Well, I guess technically this is not vacation, but sometimes it feels like it! I love working here!
This week was a good one. On Monday I had my first tour. I took about six people on the Portage Glacier Tour. I had never been on it myself, so it was a little interesting to do. First we went to the Begich, Boggs Visitors' Center, in Portage, and gave the guests about an hour there to visit and eat and learn about the lake and the glacier. Then we took them to the Ptarmigan, on which we sailed across the lake to the glacier. There was a lot of ice on the lake still, so we could not get closer than about a mile from the glacier. It was really neat to see the glacier though. That voyage was about an hour long, and then we went to the Alyeska ski resort. I got to ride the tram there, which is the first one I remember riding. It was sweet. It starts at about 250 feet above sea level, and ends at 2750 feet above sea level. The view from up there, on a clear day, is amazing. You can see the resort and ski area, but you can also see all of Glacier Valley and Turnagain Arm. It is rather incredible. After leaving the resort, I took the guests back to their hotels, arriving just about seven hours after we had departed. It was a fun day. We had a ship in town that day, the Coral Princess, but I actually did not go to it at all.
The middle of the week was pretty quiet. On Tuesday, I ended up running airport shuttles all afternoon. I drove between the airport and the downtown hotels eleven times. There was a moose grazing or sleeping right next to the road on the airport property for almost the whole afternoon, which everyone thought was great.
On Wednesday I got to drive for a trip I had been wanting to do. There was an employees' flightseeing tour, which I had wanted to go do, but did not want to ask for the day off, so I decided not to do it. Well, I got assigned to be the driver for that. I got to go, and get paid for it! It was great! We went over to Lake Hood, and took off in a floatplane. That was an interesting experience. he plane feels different when it is taking off and landing, because it rocks on the lake, even while it is moving very fast. It was a sweet trip. I was glad I did not sign up for it, because I got to go anyways!
Thursday was my day off, because I requested it. Karen and Mom arrived into Whittier on the Alaska Marine Highway. They were about an hour late. Whittier looked rather strange without a cruise ship there! I picked them up at the ship, and then we drove to Seward. We visited the Alaska Sea Life Center there, and looked around town a bit. I showed them some of the places I go, including the ship dock. On the way out of Seward, we stopped at Exit Glacier, and went hiking for a little, out to the edge of the glacier. It was huge! And we got to stand on it, that was sweet! That was a fun little adventure, and a pretty easy hike. We were trying to go on the Portage Glacier Cruise, but that did not work out. We did not get back in time for the last sailing. We stopped at Alyeska, even though it was cloudy, and did the tram there again. It actually cleared for a few minutes while we were at the top. That was very nice. From there, we went back to Anchorage, and I showed them around town a little. I showed them downtown and also Lake Hood, and then dropped them off at their hotel.
Friday was another ship day. The M/S Ryndam was in Seward. I guess it was a pretty quiet ship day though, because I only did evening rail arrivals. I drove people from the train station to the Westmark hotel. I had most of the day to hang out downtown with Mom and Karen. We walked around downtown for several hours and saw the sights there. Later in the afternoon we went out to Earthquake Park. That was an interesting place. You can still see areas there where large chunks of the earth broke off and fell into the Cook Inlet.
Yesterday was a busy day. We had the Diamond Princess in Whittier again. She had come in from Vancouver. I went to Whittier early in the morning to pick up guests and bring them downtown. Basically I ran around all day, driving people wherever they needed to go. In the late afternoon, I headed back to Whittier with people boarding the ship. When I got back to Whittier, they asked me to stay for a while, so I could drive the McKinley Express train employees home. I stayed there for about two hours, and helped on the dock and in the terminal. That was a little crazy because I really had no idea what was going on, having never been trained there! It was fun though, and a little bit of a change. There was a little bit of a mix up with who was picking up which rail employees, so I ended up getting the Denali Express employees, and then heading over to Portage for the McKinley Express employees. It turned out that the person who was supposed to get the Denali Express employees thought she was getting the McKinley Express emplyoees, so she was waiting in Portage when I got there. Rather than wait there with her, I just headed back to Anchorage. I dropped them off at the railroad yard, and then waited for the southbound train from Fairbanks and Denali. I waited on that thing for a while, as they sat in the crossing, hrowing switches and finally uncoupling the cruise cars. From there, I headed back to the coach yard, and called it a day, 15 hours after starting! It was a long and tiring day, but it was fun. I like this job.
Today I am working in the afternoon, doing airport shutles, but I do get to go to church before I go to work, which is really nice! The M/S Statendam is in Seward today, but I will not likely make it down there. That is fine with me though, I'll stay in town. If I go down there, today will be at least 15 hours long too.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Ships Keep Coming!
Since last Monday, we have had four more ships. Monday had us servicing the Island Princess. On Wednesday we had the Carnival Spirit, which will stop in Whittier every other week. Yesterday we had the Sapphire Princess, and this morning, the m/s Veendam docked in Seward. She will sail in a little over an hour, and head back to Vancouver.
All of these ships have kept us rather busy. I have been lucky enough to not be assigned to more early morning shifts. Well, I ought to explain that early has become a relative term. If I get to sleep until 4:30am, I feel like I am sleeping late! On Tuesday and Thursday, when we had no ships, I just did evening rail duty. I would go to the train station and meet the southbound train, and pick up the guests and bring them to their hotels. The Alaska Railroad always tells they will be in at about 8:15pm, but they run on a fairly loose schedule. Reality is that the train will arrive some time between 8:00pm and 11:00pm! Both nights I worked at the station, the train came in around 8:50pm.
