Day Two: Am I Ready for the Iditarod Yet?

Moose Count: 9

Caribou Count: 20

Today was a great day. Because half of the people who elected to go dog mushing had to be at Healy at noon (or around that time). Surprise: I was in this group (which really shouldn't surprise anyone). After having breakfast at our hotel in Wasilla, we turned north toward Denali at about 8am. Because it's winter, the sun doesn't come up until around 10am, so we drove in the dark for quite some time. Last night, it started snowing and when we walked out to the cars, it still hadn't stopped. This made for some interesting road conditions; they weren't particularly bad but the semi trucks heading south really added some fun to the visibility. 

I had the shotgun seat, so it was my job to keep a watch out for moose near the roadway. Along the way, we saw 6 moose, including a mom and her calf. We also wanted to keep watch for other assorted wildlife, like caribou and bald eagles. As luck would have it, any time the cars even started to slow, the moose would run away. 

I feel a bit like a Yeti hunter posting a picture like this but like I said, the moose was running away. One thing that was easy to take pictures of were the mountains and neat patterns of snow on the road. 

 Our trip stopped for a break in Kantwell and we managed to have some fun in the snow that is too dry for snowballs and snowmen but is perfect for snow angels.

After a quick stop, we made our way into Denali National Park. Breathtaking views, some sunshine, and dog sledding were on the docket. 

The rest of this trip has a lot to live up to after my dog mushing expedition. The dogs are just great, and I loved learning about everything that goes into keeping up with a team of working dogs. Fun fact for the day: a husky will never get cold, as long as you feed him/her enough food. The guide at this kennel does three day expeditions in extremely cold conditions; the dogs get several pounds of pure lard every day. They aren't able to metabolize glucose fast enough to stay warm, so fat is a must. I guess you could say that being able to tie what I know about biochemistry to my trip is a plus. 

The guides made sure that we were warm enough on the sleds, obviously. It isn't that cold out up here, but it does get a bit breezy on the trails, and I'm a Florida born and bred kind of person, so having some extra gear was helpful. I didn't even need my parka in the sled with me. Right as we were heading out, we hit a bump on an uneven part of the road and I ended up outside the sled, but I didn't get hurt so that's fun!

I also got to drive today which was the most incredible experience, and was above and beyond anything I could have wished for. 

After our (15.8 mile) trip, we also got to pet some of the newest additions to the kennel. The pup I'm hanging out with is Ganymede; he was the runt of the litter so they named him after Jupiter's largest moon. What better way to end the day than puppy kisses? This made me miss my own puppy so very much. 

I could not have asked for a better first full day in Alaska, now we just need to see some auroras! We have one more full day in Denali, then we move on to Fairbanks.  

Day One: No Sleep Crew

There comes a time in everyone's life when they learn how to sleep in an upright position on an airplane. For me, that day came today. I knew that it was going to be a long day spent mostly in the air, and with a 4am wake-up call, not sleeping the night before traveling made the most sense. Because we just recently had dead week and finals, staying up all hours of the night wasn't really that difficult, and gave me a chance to catch up on some TV I have missed through the semester.

On our connecting flight from Denver to Anchorage, you had to pay just to watch the flight information screen where you see where you are in relation to your destination. So, we all just switched between sleeping and watching the scenery (and clouds, lots of clouds) outside our windows; there is something to be said about seeing the Rocky Mountains from 36,000 feet. When we broke through the clouds in Anchorage, it was a bit disconcerting to all of a sudden be over icy coastal waters, but it was beautiful nonetheless. 

After landing, collecting our luggage, and playing a game of Tetris with the bags, we drove to Wasilla for the night. We had dinner and when we got back in the cars it was snowing! This is not my first experience with snow, and I had forgotten how much I love it. Tomorrow is both a travel day to Healy, and our first day of activities. 

I just packed a swimsuit for Alaska, what did you do today?

12 Hours Until Departure

You read the headline, yes I did indeed just throw a swimsuit into my suitcase for a trip close to the Arctic Circle. Tomorrow morning I will be embarking on my newest adventure to Alaska with my school. As a Florida Southern student, I was guaranteed a study abroad experience after completing 4 semesters here. Because I've been to Europe before, and don't really enjoy the idea of going overseas with nothing but a carry on bag, I chose a domestic trip; I'm going to Alaska in December. 

