One more Juneau Video

Finally!!!.. An update!

Alright! I know that I am REALLY behind on these updates!! But, thanks to my sweet Grandfather's encouragement, I am getting updated! So, for those of you who don't know, I have moved to Honolulu Hawaii!! I am loving the warm weather!! I've been here for about a three weeks now and it's so nice to finally see the sun! Although I am here and want to tell you all about it, I feel that it would be unfair to not finish telling you about my time in Juneau! So, with that being said, my goal is to have all of my video's of Juneau finished within the next week!! In the mean time, I will be gathering pictures and stories of my events here in Hawaii!! Feel free to e-mail me with questions, requests, or just to say hello!!! I miss you all!! I promise to be better and hope to hear from all of you!!

Another Video!!!!!

A Long Awaited Update!!

Alright, alright, alright!! I know this update is much needed and long awaited! This year has just been more busy than last! I'm working 6 days a week and when I have time off I'm spending it having fun! We have done soooo many fun and adventurous things! I wish I could tell you everything that I've done, but to be honest, I just can't remember everything! I try my best to take pictures, because that is the easiest way to capture a moment and record my memories! Now, my goal was to have a new video up every other week! But, after this last video... I learned that I have far too many photos to be updating that often! But, I will do my best to keep updating and doing it more often!

I am thoroughly loving this season! I have met so many good friends! Hana, my friend who came on this adventure with me, and I have become so close! It's been so fun to have her here! It's surprising how well we get along and living in such close quarters, we NEVER fight! Seriously!! But, I'd have to say that if it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't get out as much as I do! So far this season I have gone Whale Watching 4 times! Each time is so fun and we see something new! I seriously could do this every day I have off!! I've also taken a helicopter ride to the top of Mendenhall Glacier in which there are 240 dog mushing dogs that live on the glacier! Up there I got to take a dog sled and mush around the glacier! Talk about the experience of a life time!!! I got to do this all for under $100, where guest have to pay over $400 for the same experience! I go to the glacier almost every day! Up there I have hiked around, see black bears, bear cubs in trees, salmon spawning, mountain goats, porcupines, and lots of little critters! I visit the Salmon Hatchery often as well and have seen Salmon jump up the ladder to spawn! I can't tell you how amazing it is to watch a fish jump out of the water and over a cement wall!! I visit Glacier Gardens and enjoy the beauty of the flowers and soak in the amazing smells! I've also done plenty of campfires on the beach and just enjoyed my company! Looking back over this season, I'm so surprised of everything that I have already done! It has been such a great time and I am so looking forward to the next two months!

TWO MONTHS!!!!.... Wow! I can't believe that I have been here three months already!! Time sure does fly!! My birthday has come and gone!! It was a great weekend! I spent Saturday night going and playing pool and dancing with some friends! We had such a blast! Sunday I worked, and although my group hated me, I still had a good time! Hana decorated my bus for my birthday! That evening we had a huge bon fire at Sandy beach and a BBQ! It was so fun!! It was just overall one of those great days!! Oh! I even had over 65 friends message me on facebook! I don't know why that made me feel so special, but it did! As for dating, I am dating! I date a few people here! I think that I've had a larger dating life up here than I have in the last 6 years! I love it! It's really giving me a boost in self-esteem!

Alright... So for the big news!! Now, some of you have already heard, but I'm going to officially announce it now!! I AM.... MOVING.... TO.... wait for it!!.... No, not to Alaska!... Not to New York... Not to Utah... Okay! I'll tell ya!! HAWAII!!!!!!! Yes, you read right! I am moving to Hawaii!! So, I'm going from the cold up north to the sunny center! I am so excited! It's kinda a long story in how I made this decision, but I will be working with a company in Oahu driving tour buses! I'm so excited for this new adventure!!

Well, I must be getting going! It's time to set out on a new adventure! I love you all! Hope all is well with you all!! Please keep in touch! E-mails, cards, packages, texts, and calls are all greatly appreciated!! I will do my best to keep the movies and updates coming!! Miss you and love you all!! Until next time!! ALOHA!!!

Welcome to Juneau Slide Show!!

Catch Up Time!!

Wow! Time sure does fly by! Not like I haven't been trying to update! I really have!! Well, a ton has happened since I've been here! I don't even know where to start! I really need to start keeping a journal or updating more often! I promise to do better! Part of it isn't my fault though! I have had this video done for a week now, but haven't been able to upload it to the blog! So, I decided to try a new way of posting! I think this might be easier because it will always be on here and if you miss one video, you can always go back and watch it!

Anyway, now that I've rambled on, let me tell you what has been going on! Life is incredibly crazy! We work soooo much! I LOVE it!! Some days I'm ready for a break, but for the most part I love the long days! The ships are here every day now! It's so fun! We have about 9 different companies that come here to Juneau! We see just about every single one of them! Each ship has kind-of their own little thing about them too!

