Last Tuesday the night before I left Jeremy, Claire, Howie, and I bought day fishing licenses and went salmon fishing near the center.  We tried to row across the fast moving river and were so unorganized and out of control we couldn't even make it across haha.  I got a couple salmon but lost them because I pulled to hard.  The second one I yanked so hard the fishing hook flew into my leg and thank god for the zipper of my rain pants or I'd have a hook in my leg.  I got a huge bruise from it though!  Better luck next time, I'm determined to catch a big salmon before I leave Alaska.  O yah and I took a bunch of pics of Tug, Mike and Kelly's adorable dog who loves to run around the center, and Kelly's lovely green house I'm really jealous of.

I've been m.i.a. from the blog for awhile.  I just got back last night from being in Michigan!  Wednesday was a busy intern day as I cleaned the cub barn out, moved some wood around, cleaned the lynx enclosure, did a few bus tours, and feedings.  That night I left for an overnight flight (below are some pics on the way to the airport on Seward highway (Grammy's highway). 

It was hard to sleep but the sun rise on the way to Minneapolis was so pretty.  I also had a really nice German exchange student sitting next to me to chat with.  I finally made it to Michigan after getting delayed twice and once I saw Kevin it was so worth it!  That day I also met up with Dad for dinner and went to Kevin's beer league hockey game.  They played a tough team but weren't far behind only barely losing by one point.  Friday I was able to see Em after she took the MCAT that morning (congrats em!!).  It was great getting to spend some time together hangin out at her apartment.  She also was able to scoop up some really cute shirts for me from the urban outfitters sale I missed during art fair.  That night Kev and I headed off to the lake to spend time with my family and spend the night.  I was able to see Andrew, Aaron, Dad, Michelle, Danilyn, Grandma and Grandpa.  Meghan and the kiddos along with Aunt Missy and fam were able to come the next day.  The weather was so hot and nice.  Definitely a nice break from the cold here in Alaska.  We played some volleyball, can jam, and played in the water with the kiddos.  We attempted to go out on the pontoon but it stopped working when we got past the point haha some couple had to pull us back to the cottage.  Saturday night Kev and I went to a movie and hung out.  Sunday we relaxed and grilled and played put put!  Kevin kicked my butt : ( Kev also took me out to dinner at Real Seafood...I had salmon haha like I don't have enough in Alaska.  It was so good!  Sunday Dad came down to Ann Arbor to say goodbye and Kev took me to the airport.  It was so tough leaving him.  At least I got to come back to Alaska, the mountains, and the animals.  Today was a gift store day and was pretty uneventful.  I'm pretty tired out from the time change.  Manda messaged me about meeting up this weekend so I'm hoping Bethany, her, and I can spend some time together before they leave for down south.

Intern day tomorrow!! 

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged!  Sorry grandma haha.  Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty uneventful…I worked in the ticket booth and gift store both days.  Thursday was dedicated to a batman marathon that Christina, Marcie, Melissa, and I went to.  Yes, that’s right…we went in to Anchorage and watched 9+ hours of batman (including the new one) and I’m not ashamed ; )  It was so fun to have a day/night of relaxing and sitting in the theatre with good company.  The only bummer was it was GORGEOUS out and hot! (in the 70s).  At least before we left in the afternoon we layed out in the sun and read for awhile, I was melting so getting out of the sun wasn’t so bad.  You just really learn to appreciate the sunny days here.  Apparently this July is the coldest July on record for Anchorage…and most of the time it’s much nicer in Anchorage than here in Portage Valley. 

Unfortunately Friday brought the rain and it’s back to being chilly and nasty out.  Since we got back so late the night before we were all exhausted.  I was planning on hiking Bird but ending up staying back.  We didn’t do a whole lot but there was a whole lot going on around us.  There was an armed kidnapper/hitchhiker on the Seward Highway close to the center so troopers closed it down to search.  They still have yet to find him.  Mike thinks he probably got in another car.  Either way Claire and I had the 1 am feeding for Solo and Leia and of course it was actually dark out for once and talk about freaky!  That night we also moved the elk and moose again.  The baby elk went with the herd and moved easily but we lost one of the bulls for a bit.  He ended up hiding in the bushes.  Kara and I found him so I went in there and shooed him out.  I love moving the moose!  Except I’m not the biggest fan of moving Jack…he can get aggressive. 

