Yesterday we went to the summit of Mauna Kea! Again we went in a van with other people and guides (you have to have 4 wheel drive to go up there). I was kinda nervous about the altitude since it's 13,803 feet. We had dinner at 7,000 feet so we could acclimate. There were other buses there and there was a couple from Fairbanks and another guy from Anchorage!! Awesomee haha..maybe I'll see them in Fred Meyer one day. :P As we were driving up it was foggy but once we got high enough we got out of the clouds. As we drove up the guide pointed out the TERMINAL MORAINE of a glacier that used to be on the volcano!! There was even PERMAFROST up there..OMG haha. We got up on the summit in time to see the sunset..nicee. The altitude made me feel WEIRD..like my eyes couldn't focus and I just felt..woozy or something. If I moved my head too fast it would just hurt. Weirdd. There are a bunch of telescopes up there..pretty cool. After the sun set we went down to 11,000 feet to stargaze! Mauna Kea is one of the best places to stargaze..there's less atmosphere, it's dark, the airflow is stable, etc. There were definitely a ton of stars! The sky just seemed to shimmer. I saw the Milky Way too! The guides pointed out constellations and told us the mythology behind them. We also saw Jupiter! Way cool. Now the stars at sea level just look washed out and blah haha. Eventually clouds started moving it so we went to check out the visitor's center at 9,000 feet. You could actually see the summit eruption of Kilauea from there!! SO awesome..it actually got pretty bright for awhile. I later read the lava had risen and overflowed the inner ledge of the caldera. Omggg..that is SUPER awesome and exciting!! After that we just drove back to the hotel..I had a headache from the altitude..ouch. It was interesting though

Today we went down to Kona and went shopping. Ryan spent over $200 on clothes at Macy's! Eesh..that store is super expensive. D: PJs for $50?! Yeah, no way. We also went over to Kmart..pants for $8, that's more like it. :P We ate dinner and looked around in more shops and now we're back at the hotel. Time to relax!

Um..why is it 50 degrees and raining in the middle of June? THIS IS NOT SUMMER WEATHER OR KETCHIKAN GO AWAY. I heard it even snowed in the mountains by Anchorage! WTF. It was so nice a couple days ago..luckily they're forecasting 70s again for the weekend

COOL: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/stunning-star-trails-slideshow/

( Day 37: A picture of what you wanted to be when you were little )

Would you rather have a hidden video camera at work catch you hacking up a big, ugly ball or phlegm and then looking at it or passing gas and then making a face reacting to the smell? Haha the second one

Today's trivia: There are 35 million digestive glands in the stomach

Yesterday around 6:45 I saw the short term forecast for the Northern Lights was "extreme." Even though it wasn't fully dark yet I went to look..and I could see them! They were faint but there. I've NEVER seen them that early or before it was even dark! After mom finished cleaning the kitchen we walked to the top of the hill. They started pulsing and dancing and turned a little pink..so pretty!! They made a big swirl in the sky too. We saw this red firework thing shoot straight up into the sky..I later learned it was Poker Flats shooting their research rocket into the aurora..cool! After that display the lights faded and didn't seem to do much else the rest of the night. Mars, Venus and Jupiter were out too..Jupiter was REALLY bright. Here's a nice video of the lights from last night..



( Day 33 - Something you made )

Mom has been taking flying lessons so she can get her license current (plus it's been over 20 years since she's flown haha). That's so awesome..I can't wait to fly with her and go to the mountains and stuff! I won't have to beg other people to take me flying haha

Last night I woke up and looked outside and saw it was clear for once! It was amazing to see the stars haha. I saw the Northern Lights but they were just white and faded

Yesterday at work this autistic guy came in with his dad..he told me his son knew everything about Disney movies. We tested him on who did the voice of Snow White and Quasimodo and he *immediately* knew the answer and was going through the shelf saying what year the movies were released. A savant..that is SO cool!