On Wednesday, as I mentioned, we had the Carnival Spirit in town. That was complete chaos on the dock! Their disembarkation procedures were not nearly as well organized as Holland America or Princess. I ended up getting a very crowded coach with people going everywhere. Usually everyone on the coach would be going to the same place, but in an effort to calm the chaos, and get people on their way, they simply loaded my coach up until the seats were taken and baggage bays were packed to the gills. It was an interesting trip to the airport and the hotels and the hospitality center. I was just hoping no one got off where they did not belong. Luckily, no one did. Besides being crowded it was a pretty normal trip. I made several trips between downtown and the airport, and then returned to the ship with a load of guests. By the time I returned to the ship, I guess they had a better idea of what was going on at the dock, because things were organized a little better.
On Friday, I was scheduled for a day off. The company was doing a trip to the Kenai Fjords, and I decided to go along, because I didn't have to work and I have heard a lot of good things about that trip. Well, when I signed up for that, dispatch realized that meant they had a driver going, and they had needed a coach shuttled to Seward. Tim took one other coach that also needed to go there. These were two well used coaches, which had both seen better days. I got a mile out of town, and the air conditioning broke on mine. I also discovered that I was unable to get it over 45mph. At one point, I completely left Tim in the dust. Later when we stopped to stretch, he mentioned that, and I started to wonder if my speedometer was accurate. Once we got going again, we headed up a hill and I saw that Tim was right behind me. I asked him to clock me. My speedometer read 29mph. It was a steep hill, and I had the gas pedal on the ground. Well, Tim radioed back and said his speedometer was reading 45mph. I was right, my speedometer was broken. So all that time when I thought I couldn't get it over 45mph, I was really having a hard time getting over 65 or something. It was an interesting drive. We parked the coaches by the dock in Seward, and then the driver for the Kenai Fjords trip picked us up there a while later.
We were driven the short distance to the small boat harbor where we got on the boat for the Kenai Fjords Tour. It was an 85 foot catamaran, called Aialik. The weather was not that great, but it was a free day cruise! It was a six hour, 100 mile trip, with wildlife, mountains, and a glacier all included. We got started, and despite the storms, we were fine as long as we stayed in Ressurection Bay. We spent a bit of time in the bay, but eventually we had to go out in the ocean to get over to another bay. The ocean was a bit rough. Well, rough was an understatement for most people. A lot of people got sick, I guess they just could not take twelve foot swells! It was a little rough, but once we got into the other bay, it was calm again. The only catch was we had to come back through the same ocean. While on the trip, we saw a lot of wildlife. There were a ton of birds, including puffins. We also saw humpback whales and orca, or killer, whales, and porpoises. There were also sea lions and sea otters. It was sweet! We saw two glaciers, which was sweet. We were able to get fairly close to one. They are rather huge. It is a lot of ice in one place! After looking at the glacier for some time, we had to return to Seward. That meant heading back out into open ocean, and twelve foot swells. Actually, as it turned out, the storms had calmed a little. People still got sick, but the trip around the cape was less rough. I had no problems with it going in either direction. I have seen better and worse weather at sea.
Yesterday, the Sapphire Princess was in Whittier, and things actually went pretty normal. Princess usually has things pretty well organized at the docks, and yesterday was no exception. After bringing several people to the ship, I returned to Anchorage and shuttled people to the airport. I did not have a lot of people on the coach, but they had a LOT of luggage. It was what we call a Tetris trip. There was so much luggage, that each piece had to be individually fitted in a specific orientation to maximize the space. It was rediculious. There was at least 4,000lbs of luggage. It was crazy. I could not believe it! Other than that, it was a fairly typical ship day.
Today the m/s Veendam was in Seward. I drove a van today, instead of a coach. I shuttled some dock employees to Seward and then I did something called the NLV Express. My job was to take anyone who had been quarentined for medical purposes while on the ship, and shuttle them to their hotels, away from everyone else. Basically they were still in quarentine while on my van. There were only two of them though, which is rather fortunate on a ship that carries 1,800 people!
Tomorros we have the Coral Princess in Whittier. I am actually not scheduled to go to the ship, but even on other days where that has been the case, I usually find myself on the dock eventually! I will be dropping people off at the train station for the northbound train to Denali and Fairbanks. Later, I will be taking people on the Portage Glacier Tour, and I will get to go along with them! It is a boat trip across Portage Lake to the glacier that feeds it. It will be fun I think.
All of these ships have kept us rather busy. I have been lucky enough to not be assigned to more early morning shifts. Well, I ought to explain that early has become a relative term. If I get to sleep until 4:30am, I feel like I am sleeping late! On Tuesday and Thursday, when we had no ships, I just did evening rail duty. I would go to the train station and meet the southbound train, and pick up the guests and bring them to their hotels. The Alaska Railroad always tells they will be in at about 8:15pm, but they run on a fairly loose schedule. Reality is that the train will arrive some time between 8:00pm and 11:00pm! Both nights I worked at the station, the train came in around 8:50pm.
