Skagway 11

1. I spent most of Friday driving Cole and Mindy crazy at work counting down the hours until Ash came. It was a no-ship day so it was super slow and I had plenty of time to spaz out with excitement. I heard her plane come in :) Mindy let me borrow the SmartCar to pick her up. (P.S. that thing drives horribly and you feel like a clown driving it) ASHLEY! Holy crap I missed her. I showed her around Skagway a bit and the stores then we headed to the Kone house and made Blueberry Chocolate Chip Waffles for lunch/dinner. Friday was also Krysten’s last night so we (as in me and Ash) made Chicken-n-Bacon Ranch pizza just in time for Nick to bring home The Avengers! Family Night! Well almost, we had Nick, Krysten, Cole, Hilary, Alicia (Hil’s sister) me and Ash; so we were only missing Amy (Jordan’s Mom who always goes to bed at like 8) and Mamo (girlfriends, sheesh). It was so fun! And the pizza turned out amazing.

2. I was scheduled to work 8 to 5 on Saturday but since that was the only chance to take Ash on the train Mindy worked it out so we could go. We went on the 8:15 Summit Excursion and totally lucked out because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! No fog or anything! That is a miracle especially in the morning. It was perfect and beautiful. We grabbed our tickets and then had breakfast at the Starbucks Café/jewelry store across the street. It was still really cold when we got on the train but that didn’t stop us from spending most of the ride out on the platform. Now I have seen that route in two seasons! The colors were out and beautiful. Plus since there were only two ships in our car had about 6 people in it and they were all older couples so we didn’t have to fight for platform time. I took tons of pictures with my new camera! I love it! It has an easy panorama setting that is awesome! I’m so excited to play around with that more. We got back to Skagway about noon and I headed to work. Less than an hour after we got back the wind came in dragging packs of clouds and the sun disappeared. We had a perfect morning. Ash did some shopping I think and then came to the Rush when I got off. Um…I can’t remember what we did after that…haha but I know we stayed up late :)

3. Cold from Heck round #3. Hopefully Ash doesn’t get it and hopefully I don’t bring it home with me.

4. Last Sunday in the Skagway Alaska Branch. I’m gonna miss it.

5. I had Monday off so we took off in the morning to hike to Lower Dewy Lake. We grabbed sandwiches from Glacial on the way so we could have a picnic at the lake. It was pretty cloudy, cold and windy but it wasn’t raining yet. The first part of the trail is all steep rocky switchbacks and Ash tripped and biffed it. She skinned her elbow through her jacket and tweaked her already tweaked ankle. Once you make it past the switchbacks it levels out up to and around the lake so I just kept telling her that. We tried to count all the different species of mushrooms we saw along the trail but we lost count. I tripped and biffed it. We were doing great weren’t we? :) Our plan was to follow the trail around the lake to a big rock outcropping on the other side and eat lunch there over the water…we almost made it too. We were having a grand old time, taking in the scenery and talking, and then we heard something. So the trees here grow so close together that the slightest breeze moving them makes them creak like old doors. This didn’t sound like trees creaking. Or squirrels. Or a random hiker. We both stopped and looked at each other. Then it came again from the trees ahead. You know that sound that bears make that is a gruff growl/quiet roar type of thing?...And we started talking louder, let out a couple “whoa bear”s, and turned around rather quickly. So much for the loop. We walked back around to the other side of the lake and had our picnic there (and waited for our hearts to slow down). Most likely it wasn’t a bear and we over-reacted. But what if it was? Ya, I’m okay with over-reacting. The hike back goes really quickly since it’s all downhill and we got back into to town in pretty good time. We stopped by the Kone for ice-cream (they were trying to get rid of it before they closed for the winter so we got it for free) and Karla was there. She was going to be doing some work in the office for a while and offered to let us use her car so I could take Ash out to the Gold Rush Cemetery. Have I told you I have awesome bosses? Because I do. The cemetery is on the opposite end of town from the ocean (I still don’t know what directions are what direction, it’s just towards or away from the water) and is where Soapy Smith and What’s-his-face Reid are buried (the town out-law and the hero who killed each other in a gun fight in 1898). There is a bunch of old graves scattered through the trees. I heard from one tour guide that he always gets at least one person who comes to the cemetery and freaks out about how all of the headstones have 1898 as the year of death…hello, that’s when the Gold Rush was. It’s pretty neat although The Days of ’98 Show has made me more of a Soapy Smith sympathizer than a Hero Reid. It’s kind of funny how they ended up killing each other, each drawing and firing at the same time, Soapy died on the spot but Reid took the bullet and died slowly in bed 12 days later. That would suck. Even death liked Soapy better. If you follow the trail through the cemetery back into the trees you come to Lower Reid Falls. It’s a short walk and so worth it. It was beautiful. Ash’s foot was really starting to bother her so we headed back but took the long way :) We drove up Dyea road to the lookout spot where you can see all of Skagway and the harbor. Oh I love Skagway. We took Karla’s car back and picked up some yummy Thai food from Starfire and some movies from the Shack for the night. I just love having my sister back.

