WOW!!!

We started on-the-road "training" yesterday. I put training in quotes because these two days have been so amazing and beautiful that I don't get how this is work. We departed Anchorage @ 8:15 and had a brief tour of the town by our driver. A side note about the job is that the TD's (tour director's) are in charge of logistics and the drivers are in charge of commentary. Then we headed southeast towards the Kenai Peninsula. In the town of Seward, where the ships dock, we had lunch and then went to a great sea life center. After checking into our beautiful hotel, we took a 6 hour boat trip of the Kenai Fjords. To set the mood, let me say that my classmates are terrific, fun people and the weather was amazing. As we head out of Resurrection Bay we come across all types of birds, Stellar sea lions, humpback whales and Dall porpoises. It was the most stunning thing I have seen. Then it got better. We head to the Aialik Glacier and eat dinner, salmon, on the boat right in front of it. It is massive and beautiful. We see ice bergs calve off, hear the sounds and are mesmerized by the way the light is reflecting off the ice. For the jouney back we sit in the cabin as a group, joking and talking.

This morning, we visited a couple of the other properties that HAL uses in Seward and then head for Portage Lake. There we have a nice lunch and go by the interactive and informative visitor center. It talks about the shrinkage of the glacier over the last100+ years and the importance of the area to trade in the age before cars and planes. Then we take a cruise out on the lake and get to see the Portage Glacier up close, 300 yards. Once again the weather is perfect and very unlike Alaska. Then we visited a reserve for injured animals and I finally saw my first moose and bear in Alaska, even if they were in captivity. Tonight we are in the resort of Alyeska, near Girdwood. The hotel is beautiful, it is a winter ski resort. We had a buffet dinner that included salmon, of course and then a few of us spent sometime in the bar. I know, shocking. Tomorrow, back to Anchorage.

In other news...Similarly to Ireland, the locals are commenting on how hot it is while, I am still cold. Please tell me that my body will acclimate. Also tomorrow is the solstice, did you even realize that? Here it is a big deal. Maybe I will actually stay awake to see dusk tomorrow night.

Thanks for reading, Christina. :)