Coming to an end

A friend took this yesterday when he was stuck in traffic near Kingman. I-40 was closed most of the day from Kingman to Winslow because of accidents like the 1 in the picture above or ice or the wind blowing snow around so much that you couldn't see. Some of our guests were not to happy when they got stuck at the canyon.

Well its the last day of 2010; and it was 24 degrees below 0, when I left my dorm this morning to leave for work and 30 below 0 when I clocked in...coldest I have ever seen it here. Well I got enough snow for a snowman now, except its the powdery snow and I can't even make a snowball with it.

Well this new year will bring a change around the park, as Maswik will be closing. We will be having 3 or 4 days off every week when Maswik workers get transfered over to Yavapai.

Holiday Season 2010

Brenda made cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Dec 24th. And Chris came over to visit and ended up taking a couple home.

1 of the many snowmen decor items at Yavapai Cafe...and I used to collect snowmen.

The 1 and only day we got away with wearing goofy hats at work...so I got the jester hat

Here I am trying on Rudolph's antlers.

ok, started back to work at Yavapai Christmas morning. We opened at 7am but guests didnt really start coming in until 8:30. I had been calling Christmas a Japanese holiday for the last few years because we always got tour buses full of Japanese guests, but this year we had mostly guests that were from India.

2010~looking back

Oh what a year!

(Jan,Feb, & Mar)This year started out with tons of snow. I was beginning to think last winter would never end. Went to 1 show of Native dancers at the Hopi House. Amy Tacey got a food co-op started here in Jan.

(April & May)~Started warming up even though we still had a few days of snow. Earth Day events were held inside because of snow. Bought a zoom lens for my camera.

(June)~took a trip to NH to see Kevin graduate. AZ got to darn hot.

(July)~Scott's wife died on the 4th, took trip to Jerome for Brenda's birthday & Xanterra had its olympics. Started going to a camera club this month or end of June.

(Aug)~Amy Tacey died after 3 yrs of cancer...my first official funeral (for yrs, I said I would never go to a funeral...never say never) & I got glasses & paid up my internet until next Feb.

(Sept)~Finally got driver's license re-instated, just in time for trip to D.C. to see Allan's retirement ceremony....need to go back sometime in the springtime

(Oct)~Hail on the 20th. ordered a bunch of food from amazon to get ready for Winter season

(Nov)~volunteered to work the marathon & took time off work between Halloween-Thanksgiving...needed to declutter while making plans on getting job in AK next Spring.

(Dec)~still decluttering & started working as a busser at Maswik until Yavapai re-opens.
Amanda stabbed Mike with scissors & they both lost the kids to foster care.


Well I guess you could say this year has had some twists & turns, and I never really ended up doing anything that I said I wanted to complete a year ago. Oh well there is always next year.
And seeing as I plan on moving up to AK; you can bet that 2011 will be different.

Reasons for Alaska

(sorta stole this from Richard...then tweeked it a bit to suit myself)

First off, I was going to title this blog "Why I want to Work in Alaska" however the more I thought about it I realized the working part is just a means to an end .... and the end is just getting to Alaska and spending 4 months there exploring, meeting new friends, eating incredible seafood, and , yes, working. So here are my "ten" reasons for wanting to visit our northernmost state ...Figured I have had enough people ask me why I want to live in AK, that I had better get it all written out.

1) The incredible scenery

2) The independent and resourceful people

3) Oversized fish & shrimp .... heck, just about everything is oversized in Alaska!

4) The Cold ..... yes the Cold. After last Summer here at GCSR, I will be glad to do without AZ Summer.

5) Mt McKinley & Kenai Peninsula

6) Photo ops ... I plan on taking LOTS of pictures to remember a very special summer.

7) Wildlife (and I am NOT talking about parties in the dorms). Whales, Seals, Bears, Moose, Eagles, Puffin, and the list goes on and on.

8) Never lost. Heck, there aren't enough roads in Alaska to get lost . Wonder if they have rush hour traffic. :-)

9) Coolwork forums and blogging .... I plan to do a LOT of writing about my adventure as it unfolds!

10) Fun in the Midnight sun-don't have to worry about being afraid of the dark. :-)

As of today I am still waiting to hear from jobs...really hoping for either the railroad job or something in Seward (maybe Windsong Lodge). Hell I would even take the year-round job in Juneau...that would be cool to say I withstood an Alaskan winter. Hey if u can handle a winter in Alaska then u can handle ANYTHING!