On Wednesday, as I mentioned, we had the Carnival Spirit in town. That was complete chaos on the dock! Their disembarkation procedures were not nearly as well organized as Holland America or Princess. I ended up getting a very crowded coach with people going everywhere. Usually everyone on the coach would be going to the same place, but in an effort to calm the chaos, and get people on their way, they simply loaded my coach up until the seats were taken and baggage bays were packed to the gills. It was an interesting trip to the airport and the hotels and the hospitality center. I was just hoping no one got off where they did not belong. Luckily, no one did. Besides being crowded it was a pretty normal trip. I made several trips between downtown and the airport, and then returned to the ship with a load of guests. By the time I returned to the ship, I guess they had a better idea of what was going on at the dock, because things were organized a little better.
On Friday, I was scheduled for a day off. The company was doing a trip to the Kenai Fjords, and I decided to go along, because I didn't have to work and I have heard a lot of good things about that trip. Well, when I signed up for that, dispatch realized that meant they had a driver going, and they had needed a coach shuttled to Seward. Tim took one other coach that also needed to go there. These were two well used coaches, which had both seen better days. I got a mile out of town, and the air conditioning broke on mine. I also discovered that I was unable to get it over 45mph. At one point, I completely left Tim in the dust. Later when we stopped to stretch, he mentioned that, and I started to wonder if my speedometer was accurate. Once we got going again, we headed up a hill and I saw that Tim was right behind me. I asked him to clock me. My speedometer read 29mph. It was a steep hill, and I had the gas pedal on the ground. Well, Tim radioed back and said his speedometer was reading 45mph. I was right, my speedometer was broken. So all that time when I thought I couldn't get it over 45mph, I was really having a hard time getting over 65 or something. It was an interesting drive. We parked the coaches by the dock in Seward, and then the driver for the Kenai Fjords trip picked us up there a while later.
We were driven the short distance to the small boat harbor where we got on the boat for the Kenai Fjords Tour. It was an 85 foot catamaran, called Aialik. The weather was not that great, but it was a free day cruise! It was a six hour, 100 mile trip, with wildlife, mountains, and a glacier all included. We got started, and despite the storms, we were fine as long as we stayed in Ressurection Bay. We spent a bit of time in the bay, but eventually we had to go out in the ocean to get over to another bay. The ocean was a bit rough. Well, rough was an understatement for most people. A lot of people got sick, I guess they just could not take twelve foot swells! It was a little rough, but once we got into the other bay, it was calm again. The only catch was we had to come back through the same ocean. While on the trip, we saw a lot of wildlife. There were a ton of birds, including puffins. We also saw humpback whales and orca, or killer, whales, and porpoises. There were also sea lions and sea otters. It was sweet! We saw two glaciers, which was sweet. We were able to get fairly close to one. They are rather huge. It is a lot of ice in one place! After looking at the glacier for some time, we had to return to Seward. That meant heading back out into open ocean, and twelve foot swells. Actually, as it turned out, the storms had calmed a little. People still got sick, but the trip around the cape was less rough. I had no problems with it going in either direction. I have seen better and worse weather at sea.
Yesterday, the Sapphire Princess was in Whittier, and things actually went pretty normal. Princess usually has things pretty well organized at the docks, and yesterday was no exception. After bringing several people to the ship, I returned to Anchorage and shuttled people to the airport. I did not have a lot of people on the coach, but they had a LOT of luggage. It was what we call a Tetris trip. There was so much luggage, that each piece had to be individually fitted in a specific orientation to maximize the space. It was rediculious. There was at least 4,000lbs of luggage. It was crazy. I could not believe it! Other than that, it was a fairly typical ship day.
Today the m/s Veendam was in Seward. I drove a van today, instead of a coach. I shuttled some dock employees to Seward and then I did something called the NLV Express. My job was to take anyone who had been quarentined for medical purposes while on the ship, and shuttle them to their hotels, away from everyone else. Basically they were still in quarentine while on my van. There were only two of them though, which is rather fortunate on a ship that carries 1,800 people!
Tomorros we have the Coral Princess in Whittier. I am actually not scheduled to go to the ship, but even on other days where that has been the case, I usually find myself on the dock eventually! I will be dropping people off at the train station for the northbound train to Denali and Fairbanks. Later, I will be taking people on the Portage Glacier Tour, and I will get to go along with them! It is a boat trip across Portage Lake to the glacier that feeds it. It will be fun I think.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Three First Days
The touring season in Alaska started off with a bang. On Friday, the 15th, I had my third day off alll month, and I wonder if I will get another before August! Well, I know I will the way they work me around here. We are limited by the federal government in how much we can drive, for obvious safety reasons. The only way to get more time is to get a day off once in a while, about every week.
The season here started with the Diamond Princess being in Whittier, on Saturday. That ship is 964 feet long and has capacity for 2,900 passengers. She arrived in Whittier from Beijing, and was only about half full. We had 882 people disembark, and just over 1,200 get on. These numbers are pretty small for a ship day, but it was still a busy day. I was assigned to go into work at 3:30am, so I could be leaving town by 4:00am to get to Whittier and bring the first round of passengers to the airport, where most of them would be flying home. This was my first time in Whittier, and driving through the Whittier tunnel, as the road to there had been closed for a month and a half, and had only opened that morning. We were lucky, and happy! This tunnel, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, is a unique tunnel. It is a single lane, and it is shared with the Alaska Railroad. Now, most people imagine a tunnel where the railroad and the road are side by side, but that is not the case. The railroad track has pavement around it, and you drive on it. It is 2.5 miles long, and takes about seven minutes to travel through it. Once through, on the Whittier end at least, the entire town is visible, and the ships are by far the largest things in town. I went down to the dock, where there was plenty of space for me to park. Usually, the first group of passengers will begin getting off the ship right at 6:30am. I was there just before 6:00am, so there was a little down time, and as it turned out, US Customs was taking their sweet old time about inspecting the ship, so we actually had to wait longer. Normally they will not be inspecting the ships in Whittier, because normally they will be arriving from other parts of Alaska. This was a more unique trip, from Beijing. Once the passengers began coming off the ship, it did not take long to fill my coach. Once I had 52 people aboard, I was sent off to Anchorage. Because of the delay with US Customs, I missed the northbound traffic release at the tunnel, and I had to wait about 40 minutes for the next one. That is a long time for a bunch of people who just woke up and want to get home, especially when I do not have 40 minutes worth of material to talk about with them. I am still working on a lot of my tour material. Once through the tunnel, the drive went on unhindered. I dropped everyone off at the airport and then radioed dispatch for my next assignment.
