The time is now.
So I guess I should update...a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. I drove to Alaska, and I started my internship.
The trip to Alaska was pretty much spontaneous. Charles asked me a while back if I was busy from like June 3rd til whenever, and because I didn't have a job or any prospects of a job at the time I said no, and to that he responded, "wanna drive to Alaska?" I think he was just throwing stuff out there and didn't really expect me to seriously consider it, but I did and decided that it was an amazing opportunity and I couldn't pass it up just because I thought that it was an outlandish idea. I've been considering plenty of outlandish (well, maybe not completely outlandish, but more extreme than what I've been used to) opportunities as of late...like moving to Colorado with Uma in September, flying to England in the fall, driving to Alaska for crying out loud. Every time I do something for myself, something I never would have considered previously, I feel myself grow, I get a little stronger, a little more independent. I like it. I even talked to Ryan about the trip and he told me that he would be disappointed if I didn't go because it was an opportunity of a lifetime...the people I'm working for also said that, so there really was no reason not to go (I don't count political reasons because I hate politics. People who know will know what I'm talking about, and if not then it doesn't matter).
The drive itself was pretty fun, except for the not being horizontal for 4 days. We drove until both of us were just too tired to go anymore and then stopped on the side of the road to sleep for a couple hours, then we'd resume. Lather, rinse, repeat. We stopped in South Dakota so Charles could buy a fishing pole and also at Mt. Rushmore b/c he'd never seen it before. Wyoming was kinda boring, as was Montana (mostly b/c we drove through it at night). Washington was cool, and we stopped in Seattle to see Charles' uncle who fed us and let us take showers (who knew riding in a car could make you so dirty?) before we were off yet again to venture into Canadia. It's a pretty country, I'll admit that, but damn...it's really tall. It took us a little over 41 hours to drive through it and into Alaska (finally). Hijinx were had in Canadia, as well as lots of animals on the road (bears, moose, coyote, elk, deer, the like) that freaked me the hell out (seriously, moose are like cows on stilts, only meaner).
Alaska itself was amazing: beautiful, majestic, serene. The mountains seemed to speak to me while they watched over everything...I'm having trouble describing them the way I want to, it's just hard to describe how something like that affects you.
We got there on Thursday morning around 4am and I immediately passed out in his parents' guestroom. It was so nice to be horizontal again and get more than a few hours' sleep at a time. Thursday we drove around town and saw a fish weir (I can't accurately describe it here, but they grow salmon for release into the wild so that people can keep fishing them or something), a lot of his town, etc. and then hiked to Tonsina Beach where I shot his .44 Magnum at a can. I'd never shot a gun before, so it was an interesting experience. I met his friend Thomas who is just as crazy as he is and then we went back to his house and passed out b/c we were still tired from all the driving.
Friday was a big day for me...we decided to climb Mt. Marathon, which is one of the major mountains behind his town (Seward) where a race is held annually. Crazy bastards. The climb up was somewhat difficult b/c it was really slippery and I'm out of mountain-climbing shape (as if I was ever IN mountain-climing shape), but it was still fun/invigorating. We got to the top and decided to slide down the snow to get most of the way back down. The first slide went just fine, but the second time we started down and I lost my footing and promptly slid about 200 feet (or more) down a steep mountain and bounced off two big piles of rocks. Scariest 20 seconds of my life. I shit you not, I thought I was going to die. However, I only ended up tearing a cuticle (how, I don't really know) and getting some really nasty bruises (see pictures). I was pretty glad I wasn't dead after that...so we took it really slow the rest of the way down. I got to drink from a fresh glacial spring (tasted like liquid air...mmm) and climb on the remains of an avalanche. I recovered for a bit when we returned to his house and then we were off with Thomas and g/f to see Exit Glacier. Who knew they were really blue? It was fricken awesome, and I licked it. For the record, glacier tastes like glacier.
Saturday I told Charles that I wanted to eat really fresh fish, so we "robbed the creek" (aka we basically snagged a fish out of the creek in an unsportsmanlike manner) and ate a salmon for lunch. The heart was still beating in my hand when the fillets hit the frying pan. Mmmmfish heart. We then drove to Anchorage to hang for a while before I had to be taken to the airport. I was really sad that I had to leave so soon...I didn't even get to do a fraction of what there is to do in Alaska, but at least now I know what it's like and know that it's worth revisiting (not that I ever really had any doubts).
Here's my pictures if anyone cares to take a gander at them.
I think that's enough for tonight as I'm getting rather tired. Work has me getting up all early and stuff now, but at least I'm getting paid.
Another thought: I miss Kyle. I hope he's doing okay in Montana and doesn't get eaten by a bear.
