The Last Frontier(Journal Entry)

From Hawaii to Anchorage, it was a 5 hours and 30 minute flight. Once we touched down to Anchorage airport, we got our luggage and met with our driver. I told the driver to drive us to the nearest train station. I had forgotten what led to me knowing that the driver was Christian. I also found out from my driver that 79% of people in Alaska is Christian/Catholic. When we arrived I paid the cabbie drive and went inside the train station. As we went in we paid for 2 tickets and before we know it we were on a navy blue and yellow striped train. The sight was breathtaking. I was awestruck at the sight we saw. I saw glaciers moving and breaking off from each other. It looks as if a sugar cube was badly cut up at the edge and then broke in three parts. There was also bears. I have never seen wild grizzly bears before. At first glance they look so liked a teddy bear but standing on all fours. After the train ride we hailed a taxi and we took a route to go to a dog sledding place. An hour later we arrived at an snow filled land. It was like a desert but instead of sand there was snow. And where there were camels there were dogs. At first I thought there were so cute, until I got a closer look at them. They looked more like a smaller breed of wolves. They bared their fangs at me,warning me to back way. Their fangs were razor sharp, with a permanent snarl on their faces. Their gray and white colors blend in perfectly in the snow which made them great hunters. I wondered where the alpha is inside the dog pen. When I asked the manager what breed are they, he said they are different, and those are wolves that had tried to attack dog sledders. I shuddered at the thought of that. I hoped today the wolves wouldn’t happen to me. I mean how can my bad luck be traveling with me for thousands of miles away. I felt this would be my lucky day. I heard a wolf snarl right behind me, I jumped for like 20 meters, maybe not that high but you should get the idea, after that I ran, hearing the baying of wolves right behind me. When I finally turned around, I saw that it was Marvin holding his phone in one hand and holding a speaker in the other. I growled like a wolf and chased him around. When I caught up to I had no idea what to do so I just sighed and went to the manager and paid for the dog sledding tour. When we finally went to the spot, I saw the dogs. They were like puppies but bigger and cuter. I screamed “KAWAII!” I ran to them they ran to me, I stretched out my arms like wanting to hug my friend I haven't seen in a while. When they ran to me I hugged some of them with Marvin videoing this moment. I was like “good for him.” I snuggled with them like how you would do with a baby until one of them bit me right at the arm. Luckily it wasn’t a deep bite it only went down a few centimeters. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself down, but at the count of 3 I screamed and howled painfully. A few minutes later It was bandaged up with antibiotics and I was good to go. I got onto my sled and yelled go. The dogs then sprinted with a jolt that I nearly flipped backwards, but I held on. The scenery was awesome and it was only the first few hours in Anchorage. I saw an enormous glacier, a waterfall, and a snowy mountain range that looks like a small replica of Mount. Everest. I looked behind me to see how Marvin was doing. It turns out that he kept on veering sideways and out of control. I chuckled to myself and went to look straight, and it was at this moment the dogs decided to take a 3 meter slope. I screamed “NO! NO! NO!” then my butt went weightless which I hate that feeling. Then suddenly BAM! The dogs landed running. I now pity Santa Claus if this is what he feels like everytime. No wonder he only does it once a year, to recover from his back and butt injuries. I suddenly stopped the dogs to recover from my injuries and my hands were rattling hard because I just went airborne for a few seconds, all that kept me intact to the sled and the ropes was my hands. When I looked back for Marvin, he turned around and went back to the lodge. I wondered why until I heard the sound of a hundred snarls. Frozen in fear I slowly turned around and found myself face to face with at least 2 dozen snarling wolves. I took out my hunting knife I purchased in a store near the train station. I hoped that I could hold long enough on my own for Marvin to get help. The dogs attached to the rope was smart to not run, since the wolves would easily outrun a dozen dog pack lugging a 50 kg 14 year old. I slowly cut the ropes of the dogs because I felt bad for them and don’t want them to suffer my future fate. The dogs ran loose, but about two thirds went after the dogs. I immediately regretted my decision. Then the first wave of wolves pounced on their prey: ME! Horrified, I trashed around stabbing wildly around and screamed like a maniac, until all I saw was red, then black. After that I had no idea what happened but I have been told that I was rescued by a  group of hunters armed with carbine rifles. I also have 13 huge bite marks around me. What surprised me the most though was that I was alive and have stabbed a wolf. After I regained consciousness, I found out I was in an O.R. I then heard someone said “Thank God” I turned around to see Marvin. But almost suddenly, a handful of surgical residents, nurses and surgeons. They then injected some fluids then in a few heartbeats I fell asleep with muffled voices, but they sounded so distant like I was trying to hear someone from half a mile away. Then random facts from an internet source sprouted into my mind while I was going to sleep for surgery. The first hospital for anchorage was in 1937. In total there is 250 black bears and 60 grizzly bears. Then all I saw was black.

