End of the Season

5 Months ago today I was waking up in Alaska for the first time. It feels like it could have been yesterday. Most summers fly by for me, but this one was at warp speed. Some things are the exact same...it was raining then and it is still raining now. Almost everything else is completely different. 

When I got on a plane from Seattle to Ketchikan, I was ready for a great summer full of awesome wildlife and new adventures. I thought I'd spend 5 months in rainy Ketchikan and be so ready to come back to my sunny beaches. I thought that I'd have fun and it would be another place on my long list of cool places I've lived, but after this I'd be ready to move on to somewhere new. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fall this much in love with a quiet little fishing town in rainy Southeast Alaska. 5 months has past and I am still here and I am in no way ready to return back home. Yes a sunny beach day would be nice, and I'm excited to see my family. But I am in love with Ketchikan. I have never not wanted to leave a place more. I've extended my stay by a month, and I've already asked about returning next year. 

The season is over but that doesn't mean that my adventures are. In the next month I plan to squeeze as much fun in as possible! In fact I've already started. Yesterday I went fishing with some great friends. We caught a ton of rockfish and saw some beautiful humpbacks! Later this week I'm going to head up to Sitka with our captains and some other crew to take our boats back to our home port. I'm excited to see another community here in Alaska. 

I know that in a month from today I'll be loading a ferry and heading back to the lower 48. This winter there will be plenty of adventures back home I'm sure...especially with little Sarah getting married. Plus there will be plenty of my east coast friends to visit! But I am already counting down the days until the season starts next year! 

I mean with sights like this who wouldn't be...

Saying Goodbye...

September is coming to a close pretty fast...and although I'm staying for another month, most of my friends are leaving this week. So as I've become accustom to being a seasonal worker...its time to say goodbye. I not only am saying goodbye to my friends...But I am also saying goodbye to spending all my time on a boat.

Finally a picture of the humpbacks

This last month has been pretty amazing! The humpbacks have been moving through and I have seen whales almost everyday that I have been out. About 2 weeks ago we dropped our passengers off for the island part of the tour and had a little time to just watch whales. They were all around! There was peduncle throwing, tail slapping, and even one feeding right at the entrance to the harbor. It was one of the best day I've had on the water.

Feeding Humpback

Tours have been dwindling down and the weather has been getting rougher, but its still been a great adventure! Today I went on my last cake date with my friend Bryce and tomorrow Kayla leaves. I can tell that the summer is ending for sure...but that also means that fall is just starting.

That means more time spent with the friends that I have made that live here year round. More disney movie nights with Gwenn and Stephanie. More dinner dates with Sarah and Amanda. More bonfires with Brian and Nick. And more sunset dates with Tristan and Siren. More time to relax and enjoy Ketchikan with out the tourists.

I'm super excited about my next month here. I'm sad to say goodbye to my friends this week, but that is something that I'm used to. Saying goodbye means that I just got to spread my sunshine to more people who are going to head somewhere else out across the country! It means I will have more friends to visit in different places!

The next week will be busy breaking down all the boats and doing odd projects around the docks. Then I'll head to Sitka for a little adventure to return our boats up there...but there will be more to come on that. But for now I'll just enjoy the sunset from last night replaying in my head!!

September is here...

Well September is finally here, and in Alaska it means that summer is officially over! This is something I'm not used to seeing as I wear shorts in December back home. But I'm sure I will adjust. With the end of summer arrives the rough weather of fall. This results in canceled tours...which results in some interesting adventures for me!! 

With my number of canceled tours increasing...I've gotten to explore a little more! 

Tristan and I took Siren (his dog) up to a Sylvas Lake. The path to the lake is a nice wide gravel road...but it goes basically straight up. So for those of you who know me well (Ann) you know there was lots of whining! And that was just to the lower lake...to get to the upper lake you had to go up a little "trail." I say "trail" because it is more like rock stairs with trees growing in or falling in the path! It was an adventure for sure but I'm so glad I did the hike...it was absolutely beautiful at the top! We had a picnic and played fetch with Siren...then made our way back down.

View back over the Lower lake.

Tristan and Siren heading down the path to the lower lake

On another day of canceled tours I dissected a squid that Tristan had in his freezer. Squid dissection is one of my absolute favorite things to do!! So when he said I could have the juvenile Humbolt squid to play with...I was super happy! And I was right back in environmental educator mode as I pointed out and played with each part!! They eye was so cool!!! It was so awesome to get to see a different species up close! 

This week my tours have been great we even saw over 15 Humpbacks on one tour this week! The guests loved it! Once again no pictures...I'm too busy telling everyone about the whales! But on my normally scheduled day off I went ziplining again with Gwenn! It is probably one of our last really nice days that we will have for a while, so it was great to be outside! 

I can't believe that the season is almost over. It has been a wonderful summer so far! I know that my adventures are far from over...but September brings the end to the forefront! Soon my Allen Marine friends will all be heading back where they came from. Thankfully for  me...I get to stay an extra month! More time for adventures with my year round Ketchikan friends!! And then of course...updates from the road trip on the way home!! 

After we dropped our guests off...I did a little whale watching!!