Disney: High maintenance, lots of kids (love it!), special tours, and fun! (Don't tip that well though!)
Norwegian: Fun, middle class, ages from young to old, always excited about everything! (Good tippers and some of my favorites!)
Princess: Fun, middle class, all ages (mostly 30-60), energetic! (Good Tippers!)
Holland America: Not as many young kids, love facts, not big into adventuristic things. (Okay tippers)
Crystal Cruises: 1st Class tours! Amazing people! My favorite ship! (Best tippers ever!)
Silver Seas: Luxury cruises, don't get to work with them much. (Have friends that work on the ship!)
Celebrity: Don't know much about because we don't do their tours.
Royal Caribbean: Don't know much about because we don't do their tours.

There are a couple other ships that come in, but we don't see them as often as we do the others. It's so fun though! Each group is so unique! The nice thing about this job is that if you have a bad tour, their gone in a couple hours and you get a new one! We have sooo many different tours here too! It's hard to keep them all straight some times! But, our Shore Ex's do a great job helping us know what we are doing! Some days I think they are the only ones who keep our heads on and straight! Lol!

Well, other than work I've tried to go explore! I spend a lot of time down town trying to soak in as much information as I can! It's fun talking to all the locals and getting the weird facts and stories!! I do go out with friends often as well! We do things with the ward, go to the beach, the glacier, the pier, eating!! Oh do we eat!! We have a small kitchen with hardly and supplies in it to be used by about 20 of us. So... I eat out a lot! It's nice that the hotel has a resturant here! We get discounts at it too! But, I'm starting to get sick of eating out and trying to find "easy" things to cook!

I'm sorry if this sounds random! My head is spinning just trying to think of everything that I want to update you on! If you have questions, please ask!! I forget a lot of the time! :) Oh! I did learn a lot about the Medical expenses up here recently! I caught a really bad virus this last weekend! My throat starting hurting on Thursday and swelling on Friday. Saturday was a really rough day and I decided to go to the Insta-Care once I was off. Well, it ended up being a long day, so I got off after the Insta-Care was closed. That night I woke up in tears! I thought my glands were going to burst! By the time I got to the doctor Sunday morning, you couldn't tell I had a chin! My tonsils were so swollen too that they were touching! I sat in the doc's office and thought that the doctor was crazy! She just seemed kinda "out there!" But, then she pulled through! She determined I just had a virus and no antibiotic would help. Then she decided to give me pain killers to help me get through the next couple of days. She wanted to give me Prednisone first, but I'm allergic to that. Then she wanted to give me Percacept, which I'm allergic to as well. I'm thinking to myself, "Geez lady! Don't you read my chart!?" The whole time thinking that all she's going to give me is Lortab! Boy was I wrong!! She then asks how I do with Vicodine. Sure! I've never had it! So I get that with a Lidocaine mouth wash to numb my throat. So, I'm thinking she'll give me just a few Vicodine pills... Nope! She gives me a full bottle! Wow! Alaska's great! Lol! So, for the last couple days I have been doped up on drugs and sleep! I finally feel better! It's great! Today was my first day back and I think I did ok! I do feel tons better!

So, that's all for the updates that I can think of! I promise to be better! I'm going to make a section on my blog for funny things that tourists say or do! So, keep your eyes open for that! All I can say is that you MUST leave your brain at home when you go on vacation! Lol! I hope all is well with everyone!! Keep in touch! Email me, send packages, call!! Whatever you would like!! I miss you all!! Love you tons!!!

Road Trip Slide Show!

It's A Road Trip!!

  Well, the adventures begin again!!  This year's adventures are going to be slightly different.  Last year I got to spend my summer living in the amazing Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.  I spent it on the Yukon Queen II Day Cruise boat.  This year I decided to take a different twist on adventures.  I am still working for the same company, but I will be working in Juneau, Alaska.  Now, if you don't know yet, be prepared to be shocked!  I, Amy Marie, am going to be driving tour buses!  Yep!  That's right!  Tour buses!  I have completed my CDL training, received my CDL, and have left the wonderful state of Utah to start my journey north!  All to drive tourists around Juneau, Alaska!
  I am truly excited for this adventure!  Although it is the same company, it is something completely new!  I do have a few friends that have made the journey up north with me as well!  Driving isn't as scary as you may think! Okay, maybe it is a little!  You have these big ol' things you have to drive down little roads!  Now, up to this point I have only driven in the state of Utah, but it had it's moments! Anyway, I promise to include all of my adventures!  My goal for the summer is to have updates every week to every other week and monthly video slideshows!  I will do my best, but if I'm having too much fun, you can expect longer updates! :)