My next assignment was to pick up people headed for the ship from downtown and bring them to Whittier. That assignment was not until noon, which gave me a couple of hours before I needed to be there. I parked the coach on the hill by the train station, and took a nap and ate lunch. That was nice. About fifteen minutes before my scheduled departure, I went over to the Hospitality Center, where I would meet the passengers, and got ready to board. I had 47 people on that trip, and that group was quite a bit more active and awake than my 6:30am group! They had lots of questions, some of which were not easy questions, but I really liked that. I also did a little better on tips with that trip! Actually, one man, who had a handicapped wife, whom I had helped onto and off of the coach, gave me a $20 tip! That was very nice of him. At that point, the dock people in Whittier had nothing else for me to do, so I was sent back to Anchorage, where I went back to the yard, dropped off the coach, and called it a day, after 13 hours at work.
Sunday was, a shorter day. I had to be at work at 2:30am though. The m/s Statendam was in Seward, and I was assigned to meet her there. I had to be there by 6:00am, and it is 125 miles away. I was supposed to leave the yard at 3:00am, but I was a little late, because of a problem with my two way radio. It would not turn on. Eventually, it was decided that the best and easiest thing for me to do would be to take a hand held radio, and just work with that. The only real drawback is that they have a much smaller range than the ones installed in the coaches. It was better than nothing though. I left about fifteen minutes late, and Rachel followed as we drove. We got to Seward at 5:58am, and had a little while to wait before we were needed. I waited outside of the terminal, in a gravel parking area until I was needed.
My original assignment was going to have me in Seward all day. I was supposed to go there, and meet some guests a a lodge, take them on the Kenai Fjords Tour. While they were on the boat doing that tour, I would be running a shuttle around town. We run a shuttle for the ship passengers, so they can get off and see town a little bit. It is similar to a transit route. After several hours of that, I would pick up the passengers from the Kenai Fjords Tour, and take them back to Anchorage. The way my schedule was, I would be working for at least 15 hours. When I got to the dock however, I was reassigned to an airport run instead. That was nice! I took 37 people from the ship to the airport, where they would be flying to Fairbanks, and ouring the state from north to south. They were surprisingly alert for 7:00am! I was happy about that. And I found that Holland America passengers tip better than Princess passengers do. Once I had delivered everyone to the airport, I radioed dispatch, thinking I would be assigned to go back to Seward once more, before calling it a day. They told me to go home and get some rest! I did just that. It was 11:00am, and I had already worked more than eight hours, all of which was overtime!
Yesterday, Monday, sure did not feel like a Monday. When you are at work everyday anyway, you forget what day it even is. They let me sleep in though. I did not need to be at work until 5:30am. I still woke up at about 2:00am automatically, but it sure felt good to look at the clock and realize I had a couple more hours that I could sleep! I was assigned to go to Whittier again, and this time meet the passengers getting off the ship at 8:30am. We had a smaller ship yesterday, the Island Princess. She has capacity for 2,100 people, but she was not full either. It is still early in the touring season here. The 8:30am passengers were headed downtown, and they were not any more alert than the 6:30am crowd of a few days earlier. I took 53 people to the Hospitality Center downtown. My next assignment was to bring people from the airport to the ship, but after a couple hours, so I parked on the hill by the trainstation again, and waited. This time I killed the time by running over to the mall for lunch.
I arrived at the airport about fifteen minutes before my scheduled departure, and had a hard time actually reaching someone there on the radio. I am not sure what was going on, but the person in charge of the arrivals area must not havebeen listening or something. At any rate, when I did reach him, he had me wait outside the security checkpoint. My 1:00pm departure time passed, and he said he actually would not be needing me for that run. A few minutes later, he called me to the terminal and asked if I could shuttle two passengers downtown. That was actually a lot of fun. I had them sit at the front so I could talk to them without using the microphone, and since they did not need to be downtown right away, I took them on a scenic way there, rather than the most direct way. They loved it. I got more tips from those two passengers than I had gotten from the 53 earlier! Once I dropped them off, I headed back to the airport, and did more waiting.
Eventually, I was called to the terminal again for 22 passengers heading to the ship. I boarded all of them, and then ran over to the other terminal for ten more people, also going to the ship. From there, we drove to Whittier. That was a good group of people too, they were all excited to be going to the ship and starting their vacation. They had a lot of questions, and really loved the drive. It was nice. I like the more active groups of passengers. They are more fun to drive around, and the entire trip is a lot more enjoyable. And the usually tip better at the end! We had to wait a few minutes before there was parking space for us on the dock, so I found a spot where they could take pictures of the ship. I stopped there and waited until I was called to the dock, and invited them to move around as they like if they wanted any pictures of the ship. It was a fun trip there.
