Alaska: Just North of Normal (Juneau and Taku)

In Juneau they have a tram, a gondola really, that brings hundreds of tourists every day to the top of Mt. Roberts. They cut out a swath out of the tall trees so the tram had a way to get to the top. What I noticed most about the ride up was that the slope was much steeper than expected and the height of the trees in Alaska continues to astound me.

Once we got to the top we had the exact opposite view than the one we have from the condo at which we were staying. The beautiful mountains were sharp against the clear sky and the water sparkled with the light from the sun. The best part was the bald eagle circling around us.




The top of Mt. Roberts is a full tourist trap. It has a gift shop and pictures they will shop Sarah Palin or a grizzly depending on your bravery. They also have a beautiful rescued eagle named Lady Baltimore, and equally beautiful hiking trails if you're up to the climb.

Mom, Eli, John, and I took a short hike up one of the trails before coming back and heading back down the mountain to cruise the town. The trail, trees, and view reminded me so much of the Colorado Rocky Mountains that I wasn't sure just how far we had flown. I felt like I was right back hiking up Horsetooth in Fort Collins.

The road just up the mountain behind the main street in Juneau.
It's a beautiful mountain town that reminds me of Central City, Colorado. 

Apparently I am found growing naturally in Alaska.  

Where to next?

After another evening of napping and enjoying time with the family, we planned a helicopter trip to one of the glaciers. Taku glacier to be exact.

Brother: Eli, Dad: Charles, Mom: Kirsty, Boyfriend: John, Me: Alexandra

We had to put on special booties over our shoes and don fancy looking head sets for the ride. Let me tell you what, riding in a helicopter only made my passion to become a pilot blossom even more. It was so thrilling and exciting. It may have partially been to the uplifting and mild music playing in our ears the entire ride but hey. Still wanna do it.

View of Juneau and the bridge to Douglas Island from the Helicopter

Did you know that glaciers break up rock and turn the dirt into silt and act as a REALLY SLOW conveaor belt and deposit it in the water? I didn't. I just knew they were big blocks of ice. Did you know that they are noisy? They creak more than you'd expect. Did you know they are brilliant blue inside? They are beautifully blue. The water in them is clear and beautiful and I'm still kicking myself for not taking a big swig of some.

The helicopter that brought us in. 

The crevasse starts at a few inches apart then grows to feet apart. 

The silt deposit from the glacier. 

The ride back was even more beautiful because I got to sit in the front seat. Flying through the vallies of the mountains was breath taking. Near the tip of the peaks I could see nothing but the points of mountains for as far as the eye could see. I got hit by a moment of wanderlust like it was lightning. I want to travel the Alaskan mountains like none other.

The glacier breaking off into the sea.

Glaciers are so much more vast than we could imagine. 

It snakes all the way up between the mountains.

Looking at the peaks disappearing into the distance. 

Alaska: Just North of Normal (I'M ON A BOAT)

We woke up to a bleak morning in which the fog hung so low off the water, Juneau was just a slight glimmer across the water. It also happened to be the day we were going to go whale watching. We got up, packed up, donned out rain coats, and made the trek to my aunt and uncle's boat waiting for us in the marina. The tide was out so we had to make sure we didn't trip and break our necks coming down the steep ramp to the boat. 

John was so excited to learn about boats that he ran around following my aunt and uncle and constantly asking them if they needed help because he wanted to do it so badly. It was fun. I think I see a boat in our future....

The rain really made for a beautiful day. 

Drawing out of the marina, we spotted a couple of bald eagles just sitting on the corner we pulled around. I know that in Alaska they are considered pests, but I still thought it was so cool to see the bird of our country just sitting there, watching us pull into the ocean. 

The cabin of the boat was cozy as we sped along the water around the island. We passed a little island called Skull Island that peaked the interest of the Goonie inside me. We didn't get close enough to explore so my aunt regaled me with tales of her camping with some friends on a nearby island and how wildfires get started in Alaska. Apparently many of the wild fires in Alaska are caused by people who don't put out their camping fires correctly. The loam on the ground is so thick that the embers and continue to burn under the leaves and plans causing a fire that doesn't show itself until hours or days later. 

