Hello Old Friends!
First of all, I should probably once again apologize for my horrible upkeep with this blog! That being said, it is a new year (school year anyway!), so hopefully I will do a little better this time around!
I have been back in Ketchikan for almost 3 weeks! And what a wonderful, busy, yet relaxing 3 weeks it has been.
Before I jump right into Ketchikan, I should probably talk a bit about my summer. As I’m sure most of you know, but some may not, I visited “the lower 48” for about 2 months this past summer. I flew into Pittsburgh right at the begging of June, and so began my crazy busy summer. The first thing I did was go to a Pirates game! Which they won, and it was an awesome way to kick off my summer. I visited with my dad as much as I could on the weekends and through out the week I worked and stayed with my Uncle Tom and Aunt Heather. It was a really wonderful experience being in Pittsburgh ( I was so close to PNC park!), and it was fantastic to be able to spend time with family.
I was only in Pennsylvania for about a week before I headed to St. Louis. Really the visit was all about me, but there was this side wedding thing going on, that I was kind of a part of, so I needed to make an appearance. HA! Of course I am just kidding! As I am sure you all know, Natalie got married this summer to her wonderful new husband Frank! They got married toward the end of June, and I got to be there for the week before the wedding to try to help out in any way possible. I of course am a little partial, but it was the nicest wedding and reception I had ever been to! It was very small, very family oriented, and very well put together. The wedding was remarkably homemade, and I am still astounded by all the things Natalie, Alexis, Frank, and all their friends and family were able to accomplish to make the day so beautiful. It was really wonderful to see everyone. Most of Mom and Dad’s siblings made it to St. Louis for the wedding, and those that did not were able to make it to the Pennsylvania reception that took place later in July. I got to see some of my Mom’s family that I had not seen in years(at both celebrations), and I also got to finally meet my new cousin, Alex who lives in California. I told Natalie that she picked a very convenient time in my life to get married, because I could conveniently fit family into my jam packed summer! If you would like to see some of the wedding pictures, click here! (these are not all my photos, Special thanks to friends of the bride and groom (Rebecca and Jen), my cousin Trish, Christine Olsen, and Scott Catllin Photography for the photos that I didn't take myself!)
When I came back from St. Louis, I worked a bit more for Uncle Tom, and then took the train to Philadelphia for two weeks to continue my Orff Training. I took Level I last summer, so this year I continued with Level II. Most of my classmates from last year were there as well. It was really nice to visit and see everyone, but it was a really intense long two weeks! I learned so much, though, and I am really excited to apply it to my teaching. While I was out there, I got to spend time with my cousins, Allison and Dan, who live in Jersey. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see them and just relax! Truly a great trip!
After my class in Philly, my PA summer was winding to an end. I managed to squeeze in a few more Pirates games, and a few more visits with people, but I flew out about a week and a half later, back to the beautiful state I now call home.
When I got off the airplane and was taking the ferry to the Island, it was of course, raining, but I would expect nothing less from Ketchikan. I probably would have been disappointed if it wasn’t raining. With the help of some friends, I got my car, and moved all my stuff from my storage unit into my apartment and began unpacking. I was exhausted, but couldn’t sleep! I think I finally fell asleep at around 11pm AK or 3AM ET time. I slept EXTREMELY well!
The next day was the annual Ketchikan Blueberry Festival. What is a Blueberry Festival, you might be asking!? Well, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about a month ago, but now I can. Think any kind of arts festival (your choice: Riverfest, Heritage Days, Folk Festival, etc...) but put it in a parking garage and surrounding parking lots, add a ton of local artist, sprinkle on some blueberries to any traditional fair food, add the ocean nearby and lots of mountains, and there you have it...The Blueberry Festival. It is only one day, but it was a lot of fun. Matt, A friend of mine who I teach with at Tongass School, is running for State Chair. He was doing some campaigning at the festival, so I went down to help and to spend sometime with him, and his wife and kids. Being away from home is hard sometimes, but when you meet people like this family...well, it makes it a lot easier. They have been truly wonderful to me, and I am so grateful!