After I had disembarked everyone, I was asked to wait a few minues to take an employee back to Anchorage. That was a much more casual trip. He worked with the luggage crew, and told me I must have a lot of patience to deal with the guests all day long. Maybe I do, but I enjoy it, so I do not find it that difficult. I really like this job, it is great. Usually the passengers are in a good mood, as they are going on vacation, or just ending a vacation, and who hates vacation?! It is a lot of fun.
I have taken a few pictures as I have been driving around. I posted them on facebook, and I will keep updating the album as I take more. To see them, click here.
The season here started with the Diamond Princess being in Whittier, on Saturday. That ship is 964 feet long and has capacity for 2,900 passengers. She arrived in Whittier from Beijing, and was only about half full. We had 882 people disembark, and just over 1,200 get on. These numbers are pretty small for a ship day, but it was still a busy day. I was assigned to go into work at 3:30am, so I could be leaving town by 4:00am to get to Whittier and bring the first round of passengers to the airport, where most of them would be flying home. This was my first time in Whittier, and driving through the Whittier tunnel, as the road to there had been closed for a month and a half, and had only opened that morning. We were lucky, and happy! This tunnel, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, is a unique tunnel. It is a single lane, and it is shared with the Alaska Railroad. Now, most people imagine a tunnel where the railroad and the road are side by side, but that is not the case. The railroad track has pavement around it, and you drive on it. It is 2.5 miles long, and takes about seven minutes to travel through it. Once through, on the Whittier end at least, the entire town is visible, and the ships are by far the largest things in town. I went down to the dock, where there was plenty of space for me to park. Usually, the first group of passengers will begin getting off the ship right at 6:30am. I was there just before 6:00am, so there was a little down time, and as it turned out, US Customs was taking their sweet old time about inspecting the ship, so we actually had to wait longer. Normally they will not be inspecting the ships in Whittier, because normally they will be arriving from other parts of Alaska. This was a more unique trip, from Beijing. Once the passengers began coming off the ship, it did not take long to fill my coach. Once I had 52 people aboard, I was sent off to Anchorage. Because of the delay with US Customs, I missed the northbound traffic release at the tunnel, and I had to wait about 40 minutes for the next one. That is a long time for a bunch of people who just woke up and want to get home, especially when I do not have 40 minutes worth of material to talk about with them. I am still working on a lot of my tour material. Once through the tunnel, the drive went on unhindered. I dropped everyone off at the airport and then radioed dispatch for my next assignment.
My next assignment was to pick up people headed for the ship from downtown and bring them to Whittier. That assignment was not until noon, which gave me a couple of hours before I needed to be there. I parked the coach on the hill by the train station, and took a nap and ate lunch. That was nice. About fifteen minutes before my scheduled departure, I went over to the Hospitality Center, where I would meet the passengers, and got ready to board. I had 47 people on that trip, and that group was quite a bit more active and awake than my 6:30am group! They had lots of questions, some of which were not easy questions, but I really liked that. I also did a little better on tips with that trip! Actually, one man, who had a handicapped wife, whom I had helped onto and off of the coach, gave me a $20 tip! That was very nice of him. At that point, the dock people in Whittier had nothing else for me to do, so I was sent back to Anchorage, where I went back to the yard, dropped off the coach, and called it a day, after 13 hours at work.
Sunday was, a shorter day. I had to be at work at 2:30am though. The m/s Statendam was in Seward, and I was assigned to meet her there. I had to be there by 6:00am, and it is 125 miles away. I was supposed to leave the yard at 3:00am, but I was a little late, because of a problem with my two way radio. It would not turn on. Eventually, it was decided that the best and easiest thing for me to do would be to take a hand held radio, and just work with that. The only real drawback is that they have a much smaller range than the ones installed in the coaches. It was better than nothing though. I left about fifteen minutes late, and Rachel followed as we drove. We got to Seward at 5:58am, and had a little while to wait before we were needed. I waited outside of the terminal, in a gravel parking area until I was needed.
My original assignment was going to have me in Seward all day. I was supposed to go there, and meet some guests a a lodge, take them on the Kenai Fjords Tour. While they were on the boat doing that tour, I would be running a shuttle around town. We run a shuttle for the ship passengers, so they can get off and see town a little bit. It is similar to a transit route. After several hours of that, I would pick up the passengers from the Kenai Fjords Tour, and take them back to Anchorage. The way my schedule was, I would be working for at least 15 hours. When I got to the dock however, I was reassigned to an airport run instead. That was nice! I took 37 people from the ship to the airport, where they would be flying to Fairbanks, and ouring the state from north to south. They were surprisingly alert for 7:00am! I was happy about that. And I found that Holland America passengers tip better than Princess passengers do. Once I had delivered everyone to the airport, I radioed dispatch, thinking I would be assigned to go back to Seward once more, before calling it a day. They told me to go home and get some rest! I did just that. It was 11:00am, and I had already worked more than eight hours, all of which was overtime!
Yesterday, Monday, sure did not feel like a Monday. When you are at work everyday anyway, you forget what day it even is. They let me sleep in though. I did not need to be at work until 5:30am. I still woke up at about 2:00am automatically, but it sure felt good to look at the clock and realize I had a couple more hours that I could sleep! I was assigned to go to Whittier again, and this time meet the passengers getting off the ship at 8:30am. We had a smaller ship yesterday, the Island Princess. She has capacity for 2,100 people, but she was not full either. It is still early in the touring season here. The 8:30am passengers were headed downtown, and they were not any more alert than the 6:30am crowd of a few days earlier. I took 53 people to the Hospitality Center downtown. My next assignment was to bring people from the airport to the ship, but after a couple hours, so I parked on the hill by the trainstation again, and waited. This time I killed the time by running over to the mall for lunch.