6. That night Ash’s foot hurt so bad she couldn’t sleep. Nick woke up Mamo and they gave her a blessing. By-the-way, I am so thankful for living with good boys. Completely different from Ash’s summer roommates. I love those guys.

7. Tuesday was the last ship day. I had to work at 8 so I talked to Karla and she gave Ash a ride to the clinic. Skagway doesn’t have a doctor just a Nurse Practitioner, who apparently isn’t that great. She decided Ashley has a low pain tolerance and just a sprain. And also took it upon herself to tell her that her diet must’ve been simply horrible for her to have already gotten her gall bladder out. Okay? So Ash is going to see a doctor when we get home. The last ship day wasn’t near as crazy as I thought it would be. And it felt awesome when it was over :) To celebrate we went to Brew Co. We as in me, Nick, Cole, and Hilary. I brought back food for Ash since she didn’t feel like crutching it down there in the rain.

8. Ash got me addicted to Once Upon a Time. And yes it took less than one episode for me to fall in love with Prince Charming.

9. On Wednesday it hit me: I am going home. I need to pack, and clean, and soak in every last bit of Skagway I can! Yikes! I didn’t have to work until 11 so I set my alarm for 7 so I could get my packing done before work and then just my cleaning after. Well my alarm and I didn’t see eye to eye so Ashley woke me up at 9 and then I had a little freak out session packing and figuring out what I needed to stuff into flat-rates and mail on my way to work. I know, I’m a procrastinator. It was just a little bit stressful. I got quite a bit done, mailed some packages on my way to work and still made it on time! I was really quite amazed. It was super slow at work of course so we just did random projects to start the store on its winter local gear track. I said goodbye to Mindy when she got off at 4 :( And then at 5 I clocked out for the last time. I almost cried. Before I left I got to paint my brick! Explanation: in the back room the wall along the stairs is made up of those big grey bricks, which are mostly not grey anymore. When you finish the season you get to pick a brick and paint it. It’s like a little memory shrine to your Skagway summer. The bricks are all completely random and range back to 1999 I think. Ashley (roommate Ashley not sister Ashley) made up a little saying using lyrics from some of the songs we heard over and over on the radio all summer (Like ‘Call Me Maybe’ and ‘Some Nights’). Since I was the queen of the shoe side, this is what I put on mine: < Welcome to Shoe Hell. Watch out for Asians. <3 Chrissi ’12 > I came home to find that Ash had done half my cleaning! Love you! Lots more cleaning later we made poppyseed muffins, scrambled eggs, and sausage for dinner. And then ate the rest of my huckleberry ice-cream. Karla and Duff came to say goodbye and leave us a car for the morning. And then knowing that we had to be to the ferry at 6:30 in the morning we went to bed early. HA! We went to bed by one…the last time I looked at the clock it was 3…and then we woke up at 5:15. I am gonna need to sleep for a week when I get home.

