I am back today with part 2 of my trip to Alaska this past week! If you missed part 1 you can check it out here. I covered Saturday- Tuesday of the trip and now I am going to cover the rest of the trip. As I mentioned before, this trip was an incredible experience that I know I will never forget and I met so many amazing people throughout my week in Alaska. It is amazing the relationships you can form with people in just one short week and how those relationships can continue on for years.
Now that I am back at school and settled in wearing my Alaska sweatshirt while writing this (still trying to catch up on sleep though...), looking back on these pictures makes me thankful for the experience I had and also sad that it all went by so fast. The days felt long since we were constantly on-the-go with activities, but the week overall flew by and before I knew it, I was back at the Anchorage airport heading back home.
Wednesday
This was our day off of service activities and it was focused on our group being able to spend time together and have an "Alaskan Adventure Day." I felt like this was the day our group connected on a whole new level and was probably the day we all laughed the most. I don't know what it was, but we all had an insane amount of energy and had a blast. Originally, we were supposed to spend the whole day at a cabin that was rented out for us, but plans changed when we were not able to have access to the cabin until later in the afternoon. We decided to take advantage of a free morning and headed on a hike over to the chapel that is a part of the church grounds. We had all thought it was going to be an easy hike, since I am sure it would be in any season other than winter, but in this particular day it was extremely icy and cold. The trail leading to the chapel was a lot of curves and turns and uphill and downhill, which made it difficult to stay upright and walking. At some points it was just easier to slide down on our bottoms. I think next time I'd just bring a sled ;). When we finally made it to the chapel we were all blown away by not only the beauty surrounding the chapel, but the chapel itself. It was built by a small group of Russian Orthodox members and since it is far into the woods, they had to carry every piece of the chapel out with them in order to build it. It was stunning and I was amazed that they built it, despite weather conditions.
We then headed over to Jitters, a coffee shop in Eagle River, to warm up with a warm drink. It was the cutest coffee shop and I ended up having a soy chai tea which was absolutely delicious. It was a busy coffee shop, but we all enjoyed our drinks before coming back to the church for lunch. Once we all finished lunch and got ready, we headed off to the cabin. We arrived a few minutes early, so a group of us went to a walk over to the beach area. It was a long walk across a lake, but luckily the sun was shining and the view when we got to the beach area was beautiful. We watched icebergs float down the river and saw more incredible views of mountains. We made our way back to the cabin where the fireplace was already set up with a toasty fire for us and enjoyed the afternoon talking, napping, and playing board games. After a few hours we made our way back to the church for a Lenten service and then enjoyed a soup dinner with the whole church community. Following, we debriefed on our day as a group, saw the Northern Lights (so cool!!), then headed to bed, tired from an active day!
Thursday
Thursday morning we headed over to a church that was quite a ways away from us, so we set out early to head over. Once we got there we stepped out of the van and saw a moose! It wasn't far from us, but once it noticed us it walked away before anyone could really snap a picture. We got a tour around the church then headed into their new building for a service project. We were assigned with painting various rooms that would be used as Sunday School rooms once they were complete. We all ended up with paint on our clothes, and luckily I was wearing a sweater I had owned since middle school that was ready to be done with so I didn't mind too much. Once we finished we had a quick lunch break at a pizza restaurant, Moose's Tooth, before heading back to Kid's Kitchen to cook and serve dinner once again. We were all looking forward to going back again and serving the kids and getting to know more of them. The whole Kid's Kitchen program is really amazing and I know that the kids there are really appreciative of the program and knowing that every night they are guaranteed to have dinner.
Once we finished and cleaned up from the meal, we headed off to another church for a short service and the opportunity to talk with the priest from the church. It was a tiny church, but the chanting and iconography was beautiful. When we finished at church, we headed back to where we were staying in Eagle River and enjoyed dinner with Orthodox college students from the University of Anchorage. We then enjoyed each other's company with more board games and hanging out before calling it a night. Thursday was a lot of travelling since everything was far from the next place we had to be, but we made it to everything on our itinerary and had a great day overall.
Friday
Our last full day of the trip and we were all ready to take advantage of it! We spent the whole day on the grounds of the Church we stayed at and worked on fixing up a home that is where young adults can come and spend a year with the community and focus on what their mission in life is. It is for young adults who are at that "in-between" time and not really sure of what to do next. They spend a year in this home with many other young adults to deepen their faith and find out more about themselves. It is a really cool program and it has been going on for decades. The house is in need of an update so we spent the majority of the day ripping out carpet, updating the kitchen, and helping get all of the new furniture and appliances inside. It was nice to be inside all day since it was rather chilly out!
Once we finished up, we had an early dinner and then headed back into the church for a service. Following, we went to a St. Patrick's Day bonfire at a member of the church's home. There was our whole group and others from the church community together and the fire was HUGE! People were told to bring their Christmas trees and as we were there, multiple continued to be thrown in. It was a toasty warm evening!
After a while, we headed back to chat as a group for the last time before all of us began parting our separate ways. We circled up and discussed our experiences on the trip and what we think could be improved for the group that comes next spring break. Then, we were each given a piece of paper and were told to write our name at the top. We then passed it around in a circle and each wrote a little message to each person on their paper. Whether it was a fun memory from the trip, a positive effect that person has had on you, or a compliment, we wrote something down for each person. I decided not to look at mine until I made it back to Michigan, and reading through the messages on Sunday evening put a huge smile on my face and made me instantly miss the whole group! We then headed off to our respective rooms and the girls enjoyed some massages from one girl in our group who is a massage therapist. She massaged my shins and they feel so much better, especially for all the running I am taking on!
Saturday
All of us had various flights throughout the day so nothing was on the plan, except a late breakfast with those who were still there at that point. We went out to a local restaurant and all enjoyed spending time with each other before taking off. I was one of the last to leave, so those of us who had later flights went back to Jitters to spend the afternoon chatting and sipping on warm drinks (soy chai for me). We then headed back to the church to have a quick snack, grab our belongings, and head off to the airport. We made a pit stop at a church along the way that we all heard was spectacular, but did not have the chance to visit during the week. It was extremely beautiful and we were able to stay for a little bit of the service that was taking place before leaving. Those of us left made it to the airport and everyone else with me had the same flight that was taking off shortly so we said our good-byes while I waited for my flight for another hour and a half.
Once I boarded my flight it was time to say good-bye to Alaska and hope that I will get a chance to visit again another day, hopefully in the spring! I didn't make it back home until Sunday morning (time change and connecting flights), but everything went smoothly and my parents were waiting for me at the airport as soon as I landed!
Thank you so much for reading my trip recap to Alaska! I had an incredible experience that I will surely never forget and I formed so many friendships that I know will last for years.