I arrived at the airport about fifteen minutes before my scheduled departure, and had a hard time actually reaching someone there on the radio. I am not sure what was going on, but the person in charge of the arrivals area must not havebeen listening or something. At any rate, when I did reach him, he had me wait outside the security checkpoint. My 1:00pm departure time passed, and he said he actually would not be needing me for that run. A few minutes later, he called me to the terminal and asked if I could shuttle two passengers downtown. That was actually a lot of fun. I had them sit at the front so I could talk to them without using the microphone, and since they did not need to be downtown right away, I took them on a scenic way there, rather than the most direct way. They loved it. I got more tips from those two passengers than I had gotten from the 53 earlier! Once I dropped them off, I headed back to the airport, and did more waiting.
Eventually, I was called to the terminal again for 22 passengers heading to the ship. I boarded all of them, and then ran over to the other terminal for ten more people, also going to the ship. From there, we drove to Whittier. That was a good group of people too, they were all excited to be going to the ship and starting their vacation. They had a lot of questions, and really loved the drive. It was nice. I like the more active groups of passengers. They are more fun to drive around, and the entire trip is a lot more enjoyable. And the usually tip better at the end! We had to wait a few minutes before there was parking space for us on the dock, so I found a spot where they could take pictures of the ship. I stopped there and waited until I was called to the dock, and invited them to move around as they like if they wanted any pictures of the ship. It was a fun trip there.
After I had disembarked everyone, I was asked to wait a few minues to take an employee back to Anchorage. That was a much more casual trip. He worked with the luggage crew, and told me I must have a lot of patience to deal with the guests all day long. Maybe I do, but I enjoy it, so I do not find it that difficult. I really like this job, it is great. Usually the passengers are in a good mood, as they are going on vacation, or just ending a vacation, and who hates vacation?! It is a lot of fun.
I have taken a few pictures as I have been driving around. I posted them on facebook, and I will keep updating the album as I take more. To see them, click here.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Kenai Peninsula
Yesterday, we did our last training trip. We went down the Kenai Peninsula, to the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge, and to Seward. We headed out of town, and seemed to run into a lot of other people having problems. As we headed south on Minnesota Ave., we saw a column of smoke ahead and on the left, behind some trees. As we got closer to the smoke, the road curved to the left, and we discovered that t was coming from a car that was on fire, on the other side of the road. That was crazy. As we kept driving, we saw the fire department heading out there to attend to that.
As we continued driving, we went down Turnagain Arm again, but we went past the turnoff to Whittier and Portage. As we were driving, we saw a guy driving and doing doughnuts on the mud flats. That was odd, and not particularly smart. I guess he did not get stuck though, because he was gone later when we came back. Shortly after seeing that, we went around a turn, and found a vehicle that missed the turn. It was off the road, down a small embankment, and in a swamp. I don't know if there was anyone in the car though.
After driving through Turnagain Pass, we came to the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge. This place is in a little town called Coopers Landing, and is really out in the middle of nowhere. The lodge is very nice though. It is a bungalow style lodge, which makes it really cozy. Each room has a wood burning stove in it too, which is a nice touch. It is a nice place, which I would reccommend to my friends. When we left there, we went over to Seward.
In Seward, we had a chance to eat some lunch. Then we went over to the pier, where the ships tie up. We saw where we will stage the coaches, and we also saw the employee housing. I think if I ever have to overnight there, I'll sleep in the coach. The employee housing is a little bit ghetto! We also did the route the Seward Shuttle takes on ship days, so we could see that. After driving around Seward, we headed back to Anchorage. As we came back to Turnagain Arm, we saw the same car stuck in the swamp. They were finally towing it out though. Other than that, we got back without seeing anything too crazy. It was a fun trip.
Tomorrow the Diamond Princess arrives in Whittier, which will be our first ship for the season. Today the Volendam is in Homer, but only six people are working that one. I had today off, but I expect I will work tomorrow, and probably rather early inthe morning. It will be my first day with paying passengers. I am excited, but also a little nervous. I think it will be fine though.
As we continued driving, we went down Turnagain Arm again, but we went past the turnoff to Whittier and Portage. As we were driving, we saw a guy driving and doing doughnuts on the mud flats. That was odd, and not particularly smart. I guess he did not get stuck though, because he was gone later when we came back. Shortly after seeing that, we went around a turn, and found a vehicle that missed the turn. It was off the road, down a small embankment, and in a swamp. I don't know if there was anyone in the car though.
After driving through Turnagain Pass, we came to the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge. This place is in a little town called Coopers Landing, and is really out in the middle of nowhere. The lodge is very nice though. It is a bungalow style lodge, which makes it really cozy. Each room has a wood burning stove in it too, which is a nice touch. It is a nice place, which I would reccommend to my friends. When we left there, we went over to Seward.
In Seward, we had a chance to eat some lunch. Then we went over to the pier, where the ships tie up. We saw where we will stage the coaches, and we also saw the employee housing. I think if I ever have to overnight there, I'll sleep in the coach. The employee housing is a little bit ghetto! We also did the route the Seward Shuttle takes on ship days, so we could see that. After driving around Seward, we headed back to Anchorage. As we came back to Turnagain Arm, we saw the same car stuck in the swamp. They were finally towing it out though. Other than that, we got back without seeing anything too crazy. It was a fun trip.
