By far the greatest thing about an area is the people that you meet there (hopefully it is great). I have been very fortunate to meet up with lots of wonderful people in my time. Since I can't introduce you to all of them or all of them to each other I will introduce you to some of the key players of my Juneau summer.

A great start....

I would like to introduce you to my housemates at the bunkhouse. View image
Going from the back left to right we have - Javier, Rod, Gwen, Robbie, Naomi, Maegan, and Earl. On the couch, in front, from left to right is - Mark, Jessica, and Me. We are one big happy forest service working family. The house we lived in was pretty fun. We had: 4 fridges, 2 washers, 2 dryers, 2 dining room tables, 8 bedrooms, and a whole lot of fun!

Funny thing... the forest service bunkhouse used to be a halfway house for teenagers. Is the forest service trying to tell us something? ha ha No parallels here.

I have met some firefighters. They are funny and these are my two favorites.

Tom (a real ladies man) :) - this guy is a great guy and fun to talk with. He is heading to SE Asia before coming back to Alaska and becoming a hermit. ha ha The ladies will miss you when you disappear into the woods Tom! View image

Zack (although I spell it Zach) - he is a great musician. Great guy with a great voice. (www.zackfreiwald.com) He is another one that wants to hermit away in the wilds of Alaska. Keep the trail well defined so that I can come visit! Zach is also the greatest hiking partner that I have ever had. I will definitely miss our hikes together and our breaks along the trail. Thank you for serving in the Army! View image

Both of these guys spent several weeks fighting Alaskan interior fires up around Fairbanks, Chicken and Tok. Thanks guys - you rock!

Gwen AKA Rouge Steel - this fiery redhead is a real showstopper. When she enters a room everyone has to take a look. I have seen this happen! Her explosion of fiery red curls and her mere presence is eyecatching. She has a mouth like a sailor - the "f" bomb being her favorite adjective to anything good or bad. View image View image

Stephanie - she is mature beyond her years. She has an amazing laugh and a wonderful way of viewing the world. She dances when everyone around her is stressing out and then makes you want to dance. She motivates you to get out and enjoy the world when the sun is shining. She is the one woman in the world that I am supposed to marry.... if she will have me? :) (this is an inside joke) View image View image

Javier - in line to be a great ATF agent. We shared some wonderful conversations and I learned from him. He gets a little cocky sometimes but all in all he is a great guy with a good head on his shoulders. I wish him the best of luck and super safe adventures. Thanks for serving in the Marines. :) View image

Susan - thanks for teaching me to knit and for taking me to yoga. She loves her family above everything and it makes me smile to hear her stories of her younger nieces and nephews exploits. I love the way she works in this world and the excitement she brings to things. Congratulations to her and Brian on their upcoming wedding. (Susan is the one to the far left and the boy in the middle is NOT her fiancee Brian)View image

Maegan - my non-existent roommate in Juneau. We shared a room but she was never there! When she was there she listened to me talk in my sleep... look for her memoirs in "Sleeping with Rebecca"! ha ha This woman is the best party planner I know. Several women from a notorious "Girls Night" in Juneau will attest to this proclamation. :) I find her amazing and look forward to seeing her next spring! View imageView image

Jessica - this girl rocks! She is one of the most honest women I have met. We have had great chats about life and where we go from here. I look forward to seeing what life has in store for her next. She is truly a goddess in the making. I love her smile, her laugh and her energy. View image

Matt - he is the reason I expanded my horizons. I was going to originally explore Honduras for four months. Matt showed me that four months in Central America can be well spent...all over! He wrote a guide for me, introduced me to the school I am attending, and gave me all kinds of great advice about traveling thru this area. THANK YOU MATT!!!!

These are the people I spent the most time with while in Juneau. I met lots of other wonderful people and I can't even begin to tell you about my friends in Haines. I am blessed to know all of these wonderful people.

I also met some of the most amazing women at the glacier. I got to hike with a woman who was raised in a refugee camp in Italy before her family made it to Australia. Another woman told me of her struggles as an Armenian and moving from one refugee camp to another within Iraq and Iran. Her children (an electrical engineer, two doctors, and a lawyer) are all successful in their chosen fields of study and she is so proud. These are two examples of the people that I met this summer who affected me in a beautifully positive way.

To both friends and kind strangers of my time in Juneau - I will miss you!

Safe Travels to you all.