I took a trip! To....Port Lions!

So this last week, instead of having our typical long week camp schedule, I went to one of the villages on Kodiak Island. The Salmon Camp Crew split up... Karen & Liz went to Ouzinkie while Mike and I went to Port Lions. So pretty much both goups left on Tuesday morning and came back Wednesday evening. We put on a miniature version of Salmon Camp for the kids in the community, going from 1-4 pm on Tuesday and 9 am - 3 pm on Wednesday. We had kids ranging from K-8th grades and at Port Lions we had a total of 21 kids show up. We talked about habitats, did nature journals, went on hikes, went tide pooling, and did a variety of fun activities. Overall it was a great time (minus a kid falling in the water and me having to get him).

So here's a map of the island and you can see where Port Lions is northwest of the town Kodiak:

A bit about Port Lions... it has around 250 people and it was called Afognak village but was completely wiped out in a tsunami in 1964 then renamed Port Lions since the Lion's Club was a big supporter in rebuilding the town. Port Lions is a bit different from the other villages on the island because part of it is native village and the other part is town... it gets kind of complicated. It is 19 miles northwest of Kodiak and you can only get to it via plane or boat.


So once we dropped off our stuff and set up for the day Mike & I walked to a little waterfall nearby and this is what we saw.... it was absolutely amazing!

Here are pics from our plane ride.... our six passenger plane ride. I got to ride shot gun and wear the headset on the way back but unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me! This below is from on the way there.

 Here's Mike & myself once we first arrived to the lovely Port Lions.

 Here is the fancy Port Lions "airport"... yep a gravel runway.

The plane ride to Port Lions in about 5 to 10 minutes. It's real short but essential for the citizens of Port Lions. Every ride I was on had mail, or pets, or people coming from grocery shopping at Kodiak. So yeah Port Lions has no grocery or clothing store... it was quite the experience. But the people here were super friendly and live a slower life style in a beautiful place. Below is a pic of the normal routine there of picking up items shipped from the plane or picking up people.

 If you look closely you can see it if filled with sockeye salmon... the little dark spots. You don't know how badly I wished I had a dip net with me.

 Out with the Port Lions kids!

Tuesday after camp the kids came and got us to go swimming with them. We both jumped in from the top of the waterfall and it was absolutely freezing, it was so cold it knocked the breath out of me... but hey, I did it!

 Mike and I went for a stroll on Tuesday evening and it was absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect and the skies were clear. That's what the next few pics are from. Below is a pic of me on the bridge that connects the old part of town with the new part.

Prior to coming we were told that we would be staying the night in the library and holding camp in the town hall. Well it turns out they were in the same building, the one shown below.

 Mike & I thoroughly enjoyed staying in the library. We set up a movie ("Walk the Line"), popped some popcorn, made Kool-Aid, had our Reese's cups, and propped ourselves up on some of the pillows for reading time.. it was a nice night.

Well I hope you learned something or enjoyed my pics. I hope everyone has a great week ahead of them! I miss everyone back home and wanted to leave you with one of my favorite pics from my trip this last week.

Salmon Camp!

 The first two weeks of Salmon Camp have been successfully completed! I believe I mentioned before that each week we have a group of 18 children and these first two sessions were grades K-1st. Liz, Mike, and myself each have our own group of six kids. My group name is The Awesome Otters... and awesome we were! My group the first session was so great and sweet, the second session was just as great.. just a little bit more free-spirited. I honestly had a great time and it went really well. Our theme of camp is Habitat so we taught them what makes up a habitat and different types of habitats as well as what animals live in those habitats and why it's important to protect them. Everyday we go out and do some type of exploring that's related to the session and add some environmental education activities as well. And it's pretty sweet because on Fridays the camp meets in town at the Kodiak Refuge's Visitor Center, we do some activities with the kids and then the families come in for awards and a cookout! It's so much fun! Everyone in the coummunity just loves and supports Salmon Camp so much, it's great! Each session is filled already and plus there some kids on the waiting list. One thing Salmon Camp is famous for is the Salmon Song that we sing everyday and goes as such:

Just a little egg I am, buried under rocks and sand

Soon I'll be an egg with an eye, then an alevin and a little fry

Chorus:  I'm a Salmon (clap clap), I'm a Salmon (clap clap)

I'm a Salmon, I'm a Salmon, I'm a Salmon (clap)

Just a little smolt I am, catch me catch me if you can

Predators think I look tasty, but I have lots of friends with me

Chorus

A great big Salmon is what I am, swimming in the big ocean

Back to river I'll smell my way, maybe you'll see my kids some day

Chorus

So that's the famous Salmon Song we sing and I'm sure the parents hate us by the end of the week because it's catchy lol. It goes to the tune I'm a Nut if you want to try sing it! Well I wanted to share some of the pics with you of the great time we had at camp the last two weeks.