Tomorrow the Diamond Princess arrives in Whittier, which will be our first ship for the season. Today the Volendam is in Homer, but only six people are working that one. I had today off, but I expect I will work tomorrow, and probably rather early inthe morning. It will be my first day with paying passengers. I am excited, but also a little nervous. I think it will be fine though.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Denali
On Tuesday, we took another familiarization trip. This was an overnight trip. Holland America had to move five of their McKinley Explorer rail cars and Princess Tours was moving three of their rail cars to Fairbanks. We boarded the train in Anchorage and rode with all employees to Denali Park. It was a fun trip. We were on the train for about eight hours. It was very nice. The cars had open platforms on one end, which was a neat experience.
After boarding the train, I began to discover that the railroads are run a little differently around here. Passenger trains are run more like freight trains are everywhere else. They do run on a schedule, but it is a loose, casual schedule. We were told that the train would be departing the Anchorage station at 8:15am sharp. Well, we started rolling after we ordered breakfast, somewhere around 8:25am. There was not an exact time of arrival into the Denali Park Depot. They told us it would probably be between 4:00 and 4:30pm.
While we were still in the Anchorage station, breakfast began. Since this was a train full of employees, all the meals were free for us. Not only were they free, but this trip counted as work for us, and so we were getting paid for the ride! I ordered the steak and eggs for breakfast, which was quite delicious. It included a 5oz. piece of steak, a large serving of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon. I also got a bottomless glass of orange juice with it. It was a very nice meal.
After breakfast, we decided to explore the train. At the front, there were to Alaska Railroad locomotives. For those interested, they were SD-70MAC's, which were built by the Electro-Motive Division of GM. Behind the two locomotives, there were five of Holland America Line's McKinley Explorer cars. These are the largest passenger cars in North America. They are fully domed on the upper level, and are over 18 feet tall. The enormous amount of glass on the upper level makes them great for seeing the scenery. On the lower level of each car there was a small kitchen, a dining area, bathrooms, a small gift shop, and an outdoor platform. The stairs were at either end of the car. All five cars were like this. Some had more of a serving area instead of a full kitchen, but they would be coupled with the serving area next to a kitchen. We had five of the ten cars that Holland America owns on the train. Behind the McKinley Explorer cars were three Princess cars. These regularly make up a train known as the McKinley Express. They are also bilevel cars, with a similar setup on the lower level of each car. The upper level was a little different though. Rather than having chairs, they had tables, like a Dining Car, and it was not a dome car. They had large windows, which did wrap around to the ceiling, but not full domes. They were also very nice cars though. The last car of the train had its open platform on the rear end, which was a great place to ride and see the scenery. It was also a unique experience, as it is very rare now that one can ride an open air platform on the rear of a train.
On the way to Denali, the train made one stop in Talkeetna to pick up more people headed to Denali. After that stop, and an intense game of Phase Ten, in an unoccupied Dining Car, it was time for lunch. For me, lunch consisted of wo Alaska King Crab sandwiches, which were absolutely delicious, followed by a rich brownie with chocolate chips, which was covered in ice cream and whipped cream. It was a very filling but very good lunch. After lunch, we went back to that rear platform to take pictures and watch the canyons roll by. The ride is great back there. While we were back there, we crossed the bridge over Hurricane Gulch, which is one of the better known landmarks on the Alaska Railroad. It is an enormouus steel bridge over a rather high gulch, with a small river hundreds of feet below. It is a rather impressive span.
When we arrived at the Denali Park Depot, there must have been some mix up with the train crew. The plaform is on the Denali Siding, and the main track has no platform. For some reason, rather than enter the siding to disembark, the train came to a stop on the main track. We were at the station, but not exactly in it, since we were on a track without a platform. They unloaded us onto the gravel and had us walk across the Denali Siding track and up onto the platform. It was rather odd. We met a motor coach at the station, which brought us to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. We had a brief orientation there, and then we jumped back onto the coach.
Once on the coach again, we drove several more miles to the north to a town called Healy. This is where driver housing is, and where we will refuel the coaches. After a brief tour of the facilities there, we returned to Denali National Park, where we were supposed to be attending a dinner show. On the way back, our dinner show arrangements were changed. We instead went to the McKinely Chalet, which is the Holland America resort, and had a different dinner show there. It was a lot of fun. The wait staff was also the cast in the show. They did great. Dinner was casual and a lot of fun, and the show was a fun history of the settling of Alaska. A lot of it told the story of the gold ruch, which started in 1896 up here. It was quite interesting, and quite a lot of fun. After dinner, we returned to todge, and went to bed.
On Wednesday, we got up, and got ready to head back to Anchorage. There was breakfast for us at the lodge, and then we boarded the coach for the drive back south. We made one stop along the way, at the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. This is in a little town called Trapper Creek, AK, which is just north of Talkeetna. We toured that lodge, and took a lot of pictures of Denali Peak, or Mount McKinley. They have one of the best views of the mountain, and we were lucky enough to have a perfectly clear day. There were no clouds at all around the mountain, which was great. We had a million dollar view. It was great. After leavin that lodge, we headed back to Anchorage. When we arrived at the yard, we were done our work. It was a great trip, and the best part is that I got paid to go! I love my job! It was a blast.
