing: we saw orcas, humpbacks, a black bear, bald eagles, puffins, mountain goats, seals, sea lions, massive glaciers... we unloaded at the Fox Island lodge for a salmon bake dinner and skipped rocks on the most amazing beach. Every single rock is perfect for skipping. I've heard they have a big rock-skipping contest there at the end of the summer. Sounds like my kind of place! The day was long, but I got 2 free meals out of it and enjoyed my time. My water bottle is currently full of freshly-melted glacier water!
For the last few days, I have been noticing all of the other opportunities around me in Seward that sound very tempting. There's a culinary academy and jobs through the National Park Service doing trail maintenance, and I'm sure I could find a job cooking if I wanted to. I miss cooking a lot and I'm not a huge fan of all of the overhead at this company, so we'll see. I'm definitely going to get what I can out of it, but not overlook other doors that might open up along the way.
I'm spending tonight (um, squatting) in employee housing- there's an empty bunk and my friends who live here offered it up, even though the company is still trying to tell me that they're all full. That's ok, though- I have a cabin on and off that's 3 miles out of town, owned by a really nice couple who already feel like they're my foster parents. I'd rather live there when possible and scramble for a couch/throw up a tent when it doesn't work out than live here in what feels like an overcrowded dorm. It's nice to have my own space to come home to away from where I socialize.
In Anchorage, I ran some much-needed errands and also picked up a bike that I found on Craig's List. Timm volunteered to ride it back to Ian's house since all 3 of us left little room for a bike, and promptly got hit by a car. Poor guy! Fortunately, he was fine and the front tire just got a little warped, but it's still ridable.
Anyways, I started today with little clue of what to do or expect. Training left me only with a strong dislike of OSHA and pretty strong feelings of impatience to be actually doing something. I got put with a really stellar crew: one guy was actually from Maine, and all were really friendly and fun to be around. My first day was long but so amazing: we saw orcas, humpbacks, a black bear, bald eagles, puffins, mountain goats, seals, sea lions, massive glaciers... we unloaded at the Fox Island lodge for a salmon bake dinner and skipped rocks on the most amazing beach. Every single rock is perfect for skipping. I've heard they have a big rock-skipping contest there at the end of the summer. Sounds like my kind of place! The day was long, but I got 2 free meals out of it and enjoyed my time. My water bottle is currently full of freshly-melted glacier water!
For the last few days, I have been noticing all of the other opportunities around me in Seward that sound very tempting. There's a culinary academy and jobs through the National Park Service doing trail maintenance, and I'm sure I could find a job cooking if I wanted to. I miss cooking a lot and I'm not a huge fan of all of the overhead at this company, so we'll see. I'm definitely going to get what I can out of it, but not overlook other doors that might open up along the way.
I'm spending tonight (um, squatting) in employee housing- there's an empty bunk and my friends who live here offered it up, even though the company is still trying to tell me that they're all full. That's ok, though- I have a cabin on and off that's 3 miles out of town, owned by a really nice couple who already feel like they're my foster parents. I'd rather live there when possible and scramble for a couch/throw up a tent when it doesn't work out than live here in what feels like an overcrowded dorm. It's nice to have my own space to come home to away from where I socialize.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Into the unknown?
Now that I've arrived in Anchorage, aired out and cleaned out the car, and showered, I'm heading off to my summer job in Seward (about 2 hrs. from here) in the morning. I feel like the real adventures are finally going to begin once I leave behind my last 2 Willamette buddies for a town I've never been to and where I don't know a soul. Heck, I don't even know my plans for housing starting tomorrow morning! More than anything, I'm feeling super curious as to how things are going to play out and settle down. It's been a long time in limbo since classes ended and I'm ready for the next straight patch of road. Sometimes I feel like the turning points and corners of a journey might be the most exciting, but it's nice to be able not to think about the next step, sit back and reflect as well.
I'm going to try and unplug as much as possible this summer, but post occasionally, so best wishes to all of you! Hopefully I'll get my feet up some of those great mountains I've been admiring for the last two days- I'm dying to hit the trail. Thanks for all of the stimulating conversations and adventures that have helped lead me to this crazy-amazing place I'm at now- I've learned and grown so much lately, thanks to many of you!
Love, Jules
PS- Latest music for me has been Nickel Creek, the Dixie Chicks and the Wailin' Jennys (bluegrass/folk), Braille, Zion I and Common (hip-hop/rap), Third Eye Blind (thanks, Timm and I-town) and Rage Against The Machine!
I'm going to try and unplug as much as possible this summer, but post occasionally, so best wishes to all of you! Hopefully I'll get my feet up some of those great mountains I've been admiring for the last two days- I'm dying to hit the trail. Thanks for all of the stimulating conversations and adventures that have helped lead me to this crazy-amazing place I'm at now- I've learned and grown so much lately, thanks to many of you!
Love, Jules
PS- Latest music for me has been Nickel Creek, the Dixie Chicks and the Wailin' Jennys (bluegrass/folk), Braille, Zion I and Common (hip-hop/rap), Third Eye Blind (thanks, Timm and I-town) and Rage Against The Machine!
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