Day 8: May 7th

The weather decided to cooperate today.  It was sunny and relatively pleasant outside compared to the dreary, rainy weather of yesterday.  Since the weather was nice, students resumed scraping paint and repainting the exterior of homes. For some students, the activities got spiced up.  Yard work at some homes needed to be accomplished so a few students raked leaves and picked up twigs.  As a treat, two students were lucky enough to take a break on a beach near their worksite.  The day ended around 4:30 PM and everyone went home to unwind after another long day of volunteer work.  With the workday eating up time in the evening, it is difficult to go hiking and sightseeing. However, a group of students mustered the energy to go on a hike to watch the sun set.  The road took the group through a high class residential neighborhood that overlooked the city of Anchorage.  Upon reaching the “trailhead,” we realized that the supposed trail was actually a driveway.  However, this did not stop us from enjoying the sunset.  We sat at the edge of the parking lot while fighting off droves of giant mosquitoes, not about to give up on our sunset. When the sun went down, we sprinted through the cloud of mosquitoes waiting for us and headed home, laughing and enjoying every minute of it.

(C) 2014. All photos are the property of Benjamin Bogard. All rights reserved.