I was still a little tired, but the next morning I had my first official Ketchikan visitors!! Ryan and Suzetta (We were in the same class at Karns City) flew up to spend the week with me. It was so awesome to get to show them around, and they had pretty nice weather for most of their visit..YAY! When they first arrived we just drove around the island and viewed some of the scenery, and then we went back to my apartment and relaxed a bit. We went to church later that night and visited with a few friends and then came back. We were all pretty tired at this point.
The next morning we got up to go hiking and spent most the day in the woods or on the beach. Later that night we had a campfire on the beach with most of my Ketchikan friends, Edelweiss and Brett; Matt, Niki, their children and a few of their friends; and then myself, Ryan and Suzetta. The weather was excellent and it was a lot of fun.
We took a skiff out one day, which was an interesting experience, but all in all it was a fun adventure. I caught a small silver salmon, and I was REALLY hoping Ryan would take it off the hook for me, but he was on the other end of the boat dealing with something else at the time, so I had to do it. We didn’t have pliers or anything, but I faced my fear, and just grabbed the fish and tried to get the hook out of its mouth. I was so proud, but I couldn’t get the hook out! He was NOT cooperating and I really didn’t want to hurt him, but every time I started to get the hook, he would wiggle around! THEN HE THREW UP ON ME! Yeah, I was trying to be nice and gentle and then I see the tail of another fish in its mouth. I look at Ryan and Suzetta, and I was like... “What... is...that!?”, and then a whole fish flops out of it’s mouth!!!!! I was freaking out, because seriously, who would be expecting that! The fish took my hook! If he had a whole other fish in his stomach why would he take my hook! It was SO GROSS! I kept trying to get the hook out and I just kept saying “I can’t do this, I seriously can’t do this, this is disgusting” I am pretty sure all of Ketchikan could hear me. Looking back it was a good laugh, but man...that was NOT fun!
The rest of the week mostly consisted of hiking, fishing, and we did enjoy walking around and viewing the tourist shops, AND Ryan taught me how to change my oil on my Explorer. With the exception of my getting them to the ferry 2 minutes late, which caused them to be 2 minutes late to check their baggage (it is currently in my living room) It was a wonderful trip. I can’t thank them enough for coming to visit. It was so nice to have people here and just enjoy the island.
After they left, the procrastination (for school) began! I finally went to see “The Dark Knight Rises”! My new roommate, and fellow teacher, Lori went with me. It was AWESOME, but I had to remind myself it was just a movie when Heinz Field was being blown up! Lori and I have been finding many reasons to avoid Tongass School. These include, unpacking and cleaning, napping, reading, napping, FINALLY setting up the internet (now I can blog!), napping, watching movies, napping, visiting with people, napping, hiking, and...napping! Have I mentioned that I have been napping!? I would like to credit this back to Uncle Tom and say I learned how to nap well from him, but I would be lying. He is able to limit his naps to 30 -45mins (It is a house rule!), I on the other hand, have not mastered that technique yet, and some of my naps are have been longer then a full nights sleep I get during the school year... On a more serious note, I have been slowly getting ready for school, but I have also been taking the time to enjoy some of the AMAZING weather we have been having, visiting with friends, and RELAXING! I am taking advantage of the relaxing time while I still have a chance, because next week...it will be gone for a while.
Before I sign off, let me leave you with one final story. The other night, I was making dinner, and I looked outside and there in my front yard, eating something was a black bear. Obviously I have seen a bear before, but it was just standing there, very casual. It was a bit crazy, but I got a few pictures!
And on that note I think I’m going to sign off. Hope you all enjoyed this post, and I will try to be better about posting! To view my Alaskan Pictures click here, and I hope to see you all at Apple Butter!
Always,
Katie
