Weekend in Denali – 2010
So, I woke up Friday morning in my crappy apartment, got up, and by 3 PM, I was looking at this:
If you don’t recognize it, that is the tallest peak in North America. It’s Athabascan name is “Denali”, meaning The Great One. In the U.S. it is known as Mount McKinley. 20,320 feet tall, it towers above all of the other peaks. A relatively young mountain compared to others, but still one of the tallest in the world.
It is a rare day that the mountain is “out”, but we got lucky. It was a beautiful, clear, day, with light, cotton candy, clouds. Considering how much rain and clouds had been in the area for the last several weeks, the timing couldn’t have been better.
What a Difference a Year Makes
One year ago yesterday, my life started to make a big change. It had been building up for more than a year, and I knew there was change coming, but NOTHING prepared me for what happened, especially in an EXTREMELY short amount of time.
August 2009 will forever be one of the absolute worst times in my life ever.
What Keeps Me Up at Night
Insomnia, and sometimes "work"
Been awhile
I am sorry I have not blogged in a while. I have been quite busy, and dealing with office politics. Most of the office BS has been dealt with at this point. The main reason I left the “normal” office work force was because of office politics. I don’t like having a large number of bosses that can each tell me something different. It is rough for me, especially after being self-employed for so long. Granted, I had my clients as my bosses, but it was a different situation, and it was good. Read more…
Miscellaneous Pictures from Cell Phone
Here are some pictures I have been taking that I finally got around to downloading to my laptop. These have been taken as I have been here in Alaska. You can click on any of the images to see them full size. They are exactly as I took them, no cropping or resizing. Enjoy.
Above: Taken at 2:30 AM (roughly) on my walk to work. Really, it was 2:30 in the morning… I mean it. Yes, it is still a little odd to me, too 
Time off
Well, I have had the last day and a half off. I go in in about 4 hours to head to Chena Hot Springs. You can see more about them at: http://www.chenahotsprings.com/. I wasn’t really expecting to have any time off, nor did I really want any. But, work was apparently not in the cards for me. So, yesterday, I did just about nothing. I think I sat and watched shows on Hulu, and then the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I also made some phone calls to friends and family. It is always nice to catch up with everyone. Today, I just did my laundry, and made some more phone calls.
Me and Denali
Well, I was super excited again to take a group to Denali the other day. There were a total of 4 or 5 coaches going, with staggered departure times, at about a 15 minute interval. I was the last coach scheduled to leave the hotel at 10 AM, and arrive in Denali at 1:00 PM. Plenty of time, unless you are me LOL.
The week back to “work”!
Well, I got back to work about 5 days ago after my back pooped out on me. It has been a hectic week, with lots of different experiences. I have had some great tours with some great Tour Directors. I have had some not so great (thankfully short) rides with other Tour Directors, and rude guests. Of course, I dealt with them as best as I could, even though I REALLY wanted to throw this one particular guest off the coach. And I don’t mean just ask him to leave, I mean THROW him off the coach! LOL
Bored out of my skull
Well, this was not supposed to happen. I was not supposed to be sitting still for any length of time. That is why we don’t have a TV or anything to entertain us at the apartment. There are only so many times a day I can get on Facebook and do anything. So, I sit here and eat my salmon dip with my Wheat Thins. I am trying to get out to the clinic today so I can get cleared to go back to work. Yes, it is Sunday, and thankfully they are open. Now, all I have to do is get there.
Pain, Meds, and an unhappy camper
The other day, I had the best runs. I head out to Denali after having a group all day. We went to the Riverboat, then to lunch, and them to Denali. It is a great trip, and usually a good sign when you have to stay overnight at Denali. The accommodations are not the best, but they are all what is needed. A bed that is not too bad, and a shower. Tv was nice, too. When you have an overnight, that usually means you have another group coming from Denali back to Fairbanks. The group out was great, it was 8 of them, we had a really nice time. Then I had lunch, and just chilled watching TV in the room. I got a great night’s sleep, and was ready for the next group out of Denali, 38 people.