This sounds like a daunting thing, but it's really not. The most current forecast says that it will not go below zero degrees the whole time we are there, there being Wasilla, Healy, and Fairbanks. I had to invest in good boots, warm clothes, and a parka, but I do intend to live up north one day so it's really not a waste that I own all this winter gear. If nothing else it gives a nice exercise in juxtaposition within my wardrobe with all the shorts and tank tops I own. 

Oh! Maybe I should mention the reason behind the swimsuit. We are planning to take a day trip to Chena hot springs where we will get to swim in the spring.

More on what's happening when and where tomorrow after a travel day.

Summer Camp for College Students

Yesterday, the orientation group I am in for this extravaganza came up with the idea that orientation is essentially summer camp, in that every second of our day, and almost all of it is compulsory. Granted it is very fun, but we are herded from one place to the other without stopping. However, it is extremely fun! There have been quite a few interesting experiences, including an entertaining game of Ninja and a debate about whether one thing can stop a revolution.

Oh. The whole premise behind orientation, and part of the reason that we all started calling it summer camp, was that we were all separated into districts, Hunger Games style. Yours truly was a part of District One! Whoo! I had quite a few friends in the group with me, and also a pretty cool O-leader. I actually think I want to be one either next year or the year after.

Just kindly ignore the fact that I look a bit odd with a bandana. It took me about an hour the next day to finally get it figured out. Too much curly hair does not a bandana wearer make. I felt kind of like one of those strange people on tv with the bandanas on because of the hair. I turned it into a headband for the rest of the night. 

The next day was meant for basically whatever we wanted to as it was advising day. I wore my human ingredient shirt, because I'm a nerd like that. Here's the view I get as I walk to my dorm in the morning from the tech center. 

And here is my new home, aka the science building. Graduating in three years with a degree in biochemistry means I get to legit live here for the next three years. 

What with all our free time, we decided it might not be a bad idea to wander around looking for our classes. Here's a look at all the wandering we did. 

Oh yeah. Fun stuff. After an afternoon of just chilling in the lounge, we went to glo-ball. Oh yeah, dodge ball under black lights. It was great. I'm not very good at dodge ball, but I had fun so ya know there's that. 

On the final day of orientation, we all got into our districts and went off the activities we picked to compete against a each other. I picked trivia, and I did awesome. My group loved me, as I have a great memory when it comes to book trivia believe it or not. Oh right I did get my hair to not look weird with a bandana on!! 

Oh yeah. Side braids are awesome. Sometimes. Most of the time. Anytime it's really hot. After we got done, a couple of us went for a walk around the lake to check out our new hometown and met some adorable mallards! 

Ducks are pretty cool when they're being nice. Then, we decided it was time to attempt laundry. Yeah, no. Until we get new dryers laundry is going to be a long day. No fun. To compensate, we all decided to get super cute for Blastoff, aka the activities fair. I found so many clubs I'm interested in, and just need to pick less than the ones I talked to. Also, I got my stereotypical picture with Mocsie because, ya know, it's not college without a picture with your mascot. 

My hair was somewhat misbehaving, but ya know whatcha gonna do, this is Lakeland, it is hot, and that room was also hot. 

In conclusion, college is going to be awesome, classes start today, and I can't wait to get involved. Isn't that what living in a dorm is all about? 

Home is Behind You

...and by you I mean me. Almost twenty four hours later, I have moved into my dorm, ate a meal in the dining hall, gone to a (very fun, orientation ice-breaker type, university approved) party, slept in a bed raised way off the ground and didn't fall out, and used a pretzel stick to stir my coffee. I know, I know, that last one doesn't make a lot of sense, but hear me out: there was so much running around yesterday, I'm not at all surprised I forgot that I needed coffee stirrers. I am so happy with my new home, I don't know what to do.