   Well, the adventure began on Tuesday, April 26th.  I decided to drive up to Alaska this year!  Yes, I am crazy!  But, it has been worth it thus far!  I started the morning by picking up Hana in Draper and meeting Abby and Marmaduke (the dog) there as well.  We caravaned up to Idaho Falls where we met Kayla and her car and picked up Phil.  The 5 of us and 3 cars drove to Dillon, MT to pick up the last in our group, Ryan.  From there we began our journey!  With two in each car, me leading the bunch, and the beauty of the Montana terrain!  Yes, I did fall in love with Montana.  Sorry Idaho, but you just aren't as pretty!  We hit the Montana/Canada border that evening.  Phil and I skated through with no problems!!  In fact, it went so fast we were surprised!  But, the others had no such luck!  Phil and I sat outside the border waiting for about 5 minutes for the rest of the group when Hana texted saying that the rest of them had been pulled aside and were having their cars searched!  That's right!  They had the Canadian Border Police search their cars!  Phil and I laughed and decided to continue on to Calgary where we would get all of us a hotel room for the night.  We made it in at about 11:15pm to Calgary where the six of us all shared a room!  The girls in the beds, Ryan and the dog on a roll-a-way, and Phil on the floor in a sleeping bag.  It was quite the packed room!  But, it made for lots of giggles!

  The next morning we all woke up bright and early to set on our next voyage!  We headed up through Edmonton and across Alberta to British Columbia.  When we reached Dawson's Creek, we had lunch as Stuie's Diner.  It was this yummy little 50's diner!  From there we ventured to... are you ready for it!?.... THE GREAT ALASKAN HIGHWAY!!!  (Say that with a big booming echoing voice! Lol!)  Hana made us all stop for pictures!  So, we headed out on this amazing highway!  Now one thing you have to know, Alberta isn't all that pretty either!  It's mostly flat with long straight roads!  So, you get boarded driving very easily!  This is soooooo NOT the case with the Alkan!  It is absolutely beautiful!!  So beautiful that you have to watch  where you're going so you don't hit any animals!  Our goal was to reach Fort Nelson, BC that evening.  With all the curvy roads, sharp turns, and rolling hills, we finally rolled in about midnight.
  Now I have to tell you, road trips always bring out the "interesting" side of people!  So, as you can guess, we are on Day 2 of road trip, lots of "stressful situations" (mostly slowing for animals), and being stuck in a car with the same person for multiple hours.... it can really effect a person!  So, as you all know me!  I don't really want to sleep in my car!  I would rather get a hotel room and get a good nights sleep!  But.... as you can guess, that is not what happened!  We ended up sleeping in our cars!

  At 4am, Kayla and Ryan decided to continue their drive to Anchorage.  The rest of us slept in our cars.  By 5am, we decided to hit the road again and head on to Whitehorse.  It was a beautiful drive!  And the best part of it!!.... Wait for it!... We saw LOTS of animals!  Phil slept through most of it!  Imagine that!  (Phil slept most of the drive!)  I think he missed probably a good three quarters of the animals!  But, really the best part of it all was rolling into Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, a whole 3 hours earlier than planned!!  That meant that Abby could continue her drive to Skagway and we could have an evening to relax.  I called up my good friends, the Littles, in Whitehorse and we spent the night with their family.  (The kids loved Hana and Phil!  And, of course they loved me too!)  It was so nice to see all of them!

  After sleeping in (8am lol) we decided to get up and get rolling.  I showered for the first time in 3 days!  I know, it's gross!!  But, it felt sooooo good!!  Then, we headed to Skagway where we would pick up our ferry ride to Juneau.  Along the way we stopped off to take a few pictures and play!  You'll have to see the slide show for a better "experience!" Lol!  Then we rolled into the small, yet amazing place of Skagway!  There we met up with Abby and had lunch!  I saw some other friends and then we roamed about the city!  It was great!  At 1:30pm I took the car to the loading dock and waited for my turn to load it onto the ferry.  It was quite the experience!!  Then, we left on our 7 hour ride to Juneau!
  I think it was at this point that we had the most fun!  Hana, Phil, and I were the only ones left in our group!  So, by that point we were rested and full of giggles!  We played cards, read, and hung out on our computers. By the end of the trip, everyone knew who we were!  Mostly because Phil kept cheating at all the card games! Lol!  I mean, come on!  We'd been cooped up in a car for 3 days!  So what if we were a little loud!  We were having fun!  That's all that's important.... right!?

  Anyway, we finally made it to Juneau!!!!!  Yahoo!!  We rolled into our hotel at 10:30pm!  They had our rooms all ready!  It was great!  We met up with Dan, who had been bored all day waiting for us!  After hanging out for a bit, we hit the sack!  YES!!!  Sleep!!!  It felt so good!!!  Home, at last!  Well... atleast it's my home for now!

So, here is where I will stop.  My journey does continue, but I will leave you with this for now!  A slideshow should present it's self this weekend!  Along with a new posting!  I promise it will give you updates on my first week here in Juneau!  Cruise ships begin this week!  I'm so excited!!! I love you all!!  I'm looking forward to this amazing summer!  If you would like to write to me, email me, or just send care packages I will have a mailing address up soon!!!  Can't wait to hear from all of you!!  Love you much!  And.... Until next time... BON VOYAGE!!!!