Had a great weekend off.  Thursday was one of the highlights of the summer for me.  Miranda Lambert came to the center!! One of my favorite country singers.  Luckily I was going into the gift shop during my off day to buy Kev a knife and Linda told us Miranda was coming into the center and they needed a guide...not gonna lie, I really wanted to steal that tour and give it myself haha.  But my fellow country lover Howie was workin so she was able to give the behind the scenes to Miranda and two of her friends.  I was able to see her at the Solo and Leia feeding and then Howie had me help Christina bring fresh brush to the babies so she could introduce me.  I felt like a little kid on christmas!  After saying hi I decided I was being creepy not wearing a work uniform so I left.  Howie told me to come back and get a picture but I had already left for Girdwood so I wrote out a message to Miranda on my phone, sent it to Howie to show her and Miranda said I was precious lol. Howie was also able to get me an autograph on one of Doug's photo cards which was really nice (thanks Howie!!!).  

Courtesy of Doug Lindstrand : ) 

Not only did Miranda come by but that new musk ox I mentioned earlier (Bob) was fighting

with Slide again.  They were getting so rough Matt, Aaron, Tom (the conservation biologist that was visiting) and Mike had to fix the fence.  Rick was in the bull dozer chasing off the musk ox whenever they came near them in the enclosure and the rest of us watched so we could help warn and keep an eye out.  The musk ox can be super aggressive and dangerous and we pretty much never go in there unless its crucial.  Below is a neat pic of Rick having a stand off with Slide (who was previously the dominant male).  I feel for Slide since he was knocked down just like that...all the females are already by Bob's side.  

After that excitement Marcie, Melissa, Claire, and I went into Girdwood to get Jeremy some medicine, get Erin a bday present and grab some yummy mexican food from this great place called casa del sol.  After that when we came back Claire and I helped Christina and Howie feed the big bears dinner of king salmon.  Those suckers were hard to throw over the tall fence let me tell you haha.  I barely got mine over.  It was so much fun though. That night we all went to an Atmosphere concert in Anchorage.  It was nice to actually all get to do something at once since we usually don't do things like that after work hours.  Atmosphere was really good.  I miss outdoor concerts!  Jeremy and I are thinking of going to a Big and Rich concert at the end of the month.

*courtesy of Doug Lindstrand

*courtesy of Doug Lindstrand

                                     

Friday was off to a great start.  I was able to set up a hang out with Bethany and Amanda which I'm really looking forward to before they split for the lower 48.  I'll be hanging out with them next Friday and Saturday.  I think it'll be nice to see more of Alaska and get a break from the center too.  After that Christina, Erin, Melissa, Marcie, Jeremy, and I went to Matanuska Valley to go white water rafting.  It was awesome!  We were afraid we weren't gonna be able to go since the high way was temporarily closed...I guess some dude in a high speed chase was coming after the troopers with a bat?  They ended up shooting him or something like that...I dunno, crazy stuff.  

When we got home we had a going away party for Johnathan who headed off for the trooper academy to become an alaska wildlife trooper today.  It was really sad having to say goodbye but I'm really happy and excited for him to start this new part of his life.  Kelly did a great job decorating it with a trooper theme and having a nice spread of food and drinks.  Even little Owen had cop nighties on.  It was cop (as in just Johnathan) and robbers haha.  I ended up dressing up as a gang member.  Other funny costumes were Sarah as a poacher, Alexis as a cat burgler, and Christina a peeping tom.  Kelly also set up a couple games.  One was a donut eating contest and the other Johnathan did a bunch of stations with different tasks.  They were dress up as a cop, eat a donut, fish, write katie a ticket, direct traffic (have Owen and Abby bike a circle around us in opposite direction), and rescue the kitty in the barn.  Finally Erin made a really nice slide show for him with some funny videos some co-workers close to him made. 

Saturday was another cold rainy day...it was also quite a lazy day.  I finished my book (P.S. I Love You...a good read!)  and did laundry.  Finally I got motivated and went and did the Portage glacier cruise with Jeremy, Sam, and Marcie.  Since it was a rainy day it was SO blue!  Gorgeous.  I guess the color blue has the lowest energy so the glacier reflects that.  It was nice because it was a short cruise and just went straight to the glacier and back.  When we got back a bunch of us set up a table in the barn, started a fire and had a movie night.  We watched Wanderlust and Big Miracle.  I LOVE movie nights : ) 

Today wasn't too eventful..at least on my end.  I worked ticket booth this morning so I missed all the excitement.  Apparently Leia had escaped her enclosure and went in the elk enclosure so a bunch of people that were off and all the other staff available had to catch her, which wasn't the easiest task.  The ticket booth wasn't too bad.  It was a pretty slow Sunday and Wiley was hanging out in the enclosure across from me again.  Then it hit...a ticket booth storm.  A continuous line formed and the computer shut down, it was a pain.  Luckily Claire and Linda came out to my rescue and tried to help but it was definitely stressful.  The rest of the afternoon in the gift store went fast.  After work I worked on uploading pictures on facebook (a slow, slow process for me since I never do that haha) and then did the 8 pm bottle feeding for Teddy and Sully.  They were crazy!  Jumpin up on me and acting like they haven't eaten in days.  I'm pretty sure I had muddy hoof prints on my black work pants.  The rest of the night I spent relaxing and hanging out with Alexis, Christina, and Melissa.  It's definitely gonna be weird not spending time with these people I've become so close to after I leave for Hawaii.  Claire already leaves in a little over a week!  This summer has just flown.