It's My Birthday and I'll Hike If I Want To...

So my first weekend in Juneau has been amazing!  Saturday, I woke up to a rarity- a beautiful, sunny day where I could wear shorts and see all the scenic views Juneau has to offer.  For example, this picture was taken from the place where I'm staying (the purple glow is coming from that beautiful sun):

And here's a great one of the city (you can see the cruise ships in the background):

Oh, and by the way, I'm living on a mountain.  Literally.  How do you get up and down a mountain?  Lots and lots of stairs.  Or, I can take the street option pictured below.  Yep, that is the hill I will walk up and down every day.  By the end of the year, my glutes will look fab!

I've been staying at the Judge's house until my lease begins on Tuesday.  He and his wife went out of town early Saturday morning so it's been just me in this gorgeous 5-bedroom house (complete with a half-basketball court).  They only asked that I take care of their dog while their gone.  By some twist of fate, their dog looks exactly like my Sammy (in fact, I sometimes call him Sam when we're walking...oops).

The judge has one other pet that they forgot to mention....a carpet python!  (No biggie.)  Luckily, I don't really need to handle him although a family friend came today to give him medicine and I got to hold him while he was out of his tank.  That's right, I'm moonlighting as a snake charmer.  Feeling his scales move across my skin was really neat because their skin has such a unique texture.  He was super friendly and not poisonous so woo hoo.  You can see his head peeking out of his favorite shoe box here:

Yesterday, my new bestie, Sam, and I decided to go hike the glacier trail because the weather was gorgeous and who doesn't love glaciers?!  Here's one of my fav pictures from that hike (Yep, that's the Mendenhall glacier.  Note the floating ice in the water.):

We also saw bears!  That's a bear cub in that tree.

Last night, I also went to an awesome house party in Juneau and our whole group ended up at the bars.  There was birthday celebrations, karaoke, live music and so much more.

Today, my friend Kendri and I had a delicious brunch and then hiked up Mt. Roberts (the mountain that Juneau sits on).  After hiking up, you can see panoramic views of the city, learn about the Tlingit (native tribe here) and take a tram down.  Here's a pic from our hike:

I've taken a ton of pictures this weekend so I'll be posting the rest on facebook later.  As for right now, it's time for a birthday barbeque complete with Alaskan king salmon and halibut.  Mmmmm....

Tomorrow, I start work and as always, there's more to come!