Back in Alaska

I have arrived in Anchorage. After some late night packing and a restless nights sleep, I was up at 4:15 to get ready. KB drove me to the airport, with a stop at Starbuck's on the way, I had to do something to counteract the lack of sleep. The first flight was full and uneventful, while the second was late and empty enough that I got the bulkhead row to myself. Upon arrival in Anchorage I had to wait a while to get my luggage and in turn missed the shuttle to downtown and had to catch a taxi. One of my roommates that I hadn't even met, tried to work it to come get me but the car our house has access to every other week was in use. The roommates I have met so far are great and we are getting settled nicely into our apartment. This year we get to use our mailbox at the apartment, so hint, hint.

My address:
1320 Denali Street
Anchorage, AK 99501

The best surprise came about 25 minutes after I arrived at the apartment. My supervisor called to tell me that I go out on tour on Sunday. That was fantastic news since there are plenty of people that are sitting in Anchorage waiting for either their first tour or second and one lands at my feet 2 days after I arrive. Woohoo. Now the scary part...it is the longest, most expensive tour and heads out into the Yukon. That's right, I have yet to get out there and now have to lead a tour. Trial by fire, here I come.

Thanks for reading.

One of the Reasons I Love Davis...

It is Wednesday night, a freaking hot Wednesday night, and a giant fireworks display just occurred right outside my back door. It is Celebrate Davis day, therefore among other events we have fireworks that make it look like the fourth of July. I love Davis.

Thanks for reading.

My Spring in Pictures

I spent much of my spring outside so here are a few of the shots I took along with one of an awfully cute little one.

1. Poppies on the UCD campus while walking through the Arboretum.
2. The famous water towers.
3. Blue Heron posing at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
4. Palace of Fine Arts columns left over from the 1915 exposition.
5. Taking 4th graders to Alcatraz Island on the ferry.
6. Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful day.
7. Leaving Pier 33 for Alcatraz.
8. Angel Island from Alcatraz Island.
9. Perfect angel during my birthday lunch.































Thanks for viewing.

The Countdown has Begun.

17 days from today I will be back in Alaska. Yes I am returning to the land of salmon, bears, long days, hours on the train and days on buses. Many of my co-workers are already there preparing for their first tours of the year and I find myself getting jealous, which is a great sign. Don't get me wrong, I love leading tours in Napa, escorting kids through California history and spending as much time with friends & family as possible but the next adventure awaits. However, I feel like I have been in one place for far too long and it is time to get away. These last 2.5 weeks will be spent seeing as many people as possible and working a lot. Yesterday, I worked in Napa and then drove to Pacifica to have dinner and spend the night with the DP's. TD made fantastic fish tacos, WW friendly, and black beans with diced chilis and the three of us had a fair amount of wine. This morning after getting a few things done for tours in the next few days, I drove to Belmont to spend time with MW. I will see her one more time while camping Memorial Day weekend however, this was our last chance to just hang out together since she will be moving to Zurich for the year while I am still in Alaska. I know I will see them in November and again in January or so when I visit them but I needed some good face time. We got an early start and ran errands, then we went to the Red Lantern in Redwood City for a terrific lunch. Afterward we went next door to Pamplemousse to buy macarons, the French kind. They are almost as tasty as the ones we purchased from Laduree in Paris, the lavender vanilla was incredible. For the rest of the afternoon we sat around talking about what the W's need to do before leaving for Zurich and making limoncello. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. More bittersweet goodbyes to come.

Thanks for reading.

It's Been a Long Time

I haven't disappeared, I haven't taken a job in deepest, darkest Africa (yet) and I haven't given up writing this blog. It's been an entire month without writing, the first two weeks was because I had very little to say, the last two, well that was mostly the phone company. I have been very busy with tours in Napa Valley and 4th graders in Sacramento but none of it was all that exciting. Then the modem died, one person at AT&T told me they were sending me a new one but that wasn't true and then it took me a week to get to the store to get my own. Now I am back, still not sure I have much to say but here is run down:

• Picnic Day was actually beautiful for once, the band sounded great and the twins got there first exposure.
• DI had his fourth birthday and I finally got to spend some time with the Bay Area gang.
• It was recently CEA's first birthday, a small affair but fun to see the kids playing together and the adults enjoying their time.
• I have been working consistently from the beginning of March until now, for both the Napa and student tour jobs. Now I am tapering off so that I can enjoy my time with friends and family before I leave for Alaska on May 30th.
• Lead a 2 day bike tour in Napa, the 8 guys spent $120K on wine before shipping.
• Spent lots of time with my nieces.
  

Those are the highlights of the month. Believe me, I did a lot more then that but one day blends into another and now it is May. I will try to write more this month as I prepare for my 3 1/2 month stint in Alaska.

Thanks for reading.

Sunday Scribblings - Out of this World

I have a secret...I am a huge fan of Science Fiction. Currently, I am stuck on Doctor Who, a British show about a time traveler and his human, female companion/assistant. And I am on the verge of watching the spin-off series called Torchwood. Starting with super heroes and Star Wars and I have also watched all of the Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis episodes at least once. I have enjoyed many a Star Trek episode and have read Michael Crichton's books and the Wheel of Time series. I love seeing what writers conjure in their minds as a vision for what might be out among the stars, maybe because it is so close to reality and yet whimsical enough to take us away from our day to day problems.

Thanks for reading.

Another Milestone (+ one week)

So I had myself convinced that my last day at my old job was on March 27, 2007, however, looking back at one of my first posts I realize I was a week off. This should have been posted a week ago.

A year ago today I was recovering from a pretty good hangover. The night before was the big party to celebrate my leap into my new life and away from all of the wonderful people drinking with me that night. I am sad to say that I haven't seen many of my friends from my old job, I even stopped by the old hang out tonight to see if some of them were around but alas they were not. I thought for sure that I would stay close with a few of them and except for my roommate, I rarely see them, the last time was for said roommate's going away party. Now I think about the old gang from time to time and wonder how they are surviving the world that I escaped. I love my new life and can't believe how well I have adapted to it but I realize that I haven't been the great friend that I wanted to be to those I left behind. I should promise to correct my failing but I know myself and that probably won't happen. Right now it is hard enough to keep in contact with both of my families.

So now that I have corrected my assumption about the date, I send out a Happy Anniversary to those that March 27th really belongs to, CF and MW.

Thanks for reading.