10. We made it to the ferry with all our luggage. Amy went with us. It was funny because we had no idea we would be ferrying out together until like 2 days before and then also she was on my same flight from Juneau to Seattle. I loved the ferry! I want to go on it again sometime when it’s not super cold and rainy so I can be outside the whole time. We hung out in the Recliner Lounge. It was really nice for Ash. And we got some sleep in. Half of Skagway was on that ferry. We didn’t see any whales which was disappointing but it was still fun. We had a stop in Haines but we didn’t get off. We pulled into Juneau at about 3 in the afternoon, gathered all our luggage and waited for a taxi. We had planned to explore Juneau a bit but with Ash deciding to be a gimp we just headed straight to the airport. I love the Juneau airport. There are like 10 gates, if that, and no line for security. Basically us and the other Skagway peeps from the ferry were the only ones in the airport. We got some food and got to hang out together at the gates until our flights started boarding. Now Ash is on her own. But I did check her bag as my second so she doesn’t have to deal with it when she switches airlines in Anchorage so she should make it alright with her backpack and her crutches. My flight to Seattle left at 8:05 and got in at like 11:20, but was only 2 hours and a few minutes long…I hate time changes. I caught a nap for half of it which was nice. We got in and I said goodbye to Amy.

11. 6 hours in-between flights. So now it’s almost 4 AM. I think. I have been hanging out by myself in the S terminal of the Seattle-Tac airport for the last few hours. Writing this. And playing ring-around-the-rosy with the cleaning crew. I made it all the way around the circle and now they are almost finished with my section. I can’t believe the summer is over. I can’t believe it’s almost October. Feels like a dream.

In a few hours I will be back in Utah. My hair will stay straight when I straighten it. It won’t be 40 degrees outside. I get to see my family who I’ve really missed (that I’ve really missed? Mom? My grammar is suffering) And my dog. But I love Skagway.

See you tomorrow! Scratch that. See you later this morning!

Skagway 10

1. Karla saved us from living with Keoni :)

2. Most of the people who work at the grocery store are Bulgarians. I love all the random people here in Skagway.

3. When the Fireweed goes to cotton, Summer is forgotten. It went to cotton a month ago.

4. We had our last Disney day. The season is winding down. And getting crazier.

5. So Lilly went home to China with a Book of Mormon. It’s something.

6. I moved up the totem pole. Now I work at 8 in the morning 6 days a week. Oh how I love the top of the totem pole.

7. We get lots of people in the Rush who speak very little English. It makes for some interesting interactions. Like this one guy who was trying on hats and turned to me, “which one?” I pointed out the mirror behind him but he says, “You is better.” So I picked out his hat.

8. Another mirror story. I was helping a guy with shoes and he was trying to decide on a pair. I asked if he wanted to check the mirror and he said, “I don’t need a mirror, I have a wife!”

9. I made Channie’s Enchiladas! Only the Grocery store was out of sour cream and only had corn tortillas…so they weren’t as good but still :)

10. My new roommate Krysten talks a lot. A lot. Between her and Hilary I never have to say a word.

11. We had the Missionaries over for dinner. We each made something and had a super random dinner: Chicken Pillows, Pistachio salad, Fried Mac-n-Cheese balls, and Chocolate Chews.

Skagway 9

1. So Ashley and I had to switch Nick rooms so now we are in the ‘master bedroom’ that has 3 beds and its own bathroom! We switched because a new guy and girl are coming up to finish out the season. Having our own bathroom is pretty stinking nice :)

