May 2008

Hi all! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Its been in the high 60's/low 70's here the past few days! I've now been in the water 3 times. Its extremely chilly (I think some one said 48 degrees) so basically all you can do is run and jump in and then hop back out. Its so refreshing after scrubbing showers in the stuffy rooms all morning. The only problem is that there's no ladder at the end of the dock so we have to climb up the tires which are covered in mussles and barnacles. I've got some pretty narley scrapes all over my left leg. I also forgot that its salt water and took in a big mouthful on my first jump. On the other hand, I've got a pretty nice tan going, so its all good. They said that it wouldn't be like this much longer so I had to soak it up while it was there.

Two days ago I got to go out on the shrimp boat for the first time. The boys go out every other day or so in order to get shrimp for the guest's appetizers. It was something that I've never done before and it was pretty cool. The tide took out one of our pots though and we have no idea where it went off too. The shrimp here are HUGE! I've never seen anything like it. But I think that once you've been out and seen that once, you don't really need to see it again. I liked seeing the landscape more than anything. It wasn't quite as exciting deadliest catch.

Yesterday I worked all morning and then decided to start a little project. My cabin is right on the end of a row with a nice little patch of gravel that slopes down to the road. I got my friends Scott and Eli to help me build a rock garden. Eli build this really nice rock retaining wall and Scotty cobbled out most of the main garden area. I basically just worked pulling out all the weeds and finding good rocks for the boys. Its looking pretty great. We also have two little benches there so we can sit and watch the world go by. I took a peace of drift wood from Kasaan beach and carved "love life" into it. Margaret would be so proud. I love my little spot, its very peaceful and zen-like. I still have more work that I plan on doing. Scott and I are going to dig up a blue berry bush and plant it in there. It'll be sweet. Right now Pu'u (pronounced Poo-oo), the german shepard, is pretty in love with the spot where I want to put the blue berry bush, so he and I might have to duke it out. I'll try and get a picture of my home on here soon!

So things are going pretty great! I was supposed to go on a glacier tour today but it was cancelled because of the fog. I was pretty bummed out but its Scott's 19th birthday today so we're all celebrating tonight! On another good note, my big sister Erin got engaged on Saturday, congratulations! I can't wait to see the ring girl!

Love you all!
CW

So I've had quite a bit of time off lately. Its been absolutely beautiful weather so I'm loving it. I had Thursday off, I worked 2 hours yesterday, and I had today off. The only reason that I haven't been working is because we didn't have guests in so there's really not much to clean. On Thursday 8 of us had the day off so we went on a little adventure. I saw my first bear! It was just a little baby blacky but it was still sweet. We stopped at a beach on the low tide and dug clams and mussles. We did have rakes so I was rockin the "Alaska Hands." That basically means that they were very dirty, and all of my nails have broken off. Anyways...we did that for about an hour then went to Kasaan which is an extremely tiny village on the island. They're famous for their totem pole park. I was expecting a big open field with a whole bunch of totems, but it was way cooler than that. You go down this really long trail that winds along the beach (saw some bear scat, little freaky), then out of no where you go around a corner and there's a totem jetting out. It goes like that for quite a while, and then ends at the chief's house on the beach. Inside the house there were three totems and a huge fire pit. The whole place had some strong spiritual energy and it was quite the experience. There aren't many places left in the world where you can go and feel the history and not know a thing about it. I sat down at the beach on a piece of drift wood, looking out at the mountains, it was wonderful. We got some great pictures but they just can't capture everything.

After Kasaan we headed to the town of Thorn Bay. Holy smokes. I'm so glad that I didn't grow up on this Island. Thorn Bay is probably about the size of Kingsley (maybe smaller) with a whole lot less to do. We stopped at the Post Office/Gift Shop/Bakery and got killer milkshakes, it was quite the treat. It did set me back $5, but we don't have ice cream at the lodge so it was worth it. After Thorn Bay we started our treck back to El Cap and stopped along the way to do a little mushroom hunting. One of the guys that we were with knows his Morrels and we found the absolute motherload. The island is covered in clear cut forest patches and apparently that's the best place to find them. I found a patch that was probably bigger than Thorn Bay. We fried them up last night, it was just like home. It was good day.

Yestday I spent the day reading in the sun. I also took the canoe out for a little spin around the bay. I'm having a great time, that is for sure. Its gorgeous again today so I'm going to head outside and do a little more reading/sun bathing. Oh, if you haven't noticed I've added more photos and there are more to come when I get them up. If anyone wants to call me or send me anything I'll leave my address/number. I would love...anything. I'm pretty desperate for pictures or things to spruce up my room. Also a bottle of glycerine would be great because I get SO extremely dirty. You can call anytime. The number is for the crew lounge, so just ask for Caitlin and they'll find me! I love you all, keep it real.