Here's Liz doing a lesson. This is the Beach House where we spend the majority of our time for camp.

 Awesome Otters from Session 1!

 Here I am with my Awesome Otters from Session 2.

 This awesome little guy was on my team & he made me the wonderful shell necklace I'm wearing in the pic.

 One thing we've been doing at camp is funny pics with our campers so I thought I'd share one with you.

 Exploring on the beach!



Here are the Awesome Otters from Session 2!





Here is Liz presenting an award to a camper last Friday with all the families there.

Well as you can see everyone had a blast! It was honestly an excellent group of kids. Next week Mike & I are going to Port Lions for two days to put on a miniature version of Salmon Camp for the kids there while Liz & Karen will be doing the same thing at Ouzinkie. Both Port Lions and Ouzinkie are villages on the island and we will be taking a plane ride to get there. I'm excited to see these other parts of the island!

I wanted to leave you with probably one of the cutest stories ever. Yesterday after the cookout at Salmon Camp, Rachel, a five year old camper who was in my group was leaving with her mom when her mom informed me that Rachel wore her hair in a braid the other day because one day at camp I too wore my hair in a braid. Then when she left I told her bye and that I had fun with her this week and she said, " Bye! I love you soooo much!" It was just precious! So moral of the story, kids can pick up the smallest things and that's why it's important to be the best role model you can for them. That's a good reminder for myself and everyone who works with kids to watch how you act and what you do. Well have a great rest of the weekend!

O-Barometer!

Wow so I can't believe it is the middle of June already! Time flies by so fast, I've been here for 5 weeks now. Last week was our first successful week of Salmon Camp... it went so so so great! We had 18 kiddos total (as we will every week), therefore we have 6 kids per group. The name of my group is the "Awesome Otters" becasue awesome is probably my all time favorite adjective. All the kids were wonderful and I felt they learned a lot (and so did I). I did have to take a nap after some of the days since we worked with K-1st graders... I forget how much energy they can have. Lol. I just wanted to tell you what I've been up to.

 But going back like a week and a half ago... so I climbed a nearby mountain here called Barometer. I showed a pic in a previous blog and said I planned to climb it my the end of the summer... check! =)  My legs were jello by the end because I biked over an hour the evening before and also a few hours before I climbed it I went for a couple hours of trail walking. I went with Liz, Elsa, and Lexie and I was so glad I got to share this experience with them! It was semi miserable but once you get to that top you realize how much it's worth it:

 So up above where there's an island close to land (you can faintly see it's connected by a bridge)... that's where Kodiak the town is.

Here's the beauty from regular view. It's 2,539 ft high.. I have a pic of the elevation marker as proof.

 Here's our group at the top! What a great time, not sure when I'll be doing it again though. Lol.

That's all I have for you at the moment but I did want to say that I finally started going fishing! Yay! I'm way excited about it.. even thought I haven't acutally caught anything yet. I will eventually though.. I actually bought some fishing lures and fly things so I'm getting serious about it. Well I hope everyone is having a great week and I miss everyone back home! God bless!

Ft. Abercrombie

Fort Abercrombie was built on Kodiak Island in World War II for defense even though the cannons were never shot. Today it is a state park for everyone's enjoyment. I have spent quite of bit of time there and done a variety of things such as tide pooling, going on hikes, and enjoying the sunset. It has a plethora of wonderful trails and is simply gorgeous. So there is a collection of pics I gathered from my visits.

So I know I've shared the following before but it's just to show you that there are cannons, cannon bases, and bunkers everywhere in the park.

The trees here are covered with moss and it is so unique looking.

Last Sunday the sun was actually out so Liz, Jane, Matt, Ross, and myself went out to enjoy the sunset. So the next few pics are taken a little past 11 pm, because that's when the sun goes down here. It's great. Lol. Actually see the sun go down over the mountains was breathtaking.

 The other day a lady took us tide pooling to each us about the sea creatures that live in this area. So tide pooling is exploring the pools of water left when the tide goes down for the day. Here in Kodiak there are two high tides and two low tides a day. It's pretty neat and I loved seeing all the sea stars.

So here is a pic of the tide down:

 The crew exploring!

 This is a blood star I found.

 We saw a pregnant crab... that was a first for me. 

 A hermit crab chilling out.

 Another sea star

 Well this week we officially started the camp I'm an instructor for. It's called Salmon Camp and it's an environmental education day camp. This week and the next we have K-1st grade so it's pretty entertaining. But I'll talk more on that later. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you have a great week! =)