My journey to my new home started Friday morning, bright and early, packing the car with all my essentials, and running last minute errands. Who runs errands at eight in the morning? My family, that's who. Of course, as you may or may not know, it's not a trip anywhere if we don't forget at least one essential thing. The things we forgot lead me to my current hypothesis about the world: eight in the morning is just too early for math, even simple math like counting pins needed for a bookshelf. My mom went off to do one thing while my dad and I ran off to pick up hardware for my bookshelf. We managed to only get enough for one bookshelf. Whoops. Anyway, we met back up with mom and she laughed at us. But, like I said, eight is just too early for math; there's a reason I scheduled my calculus class for the early afternoon.  We also managed to forget my lamp too, so there's that.

Lo and behold, we finally managed to get underway, with a little twist: I drove most of the way in my car with my dad while mom was in her car. Yes, we had to take two cars, but one must remember that the two cars we took are both not exactly suited for moving. Travel, absolutely, moving, no. Because it is Florida, we ran into a pretty intense thunderstorm, and clearly I'm writing this so we're all fine. Florida showers are strange things. Anyway, we made it to Lakeland and got settled in the hotel. Bedtime was supposed to be early, what with moving in and everything, but that didn't happen. It never does, does it?

Alright, alright, alright! Let's talk about moving, shall we? It was a lot of fun! Sort of. It only took about an hour, and then we were off running errands, picking up things like coffee and a Swiffer. Of course, we forgot coffee stirrers but that's beside the point. When I got back, it was time for a hall meeting with the RA which was interesting. We went around, gave our names/hometowns/majors, listened to all the rules, and played Two Truths and a Lie, which I think is a pretty cool ic e breaker if I do say so myself. Can you guess which of my three facts is the lie? I said: I love reading Shakespeare, I hate the color pink, and music is my favorite thing ever.

After that, it was time for cleaning my room up (siwffering, organizing) and dinner. I'm not going to lie, the dining hall was huge and intimidating. But, I'm not one for being timid and I was quick to find someone I recognized from Advising Days and strike up a conversation. Hooray college! Then, the real fun started. We went to the auditorium to meet up with our orientation groups and get this whole thing underway. Just saying, being an O-leader would be something I'd love to do. I wonder how one gets involved with that. We went to small group, got to know each other (good grief at the ice breakers- for future reference my favorite tree is the weeping willow), went over the orientation schedule, then were set loose to go to the "headphone dance party" as they called it. It was quite entertaining. More people, strange games, and dancing like absolute idiots. It. Was. Awesome. I have to say, orientation is starting to seem a lot like summer camp for college students. There's no telling what today has in store.

Celebration Time: Grad Bash 2014

     Wow! Grad Bash was an interesting experience if I have ever had one. It was a great time, mixed in with some not so great times I have to say. Our school left bright and early hat 9:15 in the morning, actually fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, and arrived at our resort (I say resort because was most definitely not a hotel but it was quite clean. Maingate Lakeside Resort if you're interested; it's for people just needing a place to rest their heads, not much more). Then it was time to go to Universal for Grad Bash (proper). We arrived around 5:15, just the Blastoff Party was getting started. We were ushered into the night club area for two hours to eat, listen to music, dance, and just hang out before being let into the actual theme park side of things. My friends and I went into all the clubs, including the Bob Marley one, and just kind of hung out for a while. Then all the seniors there (including us) were ready to go into the theme parks; by that I mean we all congregated outside in the walkway, contained by security, and started all manner of chanting to get the rope dropped so we could move on (unsuccessfully).

     The theme park was awesome, especially since we had the park to ourselves. I myself am not much one for roller coasters, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself. Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios look pretty cool at night. The only downside to this part of the weekend? The fact that it was raining off and on all night. We walked all around the entire park twice, I rode Flight of the Hippogriff (yes it is a kid's ride, but that didn't stop almost every senior there from riding it), drank Butterbeer, and then we all went to Universal by way of the (quite sketchy) pathway between the two parks that's open during special events. They rode the Mummy, the Transformers ride, and the MIB ride; I didn't, again I don't like roller coasters or simulators. Then we all decided to go back to Seuss Landing to ride the train. It was pretty cool; the theme of the decor is the book about the Sneetches (you know, with the beach and the con man and the green stars; spoiler alert: by the end they don't care about the stars). It was super fun, and a great way to rest our feet while not having to sit on wet park benches. Then, it was time to go congregate at the exit so we could leave. When I got back to my room, ten minutes later I was in my cot and asleep. I slept like a corpse in a cheap coffin on my cot: dead to the world, but not resting in peace; it was uncomfortable. 