( Day 92- A picture of your room )

Last night I dreamt I was taking pictures of the sun and it was releasing powerful flares..well today I get on spaceweather.com and read it HAD produced a really powerful flare in the morning (one of the most powerful in recent years!). How creepy is that?? Haha

Mom got a summer job in Northway (past Delta Junction and Tok) so on Thursday she's gonna go over there and train for a week. For the summer she'll work a week and be off for a week..or something like that. That'll be awesome..lots of vacation time :D

Mom said now the new cat is lost..oh jeez haha

( Day 40- A picture of you lying in the grass )

Would you rather sleep every night on a hammock that is hung three stories up in the air or sleep every night on a pool mattress floating in a pond filled with little baby sharks? The hammock

Today's trivia: Salt has more than 14,000 known uses

I just came back from Chena Hot Springs. :D I wasn't home from work very long and Ryan called and was like "wanna go to Chena Hot Springs with us??" I was like sureee haha. We first had dinner at their restaurant and then went in the hot springs. It was lovely..we stayed in there quite a while. I made sure to drink plenty of water so I didn't faint again (it worked!). We saw a bunch of satellites and at least 4 or 5 shooting stars :D (the Quadrantid Meteor Shower is going on). It was awesomee. There were some crazy Russians in the dressing room though..they were putting makeup on before going into the springs..umm..ooook. Plus they were practically popping out of their bathing suits haha. Oh well :P

( 03. City/Town that you’re from )

Would you rather get a paper cut on your tongue or have a booger in your nose all day that you can't quite reach? The booger maybe

Today's trivia: 63% of the red meat consumed worldwide is goat meat

Last night I saw the Northern Lights for the first time this season! (I saw Jupiter too!) I saw them from the house so mom and I decided to go to go to our favorite spot in the valley to watch them. They were pale green and dancing somewhat. And the stars were just..wow. I'd never seen them like that from there before. There were so many!! I thought I saw a car coming down Goldstream Rd and kept watching it and then it started going through the trees! There are no roads there..it's basically a swamp. The light was coming closer and hovering. It moved too fast to be a person and it may have been too high anyway. Then it started blinking and just..went out. I was like "...WHAT was that??" My coworker described seeing the same thing a few days ago (but she lives in North Pole). SO WEIRD haha

Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Eh..no thanks

( the rest of the days )

I just got the best view of the sun through my telescope so far (I didn't know how to work it before and mom figured it out. We tried yesterday but the trees were in the way). When you look through it it's a reddish-orange ball. I saw things coming off the sides of it and either sunspots or remnants of sunspots. It's always changing too..it could be sweet to look at when a huge sunspot forms again. I think I may buy a higher magnifying eyepiece so I can see it in even more detail

Would you rather get to pitch the first inning for a major league baseball team or play in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game? Play basketball

Today's trivia: Google, Apple and Amazon started in home garages

Last night I heard the Geminid Meteor Shower was going on and I heard it was supposed to be really good on Sunday so I went out to look and not a minute later I saw something white shoot across the sky! Yay! Haha. I wanted to see more but it was cold and I was afraid a murderer was hiding in the woods so I went back inside. :P It was a good thing I checked when I did cause I looked again before I went to bed and it was cloudy

Today's trivia: The average dream lasts about 20 minutes

The moon and Venus will both be out on Halloween! And combine that with the Northern Lights..mom thinks her camera can take pics of the lights so maybe she could get pics of all three! The lights were supposed to be out last night too but I just saw a white streak :P

I'm possibly gonna go over to Brad's house on Sunday cause he recorded that weather show we saw a preview for at the movie theater. I'll get to see his dog too hehe

Seasons 10-14 of ER aren't on DVD in the US yet..what I'm I gonna dooo?? Haha..maybe the episodes will be on Youtube..

( pic of the day )

Today's stupidest quote: Just under 10 seconds for Nigel Mansell. Call it 9.5 seconds in round numbers (racing broadcaster Murray Walker)