Yes, Really.

Work started this morning at 3:45 a.m. Yes, really.  Nobody sleeps in Alaska because the sun never sleeps.  So 3:45 isn't actually as bad as it seems.

Yes, this really is my work shirt.  The Alaskan hill-person that owned it before me must have been a large breed.

I found out I dont get my first paycheck until July 2nd.  Yes, really.  Which means the big outdoor adventures probably won't start until then.  Even though we get tours free, we still have to tip our guides, and I barely have enough money to eat as it is.

Yes, my nails really are this long.  Mama would be so proud.

Just hangin' at the 49th State Pub & Brewery.  It's like Alaskan Squatters.

That's all for today.  New, and hopefully more exciting, posts to come soon...

Into the Wild: En Route and Arrival

Finally, I made it.  Finally, after no less than 30 hours of traveling, none of which involved sleep. Sorry family, I'm not coming home because I am never getting on a plane again.  Or a bus, for that matter.  The roads here are what they call "permafrost damaged."  Most of the ground here is frozen year-round, so when roads are built the pavement attracts heat and the ground beneath it thaws leaving an unbelievably bumpy and uneven highway.  In spite of my exhaustion, the nausea kept me awake for the entire shuttle ride from Anchorage to Denali.  The upside?  I got some cool pictures.

It is gorgeous here.  Last night, Alex and I went on a walk around a five-mile loop by our homestead.  The road leads up to an amazing lake and I saw my first moose.  It was a ginormous female about 15 feet away.  

This picture was taken at about midnight, and the days are still getting longer.  We only have about two hours of dark now.  On June 21st, the sun won't go down at all. 

I found out that I live about 7 miles away from where Christopher McCandless, or "Alexander Supertramp" from Into the Wild, died.  They organize hiking groups to hike up to his famous bus every few weeks, and there's a small shrine dedicated to him at "The 49th," a pub by the homestead.

This is the bus from the set of the movie.

This is going to be an amazing summer.  I have a lot planned and I'll keep the posts coming.