Canada Heli Trip (part one)

Matt had the opportunity to ferry a helicopter to Calgary, Canada, to end his summer job in Alaska. And I was lucky enough to come along! It was an AMAZING ride- I took a million pictures and I still wish I could have captured it better. We took the two day journey along with Nick(another Era pilot), who flew the second helicopter to Canada. Instead of doing a collage when I have a ton of pictures, I thought these were worth posting separately.  Our route can be found here.

It's hard to comprehend just how vast the ice fields and massive these mountains are.

This was the most delicious site! Sure it's just glacier ice mixed with dirt... but to me it looked like the biggest bowl of cookies 'n cream I'd ever seen!

 I tried to be a good co-pilot by following us on a map... luckily Matt wasn't depending on me alone.

 I LOVE this picture!(above) It was SO beautiful here and this really shows the bright colors that were here.

The bluest water I had ever seen. You would have thought we were in Mexico or something! 

 I got smart after a while and realized that everything on the dash(not sure if that's what it's called) was being reflected in my pictures.  I had to be careful sitting here too- though my feet didn't quite reach the pedals, i had all the controls I needed to fly this heli myself. 

Our first stop was in Atlin, Canada.  We had to stop and refuel every couple hours or so.  It was a good thing too- those seats are not made to be comfortable. 

At every stop we(they) had to make a "flight plan", check weather, and such and so forth.
We stayed the first night in Watson Lake. The smallest town I've ever seen.  Luckily they had some of the nicest people who gave us rides to and from the airport.

Matt doing a pre-flight the next morning(making sure everything looks good to go).

 Above and on the right you can see the famous Alaskan Highway

To be continued...

Last look at our apartment...

...you will be missed.

Bye Bye Fudge Co

We said our last goodbyes this last week as our summer came and left us too quickly.  It was sad to leave beautiful Juneau and all the friends that we had made.  Though it was so hard to leave, there was and is so much for us to look forward to.  We felt like we accomplished a lot this summer.  Of course there were things still on our list to do/see.  But that just gives us more reason to come back, right? :)

I was SO blessed to find a summer job so quickly and close to home.  I spent a lot of my time here and made a lot of good friends whom I will miss very much.  They were so good to me and it was such a great place to be.  The job involved waiting on customers, scooping icecream, making cookies, wrapping fudge, and lots of quality control.  (I may or may not have gained a few pounds this summer.)  Most of our business came from the ships and this is where the tourists became defined as "interesting creatures" for lack of better/nicer words.  Anyhow, the Fudge Co will always stay close to my heart and I will miss them all dearly.

Rainforest Ziplining!

Matt and I have been trying to get as much in before we leave as possible. Our work schedules make it difficult, but we try. Yesterday we were able to go ziplining on Douglas Island. We waited by the seaplanes for our boat to take us across the channel. There we geared up and headed to the top of our zip. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about this and was trying really hard to be brave. I was trying not to listen to our guide too much when he told us how high we were at each platform. The first couple times I had someone push me off- there was no way I could jump by myself. We zipped to ten different platforms and repelled at the end. Somehow this stuff doesn't phase Matt.  I'm still working on my baby steps to conquer my fear of heights.

The video below was the last ride in.  Afterward, they rewarded us with medals- giving us all a sense of accomplishment. I was so proud of myself for doing this.  All summer I have been fighting myself about it, but I just couldn't leave here and regret it.  SO glad I don't have to now!

:)

I came home from work the other day to find these scattered throughout the house...

What a fun surprise- I just loved them! :) I had to put them in this make-shift vase(water bottle). Whatever works!  He even made us some homemade pizza that night too. I just have the best husband ever and I love him SO very much.

We are both looking forward to Friday as it's our last day off together before we leave Juneau.  Cross your fingers for us that the weather will be decent enough to go zip lining and hike to the ice caves!

21 Things I've learned while in Juneau, Alaska

1. Nose rings are totally in and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
2. The end of the road is THE END OF THE ROAD.
3. Bar fights on every corner are just something you accustom yourself to.
4. Weather changes every twenty minutes- always be prepared.
5. Our schedules revolve around the "ship schedule".
6. If you live here, you must also have a dog.
7. There are more hiking trails than actually roads.
8. There are two "malls" in Juneau. There might as well be none.
9. Bears are no big deal.
10. Working at the fudge shop does not (in any way) make you sick of fudge, chocolates, icecream, or delicious cookies.
11. The water here just tastes so much better!
12. The Church is the same here as it is everywhere. I just love this one.
13. You want to get in shape? Come run the streets of Juneau. I've never seen so many stairs and I honestly don't know how some people get to their houses everyday.
14. Tourists are interesting creatures.
15. Freddie's is the best store around, hands down.
16. Glaciers amaze me. It's as if you are stepping into a whole different world-  like Star Trek or something!
17. Alaskan commercials must have extremely low budgets- I'm embarrassed to watch them most the time.
18. It's not Gold's Gym- It's Goal's Gym.
19. Lichen only grows where the air is clean. And you can't help but take a deep breath of it every morning.
20.  You want another basket of chips with that? It's gonna cost ya... (there's no all you can eat chips and salsa at your favorite Mexican restaurant. Sorry.)
21. I use words and pictures to try and describe the beauty here, but it still feels unjustified.

Sharing these experiences with my best friend truly is... priceless.

Visitors!! Part Deaux

One thing I really hoped for while Matt's family was in town was that they would have the chance to fly with him up to the glacier.  It's hard sometimes to be there at the right time, when Matt is flying, and hope for an open seat in the helicopter.  Well, we totally lucked out and they were all able to up dog sledding with Matt as their pilot.  Unfortunately, I was left behind this day.  I was a little sad because even I hadn't done that yet.  But I knew that I had more time for this opportunity and I really was so glad they were able to experience this.

We went to the beach at Auke Bay one night to have a campfire.  Sandi bought a blanket from Freddies on our "quick trip" to the store just beforehand.. she found out later that she had just purchased a snuggie! :) It was pretty funny.  For dinner we made tinfoil dinners followed by roasting strawberries and marshmallows.. Mmm. I seriously think I could eat smores all night long- or until they were all gone. I LOVE them!  The beach here is always beautiful and it was a perfect night for this event.

Blueberry picking has been something I've wanted to do ever since our neighbors brought us some delicious blueberry bread.  On Sunday afternoon, we took a drive and stopped to pick some berries! I loved it.. Who knew picking berries could be so much fun?

While we sad to see our visitors leave, we know we will see them soon.  Just 2 more weeks left before we pack up and head home!  Lots of mixed emotions about this one..