Lumber or Plank?

I finally came home from Alaska (what an awesome summer!) and Sunday evening we got together with Mom and Dad and my sister's family for dinner. But before we ate we wanted to explore some new talents in the family. Since Dad has gotten us real familiar with lumber and wood in our lives, we decided to PLANK! Go Kelly...

Taylor seemed to have the real talent in the family. You can see if you look real close at the muscles in his face and neck that he was not comfortable in this position, but he is a definite stud!

Taylor really showed his stuff when he went between these two posts. Paisley wasn't too sure of how to do the whole planking thing, but being in this picture, it is obvious to me that she is just adorable.

Finally, my all time favorite picture, my young niece Berry! First time planker, doesn't she look like she is part of the porch. She is just so stinking cute :)

Eagle

Eagle. Kelly I know you were wanting me to get pictures of some different wildlife, and well, this eagle was hanging out right next to the yard. I noticed him as I was going to pretrip my bus, and yeah, it became a photo opportunity. Yup yup.

The best part was that I wanted to get a photo of the eagle flying, so I tried to scare it by yelling at it, jumping up and down, waving my arms, lol, of course none of it worked. All of the other drivers that I looked pretty funny. Good times.

Shamefully Late on the Update!

I know. It's shameful. To think, I waited a whole week before updating my blog. I don't know if you knew this, but I recently had a birthday on the 4th of September!!! I'm a whopping 22 years old, and I feel like a lot has happened this past year. I learned how to work on diesel trucks for my Uncle Steve. I learned how to crush my leg under a trailer. Then I learned how to drive a 40 foot bus. Now I've learned how to tour my guests all through Juneau. Wow, now that I look back, doesn't seem like much. I only count four. Haha.... good thing you know that I'm joking, and that in reality I've learned quite a bit. Thank you to everybody who has been there along the way, especially my family who has supported me the whole time and taken care of me. I love you guys!!!

Well, on to the good stuff. This previous week and a half has been full of different events. First of all, I totally KISSED a GIRL!!!! I know, outrageous!!!! Ha, if you don't know who it is, I'm not going to tell (I don't think she would appreciate me blogging about it), but I will tell you she is a real sweetheart. Besides, who could pass up the view we had :)

Considering the fact that the end of the season is approaching it has become more and more appropriate to shop the 50% off sales going on everywhere. I finally bought an Alaska fleece for 20 bucks, not a bad deal. Also was looking at hats. Couldn't quite find the right one...oh well...

We finally had some blue sky, and I just couldn't resist the temptation to take yet another picture of the glacier. I swear, there is a camera magnet when you see the Mendenhall Glacier. Before you know what has happened you'll find the camera in your hand and the picture already taken.

The saddest events happening now, though, are all the fellow co-workers/friends that are leaving for the year. I doubt I will see very many of the ever again, but we are constantly getting together to celebrate and eat more and more food.

If you look at the red head to the left and move in a counter clockwise rotation: John King, Kristin Strouder, Phil Merrel, Taylor, Stefani, Adam, Nick Steffel, Hillary (long blonde hair), Laura-Rudy, and finally Kristin in the front. Now these are just 10 of the many many people that I've grown to respect and love. It is always fun getting together with them, whether it be a group, or just at work, and the one leaving will be sorely missed.

Well, besides that, my hours have picked up quite a bit (I just finished a 13.5 hour day), and things are getting a little crazy. But its awesome!!! We no longer have ships coming in on Fridays, and I only have 2 weeks and 3 days left. See you all soon!!! :)

Three Notable Events

So we've had quite the rainfall here in Alaska Juneau. Shoot me now! Like 8 inches in the last 10 days, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I will tell you one thing, it became necessary to purchase rain pants and a new rain jacket. I now wear them both daily, and if it ever stops raining I take them off (in front of my passengers, while I'm driving, of course, haha). 

This was the first notable day that I thought I would catch on video.I later found out that I was in the wrong place.... Just kidding...

I found a bear at the glacier again. I wasn't even going to stay at the parking lot, but when I saw a crowd standing on the side of the road, I knew I had to be a part of it. It was a cool bear, that is for sure.