2. We love Rocky! Monday night Rocky took me, Ashley, Keoni, and Davey out on his boat! It’s a pretty little boat but hey we didn’t have to row :) We went out across the harbor to where he has shrimp pots weighted to pull them up and collect the shrimpies. I sat behind Rocky…nobody told me not to sit behind the driver. I got a nice cold saltwater shower. I loved it though. It was gorgeous! And we saw 5 or 6 bald eagles up close. We pulled up three pots and got a bunch of shrimp, 2 species: big pinkish-redish long-legged ones and short fat blueish ones. Then on the way back you pop the heads off of all of them. I tried with one of the big ones…but when I squeezed it to pull its head off it started moving and I just couldn’t do it. They are so freaky! So then everyone made fun of me the rest of the way back. We waved to all the people on the cruise ships as they pulled out when we got back to the docks. It’s just so dang beautiful here! Everywhere you look! Especially on the other side of the harbor where the pine trees grow right up to the water’s edge and then the grey rocks drop down into the 40 degree water. There’s a waterfall that empties into the ocean there. If you look up-stream you can see a rope bridge stretched over the white water leading to a picturesque cabin. I am kicking myself for not being able to find my camera for the trip. Guess I’ll just have to go back :) We got back to the docks and checked out Rocky’s crab pot and another shrimp pot. No crabs but a ton of a different kind of shrimp. Little pink salad shrimpies. And I so ripped the heads off a bunch of those! Guts squirt and blue brains get on your fingers. Yuck. But I did it. It was such a fun night!

3. Tuesday we put the room together and cleaned the bathroom (boys, eww). And then we took a break to go to Brew Co. with Kat, Mathew, Jenny, and Alicia. Oh gosh we go to Brew Co. too much :)

4. We had some really bad weather when the new people, Krysten and Cole, were coming so they ended up stuck in Juneau all day until it cleared enough for them to fly out. New roomies!

5. Alicia, Kat, and Hilary came over and we all watched Water for Elephants. That’s a fun group of people. Krysten and Cole are cool too.

6. The next night Nick brought The Lucky One home for us. I like that movie a lot but why do they always have to through ‘scandalousness’ in everything?! After the movie Ashley and I went to the school to swing. I love my roomie. After a while Nick, Krysten, and Cole joined us. It was like Family Night! :) It wasn’t long before an awesome game of Lava Monster broke out on the playground. Have I mentioned that I love these guys?

7. Ashley, Kat and I had a Saturday off together. We went out to breakfast at the Sweet Tooth Café. Hello Blueberry Pancakes Special. Then we went to the early show of the Days of 98 Show because Kat hadn’t been yet. We went shopping at Duff’s and the Farmer’s Market in the rain. Then we crashed at the ACT house and watched The Lucky One. Again. And I fell asleep. It was a super cold day so basically we just vegged.

8. Oh, Canada! We had a ‘No-Ship Sunday’ so we(me and Ashley) went with the ACT peeps to Canada in their van.(Alicia, Jenny, Luke, Mathew, Craig, Hilary) Yes, I’m a sinner. I absolutely love the drive from here to Whitehorse. It’s so gorgeous. Jenny had never been to Canada and she’s leaving soon so we did whatever she wanted in Canada. We took a bunch of stops for pictures along the drive. We went to Carcross and took a little tour and braked for the bakery. Sour Cherry Chocolate Chip Scones. Love it. Carcross is in a beautiful spot. Lake Bennet is gorgeous and Carcross is right on the edge of it. We wandered the town a bit and stamped our passports. (They don’t stamp your passport at the border anymore, just scan something in the computer. Dumb.) Then there was the Carcross Desert and Emerald Lake and on to Whitehorse. It was such a gorgeous day! The sun was out in full force and by noon we were all wishing we had worn shorts. And I got sunburnt for the first time of the summer! :) We split up and wandered for a while, through the shops and along the river. We witnessed a random Zombie Walk. Odd. Then we met back up and went to ‘Earl’s’ for lunch, but mostly for the yam fries with spicy mango dipping sauce. :) We did the whole Whitehorse thing and went to Walmart (!) and the ‘Real Canadian Super Store’. (SBL check!) We picked up some hair dye and soap at Walmart at 1/3 the price of in Skagway. (Did I just sound like Grandma?...hmm…) The Super Store is the biggest Grocery I have ever seen! Well maybe that’s not true but compared to my little Fairway market that I’m used to now with its 5 half empty aisles…its huge. So much produce! I bought 2 pounds of blueberries and a fruit platter (which we ate half of on the drive home) and pickles! Not to mention the Canadian candybars somebody requested… :) Before leaving Whitehorse we hit Tim Hortons to get a box of donut holes to take back for the house (which we ate half of on the way home). We drove out to Miles Canyon before it got dark. That place is gorgeous. (see Facebook) We walked down to the bridge over the canyon and river and wandered along the edge for a while until we got too cold. The last stop was the Yukon sign. Still didn’t see any animals :P It was a really fun trip. We listened to crazy music and Jerry Seinfeld in the car and just had fun. It was really great to get away for a bit.

