Adulting

I’ve officially moved back to Alaska. I have some amazing friends and support system up here which made the move a lot easier. Many people offered a place to stay until I found a place of my own, a vehicle to drive, help moving stuff out of storage, and assisting me with finding a car to buy. Words cannot say how thankful and grateful I am to have these people in my life. The above photo is from my friends place where I stayed the first few weeks I was in Alaska.

I started my job and am enjoying it greatly. The first couple of weeks were pretty mellow since I was learning my job, trying to find a place to live, what I needed to buy, and a way to get around. However, I still managed to have a few. I did go to a Super Bowl Sunday Party at a friends place. Most of the ladies enjoyed chatting and hanging out with Little J while the guys enjoyed the game. I was happy to have somewhere to go on Super Bowl Sunday even if I’m not a huge Football fan.

I also joined Meetup. Have you heard of it? How fun is it that there are random groups filled with people (some who know each other and some who don’t) that plan activities that people can join in on. I know this may surprise everyone since I lead groups of up to 50 strangers at a time on adventures throughout Alaska; however, this is out of my comfort zone. It’s outside of my comfort zone because this time I’m not in charge of the leading. I’m following and for some reason when I’m following a group of strangers it always makes me a bit nervous. However, I’m so very glad I decided to join this group. My first Meetup was with the Women Beginner Hikers Group. About 10 of us met up at Simon & Seaford’s for Happy Hour. Though I have spent 5 summers in Anchorage, I have never been to Simon & Seaford’s. So I got to Meetup with some amazing ladies and I got to try out a new restaurant. Take a look at the view in the back. Simon & Seaford’s has an amazing view of the Sleeping Lady aka… Mt. Susitna. Come to Alaska and I will tell you about the legend surrounding this mountain.

I have also found a place to live. I had a few requirements: It’s in a decent neighborhood, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, it’s not too far from work, and I needed somewhere that had some space. I have moved in; however, I have not finished unpacking. These guys helped me move stuff out of the storage unit and into the apartment.

I love to try out new restaurants. So when a good friend of mine got back from his adventure to Bali we celebrated at the Rustic Goat and ate Nachos. It’s what we do when we get together. It’s a tradition that started almost 3 years ago on a 2100 mile road trip.

I bought a car and it’s fancy. At least it’s fancy for me. Especially if you take into consideration that I haven’t owned a car in over 6 years. I’ve given my parents, sister, and one of my brothers the grand tour of my car. A friend volunteered to go with to test drive the car before I bought it. I’ve already been back to the dealership as I was having issues with the Key. I also had to check the air pressure in my tires as a warning light went on. I hadn’t bought an air pressure gauge yet…go figure. My car also has summer tires on it. It travels fine on the snow. However, once the snow gets slushy and then freezes and it creates divots in the road then it sometimes gets stuck and the tires just spinand spin. I’m 0 for 2 and both times my wheels were still on the road. I’ve had to call a a tow truck as my passenger tire got stuck in one of those divots and no one was around to help me push the car nor did I have cardboard or a shovel with me. Another time it involved a 60 or 70 year old woman pushing my car. So winter tires are a must up here. No worries though I now have a shovel and a piece of cardboard. Alaskan’s usually have winter tires and studs. They also do not salt the roads and I haven’t figured out the plowing schedule yet. I’m learning…sometimes the hard way. Now to figure out my best option for snow tires…

On a brighter note, I had my very first visitor. Brooke and I lived next door to each other over 5 years ago in Juneau. We both made our way to the interior working seasonal jobs. Brooke is another adventurer. She was able to stop over prior to flying down to Cordova where she works with a Heli-Skiing Company. Basically people jump out of helicopters with their skies already attached. I haven’t skied since I was 12 and I wasn’t any good at it. So you won’t see me jumping out of any Helicopters anytime soon. It was great to see her. She is pretty much amazing. She just finished a solo trip in Africa. Check out her Podcasts that she recently started.

A few days ago a friend and I went to Arctic Entries. I love storytelling and it has always been a big part of my job. It’s the second one I’ve gone too. There was live music as well. We had a great time.

It was a big decision for me to come off of the road and stay in one spot for a while. Even though I’m excited to be able to unpack and have a somewhat normal life I know I still need to have adventures. Apparently I’m getting the hang of this adulting thing and it’s kind of terrifying.