New Kid

Ok so I'm finally here at my destination, Denali National Park!  We arrived this afternoon via a bus from Anchorage.  I've been up since about 6am and it's 10pm now and still really light outside.  The long daylight hours really do a number on you because you're body is tired but it doesn't feel like it's that late.  I'm sitting in the cafeteria where there's a wireless signal which is just a few feet from my room.

Here's Mt. McKinley from my window on the bus!

It's been a long day and I'm pretty exhausted.  The trip up was gorgeous and I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't all a dream. We saw Mt. McKinley which is HUGE!  The park is huge too we drove for at least 3 hours and haven't even hit halfway yet. The bus ride was bittersweet because I met some really cool people only to discover that they all work at different properties.  I have met one girl, Crystal, who's been really cool and we decided to try and room together which led to the least fun part of my day.  We went to a triple room and discovered that there was another girl slated to be moving in Wednesday.  So we went and got the room switched to another one only to discover that 2 people were already living there and had another one on the way! So finally we split up and moved into separate rooms. The room's aren't anything spectacular just your basic dorm style room.  I'm looking forward to getting the boxes I mailed and making feel more homey.  I of course over-packed but the majority of it is camera gear so that's ok :-)

I relaxed in my room for a  bit and then got dinner with my roommate.  After dinner we had paperwork to fill out and take photos for our staff id's.  Then Crystal (my buddy from the bus) and I decided to go explore around "Glitter Gulch."  Glitter Gulch is the area we are staying in, there are hotels, shops and restaurants in this little stretch of road.  Tomorrow we have orientation and then I'll do some training on the computer systems.  I've met some of my fellow front desk workers who worked here last year.  They are both from New York and have nothing but wonderful things to say! The employee village is a neat little area, we have a rec room and cafeteria to hang out in outside of our rooms.  There are also posters up all around for hikes, movie nights and yoga classes so hopefully no shortage of things to do. I have some qualms about my roommates but hell I'm in ALASKA!!!  I'm going to get my P.O. box tomorrow hopefully and then I'll be able to send that around. I'll write more this week as I start to get adjusted to the schedule. I've posted photos to flickr and will continue to post as the new adventures come my way.