Caitlin Warner
P.O. Box 1174
Craig, AK 99921

206-792-7040

I apologize that its been so long since I've written anything. The first few days have been pretty long work days...but I'm still loving it! By the time I'm done with my daily tasks, I'm pretty wiped out. I'm working split shifts where I work from about 8-12pm cleaning rooms and the bar, then I work from about 6-8pm in the Kitchen cleaning dishes. I'm getting into my rythm with the cleaning thing. I'm working up some mean bed making skills. Even though I'm washing dishes, I like working in the kitchen because then I get to eat what the guests are eating (prime rib, stuffed chicken breasts, SALAD). You know, I was never much of a hound about eating my fruits and veggies, but when you they're not available, you REALLY long for them. One of the girls went into town yesterday and she bought 4 apples for $5. I couldn't believe it. The food here is WAY better than I expected it to be. I've now had fresh salmon twice since I've been here and its incredible! Everyone just knows what they're doing when they make it and its been amazing both times. I also had homemade salmon pate yesterday and that was equally amazing. A couple of lodge assistants go out to pull shrip pots every few days, so we get those a lot too. I'm going to be a sea food snob by the time I get home. I'm worried that I'm going to eat too much when I'm up here, but NONE of the roads are flat so I'm constantly hiking up and down hills. Its been a pretty good workout.

The weather is pretty much just cold. Its not as bad a Michigan winters. I'd say more like October/November. It rains close to everyday. But its not downpour rain. They call it the Seattle rain where it just mists all the time. A lot of the machinery (like our time clock) breaks down because of all the moisture in the air. Apparently it gets warmer and the bugs get a lot worse. I haven't even seen a mosquito yet. Just a lot of really creepy looking spiders.

Lets see what else...paper money is pretty much useless up here unless some one is going to town. The currency is basically dealt in cigarettes and drinks at the bar. I sat and threw rocks for a while after I got done with work today. We've become pretty good at making up games, like throwing rocks at things for points. I haven't had a whole lot of time to explore. Plus, a couple of days ago they found bear scat near by, so there's that to worry about. I did go down to the docks yesterday to watch the fish cleaners. The fish here are HUGE. A couple of the guys have said that they would teach me how to fly fish, which is very exciting! I get tomorrow and Friday off so I'll finally have a chance to adventure. I love it here. The people I'm working with are great and we're already becoming a little family. I love it.

After 12 hours of travelling and 4 different plane rides, I've arrived at El Capitan! I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is here. It reminds me a lot of the Swiss Alps, but with more forests. Each plane ride that I took, we got more and more into the mountains. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting to be in the middle of a mountain range/temperate rainforest.

Yesterday was an extremely long day. My 4.5 hour flight from Chicago was pretty horrible. I tried to talk to the guy next to me but I think he was shy and didn't really have much to say. Other than that I just sat there. I couldn't sleep because I was jammed awkwardly into my seat. What did make up for the atrotiously boring flight was flying around Mt. Rannear (spelling?). We were flying over all of these beautiful mountains, and then all of a sudden, this HUGE peak jets up and puts all of the other little mountains to shame. We flew right by it, and went on a curve so we got to see almost all of its sides. Then came the 2 hour flight to Alaska. This was much more entertaining. I sat amongst 8 guys from Wyoming who were heading to Prince of Whales to hunt bear. They had just found out that the lodge they were staying at doubled booked their reservation, so they had no where to stay. I mean, they got on the plane to AK, and before turning of his phone, the guy checked his email and thats when they found out. Now, normally anywhere else in the world you would probably be okay, but here, you really have to know where you're going because there's really not much up here. I told them I hoped they'd been studying Man vs. Wild and the Alaska Experiment. I ended up taking my first sea plane ride with them from Ketchikan to Craig. It was a pretty good sized sea plane. There were 10 of us all together plus a TON of luggage because the guys had all their guns with them.

My next sea plane was from Craig to the lodge. This was a little bit more...interesting. I was picked up from the dock in Craig by my boss, his dad, and another older gentleman. It was a four seater and it was definately crowded (and a little awkward). The crowdedness was over-written by how absolutely beautiful the flight was. We flew right along the top ridge of the mountains and over the water. I tried to find whales but no such luck.

The lodge is really nice. We had a staff meeting almost as soon as I got here. But before the meeting, one of the old employees gave me a little tour. She is also the head chef so she handed me dinner as soon as I got off the plane. She took me down to my boss' house to meet them and their families and I ate dinner with Nani and Scott's daughters. Its really nice, the girls are 3 and 8, so its fun to have kids around. Big plans...they invited me to come to their tea party today So as I'm eating my dinner, an eagle swooped down right in front of the window! Me being the silly Michigander that I am, thought this was incredible and amazing, but apparently its a normal occurance, and no one else thought it was a big deal.

So we had our meeting and I learned all the ropes. Everyone here seems pretty cool so far. I'm working with people from all over the place...Haiwii, Russia, Canada, Grand Rapids!, Arizona... My room is pretty nice. I need to get more carpet (which apparently they have on hand) but besides that its nice. I'll have to try and get pictures on here some how.

I have to run because I'm taking up the employee computer. I'll give you more details later!

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!!