     Five hours later, it was time to get up, get on our swimsuits, and go to Typhoon Lagoon! Do you remember the first time you walked into Magic Kingdom, or Epcot, or any other Disney park? I had one of those experiences where it's like "whoa." My thought process basically went, "Wow! So this is what a water park should look like!" It was fantastic.

We started our day in the wave pool, waiting on the huge waves to come. I have to say, I'm a strong swimmer but not strong enough to handle that. I was sitting in the shallows when the first wave came, and it carried me five feet away from where I was sitting; that was not a wave, that was a tiny tsunami. Then it was time to catch Castaway Creek (their lazy river) around to the first slides. We didn't know where the landing where you could get floats was, so we just kind of floated along swimming in it until we got to the first slides, the ones where you go down either individually or as a "family", aka Keelhaul Falls, Mayday Falls, and Gangplank Falls. These were awesome!! They also weren't as intense as I expected them to be. Then we made our way to the two body slides: Humunga Kowabunga and Storm Slides. I didn't go on HK because a five story almost-vertical drop doesn't really enthuse me. My friends rode it and thought was not as fun, because of the water rushing up at the very end. Then it was Storm Slide time! This was my favorite sliding experience of the day! There are three different slides you can pick from, and we went on all of them. I can't tell you which was my favorite, because they were all fantastic. We were wandering around, trying to figure out where to put in to the Creek at, and stumbled across the Shark Reef. This was where they have little leopard sharks and fish swimming around in ten feet of (cold) salt water, just cruising around and hanging out while the people snorkel across, not disturbing the surface above. It was pretty awesome but I have to say if I'm not allowed to kick my feet I need a flotation device (oops).

Then, it was time to cruise around the Creek (twice) to get to lunch. We were all pretty hungry, and we all enjoyed our lunch greatly, in a way that people who have spent all day in/on the water understand. As luck would have it, we still hadn't gone on the Crush 'n' Gusher. This was my second favorite experience of the day. It was so much fun! Of course it was terrifying the first time through because I wasn't expecting so many drops, but it was a great time. Warning: if you're going in a three person float, beware the grating on the drops. It will hurt your lower back if you don't do a half bridge while going down the drops. Of course then you have to worry about lifting off the float during said drops, but that just adds to the fun! Then it was time to hit the slides one more time, get dried off, and make our way back to the buses.

     This was one of the greatest experiences, but it was mixed in with some not so fun times. I took a nose dive off my float into the Creek and got a nose full of chlorinated water. It immediately gave me a massive headache, but it was okay. Then we were on the way home and I still had a headache, but honestly it didn't get me down too badly. What did was the wreck we saw on I-75 going home. It was a horrible one, and is the reason why I-75 scares me so much. If you're on this interstate, please drive safely and don't get in a hurry. At highway speeds, getting in a hurry leads to a medical examiner being called to the scene of crashes. Anyway, I got home, I said hi to my mom and dad, and I went to sleep. That was Grad Bash, and honestly I will never attempt to walk around a theme park for nine hours again, but it was still fun. If you get a chance to go to Typhoon Lagoon, go! It is an amazing water park! Until my next adventure,
Cheers!

And the Winner Is...

Ladies as gentlemen, boys and girls, it has been a long time coming, but I've made the decision. I will officially be attending Florida Southern College in the fall. A lot of you may be wondering what made me make this decision, but honestly it comes down to this: I care more about being able to get into medical school more than anything. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse and now I will be a FSC Moccasin. The tuition is less than I could have ever hoped after scholarships and my one loan I'm allowed to take out, they have a monthly payment program, and they have 100% placement into medical school. It also helps that when I call the admissions office, the lady I talk to actually knows my name. I'm not just a number or a statistic to this school. The only thing I am unsure of is the mascot. What is this thing?

No, seriously, what is this thing?? I don't know. Anyway... FSC has a beautiful campus too. I haven't gone to see it yet, so stay tuned for my first look at Frank Lloyd Wright architecture! 

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Cheers