After a week without regular access to the Internet, I am finally able to catch up on my blogging.The end of my time in Ohio was wonderful.I spent time out with Grandma and Grandpa at Sanctuary Farm, watched Mia for the day Friday, spent Saturday out with Faith, Luke and the kids, and had a wonderful Aladdin's dinner and East Coast Custard with the family Saturday night.

Sunday morning started at 4:45am.My first flight to Minneapolis departed at 9:00 am.Everything went smoothly with check-in.Both of my bags were underweight.We boarded right on time that made for a great start to a long day, and had smooth sailing into Minnesota.

The connection to my flight to Seattle was, of course, as far away as possible.Even running from one end of the airport to the other, I got to the gate with time to spare.While waiting to board I met a girl who was flying back to her Alaskan cruise performance job on Princess cruises. Her ship comes into Skagway on Thursdays during the season, and we exchanged information so that we could meet up.The Seattle flight was as easy as the first. I had an exit row seat with extra room in front of me, and that made it extra comfortable.

Once again, my connection was all the way across the airport but I got to the gate in plenty of time.I flew the puddle jumper flight, so we stopped in Ketchikan and Sitka on our way up to Juneau.The sky was clear for the majority of the flight and I was in awe of the beauty below me. For the second and third legs of that flight I sat next to a very sweet couple that lived right out side of Ketchikan and learned from them all about living in Alaska.

Needless to say, fourteen and a half hours after leaving Cleveland, I was relieved and exhausted when I landed in Juneau.With the four-hour time difference, it was on 7:00pm Juneau time, but in my head it was 11:00pm.One of the first things that struck me about Alaska was how helpful and friendly people were.A gentleman helped me pull one of my suitcases out to the hotel van, the van driver was very kind, and the person who checked me in made me feel right at home.

One of my cast mates, Michelle, and her mother were also staying at the Travelodge, Juneau.I joined them for dinner and was glad to find out that Michelle and I got along swimmingly.I headed off to bed as soon as dinner was over in order to get some sleep before our early ferry departure the next morning.

Monday morning my alarm went off at 4:45am, but I was so excited I didn't mind.Michelle and I caught the 5:00am shuttle to the ferry.It wasn't long before we were both checked in and ready to board.While boarding, two lovely Haines high school students took pity on us and helped us with our suitcases.Once on board, the beauty of the dock and surrounding area were unreal.Michelle and I had decided to split a cabin, and once we got our things situated, we went immediately up to the outside deck to watch the ferry cast off.

Our seven-hour ferry ride felt like a mini cruise.We ate breakfast in the cafeteria, wandered around the decks, stocked up on postcards in the gift shop and hung out in the Solarium, my favorite place on the boat.I was very thankful for our cabin and tried to make up for the time change by taking a two-hour nap after breakfast.When I awoke, I sat in the Solarium and was drawn in by the beauty of the snowcapped mountains and the glaciers for the rest of the morning.We docked in Haines around noon, and Michelle and I ate lunch in the ship's restaurant.Then we headed back to the cabin to get ready to dock in Skagway.

My friend Jon and the owner of the theatre Jim were there to meet us at the dock.It was wonderful to see Jon after almost four years!We quickly headed to the cast house and unloaded our suitcases, then drove over to the post office to pick up our boxes.Since the cast didn't have our read-through until the following evening, we were able to hike out Yakutania point in the middle of the afternoon.Pictures of us at the point are posted in my first album.As you see, it is an absolutely stunning location.Jon, Michelle, Jenny, Lindsay and I sat and chatted for a while and then headed back to the cast house to start unpacking.For dinner we went to the Thai restaurant in town and I had a fish dish that was wonderful!I headed off to bed pretty early that first night.

Since we didn't have rehearsal until the evening on Tuesday, we were able to get a bit more settled and then hike up to Lower Lake.For the first hike of the season, the hike to Lower was pretty intense.Unlike in Arizona where you usually spend a while hiking in the desert before you head up the mountain, in Skagway, because it's a distinct valley, the only place to go is up.The first third of our hike steeply zigzagged up the mountain.We took a pit stop to look at the iced over Reservoir, and then headed up to Lower Lake.The trail was a bit tricky since much of it was covered in ice and snow.Boy was I relieved to have my new hiking shoes!We stopped three different places around the lake to take pictures and enjoy the view.Heading back down the trail was no easier than the hike up, but in the end it was well worth the work.I'll be excited to hike the trail again once the snow's melted.In the evening we met for our read-through and then Jenny and I headed over to the Brew Company.No wild and crazy evening for us though, we had rehearsal the next morning at 9:00am.

Since rehearsals started, life up here has been pretty structured. I've been walking to warm up before rehearsal in the morning and then we rehearse from 9:00am to 6:00pm.The evenings consist mostly of time spent outdoors, Jenny and I finding something fun to do, or climbing into bed to rehearse, read or go online before falling asleep.

This past Saturday Jenny got Michelle and me the hookup to go rafting for free.We had tons of fun and met lots of awesome people.Monday night we hung out with some of our rafting buddies at Brew Co. and yesterday we celebrated Cinqo de Mayo with two-dollar tacos at the Red Onion.Tonight we're having Jon and Tegan over for a shared dinner of pizza and pasta.Alaska's been absolutely awesome so far and I can't wait to have some time off to hit the trails and have grand adventures!