Denali Bound...still

May 29th: The day of constant travel

....the day started at 11 am and ended it at 2 am our time/ 10 pm Pacific time. Total it was 10 hours of flying. It was quite a day.....I left in pure daylight and arrived in it too.

I got to meet some really cool people on the plane though. We swapped stories on the way up and got to know eachother. You really get to know a person when you sit in such close quarters for multiple hours.

We would get to talking an then I would mention what I was doing for the summer and their face would just light up with emotion; and there would be 20 questions to follow. I found that this would happen with pretty much everyone I told. It just became such a great conversation topic because it would lead into all kinds of cool and adventurous stories from the people I met and know. It makes me really glad that I chose to do this. I'm starting to believe that this is what it's all about.....creating a journey for yourself and making it your own. No matter what it is.....if it makes you happy, then it's worth doing, or at least giving it a try.

May 30th, 2010.......and still goin'.

It's 6:45 am the next day, and it's time to make our next trip. The bus was supposed to pick us up at 7:00, but instead we got to ride the train in to Denali. It was pretty cool.,,,,an 8 hour ride, but totally worth it. The train was really neat; you sat on the upper level of the train cab and the top was completely open...so you could see a 360 degree view of the landscape. Which ever way you turned was beauty all around. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and just knew that I had arrived in wonderland!

My rail mates

It was kind of hard to capture the beauty from a train because of the windows and the movement.....it was also a little cloudy that day. But, you can see what the train view was like....it was absolutely breathtaking.....I found everything people say about Alaska to be true.

Denali Bound

Okay, here it is, the last night before I leave

for my trip to Alaska for 3 months.

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go……

I’ve been anticipating this trip for a long time now and I can’t tell you how glad I am that it’s finally here. Normally, I would be stressing and wondering what in the world I’m doing…..but thanks to the support of my friends and family, I am nothing but excited. I can’t wait to share this adventurous experience with all of you.

First, I will answer some of the questions that you may have:

What will I be doing there?

I will be working a seasonal position in Denali National Park. It is through Aramark and they set you up quite nicely with a place to stay near the resort, provide food, and even let you do all the touristy things for free. I guess you could say it’s a “working vacation”

How did I find out about it?

My good friend Hannah, who went last summer to Denali, told me all about it and said that I just HAD to go…..that it was the best summer of her life. She told me to go to the web site coolworks.com and check it out. So I did….it sounded like a pretty sweet deal. I could go explore Alaska and not have to spend my life’s savings doing it. I pondered on it a little while, wondered if it was something for me, and then I found myself dreaming about it….that’s when I decided…….I’m going to Denali Bi Golly!

My reasoning:

I decided it was time to get away…have an adventure and just get away for a while….have a new perspective on life. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time now and I didn’t want to put it off any longer. As Hannah would say…..”20 years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.”

What to expect?

• Constant sunlight

• Temperatures ranging from 20-70 degrees throughout the day.

• On and off rain

• Roommates, tiny rooms, and an outside bath house……

• Cafeteria food!

• 200 miles away from civilization

• Seafood (Salmon especially)

• Mountain ranges for miles

• McKinley (the tallest mountain in North America (20,320 ft)

• No trails/ rough terrain/ steep, steep mountains Mt

• Glaciers

• Moose, Bears, Caribou, Lynx, huge mosquitos

And that is just what I know. There’s no telling what else there is to expect out there……

This Georgia girl is up for quite an experience!

Wish me luck!