Alaska!

Welcome to Mt. McKinley Lodge

Some friends I've met. From Left to Right is Sadie, Beth(From spokane) Me, Matt(from Lehi, UT) and Tanya(From Denver)

Pictures Down By the River

We got to try ANYTHING on the menu on our train ride up to the Denali Lodge

The Princess Train

Sadie, Andrea, And I sitting at the Music of Denali. The show was pretty boring, but if you were old you'd probably enjoy it. First you have dinner which was okay (but after eating on the train you just couldn't compare the meals) and then they started the show.

I keep trying to write a stupid blog, but the internet here has sucked so everytime I'd try it'd kick me off, and not let me post any pictures...So i'm going to briefly write what all has happend up until this point. We arrived on the 6th. At the airport we met some really nice people, who I still hang out with. Bethanie from Spokane is here with her brother and sister-in-law. And then Tanya was on Sadie and My flight from Denver, as she's from there. We talked for a long time about our families and what exactly brought us to Alaska. After the coaches arrived we placed our luggage underneath and boarded. Sadie I think was a little timid but probably just really tired as she hadn't slept since for 48 hours. I don't remember what all happend the first day just because I was exhausted. The second day was a long day of orientation. It was in the 20320 but it was really boring. That night Sadie and I went on a walk and took some pictures of the mountain but we couldn't really get a good view from the Employee houseing, and we didn't really feel like walking really far. On friday we went into Talkeetna after being introuduced to some of our tours. We watched the Don Sheldon movie in the Don Sheldon hanger in Talkeetna. Don Sheldon is a guy who used to transport people from Talkeetna to wherever they wanted to go. He's most known for taking climbers up to Mt. McKinley, and a few rescue missions. He has a pretty amazing story. Then after that we heared a powerpoint presentation Colby Coombs. He's an experienced Climber that has experienced the most cruical trials on the moutain. He's climbed it up that 15 times and I'm not sure how many times he's summitted. If you have time you should Google his story it's awesome.

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity go to to talkeetna and fly up to a glacier and land. We started out day in K2 where they gave each of us outfitters a free shirt of our choice. Mine is so adorable! Then we went on a walking tour around Talkeetna waiting for our plane ride. After boarding we flew over the lodge where I got some awesome views of the property. Then we flew up all around the glacier and around the tip of McKinley/Denali. It was the most beautiful and thrilling thing i've ever done in my life. The fact that I have these opportunities for free is the chance of a lifetime. I love it here in Alaska, and I love being able to work up here...it's awesome I can't wait to start working with actual customers...that's right up my alley:) After we landed the plane we were picked up by A&K where we launched the Jet Boat in the Talkeetna river. This boat only needs 3 inches of water to operate, and there is only 4 of it's kind. They used this very boat 2 seasons ago on the Amazing race. The bottome of the boat is completely flat, which allows it to basically go up any stream. That's been my past couple of days. I don't have time to really update much, and I have tons more pictures to post, but the internet it being iffy again. Right now I'm over at chris's and I should probably pay a little attention to him since I still his room to snag a good internet connection;) haha. Well until next time, see ya!

Ps: there are more pictures on my MYSPACE. Feel free to check them out at www.myspace.com/deanna1507