Alaska...no better place to be

I have now officially worked for one week, but it does not seem that long. It is not difficult work, but it is certainly more tiring than my nine month one. I have nowhere to sit, even when there is no traffic in the store. When there are no shoppers we have endless stocking, dusting, rearranging, and putting back of items people have put down wherever. I have met such fun people from many states and countries. Most of them come up here after a train ride from either Anchorage or Fairbanks, spend two or three days, then get on another train or a bus, take it to Anchorage and Seward, and board their cruise ships for a seven day trip down through the Inner Passage. The stories they tell about their wilderness adventures in Denali National Park have made me excited to see it also. There is plenty of time for that before I leave.

Our gift shops have many of the same things you'll see in any gift shop at any tourist area. However, we do have a few unique items. You can buy necklaces made from caribou and moose antlers (they do fall off you know- no animals are killed for this jewelry), bandanas that say "Bark Ranger" and "My family only bought me this bandana" for the dog, Beer soap, thimbles made from the soft fur of several animals (it sheds-it's not harvested by killing the animals), park ranger uniforms for babies, and everything has a carabiner attached to it- key chains, bottle openers, compasses, whistles, etc. One of my favorites is a bear bell- used to let the bears know you are in their area- the bell is attached to a piece of leather or strong cloth and hangs on a carabiner. There is a downside to working in a gift shop- people find way too much stuff to buy! Maybe by the middle of July I will not want all of what's on my list.

I am back on my walking schedule. Because I am so unfamiliar with the trails here and cannot find anyone to walk with at this point I am only walking up and down the Parks Highway. I do have a whistle just in case I do see a bear, but none so far. Wednesday night I decided to go toward the main part of the tourist area which is where Denali National Park's main entrance is. I had no intention of going all the way, just about three miles and would turn around to make the return trip. I thought the distance from my hotel to our sister hotel was only six miles so I decided what the heck, I'll go the distance. Once I had gone over the three mile distance it would only make sense to keep going. What I did not realize was the distance was not six miles, rather eight! This trip was quite uneventful, as I hoped it would be, but it took 2 1/2 hours (remember I'm still a little gimpy on one ankle and didn't want to push it!). Several shuttle buses passed me going each direction and at several points I really wanted to flag one down. I knew they wouldn't stop though so I kept pushing on. I did get some beautiful photos at 9:00 PM of areas I had not previously photographed.

I love walking at this time because it is fairly quiet, the sun is not burning down on me, yet it is very much still daytime at 9 PM, and the clouds tend to be pretty cool looking. On Wednesday when I was almost finished my walk I walked by a bridge with a surprise under it.

Apparently it has not been warm enough to melt everything, especially things shaded by a bridge.

The stillness is very peaceful, the plant colors are vibrant, (due to the amount of time the sun does shine in the summer) and the whole experience is so calming. I hear birds in the distance, I see chipmunks and squirrels cross the road, and am attacked by many, many mosquitos. Even at this time of day/night there are flightseeing trips still going on. The sound of airplanes echoes in the mountains and small prop planes can be seen circling the mountain peaks and preparing for their descents.

This is Alaska and I am so thankful to be here.