Craziest birthday ever

Oh my what a week! So I had the big 3-0 b-day this last week. I can honestly say it was nothing like any birthday I've ever had. My most wonderful friend Mike flew up from SLC to come see me for 3 days. It doesnt hurt that he works for skywest and flys for almost free. The night he got here we decided to have a crab boil. For those that have done one, they can be so very very messy. Luckly with Mike here we had an extra hand and things went quite smoothly.
The next day was my b-day. We were feeling adventurose and thinking I was in better shape than maybe I really was, we went on a 10 mile bike ride. For the most part Gustavus is flat. That is until you get to Glacier Bay national park. Then its all hills. Along the way we stopped at a plane crash that happened in the 50's. Its very cool and most of the plane is still there. I'll post some pics. Its about a 1/4 mile in, not bad, unless you've just been biking for 7 miles. However, we made it and had a wonderful lunch with some great friends. Then had them give us a ride back home.
So before we left for our crazy bike ride at around 9, I put a pork butt in the smoker for dinner that night. Its suppose to cook for at least 10 hrs. When I got back around 2, I found the smoker turned off. Apparently, the breaker was out and I didnt know when it had happened. I scrambled to put some chicken in the oven, but it was frozen solid. After about an hour in the oven, it hadnt even started defosting. Oh and to make matters worse, the piolt light went out on the oven. With 2hrs to go before dinner should be served, I threw the chicken in a pot to boil. Oh what a day, but wait it gets worse. So finally the chicken was done, in one of the pots. Someone had turned the other burner off, so only 1/2 of the chicken was cooked. I turned it on and prayed that it would be done on time. The other pot was put on the back burner. I guess someone didnt realize that they turned on the wrong burner. All of a sudden I smelled burning. The cooked chicken was burning in the pot!!! Could my dinner service get any worse!!!! And all this on my birthday!!! There is a happy ending though. I salvaged what I could from the chicken and the other pot cooked in time. What could I do but laugh.
The next day I had plans to relax and not do anything. Around 10 I got in the shower and just as I was finishing getting dressed, I heard a very loud pounding on the bathroom door. Then Carrie and Lisa (my roommates and co-workers), Mike and Mark (another co-worker) busted in and put a pillowcase over my head and tided my hands up. They threw me in the back of the van and drove me to the dock. I had no idea what was going on. It was quite funny. They walked me down the dock plank and then they took the pillow case off. I found myself in front of one of our skiffs, (a small 6 or smaller person boat). They planned a beautiful picnic on the Island on the other side of the bay. I was so awesome! We took some very fun pictures and hiked all around. On the way back the boat motor died and we had to be towed back to the dock.
I dont think I want to turn 30 again. But I'll for sure look back and laugh, very very hard.
I did get to see a Moose and her baby on my birthday. That was amazing. We were so close to them! Maybe 20 yards away. The moose almost charged us once, but we were in a van, i dont think it would have done much damage.
Tomorrow one of our captains has the day off and he's taking us fishing. I'm really looking forward to going out again. This will only be my 2nd time since i've been here, but diffently not my last. I'll post a picture of my monster Halibut i'm going to catch tomorrow. :)
Laters!

Happy Summer Solstice!

So up here in Alaska, Summer solstice is a big deal. Maybe its because its the longest day of the year and theres more time to party. Or possibly because its the start of shorter days, which means you can actually get some sleep. Any ways, they celebrated it by having a HUGH party on the beach. The whole town comes out to party. There's a big bon fire, lots of food and for those that care to, plenty of beer. I'm on my way down there right now, but thought I'd comment on the amazing day I had.

A friend of mine here has a few Kayaks and today she took us out on the ocean. We had seals and otters swiming around and the day couldn't have been more beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. The water was smooth as glass. We brought a lunch and ate it in the middle of the bay. It was so peaceful. Alaska truly takes my breath away.

Tomorrow will be my first day off since I've been up here. Theres a small farmers market here that I'm hoping we'll be able to go to. Theres also a Husky ranch with puppies. Then sleep and lots of it.

Things so far.

Hi Friends,

I've been in Alaska for a month now. Oh wow, I've done so much. I really need to post some pictures as soon as I get my new computer. The first week I was here I went deep sea fishing. Carrie and I pulled in a 121 pd halibut. It was hard, but so much fun. I've gone 4 wheeling on the beach and all over Gustavus. 2 weeks ago I saw my first bear and a few days later saw another one. The wild life here is amazing!Last week a few of us canoed across the bay, about 2 1/2-3 miles to an island and hiked around a bit. That was very cool. The ground was covered in ferns and trees. It was straight out of National Geographic.The work has been awesome. I wake up every morning excited to get in the kitchen and start cooking. Carrie and I get for the most part free rein in the kitchen, so we've have a lot of fun planing our menu.The guest have been pretty cool for the most part. The only hard guest I've had so far has been a guy named Rick Turek, just kidding, it was really nice having a familiar face here and during my first week here. We did have some very interesting guys from South Carolina here a week and a 1/2 ago. They were not nice guys.So that's it so far. I'm hoping to have many more experiences while I'm up here. There is a Husky ranch here, hopefully I'll get to go mushing. And, my birthday is in a few weeks, Woo Hoo I'll be 30!So until next time, laters!