The trip to Alaska was pretty much spontaneous. Charles asked me a while back if I was busy from like June 3rd til whenever, and because I didn't have a job or any prospects of a job at the time I said no, and to that he responded, "wanna drive to Alaska?" I think he was just throwing stuff out there and didn't really expect me to seriously consider it, but I did and decided that it was an amazing opportunity and I couldn't pass it up just because I thought that it was an outlandish idea. I've been considering plenty of outlandish (well, maybe not completely outlandish, but more extreme than what I've been used to) opportunities as of late...like moving to Colorado with Uma in September, flying to England in the fall, driving to Alaska for crying out loud. Every time I do something for myself, something I never would have considered previously, I feel myself grow, I get a little stronger, a little more independent. I like it. I even talked to Ryan about the trip and he told me that he would be disappointed if I didn't go because it was an opportunity of a lifetime...the people I'm working for also said that, so there really was no reason not to go (I don't count political reasons because I hate politics. People who know will know what I'm talking about, and if not then it doesn't matter).
The drive itself was pretty fun, except for the not being horizontal for 4 days. We drove until both of us were just too tired to go anymore and then stopped on the side of the road to sleep for a couple hours, then we'd resume. Lather, rinse, repeat. We stopped in South Dakota so Charles could buy a fishing pole and also at Mt. Rushmore b/c he'd never seen it before. Wyoming was kinda boring, as was Montana (mostly b/c we drove through it at night). Washington was cool, and we stopped in Seattle to see Charles' uncle who fed us and let us take showers (who knew riding in a car could make you so dirty?) before we were off yet again to venture into Canadia. It's a pretty country, I'll admit that, but damn...it's really tall. It took us a little over 41 hours to drive through it and into Alaska (finally). Hijinx were had in Canadia, as well as lots of animals on the road (bears, moose, coyote, elk, deer, the like) that freaked me the hell out (seriously, moose are like cows on stilts, only meaner).
Alaska itself was amazing: beautiful, majestic, serene. The mountains seemed to speak to me while they watched over everything...I'm having trouble describing them the way I want to, it's just hard to describe how something like that affects you.
We got there on Thursday morning around 4am and I immediately passed out in his parents' guestroom. It was so nice to be horizontal again and get more than a few hours' sleep at a time. Thursday we drove around town and saw a fish weir (I can't accurately describe it here, but they grow salmon for release into the wild so that people can keep fishing them or something), a lot of his town, etc. and then hiked to Tonsina Beach where I shot his .44 Magnum at a can. I'd never shot a gun before, so it was an interesting experience. I met his friend Thomas who is just as crazy as he is and then we went back to his house and passed out b/c we were still tired from all the driving.
Friday was a big day for me...we decided to climb Mt. Marathon, which is one of the major mountains behind his town (Seward) where a race is held annually. Crazy bastards. The climb up was somewhat difficult b/c it was really slippery and I'm out of mountain-climbing shape (as if I was ever IN mountain-climing shape), but it was still fun/invigorating. We got to the top and decided to slide down the snow to get most of the way back down. The first slide went just fine, but the second time we started down and I lost my footing and promptly slid about 200 feet (or more) down a steep mountain and bounced off two big piles of rocks. Scariest 20 seconds of my life. I shit you not, I thought I was going to die. However, I only ended up tearing a cuticle (how, I don't really know) and getting some really nasty bruises (see pictures). I was pretty glad I wasn't dead after that...so we took it really slow the rest of the way down. I got to drink from a fresh glacial spring (tasted like liquid air...mmm) and climb on the remains of an avalanche. I recovered for a bit when we returned to his house and then we were off with Thomas and g/f to see Exit Glacier. Who knew they were really blue? It was fricken awesome, and I licked it. For the record, glacier tastes like glacier.
Saturday I told Charles that I wanted to eat really fresh fish, so we "robbed the creek" (aka we basically snagged a fish out of the creek in an unsportsmanlike manner) and ate a salmon for lunch. The heart was still beating in my hand when the fillets hit the frying pan. Mmmmfish heart. We then drove to Anchorage to hang for a while before I had to be taken to the airport. I was really sad that I had to leave so soon...I didn't even get to do a fraction of what there is to do in Alaska, but at least now I know what it's like and know that it's worth revisiting (not that I ever really had any doubts).
Here's my pictures if anyone cares to take a gander at them.
I think that's enough for tonight as I'm getting rather tired. Work has me getting up all early and stuff now, but at least I'm getting paid.
Another thought: I miss Kyle. I hope he's doing okay in Montana and doesn't get eaten by a bear.