And the next adventure is...... UTAH

So..... apologies to everyone (ahemmmmm, SHALEE) for not updating this blog sooner. In a nutshell I have left Alaska *tear* and am down in the lower 48 states again. My good buddies, the guys I hiked the Chilkoot trail with, left in mid August to head back to school, so for the remainder of the summer I continued working and keeping very busy. But I definitely got burnt out from tours, which I wasn't expecting. Everyone had mentioned that come August/September, drivers tend to get burnt out giving the same tours they given over and over and over again since May. But I didn't get that feeling last year in Ketchikan, so when it hit me this year I was semi- shocked. But I got through it, knowing that although the tours are very common for me, this is the first time for many of the passengers and they have paid a great deal of money to go on my tours, so I gave it my all.

And then on September 17th at 11am I sadly took my last look at Skagway for the season and flew back to Seattle, via Juneau. I was home for a period of 2 weeks, which were filled with visiting everyone I could possibly think of in the greater Seattle area, as well as a much needed trip over to my old college town of Ellensburg (Yay for Jonny and Ian's housewarming party!!!) and now I'm in....UTAH.

Yes, you heard correctly folks. I somehow found myself in Utah for an undetermined amount of time. See, I met this boy up in Skagway. Again, shocker I know. And we're pretty serious and seeing as the fact that he's still in school and I'm not currently and looking for my latest and greatest adventure.... I ended up in the Ogden, Utah area until about April or May when I head back to Skagway again for the next season. In all honesty, I don't know what's going on down here. So far I am LOVING IT. I am exploring. I am having lots of fun and meeting up with a bunch of old Alaskan friends along the way and just seeing how things go. So far I have been recieved with open arms from everybody I have met and felt very much at home. The mormon hospitality is outstanding and I am so very grateful for it. I went on my first job interview today at this department store called Dillard's, which in all honesty I don't particularly want... but we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks or so.

So far I have attended General Conference at the conference center in Salt Lake City where I had the privilege of hearing many of the leaders of the mormon church speak, including the head of the church, Thomas S. Monson. It was an amazing experience. I was in a building surrounded by 20,000 very reverent, very respectful dressed up people. It was so cool. And then after the 2 hour session, we left, had a picnic lunch in a park in Salt Lake City and then walked around the grounds surrounding the Salt Lake Temple. It was breathtakingly beautiful and we were able to go in both visitor centers and thoroughly enjoy our time on Sunday afternoon.

More details to come!!!!