This was the third notable event this week that I was extremely excited about!!! As you can tell by my voice I am quite thrilled. Its unfortunate that the guests I had with me this day could not quite grasp the importance of the sun that had not shown its face in over a week. Now its Friday night and I am relaxing in my room getting ready for the Saturday through Wednesday stretch. Love y'all!

Fun Float Trip

Well, I finally got a day off on Thursday and thought that I needed to comp another tour. So I decided to go on a FLOAT TRIP!!!

Before they let us on to the water in the raft we get to wear waterproof boots and pants, with a life vest. The push off point is at the Mendenhall Lake. The glacier is there behind me.

Before reaching the river this is the last view of the glacier. I noticed that the water was a little higher than normal so I was excited to get a little wet along the way.

There were many beautiful homes along the rivers edge, this one stood out to me. All those windows look directly at the glacier. The only bad thing that can occur is the flooding that takes place during heavy rains or freak accidents like the one that happened a few weeks ago.

This was my guides favorite view of the glacier along the river. I took this right before we went into some small rapids. The guide knew that I was a driver here in Juneau so he took the liberty of getting me pretty well soaked. It was a great time!

Here I could see the group ahead. With the dead tree, background, and mist rising off the water, it was a spectacular view. Unfortunately we didn't see any wildlife.

Our finish point was underneath the bridge. The total distance we floated down river was about 5 miles. Definitely a level -1 when it comes to white water rafting, but with a few good splashes it was well worth my time. Juneau is just gorgeous. 

This was before going down the river. It didn't seem appropriate to be yelling out about what you are seeing. Just know that is was a great day.

A Full Saturday of Fun

Now first of all you need to know that when I woke up at 5:30AM to get ready for work, I looked out the window and saw only clouds, but once I was on the dock I had to take this picture because at had become such a beautiful morning. 

The fog burned off and it just became a beautiful day for the rest of the day. I spy: Mt. Juneau, 2 cruise ships, 1 bus, and 1 giant anchor.

These two people are my bosses. I would have taken a closer picture but they actually didn't know I was taking a picture at all. Anyways, the lady on the left is Amber, and Bill is on the right who is the boss of Juneau.

After a full day of touring, which went very well, I decided it was a good night to go scooting. So I called my friend Kristin and we took off for north Douglas Island. 

It is not the easiest thing to fit two people on this scooter. I will tell you what though, I look good in this pose, ha ha.

This beach is absolutely beautiful! I was lucky enough to catch the sunset, so so pretty.

Another neat detail about this beach is that you can see the Mendenhall glacier. You can see quite a few things from this beach including Lemon Creek valley (where Costco is), the airport, Mendenhall Valley. It really gives a panoramic view of Juneau and the mountains that surround. 

I kept driving till I got to the end of the road! This is two of four End of the Road signs and I plan on getting to all four on my scooter. The hardest one will be going to the North side of Juneau (40 miles away) but I"ll do it :)

On the way back I did see a porcupine, and the video of that is in the post below.

I stopped at another beach on the way back. Kristin thought I was crazy all night. 

We were getting closer to home when I spotted the moon coming around the mountain. Unfortunately pictures cannot do the scenes any kind of justice, I'm so sorry.

The moon is the bright light in the sky.

One more attempt to try and do justice to the view I had.

One last video to take home with you. Ha, get it?! Take home with you, but you are already in your home! Man, I'm funny.

I hope you enjoyed your Saturday as much as I did. Love you all!!!

Porcupine in Tree!!!

I was a little excited :)

Started the Week Fun

I started this week with a pretty exciting viewing. This black bear was hanging out on the edge of a trail called Steep Creek. This trail is at the Mendenhall Glacier park. Anyways, after dropping my group off at the glacier I decided to go on a walk and this was the first thing that I saw. It was awesome!!

The bear was sitting there just eating a fish. He actually left before he finished the whole thing and left half an eaten fish on the ground. Gross...

The Yard

To give you an idea of what the yard looks like, I took the liberty of taking pictures. This is one side (west side) of the Lower Lot.

This is the east side of the Lower Lot.

This is the panoramic view of the Lower Lot. These type of buses are called MCI's and they have been in the company the longest.