So your probably wondering who Leia is.  We got another sitka black tailed deer fawn!  She’s definitely more wild than Solo and we haven’t been able to get her on the bottle yet.  She does drink out of a bowl though so we’ve moved her into Solo’s enclosure so they have each other’s company.  I haven’t gotten a picture of her yet (she’s a tough one to have stay still!) but hopefully I’ll get a good one soon : )

Saturday Howie, Claire, Jeremy, and I went into Anchorage to do some shopping.  It was another crummy rainy day so I didn’t mind hiding indoors.  We also got to stop by Carly’s apartment and say hi. 

Sunday was another gift store day…I feel like I’ve had a lot of those lately.  At least we always have feedings in the evening and late at night so I don’t feel totally in the dark with the animals. 

Finally, today I faced my irrational sea lion fear!!!  And guess what…they really aren’t that bad!  Alexis, Kara, Nicole, Nicole’s boyfriend Trevor, and I went to Seward today for an intern fieldtrip and visited the Sea Life Center.  It was awesome!  I was really impressed by their facility and what they do there.  We started with a behind the scenes tour and then went to lunch in Seward.  When we came back we were able to go into the rehabilitation area.  I’ve only heard good things about this field trip and luckily Erin let me take the day off to go since my trip was scheduled while I’m home.  Not only do we get to go to the center but going into the rehab area is the only time in my life I’d ever get to do that unless I work there!  It was great of Sea Life to welcome us and allow us to “intern for the afternoon”.  Sea Life’s mission is rescue and rehabilitate as they take in sea lions, sea otters (my fav), seals, puffins, etc. and try and raise them and release them back into the wild.  Brett (the animal husbandry leader) showed us training they’ve done for vets with Sugar (a 19 year old sea lion) and Woody.  Sugar came right out into the room with us and was probably a foot away doing all the motions Brett commanded.  It was so impressive.  I’m bummed we can’t further develop our bear training with Jordan anymore (he left the center recently).  Animal training is something I don’t know a whole lot about other than horses but I’d really like to learn more about it…that and marine biology in general.  Maria and Lauren (a couple interns at the center) also showed us some of their seals they have, one of which was the one Jeff Corwin picked up.  They were so cute!  We were able to check out the area they work in, the kitchen, help them measure out food and feed them and then the best part, move a few seals!  I moved Moe from one condo (what they call their enclosures) to a new clean one.  They’re pretty heavy little suckers weighing about 40 lbs being younger pups.  The center will rehab them by feeding and caring for them, not allowing much human contact so they don’t get too used to humans, then they move to the graduation pool.  This pool is where they go into together and fight for food that is put in the pool randomly so they don’t rely on a set feeding time.  The idea is that it’s much like the wild and getting their own food.  The three pups that were in the graduation pool today will be released in about a week or so.  They tag them and put sensors on their coats so they can monitor them and see how they’re doing until they molt and lose that coat.  It was a very rewarding day and I can’t wait to go back again sometime.  I think an internship there in rehab would be so cool.  Who would’ve thought I’d consider working with seals haha. 

                                                

Well, off to bed…early morning tomorrow!! Only two more days until I get to enjoy some of Michigan’s heat wave ; ) 

Sunday was probably the coldest rainiest day I've interned...and slowest!  But it was still great to be working outside and being with the animals.  Having a job like this I can't believe I had interest in doing anything else.  Because it was so slow I took a lot of pics of the critters here...especially the bears.  Below is a pic of JB and Patron (the sibs) together and then Hugo.  Hugo is the most vocal when your out at bear shift...I took a pic while she was talkin to me haha.  Erin and I walked Hershey (the ramblin' reindeer!) around...he walked so good!  We didn't even use any bread which we usually use to get him to walk around.  Erin pointed out a grey spot at the top of his antler.  Right now they're in velvet so they have that soft velvet covering over their antlers and there are a ton of blood vessels going through their antlers delivering nutrients.  This is the time their antlers are very sensitive to touch...which also means we can actually go into their enclosure.  The grey spot at the top is an indication that their velvet is starting to die in preparation for the time where they shed it in late summer/early fall, a gruesome looking process (because of all the blood vessels).   Hershey is four years old and loves bread and dinner mints haha.  Who would've thought a reindeer loves mints?  I guess it's like a horse and sugar cubes.  Hershey came from a family in Palmer.  Some people call reindeer caribou, which is true, BUT the difference is reindeer are domesticated caribou so the will over time become smaller in size and tend to have smaller racks since they don't have the need to expend so much energy to grow big ones, being domesticated.  However Hershey is close to having a record sized rack!  You can see in the pic his antlers are pretty impressive.  

