life of a cruise ship nurse: juneau and sitka

mount roberts tram is right off the boat. 1800 feet vertical climb. not going to lie, i was a little nervous

just getting into the station

you can see the ships down in the harbor. great views from up here

i could not get enough of the tram. i loved it

here i am in sitka. well, on the boat near sitka.  the captain would not let any crew off the ship today because of rough seas.  i was sooooo disappointed! i spent my day taking pics from the ship

hmmm. some really cool mountain near sitka

more shots of sitka

sitka is comprised of multiple little islands. everyone here has a dock.  how cool would that be?

there were a ton of bald eagles flying around. they are majestic to watch

just landing

chilling in the tree-tops

i love the eagles. so gorgeous

this morning i awakened to find this love note in my door.  james (guitar guy) is not my type.  he is maybe in his 50s with crinkly hair and it is unfortunate that because i am a nice person and said hi to him that he mistook that as a flirt. now i have to find a way to avoid him the rest of the trip. rats!

the captain was right. we did have rough waters after leaving sitka. poor brenda was on call and prior to running up to see a patient had to  throw up herself.  i told her i would not be a true friend unless i took a photo of the nurse being sicker than the patients.  poor brenda!

my first cruise....as ship nurse!!!! sunday-tuesday.

so, i took a job as a part time cruise ship nurse and this is my inaugural cruise.  i am on the oosterdam out of seattle, washington going to ALASKA!!!!  i have never been to alaska before and could not wait to get going. i had to break my trip up into days (hence this post only covers sun-tues because i have sooooo many pics that it would be too hard in one post.)

gorgeous views of downtown seattle as we departed.  the weather cooperated and only the skies were gray.

the views while cruising up to alaska were absolutely spectacular!

i ate lunch with the 2nd nurse brenda and her family christine and peter.  they were fantastic!  we became instant friends

front of the ship

some fun porpoises that were showing off for us. lots of wildlife around here!

simply amazing

if you look really close, that brown dot you see on the shore is a moose.

not going to lie, i thought of the titanic more than once as we sailed through many icebergs.  it sure was freezing cold up here.

this is the reid glacier.  you can see the blue hue in the middle of the glacier.  this is the smaller of the glaciers we saw.

we saw a bear!!!!  this is a brown bear just taking a walk up the coastline

i love bears.  so there are tons of pics of the bear

he decided to stand up for us! so cool!

there are a bunch of seals laying out on the rocks there.

the marjorie glacier!!! this is in glacier bay and it is so huge.  you can see portions of it falling off into the water and that is called calving.  the sound it makes is called white thunder.  it is so loud and at times such a huge portion of the ice that it shakes the ship.

had to get the portrait in front of the glacier

this is the icu in the clinic.  we can do almost anything there, but don't want to. ;)

my bedroon.  it was a decent size and i loved being here.  what a great experience i am having.  i am so lucky!!!  i am having a complete blast. and this is only the beginning!!!

fun times at the tulip fest

my friend from work and i decided to go to the tulip festival at thanksgiving point.  what a great day!

there are a ton of pics because i absolutely love love love flowers.

we have had a really cold and wet spring and so even though it is already may, the trees are still bare.  luckily some tulips did pop through for the fest.

imo and i.

coolest upside down tulip ever

sad to still have snow-capped mountains

i am loving these

isn't this just completely gorgeous!!

the battered woman

day 1

day one. 12 hours later

day 2

day 4

1 week later

2 weeks later

4 weeks later

the accused: gus. but could that innocent looking dog actually do that?

yes he could.  5 weeks ago as i was making my bed, gus ran down the hall and jumped full speed onto my bed.....hitting me in the orbit in the process.  he knocked me to the floor.  i am lucky the hematoma stayed inside instead of causing massive amounts of bleeding.  as you can tell, it has been a long healing process.  i still have remnants of a black eye FIVE weeks later.  i think he broke my orbit. 

my favorite part is the looks that i have been getting for the last 5 weeks.  people certainly assume the worst.  it has been entertaining to say the least!

Truer words have never been spoken!

just that. nothing more. it is truth. i love bacon. i could eat it daily. it makes me happy when skies are grey. those who don't love bacon are communists! i am done.