You are now looking at the Upper Lot. On the far left you see the newest buses, aka D-models. In the middle of the picture are the RE's used for mainly for transfers up to Eaglecrest (the local ski resort) in the mountains. On the far right are some more MCI's that are a few of the older buses as well.

These D-models are fun to drive because the turbo really gives you good acceleration. On top of that they have AC. Overall a really nice ride.

The RE's are okay unless you are relatively tall because it gives you less of a view through the front windshield. The vehicles to the right are called Cutaways and those are used for the mine tours where you are off road. They are also used for transfers for float trips, canoe, helicopters, and other small tourist attractions.

These buses are the ones that I generally drive, on top of the lower lot buses. Don't get me wrong though, I've driven every type of vehicle at least once. The total count of vehicles in operation is 87, and if you count the bone yard (old buses used just for parts) we have 115 total vehicles. So lots of buses, and we have a full staff of mechanics that are constantly busy fixing all the problems. Alright, hope that gives you an idea of what goes on here in Juneau, Alaska.

Besides the yard, today was Sunday. Saturday I spent touring and working, but this morning I didn't have to go into work so I scooted to church. After that I quickly did my laundry, came back to the room and took a three hour nap. I ended the evening by going to Guiler's home to play games and eat dinner that Angelica made (her Mexican food is just amazing, lets be honest). Really nice, relaxing day. Let the new week begin!!!

Slow @ Safeway

Well, today was Friday. I must say it is always a good sign when I know what day of the week it is. Usually the days roll together and I lose track... but today I was put on a Wildlife Evening Quest. While my group was out whale watching I took bus 246 to Safeway to enjoy a two hour stage. I was able to call Mom and Dad and also Kelly (she couldn't talk long, her movie came back on TV so she left me).

This is a pretty popular spot for the drivers who have a lot of stage time while their groups are away. There is a lounge area inside plus a good hot food selection, and don't forget the free wi-fi. 

 Finally, this is just a picture from the midnight showing of Harry Potter 7.2.  Angelica had been waiting in line since about 5 o'clock and I joined her and the Guilers at about 7:30 o'clock. It was a great evening and we had a fantastic night!!!

I Made It

Well, for those of you who thought I would never post on here again, all I can say is shame on you! I just had to wait for the first few days of the week to pass. I must say that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are always the busiest days of the week, and this week was no exception. Its been a great week thus far, and I'm hoping that it continues going that direction. 

These are a few of the girls that make it happen each day. Starting at the far left is Margeret, then Chelsee, then a girl I don't really know, and finally Lauren is hiding her face behind the sign. These girls are called dock reps and they make sure that buses park in the right lanes, that the people get to the right bus, and finally they give us the okay to head out and start touring! Thank you dock reps!

This is the end of the line for Mendenhall Loop Road, and I can't tell you how many times I've visited the glacier so far this year. But this is a common occurrence to have four buses parked to unload or pickup their group. Wednesday there was an emergency and an ambulance was blocking the road and as I pulled out of line I counted 8 buses waiting to park (and that's NOT counting the four on the curb already).

This is just the other view of the first bus in the picture above, only looking at the glacier. The sign says "Welcome: Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center; Tongass National Park."

On Thursday I did a tour called Glacier & Gardens. This picture I took outside of the Rainforest Gardens' greenhouse, and these beautiful plants are called upside down trees. Basically take a large tree and stick it into the ground upside down, and then put soil in the root system and plant flowers on top of the upside down tree. Dad, does this give you any ideas? :)

A very exciting thing happened this Wednesday! Aunt Gail and Uncle Craig came into town!!!! I can't tell you how exciting it was to have family come up :) They are cruising Alaska on the Statendam Holland America cruise ship, and after talking to them I can positively report that they are having a wonderful time. It was a close call though, Wednesday we had 5 cruise ships into port, and that is about 18,000 tourist, and after a 14 hour day I was afraid I might miss them, but it worked out. :)

At the end of the three busiest days of the week, I think I came out alright on tips, and I went to pay my rent. I get to stay one more month! Lol. 

 I hope everyone is doing well down there in the lower 48. I love you all and will see most of you in just a couple of months. Time flies when it rains all the time...