Fish Tales

Hello everyone! I'm starting this blog to keep you all updated on my Alaskan adventures. I'm getting really excited, my parents and I are heading out from Traverse City today and I'm flying out of Chicago tomorrow morning. I still have tons to do!!

For those of you who don't know, I'm spending the summer of 2008 on Prince of Whales Island in southeast Alaska. I'll be working at a little fishing resort, El Capitan Lodge, doing pretty much everything (housekeeping, serving, bartending, fish processing). They have a total of 20 employees each season, most of whom are returning after multiple summers. I'll be living in my own 10"x16" cabin (just like my old dorm room, except I don't have to share!), and we have 3 bathrooms to share between all of the employees. All of our meals are provided in the employee lounge, and are prepared by the head chef. I'm working 6 days a week, with one day off to explore the island! The closest town is Craig, AK, at a whopping 40 miles away. The island is also home to two or three native inuit villages and they have something called a skunk cabbage festival, which I will most definately be checking out. They also have weekly mud bog races which sounds like quite the island event.

My journey begins this afternoon! We're leaving for Chicago around 3pm today. I'm flying out of ORD tomorrow morning at 11:30am, stopping in Seattle, and arriving in Ketchikan at 5:15pm (9:15 TC time). From there I'm flying Pacific Airlines to the lodge, but I really don't know what the exact plans are...my boss seems pretty laid back about things. Apparently if they can't get me out to the lodge tomorrow night, she'll book me a hotel room and I'll fly out there Friday morning. Either way, I'm VERY excited and I can't wait to get out there. I'm not totally sure of what to expect; I'm ready to find out what its really like instead of just having a picture in my mind of how things are.

Hopefully I'll get to write another entry on Friday! Take care everyone!!