Bonfire at Monashka Bay Beach

A few days ago, I went out to a bonfire at White Sands with some friends. It was a perfect night for it, and we had a blast. We started the evening with 10 or 12 young people, but many of them left fairly early, so by the end there were just 5 of us. We made s'mores, enjoyed the beach, and took pictures of the moon. The boys set off fireworks in the moonlight, and we had the sparklers out as well. Kind of interesting that our group happened to be a fire fighter and his wife, state trooper and his wife, and a dispatcher, so we jokingly decided that between us, we would have things under control if anything happened. :-) I found new friends, which is always a good thing, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with both couples this summer.

Back in Alaska

Been back in Kodiak for a month, and it has been craziness most of that time. I have completed my training at work, and am working the day shift for now. There was a stretch that was very difficult and emotionally draining, when a good friend's sister died. I found out quickly that it's a lot harder to do my job when it becomes personal. It was tough, but I was glad I could be there for the family.

Some weeks, several of us get together and play games, visit, and have dinner on Fridays. Always something to look forward to, and I do miss it when I don't make it over there.

We've had over a week of fantastic, warm, sunny weather, and each day after work I've made a point to get out and do things in the sun. Thankfully it's still light till around 10 or later, so there is plenty of time to enjoy the evenings.

While my friend Paula and her husband Michea were in town, I had a chance to go out kayaking for the first time with them and another couple. I absolutely loved it! I've always loved the ocean, and it's incredible to see it from the totally different perspective of a kayak.To float along on the same level as seals, sea lions, and birds, with no motor so you can hear the sea lions barking at you, the birds chirping constantly, the sound of your kayaks gliding through the water, and the waves lapping at the shore...it's wonderful!

I've bbq'd with friends a couple different nights, and headed to the beaches other times. One day I headed out the road system, and on my way back when it was dark, stopped to look at the stars. Amazing!
There were two USCG cutters in town the past week. One is on tour from CA, and the other is a Russian crew. It's kind of weird to see Russians swarming downtown Kodiak as I drive through. Reminds me of when the cruise ships are here in the summertime.
Today is my day off, so it shouldn't surprise me that it decided to pick today to start snowing/raining. Still, I'm not complaining, because we HAVE had a lot of really good weather, much more so than usual.

Rehearsal Dinner and Wedding Day Prep - part 2

Rehearsal dinner...food and fun with friends.

The wedding day has arrived!

The Wedding Ceremony

 

Upstate New York

My trip to upstate NY was busy, to say the least. I had a great time with my family as we prepared for the wedding and decorated the church and reception hall. There was a LOT of stuff to be done, and very little time to do it all. In and around the edges were the trips to the store and other errands. I did manage to see a lot of people, though most of them were for 5-10 minute increments as I had bits and pieces of time. I was somewhat blown away by peoples’ reactions when I saw them. I ran across everything from “you need to move back!” to “I’m going to move to Kodiak” and everything in between. It’s nice to be so loved! :-) While I was happy to see so many people when I was there, a lot of those interactions were rather, uh, strange, and I was glad when I got back to the relative peace of Kodiak Island. The wedding itself was very nice, and so much fun was had by all. My brothers even got me out onto the dance floor a few times! Mark got our family going with swing dancing awhile back, but we’ve generally danced up in the barn, so it was kind of fun to have an actual dance floor to dance on this time. The bride and groom left for their Jamaican honeymoon the next day, and things returned somewhat to normal, though we still had relatives there. I had set aside Monday as my ‘free’ day to do the shopping and other errands that can only be done while off-island. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t comply.

This winter in NY/VT has apparently been extremely snowy and cold. I wouldn’t know personally, as Kodiak has had a very mild, and fairly warm winter, which I am thoroughly enjoying. However, NY had huge amounts of snow, followed by rain and flooding, and then an ice storm, causing a state of emergency a few days before my trip. So when I arrived to find sun, warmth, and hardly any snow on the ground, I was thrilled. The beautiful weather continued through the weekend, but changed to snow/sleet on Monday, just in time for me NOT to be able to do all the things I needed to accomplish while off island. And in fact, it wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the rental car I was given…

Yes, there were issues with it, including having the alignment off, 4 completely bald tires, the check engine light on, and various rattling noises and hesitations while driving. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled with Thrifty, particularly when they told me I had to bring it back down to Springfield (2 ½ hrs away) to do anything about it. Since I didn’t have an extra 5-6 hrs to spare, I made the best of it, praying each time I went anywhere that I’d survive the drive. However, I decided it wasn’t the wisest move to drive an hour away on icy roads with bald tires, so the shopping had to go by the wayside. :(