   After recovering from my injuries, we decided to go to Fairbanks. After the airport, we got into a taxi and the driver was really nice that he gave us a documentary of Fairbanks. We learned that Fairbanks have a big history of gold. Gold was commonly found in Fairbanks in 1901, which led to an outbreak of miners. But then when World War 1 broke out gold was rare and then miners was drafted into the war. Today there are 2 gold sites in Fairbanks. It seemed that our driver knew a lot about gold. When I asked him about that he replied that he once mined for gold. We then arrived at the Fairbanks Pioneer park. It was like museum with a lot of relics used in Alaska. We saw a real train used from 1900’s to transport gold. We then went to a section . We learned a lot about it’s history. We learned that English is Alaska’s official language in 1998. Then in 2014, 20 Alaskan native language was added as a co-official language. After that, we saw a real-life size authentic steam ferry. It would’ve looked awesome back in the 1900s especially in a mass body of water. After lunch, we went to an ice museum. After paying the fee we went inside. It was chilly inside, but the stunning statues made up for it. Everything was made of ice. There was even an ice bar with iced cups. Lights were everywhere illuminating the place with red, purple, green, yellow, you name it. Then Marvin took a lighter off his pack then lit it up next to a statue of a dog. I was about to stop him but the caretaker beat me too it. While he was talking to Marvin. The face of the dog turned to a puddle right in front of someone’s dog’s face. The dog whimpered at the sight of that and put his paws in front of his face as if he doesn't want that to be his fate. I wouldn’t blame him. The caretaker’s face was a jumble of emotions. Horror then dawned on his face, as if saw his pet melted right in front of him, but in this case was his dog. He then BARKED at Marvin. (I thought “BARKED” seem appropriate for this situation.) I stepped in to defuse the situation. Almost somehow the situation got worse. I heard the caretaker call for a guard to arrest Marvin. Marvin and I did not even need to tell each other what to do next. We did something none of us would even thought of. We simply ran away as fast as we could. Lucky for us no one tried to stop us and the only one running after us was the caretaker and several people in a guard uniform. We darted into the woods hoping they would lose us. With no such luck they did not, and just continued pursuing us. After hours later, or what seems like hours I turned back and saw they were nowhere to be seen. I groaned and complained at Marvin as to why he did that. He replied that he was testing a myth about ice statues being fireproof. I just sighed and thought what would happen next. Lucky for us there was no cameras or anything for them to scan our faces. Unless someone was recording or have taken a picture at us. I shuddered at the thought of that. We trekked further and covered our trail. Soon we reached an open plain that stretches for around a hundred square meters. Being exhausted we broke camp and we built a fire out in the open. And watched the sun go down the horizon after a few moments It was night. I brought out a some energy crackers and passed them down to Marvin. I was looking at the constellation, trying to find some Greek constellation. I found Scorpio,Cancer, Leo Minor, Perseus, Hercules, Pegasus, Draco, Cassiopeia and Delphinus. Then while I was trying to find the Ursa Major, the night sky suddenly exploded and was engulfed in yellow, red and green wave patterns. It was beautiful. After that we boiled instant noodles from the Philippines for dinner. We got water from the snow, and the fire from Marvin’s lighter and tree branches. When eating of the noodles I immediately felt homesick, and the taste made me remembered my baby cousin Francis who was only 2 and a half years old.  After the finishing the noodles. Marvin and I decided to sleep on the snow. I laid down on the snow making snow angels while watching the Northern Lights dance through the night. The next thing I knew was that my eyelids were getting heavy, I did not want but my eyes took control of me and soon as I know it I was fast asleep watching the Northern Lights, and listening to the beat of Marvin’s snoring.