9. So you know how I told you the weather was so beautiful Sunday? Monday it was freezing. Skagway is as bad as Utah for bipolar weather. Sheesh. Ashley died my hair Hazelnut and I made blueberry waffles for dinner. Those Canadian blueberries sure are good.

10. Nicole left. We took a picture at the Rush before she left. Ashley, Nicole, Mindy and I each donned a different North Face vest from the rack and a Yukon bomber hat. Mindy ordered a ridiculous amount and variety of vests for the fall so we decided it needed a picture. We stood out in the road like the tourists to get the cruise ship in the background. I will have to steal it from Mindy. (P.S. our company pictures are up on the Klothes Rush Facebook page.)

11. Ashley and I watched An Affair to Remember on my laptop while she packed. 2 suitcases, a duffle and a backpack. :) Mostly new shoes. We cried at the end of the movie. You know that moment when Nikki realizes it was her? Oh we love that.

12. Ashley’s last day :( We put some blonde peek-a-boo streaks in my hair. It took forever to lighten but it turned out pretty good.

13. Ashley left. She came by the Rush before heading out on the ferry. Saying goodbye sucks. She is awesome. I miss her. That night Andrea, Krysten and I went to Brew Co and had a girls’ night. Pedicures, Runaway Bride, Poppyseed muffins. Good stuff.

14. Saturday Shirt Co started its end of season sale with everything 50% off. Krysten and I woke up early so we could go when they opened at 8 before she had to go to work. Mamo was up so he decided to come with us which meant we got a ride! Ya its only 12 blocks but it gave us more time to shop. Plus Mamo is fun to shop with. Shirt Co is huge, and super organized. We found a ton of good deals and ran into Kat, Jenny, Alicia, Hilary, Mindy, Becky, Rod, and half of Skagway. Krysten and I helped Mamo pick out a marble whale tale for Ali (just helping out the colorblind guy). Mamo ran Krysten to work leaving me holding 2 baskets full of stuff and everyone that saw me said “wow really going to town, huh?” I spent kind of a lot…but I saved as much as I spent! :) After we paid, Mamo and I went to Starbucks and got hot chocolate. And the Starbucks guy is kinda cute, it’s the goofy smile.

15. The side of the store that has the ‘non-alaska-y’ clothes and the shoes has affectionately been named “Shoe Hell”. Okay so maybe not so affectionately.

16. No more Nursery kids.

17. We had our last fast and testimony meeting. The people here have such interesting stories and such amazing faith. It’s the only ward I’ve been in other than a singles ward where there are no silences between testimonies.

18. I made blueberry and chocolate chip waffles. Winner!

19. Advice from Mamo: If the guy treats you like anything less than a privilege, drop his trash.

20. Heidi and Dustin and Andrea left too.

21. Mamo is loopy again. We are hanging out as a little family waiting for the Northern Lights to possibly come out. According to the all-knowing internet it will come out in 36 minutes.

22. Jordan leaves tomorrow so then the Kone House will consist of:

          Me!

          Krysten. She’s from Idaho, goes to BYU-I and worked here last summer.

          Mamo.

          Nick.

Cole. Krysten’s friend from Carolina?, goes to BYU-I. He joined the church a year and a half ago and is getting ready to serve a mission when he turns 19 in a couple months.

Amy. Jordan’s mom.

23. I can’t wait for my Ash to come visit!