At one point my Uncle put John and I in charge of driving the boat...which may or may not have been the best idea. 

Once we got to the other tip of Douglas Island we followed some whale watching boats around until we saw whales. We never saw one breach, but it was fun sitting on the upper deck and waiting with baited breath for another viewing. We saw one orca, a pod of dolphins, and a pod of humpback whales. After a quite a few fuzzy pictures we decided to put our cameras away and just enjoy watching these HUGE and gentle creatures swimming around us.

However, I did get a few pictures before I put my camera away.

My brother chilling out on the prow
while looking for more whales. 

Alaska: Just North of Normal (Day 1)

As you may or may not have heard, my wonders parents brought me to Alaska as a graduation present. Let me be the first to inform you that Alaska really is breath taking. I also want to inform you that this post is going to be one of many. Trying to condense a week's worth of adventures into one post doesn't lend to brevity.

We took Alaskan Airlines up to Seattle, and the flight was gorgeous. One of my favorite views from the flight was the glimpse I got of Mt. Rainier as we were circling to descend to the Seattle airport.

Beautiful full moon over the Seattle clouds

On a fun side note, I've done a lot of research about Mt. Rainier. In my last semester of college I directed a scene called Precipice that takes place on the side of Mt Rainier. If you're interested to see my actors perform the final product for the professor, just click the link here. Anyway, back to the adventure!


Even in the summer, Alaska is often over cast and rainy. This made for an almost theatrical reveal when descending through the clouds to see the mountainous terrain on which Juneau was built. The only flat land in this area was caused by mine trailings from the Alaskan Gold Rush. The mountains sink into the sea like a graceful trailing dress. The small plane flew down to Juneau through the crux of a valley. As it turns out the sun was setting at this time, casting all of the low hanging clouds in a pink glow through the deep green of the enclosing mountains.

The next morning I got to see the full splendor from my aunt and uncles deck. They live on the island directly across from Juneau called Douglas Island. Their cozy condo has a deck with a full view of downtown Juneau and the Juneau harbor. We could watch the cruise ships come in and out all day long. 

Not long after waking up, a group of us decided to go get waffles from a local shop called Gonzos. It makes delicious specialty waffles that rivals anything I have ever eaten. Let's just say, I would happily go to back to Juneau just to taste these waffles again. 

The waffle has lemon custard,
salmon berries, mint, and graham
crackers. It was delicious! 

After we went out for waffles, some of us thought Sandy Beach was the perfect way to start out our adventures in Juneau. My mom, my aunt, my boyfriend, and I put on some rubber shoes and hoodies then made our way to the beach hoping to find sea glass or other treasures. As we were walking down the beach, picking up every rock, sifting through barnacles, and generally having a good time I looked up and saw this cute little building sticking out of the high tide. I took so many pictures because Alaska is like that annoying friend who looks beautiful no matter how off guard they are when you snap the picture. 

 

As it turns out that little building is a pump house for Prosperity Mine. Either Alaska likes how it looks or they just don't care about having mine junk all over the beach. It does make it kind of cool, but it also tints all the water a slightly orange/brown. There was old mine tools all over the beach and tucked in the forest just up the hill. 

Just inside the forest off the beach, we followed a trail back to the car passing by old mine building on the way. The soaring trees and the old buildings tucked under the low lying plans made me feel like I was in an adventure movie. I climbed around an old admin building as well as the mill used for the mine. After going home we all decided napping was the best idea and spent the rest of the day periodically walking onto the balcony, sighing, and then going back to bed to nap. 

It was a fun filled first day, but I was very excited to explore more in Juneau. 

My BA family

I have now been through training with Hallmark Aviation Services and work for British Airways on a regular, weekly schedule.

When I first started going to orientations, training, and shadowing other workers, I very much had a feeling of "drink the kool-aid" in this company. Everyone told me that British Airways was the best airline and I should believe it too. Now, I understand that this helps employees provide great service because they believe they are truly great, but the way they talked about the family they made here made me feel like it would be hard for me to get to the same level.