I also tried to take some pics of the great horned owls but it looks pretty dark with my camera.  I guess Johnathan had them trained to the point of eating out of his hands.  Really cool except for one thing..they eat mice and mice really freak me out haha.  They're dead but even feeding dead mice to them was something I had to get over when I first got here.  Usually they always wait till I leave to eat.  I throw some up in the log for Snappy (the female) and then some on the tree right next to me for Hooty (the male).  Sunday Snappy decided she was really hungry and couldn't wait because right when I put a mouse on the tree she flew down, grabbed it, and got spooked I was there so flew into the fence of the enclosure and just clung on with a mouse in her mouth staring at me.  It was pretty funny but at the time it definitely caught me off guard.  I also took a pic of the ducks who keep hanging out in Snickers' enclosure...they're getting really big.  I like to call them escape artists because they always seem to be getting out and traveling around.

Yesterday was another intern day.  It was just  Christina, Maria, and I so it was a little bit harder to get everything done.  Days go by so fast!  I had a really enjoyable bus tour, they can be really fun when you have talkative people that are really excited to be at the center.  I ended up staying later than six and cleaning out the babies enclosure.  It was relaxing to do the work outside by myself and get it done.  I also spent quite a bit of time with the babes.  Teddy was being so goofy.  He's always trying to eat my hair!  Christina and I did the 8 pm feeding and hung out in there for an hour taking pictures and relaxing with Hamm, Walter, Teddy, and Sully.  After the feeding all of us at the bunkhouse and cabins went to Girdwood to get water and play kickball and tennis.  Even though I'm pretty terrible at tennis I like to attempt to play haha so I did that the whole time...Paula you'd be so proud of my backhand! ; )  It was so great to get out from the center and be active outside....it was our first nice day in awhile.  People at the park were playing volleyball and playing music too.  

Today I'm in the ticket booth and gift store.  I opened the center today and the construction is literally right outside our gate which is a bummer.  Hopefully it won't cause people to pass on visiting today.  

8 days until I visit Michigan!  I'm ready to soak up some sun

Thursday Christina, Claire, MT, Nicki, Marcie, and I went to the Heritage Center in Anchorage for an intern field trip.  It was a really nice non-profit center that had six buildings or so full of items and info on the natives of Alaska.  They even had a team of sled dogs and puppies from a team that was in the Iditarod.  They were so stinkin cute...I wanted to steal one.  They told us the northern dogs that run the Iditarod can go as fast as 10-12 mph! We also saw a demonstration of native games.  One of the games they had to kick a ball and land on the foot your kicked the ball with.  I don't know how they do it! Below are a few pics, one of which I'm standing next to a huge totem pole.  After that we went to a mexican restaurant and saw the new spiderman movie.  It was nice to get away from the center and watch a movie.  

Friday was a lazy day since we all stayed up late the night before.  The highlight of the day was Ron (Johnathan) and Scott taking Snickers around the center in a wheelbarrow.  It was hilarious and Snickers was loving it.  He kept trying to get out so we'd lure him back in with fire weed.

Today Jeremy, Howie, Marcie, and I went to Girdwood to do a hike.  We did Winner Creek at the Alyeska Ski Resort.  It was great!  It was a pretty relaxed hike and the creek was awesome.  I just wanted to jump right in the water.  There was a hand tram too and I was gonna go across it but there was a line...a lot of people were on the trail.  The weather has been just terrible but today, at least in Girdwood, it was kind of warm and it wasn't rainy.  We stopped at the library and they had a free book section...wish they had that in Ann Arbor.  

Off to bed, interning at 8 am tomorrow!  11 more days till I get to visit home and enjoy some nice weather : )