December is here...

I know, I know....it has been well over a month since I last posted!! I failed on keeping everyone updated from the road. So here we go...here is a whirlwind version of my last month and a half.

Road Trip: 

The road trip started with a 36 hour ferry ride from Ketchikan to Bellingham, Wa. Gwenn and I had a Glee marathon along with Mulan 1 & 2. It was pretty foggy so it was hard seeing wildlife, but we did spot 2 whales during breakfast one morning. It was a fun way to travel back to the lower 48...although it would be way more fun in the summer with more daylight.

Then we hung out in Seattle for the day and visited with friends. The next day we drove through Mt. Rainier National Park...but the rain and clouds were so thick there was no sight of the mountain. But I did get a great view of some waterfalls. We stayed in Spokane that night and then headed through Idaho and Montana on day 3 of driving. 

The next day we headed through the rest of Montana and part of North Dakota. We saw Mule Deer, Eagles, Kestrel, Magpie, Coyote, and prairie dogs. We stayed with Gwenn's mom in ND and then headed to see friends in Minnesota. But on the way we had to stop at the Geographical Center of North America in Rugby, ND. 

After Minnesota we drove to Cleveland to visit with one of our fellow Allen Marine Employees! We spent the night and next morning hanging out with Jeanette, then headed back to VA! 3,700 miles driven and close to 5,000 total traveled in 8 days. I told you it was a whirlwind.

Home:

If you didn't know by now I decided to come back to Ketchikan for the winter. So home was just a visit. Also know that I consider my visit home the whole 2 weeks I spent in VA, NC, SC, and GA.

I spent almost a week and a half in Va which is probably the most time I have spent there in over 3 years. It was wonderful to see all of my family and friends while I was home. And I got to pack and shop for shoeboxes for OCC. Dad and I also cleaned out all of my boxes and the spare room and threw away some junk. Yes dad I called it junk.

My Sister and I

My cousin Emily with her children & my sister

While I was in Va we had my sisters bridal shower. This was great because I got to see lots of family and friends that I hadn't gotten to see in a while. We also had a get together at my uncles house with family from out of town.

Visiting with my Step-grandma Pat

My cousin Emily

Selina, Elise, Whitney, baby  Noah, my sister and I

When I had to go and pick my mom up from the airport I got top spend some time with a friend in Charlotte. I managed to squeeze in a trip to Myrtle and visit with my favorite people (and dog) there. I got to bird watch off the pier and I see a couple of really large pods of bottle nose dolphins. My favorite thing to watch though were the diving pelicans. I have really missed them in Alaska. 

After a quick trip to Myrtle there was a stop in the SC Low Country for a boat ride with a friend...and then to GA for 2 days. I had a wonderful time with my family and I even got to stop by the 4-H center for a quick hello with the staff and Zoe (the Loggerhead Sea Turtle I cared for while I worked there). Then it was time to catch a plane back to AK.

Back to Alaska:

And after a 13 hour day where I took 3 planes, a car, a tram, and a 5 minute ferry ride...I made it back to my beautiful rainy island in Alaska. Where I was greeted with a week of sunshine.

There was a little snow on a couple of trails that were higher up so that was fun to see. I hiked up part of deer mountain where we saw a breaching whale way in the distance. That was a wonderful welcome back present. 

Siren wanting food at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was spent with Tristan, Stephanie, and of course Siren! I cooked a turkey...and we had mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, stuffing, and pumpkin pie! We played Frozen Uno (thank you Kat and Elizabeth for my uno cards with frozen characters) and ate lots of food. On Black Friday this year I chose to go with REI's campaign and #OptOutside. Tristan and I took Siren on a walk through the rain forest. The sun was shinning and it was absolutely beautiful...cold, but beautiful. Every hike around makes me fall in love with Ketchikan all over! The sun was coming through the trees over the creek just perfectly in this picture! 

Now that Thanksgiving is over the rain has returned. And I also I finally went back to work. I am substitute teaching for the winter here. It was hard to get up the first morning after not working for almost 2 months, but it's been nice to be doing something everyday. 

So there is my life for the last month in a nutshell. If I missed seeing you while I was at home I am sorry....and I hope to catch you next time. I'm super excited that my never ending adventure is back in Alaska! It may be dark for most of the day...but that's just part of the adventure :)

I promise not to wait over a month for the next update!!! In fact I'll even give you a preview...Tristan and I will be going in search of a Christmas tree this weekend! Since that involves hiking up a mountain, cutting one down, then dragging it back down the mountain...I'm sure there will be a story to tell!!