Now fast forward almost a month and I just experienced my first delay. Our flight from LHR (London) to DEN (Denver) was hit by lightning, but the captain made the call that the aircraft was still performing well and decided against an emergency landing. The plane landed without incident and we were able to unload the passengers without undue problems.

Now what does an airline do when an airplane is hit by lightning? Well, we send it to a mechanical check that takes about three hours to make sure we don't put around 300 people on a plane that is not suitable to make the long flight.

Now a three hour delay is not much especially when we are trying to ensure your safety, but people were acting like it was the end of the world. They were going to miss a wedding...tour..court...car they booked... you name it and they were pissed.

Through all of this, however, we were able to keep each other sane. BA provided $9 meal vouchers for each employee and we were told to take a break during the night to go have some food and sit down. We joked about the group of 30 that came through. And on top of that they all have at least one bike each. At the end of the day we were wired and couldn't help but laugh about how excited we were to go home.

Today I walked into the office and was told that BA was buying everyone coffee today as a way to say 'thank you' for yesterday.

"BA family" doesn't only stand for British Airways, but also Bad Ass family...because truly they are. Between my wonderful coworkers and the sweet Swiss people with whom I enjoy speaking German, I have found myself falling in love with my job.

* Views expressed in this blog and all social networking associated are my own and are NOT that of the company. I am not a spokesperson for these companies or any organizations affiliated with them*

HOW TO: Survive in the Flight Industry

Within a week of graduating, I had a job.
Within two weeks of graduating, I had two jobs.

I work at a beautiful place!!!
(Denver International Airport)

This was all well and good until I started jumping through the hoops that comes with getting saddled up with a job. Each job has it's own pressures and awkward moments as we try to navigate the early hiring process. It gets even harder and longer when there's lots of training, security, and two jobs at once.

To simplify things, let's call them Company Q and Company P. These are in no way a reflection of their names or the order in which I started them. This also protects them, and mostly myself from them.

Company Q is newer to Denver International Airport where as Company P is a business that has been here a while and far more settled. At first Q had me coming into work at the desk with on-the-job-training before the week of actual training. P was slightly more helpful in this area because they don't expect me to come in and flounder around behind the counter before the official training.

Now, today is a Sunday and I was told that my training for Q was to begin tomorrow at 9am sharp. I was told I would get an email explaining when, where, and what to bring. It was about 20:45 at night when I realized that I didn't have said email. I went through emails and numbers from Q and finally found a supervisor number to call.
It turned out to be her personal cell phone.
She has been off of work for a vacation for the past few days.
Great.

So she is very nice and gets me information about the training (which she said I should have gotten in an email, but I have checked every folder and there is nada) which will be held the following week. Because I was told that training for Q would be this week, I scheduled training for P the week after. Now I'm double booked. Company Q flies people in to do training where as P has local people. So I will be calling P tomorrow morning to ask if there is any way I can get an extra seat in training starting that morning.

Really, it's just been a clusterfuck of events that leaves me pulling my hair out at the end of the day. As nice as the people at Q have been, not that people at P weren't... I just didn't call them when they were on vacation, I don't think this is a company that I want to dedicate a lot more time to. I'm sure I'll stay with them for a few months, but once the time rolls around to talk about maybe getting full time hours, I don't think they will make the cut.

But who knows.

Things could change.

Maybe Company P secretly sacrifices virgins to an international deity to keep the prices down.

I'll be sure to keep you posted.

* Views expressed in this blog and all social networking associated are my own and are NOT that of the company. I am not a spokesperson for these companies or any organizations affiliated with them*

Let the Job Search BEGIN!

I did it!

I graduated! 

I have walked the walk and now have two very expensive papers saying that I took years out of my life to dedicate to learning. I now have a degree in German and another in Theater Studies with a minor in dance. When I was deciding what college to go to and what to study all my mom ever said was, "Do what you love." I did. I have learned a great many things, and more importantly, I have made a great many friends. 

So now what? 

Well, I told you I'd keep you up to date on my travel plans. 

Two weeks before graduation, I applied for a job with British airlines at the Denver International Airport (DIA). I go in for a pre-screening tomorrow so knock and wood and press your thumbs for me. 

"But what are your plans for after college?"

