I am finally catching up on some blogging. I am going to write several posts concerning Alaska. There is just so much that happened, I want to capture it all!
Last June, MacKay and I got the opportunity to move to the beautiful state of Alaska! His uncle started, and owns a business in a tiny town called Talkeetna. His Uncle asked us if we would like to give it a try and run it for the summer. MacKay has worked there previously for the summers and he.loved.it. He always told me stories of fishing, and hiking, and. . .well, fairytales! [at least that's what it seemed like.] I never thought I would actually move there!
Well, as we decided if this was right for us, we thought, WHY NOT?! We have no kids, no major commitments. If we wanted an adventure, this is the time. Everything was lining up to go, vehicle, cabin, everything! (thanks to MacKay's wonderful families! The Butlers and the Fords!!) Besides, MacKay has always wanted to be a business man. It's what he is studying, and we thought this would be a great opportunity! So we packed and headed for the airport. We had both of our families to see us off. As we got through the long line and into security, we followed procedure and started stripping! I received my personal items back, and we were waiting on MacKay's. As we were watching his buckets full of jacket, watches and shoes, go down the belt, the belt stops, rewinds, and stops again on MacKay's bucket. We were both utterly confused, I asked MacKay if he took out all of his pocket knifes. He told me, that he had double checked! By this time, there were about 3 security guards looking through an X-ray of our stuff. My mom, who had not left yet, was calling my phone wondering what was going on, as I had no idea, so I told her I would let her know. So they stayed over looking from the balcony with both families waiting to hear the dilemma. Finally a guard asked who's belongings these were. As we walked over to them, I thought we were in trouble for sure! The big, thick man with a badge asked MacKay if he had a gun with him. MacKay told him that we were in fact taking a few guns that were inspected and checked in already. The man held open his hand, and in it were some small bullets. I was terrified that we would get kicked out! MacKay just simply said, "Oh! Well if it makes you feel any better, those bullets are not to any guns that I brought!" Oh gol, perfect!! I almost laughed, but then the mean scary guy with a badge said, "Sir, we are going to have to confiscate these." MacKay laughed and said, "Of course! That's fine." I quickly apologized, and the man told us if it happened again we would be fined. As we went to gather the rest of our things, My mom called again, I told her what had happened, and I heard my Mother-In-Laws laugh from across the way. My family couldn't fathom forgetting to take out bullets from a jacket pocket, but as a Taylor, it surly should have been expected! We hurried off to catch our flight.
The plane ride wasn't all roses, we had a flight from Salt Lake City, to Denver. It was the shortest flight, yet the bumpiest ride we had ever been on! MacKay doesn't do well with turbulence, and so he was sick the last part of the ride. When we landed in Denver, we had about 2 hours till our next flight straight to Anchorage. After a long wait, we got on the plane to our final destination! MacKay slept the whole time, and I got a window seat! We flew clear into the night. I was expecting to find darkness as I looked out my window seat, but it was bright, and you never would have guessed it was 10pm. We landed at about 1am and boy, were we tired! We had a motel set up for the night. The next morning, we caught a taxi to pick up our, beaten-bought-over-the-internet truck, and headed on our way!
A few hours and a walmart stop later, we were finally in the tiny town of Talkeetna! I wish I could say I was taken back from the beauty! However, all I could see was the road and the millions of pine trees that lined it.
Boy was everything GREEN! We pulled into our little cabin, that belonged to another uncle of MacKay's. Oh my goodness, it is the cutest cabin you will ever see! It is tiny, but the coziest fun place to stay ever. (: Take a look!
Cute huh?! We walked around the tiny cabin and found that we had a back porch! I was thrilled!!!
After we got our groceries put away and went to go see our shop, the place we would work all summer.
Talkeetna Counrty Smokehouse.
(This is the smokehouse and our truck!)
When we pulled in I got my first 'taken back moment' in Talkeetna. My heavens the property his Uncle Randy owned was beautiful! On it, was a pond, full of lilly pads, and a couple swans and surrounded by pine trees. Down the green road lined with trees, I saw the cabin MacKay's cousins lived in, and our Smokehouse, and beyond the cabin, the picture perfect lake!
(the pond with the swans in the far back)
(The Butler's Cabin with lake behind)
(and a river connecting the Lake and the Pond)
MacKay gave me a tour of the Smokehouse, and then we toured the property! My camera was going crazy. (I have about a million more pictures on my computer.(: ) We met up with MacKay's cousins and two adorable kids, and had hot dogs and hamburgers on the porch over looking the lake. I was in heaven! All I could think about was, "My Dad has got to come here!"
(The lake and the back porch we had dinner on)
After a couple days of getting settled in, we started deep cleaning the Smokehouse. It was a huge task, but so much fun! After putting up our signs on the main road, we started getting some business. For those of you who don't know what we do, let me briefly explain;
We work with fish. Salmon to be exact. Fisherman come to us to clean and package their fish, we then ship their fish back to their homes, or they take it with them. We also make smoked salmon, and salmon jerky. Now, having never been a fan of Fish, I have to say, I never really tasted fish before until I tasted Alaskan Salmon. My goodness, it is delicious, and don't even get me started on the smoked salmon! I was sold. We also buy commercially caught salmon, (from the ocean) and sell fresh, and smoked for those who don't fish but want some to eat!
One day, it was a little slow in the shop, so I set out to take some pictures. MacKay told me to be careful, I knew he meant to watch out for wildlife. I wasn't worried.
I had taken a lot of pictures around the property, when I decided I wanted some down by the stream that connects the lake to the pond. As I was having a blast taking pictures of different angles I looked to step closer to the edge, where I saw a chewed up fish. Holy Cow, my heart dropped to my toes! I didn't know what it was, but all I could think was BEAR! I snapped a picture of the chewed on mess, and ran as fast as I could back to the shop. MacKay sat and laughed that I was scared out of my witts, yet I had to grab a picture! He bets it wasn't a bear, because they would have eaten the fish whole. But I was more catious after that! Here is a picture of the stream before I found the fish, then the fish! Enjoy.(:
(the stream from the lake to the pond)
(chewed up fish. (; )
Here are a couple random pics!:
(A t-shirt logo!)
(The big cabin on the same property of our little cabin, we watched over it for our family, the Fords! They also have another beautiful cabin through the woods! What a dream!)
Stay tuned for more stories of Alaska!
MacKay & Shanna.
