Still here!

In case you missed it, I am still in Alaska even though I was supposed end my internship 4 months ago! I finished my summer internship at the Alaska SeaLife Center (the only aquarium in Alaska),

Mom and Dad came for a visit,

And I went back to work in Soldotna at the Kenai Fish and Wildlfie Field Office doing the same internship I did last year.  It's nice to be back doing something I have already done once before and it gives me more time to figure out what my "next step" is going to be.  I know I have been very sporadic at posting here, but now that I am living somewhere with constant internet access, I am going to try to be more regular.  Plus, now I have lots of stories to tell about the summer.

Flying by

Less than 3 weeks left till I am done working at the SeaLife Center.  Here's a little bit of what I've been up to:
Taking hikes, working at the SeaLife Center, learning the names of all the wildflowers, working on the tour boat, and sneaking into the bird department to look at the baby harlequin ducks!

Ptarmigan Creek Trail

I went on a great hike yesterday! The wildflowers are starting to bloom, it was great to be outside on such a nice day, and as always, I was amazed by the stunning colors of the glacially fed waters.

There are not  many hikes free of snow yet, so it was a great discovery to find this trail in the Chugach National Forest!

Sun!

After returning from a fantastic (but far too short) trip to Tennessee, I spent 5 cold rainy days straight on the tour boat.  Of course the two days following that I was stuck inside working at the SeaLife center while the weather was beautiful and sunny.

The good news is that I have today off and the nice weather has stuck around at least for one more day!

I have to go outside and enjoy the weather now...

Sunshine!

One of the things I have heard the most about Seward is that "It rains all the time there," but my first week here has done its best to prove me wrong. Since I moved in, the clouds have been at bay... until today. It's a good thing the weather has been so nice because the last week has been full of lots of training and walking. It is so nice to live in a town where everything is easily in walking distance (especially since I don't have a car). As with most jobs, a good part of our training was filled with listening to people lecture us about all of the rules and regulations of the SeaLife Center, but all of the time spent watching powerpoints was made up for a hundred times over when we got our training for going out on the boats. Basically our day consisted of sitting back observing the park ranger and enjoying the ride. Here is some of the wildlife from that day:


Sea otter

Dahl's Porposies (look closely and you can see their shadows under the water)

 Sea lions

Mountain Goats (its the little white dot in the middle of the mountain)

Another part of our training was taking a hike to exit glacier.  All in all, its been a pretty good week.

New Town, New Adventure

Dan helped me move to Seward yesterday and I start work at the SeaLife Center tomorrow.  I am very excited about this summer.  The SeaLife center is a very cool organization and I think I will enjoy getting to see what it is like to work in this type of atmosphere.  I am also very excited about living in Seward for the summer.  I have visited Seward twice, once for fishing, once for the SeaLife center, but today was the first day that I have gotten to really look around the town on my own and find things out.  This is what I have learned so far:

You can walk around almost the entire town covering most walkable area in about 3 hours

If you walk along the shore line, you will almost certainly see wildlife (sea otters, sea lions, diving ducks with fancy markings and fancy names)

The coffee shop not on the main street in town has more character but doesn't take cards for purchases under $10

bunnies run wild here (really, like the kind you would find in a pet shop)

I will have pictures to post soon.  I don't have internet where I live, but I will try to re-start blogging again, as I expect that I will have something to write about this summer.

Big News!

I got a summer internship with the SeaLife Center in Seward!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

I'm very excited about it.  I am going to be spending half my time doing programs at the Center and half my time with the National Park Service helping a ranger lead programs on a boat in the Kenai Fjords National Park!  I can't wait to get to live in Seward and am looking forward to all of the amazing scenery and wildlife I am going to see.

Also, I have decided to stay in Alaska through next year.  I am going to do my internship again once my summer one is over.