Oh the age old question. Well, I want to stay in Colorado for the next few years, but with the income I hope to be getting soon, I want to put myself through flying lessons. I want to work for an airline and hopefully work my way up to pilot in a few years. I know it's a major boy's club up there, but I'll see just what I can do. 

My next trip is going to be to Alaska with my family and my boyfriend. We plan on hiking, whale watching, ziplining, and LOTS of crab eating. I will post pictures and stories here like I always do, so keep checking back for more fun adventures.

Where is she NOW??

Hello friends and fiends I haven't seen in at least a year and a half....

I want to start off with thanking you all for taking that trip to Germany with me. You all gave me so much good advice and I love sharing my adventures with people. I know I left the end of that trip hanging, so I was thinking I could tie up some lose ends before I go on and tell you the direction in which this blog will continue.

After I went to Köln, I decided to stop by the North See one last time to see if I could finally swim in it. When I got there tide was out and I had no idea it would go SO FAR OUT. In other words, I played on the mud flats for a few hours.

But like for serious. I played in that mud like the little child I am at heart. I sunk thigh deep in it, rolled around in it. I made a castle with it and decided that it would be fun to just cover myself in it and see how like the "monster from the black lagoon" I became.

I think I bear a good resemblance.







But finally the tide did come in and I got all washed off in time for the last train to arrive and me to ride home, still rather wet. It was a fun little last jaunt for my and my dear friend Alex Garrett before we saw each other again in the states. Though, this wasn't to be our last adventure in Germany.

 My last adventure was pretty much just a cluster fuck. Let's just say I wasn't the best about getting my visa. I slept through my first appointment and then by the time I made my second one my passport stamp was expired and I was more or less illegal. The last day I was in Oldenburg was spent cleaning and moving out of my apartment, riding my bike back and fourth to the Rathause to get my visa, dumpster diving for important papers I happened to throw away while cleaning said apartment, and then hauling two big bags and two carry-on sized bags across town to Alex's flat. All in all, it was one of the most stressful things in the world.
For anyone reading this DON'T WAIT TO GET YOUR VISA ON THE LAST DAY YOU'RE IN GERMANY. IT'S NOT WORTH IT.
I'm sure that's not a surprise to anyone, but take it from someone who really knows. Just don't do it.

So I finally get to Alex's flat and we take the last train to Hamburg at about 11pm. We slept (as in he slept and I adventured because I can't sleep with light and noise) on a bench in the Hamburg train station until he and I could catch the first train to the airport so I could be in time for my 8am flight the next morning.

The day before was stressful, the night was slightly terrifying, and the next morning was exciting and nerve racking all in one. I don't think I'll ever get over the feeling of flying by myself over seas.

The flight took me over to Iceland and then down to Denver where another best friend of mine was waiting for me with flowers. I broke down crying, so happy to see the people I love waiting for me at the gate. I was exhausted, excited, and just ready to be home.














Since then I've been very busy. I mean, it's been over a year and a half. I hope I'd get a lot done in that time. I returned back to school, had problems with the registrars office dropping my Theater major while I was abroad. I scrambled signing up for classes to start my senior year and was pretty much in a frenzy the whole time. I've been finishing up my Theater degree in a whirl of productions. I'm nearing the end of my German degree and the dance minor I have is wrapping up nicely. Ideally, I'll be graduating in May of 2015.
Here are some of the things I've been up to:

Oktoberfest in my school town with my mother.

Dance photoshoots with flour because why not?

Re-connecting with the Rocky mountains and connecting with my boyfriend, John. 

Now, why am I telling you this? Do I just have a weird need to share my life with people online? Well, maybe. I'm a blogger after all.
But mostly I'm getting you up to date on my life so you can join in my next big adventures. I am in the process of applying for various flight attendant jobs across the US and maybe an odd one in Europe. I'm really hoping that you will see fit to stay with me as I graduate and travel the world with you guys. You've been a great support and friend that was so exciting to travel with.

Now that you're all up to speed on my life... can I ask you one more favor?
Does anyone know of any airlines that are hiring?

I look forward to keeping you up to date on my travels, inside and outside of my job.

-Your friendly traveler