THE WAY I SEE IT....: 2013

FALLING IN LOVE: ALASKA

It was May 1013 when I was Skyping my friend, Nathanael, and he was telling me about his bus driver job in Alaska. It sounded fun, so of course I applied. Twelve days later I was in Juneau Alaska.

Two hours after I landed I still had no idea where I was living. My manager picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at the bottom of these stairs with my two suitcases and said good luck.

I had heard that this was a great location for a house and the rent at the house of the top of the stairs was very cheap for Juneau. So I began to climb. When I finally reached the top of the 176 stairs I found this house.

A 1920 miners house that was slowly sliding off the mountain.

But it was all I had.... so this is where I moved in.

At least it had a pretty view of the city....

I started training the very next day.

The job was to drive buses around and show people that cruised into Juneau around while touring them.

This is the bus.

Every morning I have to inspect all parts of the bus to make sure it is safe to drive.

I liked the job and all the people seemed very, very nice. Most of the drivers were LDS kids my age. It was exciting, and I knew it was going to be a great summer. Little did I know HOW great it was going to be.

I started hanging out with all the other drivers and we started doing some really fun things.

One driver in particular caught my attention. It wasn't right away... but slowly I began to fall hard for this boy.

Our very first "date" was to the Shrine of St. Therese. We walked around the beautiful landscape and talked a lot. Then we headed to the local diner to get dinner.

As time went on, me and Klaus were able to go on many, many more amazing dates.

Being a driver guide gave us a lot of really good adventures.

We were able to comp all the tours that Juneau offers.

Here are the events that helped me fall deeper and deeper in love with Alaska and with Klaus:

SUMMER DOGS

It's a giant camp with 200 dogs and you get to ride on the cart with them pulling you. Yippeeeee!!

WHALE WATCHING

Klaus and I went on an evening quest earlier in the season and then on Jackson's Birthday the whole company went. It's a lot of fun to be out on the water and see the amazing animals.

GLACIER GARDENS

The most beautiful gardens in the world with upside down trees!!

We even saw many people through out the season get married at Glacier Gardens.

MACAULAY SALMON HATCHERY

There were millions of salmon that came back to the hatchery and it was very fascinating to learn about the process of a salmon.

MENDENHALL GLACIER

We spent a lot of time at the glacier!

Me, Klaus, and Jackson hiked back to the ice caves.

Then we decided to swim out to a giant chunk of glacier ice. It was very, very, very, very, very cold!!!!

We saw many bears at the glacier!

Then we hiked to Nugget Falls with Michaela and Jackson.

We took a lot of goofy pictures that day.

FLOAT PLANE TO TAKU LODGE

This was by far my favorite thing we did.

We boarded the plane and headed over the Taku Glacier. We saw amazing sights and then we went to a private lodge in the mountain and ate a home cooked delicious meal and relaxed in a hammock while looking at a giant glacier.

It really was INCREDIBLE.

The scenery was truly unbelievable....

HELICOPTER TO THE TAKU

Just a few days after the float plane trip, we were fortunate enough to get on a chopper and land on the Taku glacier. That week we felt really spoiled. We really were falling in love in the most beautiful place in the world.

We landed right as the sun was setting.

MORE PERKS

Being a Driver had SOOO many perks. While waiting for our passengers to go on their excursions we got to do things like:

Ride bikes

Play in tunnels we found

Watch movies

Have picnics from the vending machines

Go to Breeze in to get breakfast

Play cards

And many, many, many other fun things.

HOLLAND AMERICA PRINCESS

The company we worked for is great. The management was fantastic and we all got along so well. We had many company parties and gatherings like this bus rodeo.

Big Boss Bill

1920 CHARITY FUNDRAISER

Our friend Jo threw a party to raise money for drilling wells in Africa. Klaus played 1920's music on the piano all night and I taught everyone how to dance the Charleston. It was a really fun night and we raised a lot of money.

NORTHERN LIGHTS

We were lucky enough to see a little taste of the northern lights. They were pretty dang cool!!!

HIKING MOUNT JUNEAU

It was cool to see snow in the summer time but the hikes in Juneau were insane how steep they were. I definitely realized quickly how out of shape I am.

FAMILY GAME NIGHTS

On Sunday nights we liked to play games. I quickly learned how competitive Klaus is.

VISITORS IN JUNEAU

My little brother who is serving a mission in Alaska visited Juneau and so Klaus and I got to take him to lunch and hang out for a few hours. He really liked Klaus and we had a lot of fun.

MOM AND DAD!!!

We hiked to the ice caves under the Mendenhall Glacier

And we played in the nest up at the Tram.

My parents flew up to see what I do in Juneau and they wanted to meet Klaus. They instantly realized how easy it is to fall in love with Alaska and with Klaus.

SAYING GOODBYE