I took over 200 pictures on this trip. I did not post them all, but to see some of the better ones, just follow the links below.
Railroad Stuff
Mt. McKinley
Other Trip Pictures
After boarding the train, I began to discover that the railroads are run a little differently around here. Passenger trains are run more like freight trains are everywhere else. They do run on a schedule, but it is a loose, casual schedule. We were told that the train would be departing the Anchorage station at 8:15am sharp. Well, we started rolling after we ordered breakfast, somewhere around 8:25am. There was not an exact time of arrival into the Denali Park Depot. They told us it would probably be between 4:00 and 4:30pm.
While we were still in the Anchorage station, breakfast began. Since this was a train full of employees, all the meals were free for us. Not only were they free, but this trip counted as work for us, and so we were getting paid for the ride! I ordered the steak and eggs for breakfast, which was quite delicious. It included a 5oz. piece of steak, a large serving of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon. I also got a bottomless glass of orange juice with it. It was a very nice meal.
After breakfast, we decided to explore the train. At the front, there were to Alaska Railroad locomotives. For those interested, they were SD-70MAC's, which were built by the Electro-Motive Division of GM. Behind the two locomotives, there were five of Holland America Line's McKinley Explorer cars. These are the largest passenger cars in North America. They are fully domed on the upper level, and are over 18 feet tall. The enormous amount of glass on the upper level makes them great for seeing the scenery. On the lower level of each car there was a small kitchen, a dining area, bathrooms, a small gift shop, and an outdoor platform. The stairs were at either end of the car. All five cars were like this. Some had more of a serving area instead of a full kitchen, but they would be coupled with the serving area next to a kitchen. We had five of the ten cars that Holland America owns on the train. Behind the McKinley Explorer cars were three Princess cars. These regularly make up a train known as the McKinley Express. They are also bilevel cars, with a similar setup on the lower level of each car. The upper level was a little different though. Rather than having chairs, they had tables, like a Dining Car, and it was not a dome car. They had large windows, which did wrap around to the ceiling, but not full domes. They were also very nice cars though. The last car of the train had its open platform on the rear end, which was a great place to ride and see the scenery. It was also a unique experience, as it is very rare now that one can ride an open air platform on the rear of a train.
On the way to Denali, the train made one stop in Talkeetna to pick up more people headed to Denali. After that stop, and an intense game of Phase Ten, in an unoccupied Dining Car, it was time for lunch. For me, lunch consisted of wo Alaska King Crab sandwiches, which were absolutely delicious, followed by a rich brownie with chocolate chips, which was covered in ice cream and whipped cream. It was a very filling but very good lunch. After lunch, we went back to that rear platform to take pictures and watch the canyons roll by. The ride is great back there. While we were back there, we crossed the bridge over Hurricane Gulch, which is one of the better known landmarks on the Alaska Railroad. It is an enormouus steel bridge over a rather high gulch, with a small river hundreds of feet below. It is a rather impressive span.
When we arrived at the Denali Park Depot, there must have been some mix up with the train crew. The plaform is on the Denali Siding, and the main track has no platform. For some reason, rather than enter the siding to disembark, the train came to a stop on the main track. We were at the station, but not exactly in it, since we were on a track without a platform. They unloaded us onto the gravel and had us walk across the Denali Siding track and up onto the platform. It was rather odd. We met a motor coach at the station, which brought us to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. We had a brief orientation there, and then we jumped back onto the coach.
Once on the coach again, we drove several more miles to the north to a town called Healy. This is where driver housing is, and where we will refuel the coaches. After a brief tour of the facilities there, we returned to Denali National Park, where we were supposed to be attending a dinner show. On the way back, our dinner show arrangements were changed. We instead went to the McKinely Chalet, which is the Holland America resort, and had a different dinner show there. It was a lot of fun. The wait staff was also the cast in the show. They did great. Dinner was casual and a lot of fun, and the show was a fun history of the settling of Alaska. A lot of it told the story of the gold ruch, which started in 1896 up here. It was quite interesting, and quite a lot of fun. After dinner, we returned to todge, and went to bed.
On Wednesday, we got up, and got ready to head back to Anchorage. There was breakfast for us at the lodge, and then we boarded the coach for the drive back south. We made one stop along the way, at the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. This is in a little town called Trapper Creek, AK, which is just north of Talkeetna. We toured that lodge, and took a lot of pictures of Denali Peak, or Mount McKinley. They have one of the best views of the mountain, and we were lucky enough to have a perfectly clear day. There were no clouds at all around the mountain, which was great. We had a million dollar view. It was great. After leavin that lodge, we headed back to Anchorage. When we arrived at the yard, we were done our work. It was a great trip, and the best part is that I got paid to go! I love my job! It was a blast.
I took over 200 pictures on this trip. I did not post them all, but to see some of the better ones, just follow the links below.
Railroad Stuff
Mt. McKinley
Other Trip Pictures
Monday, May 11, 2009
Turnagain Arm
Today we continued our training, with the second part of a public speaking class with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. That went well. We all had to give a two-minute talk on a topic of our choosing. I chose to talk about how Anchorage was settled and the Alaska Railroad, since this place started out as a railroad town. That went well. That was our last training session, but in the afternoon, we had the opportunity to go on some tours of Anchorage. This was to give us an idea of what the passengers expect when they take either Holland America's Highlights tour or Princess's Anchorage Explorer tour. We will be giving those in the next few days.
Yesterday, we had a familiarization trip to Portage and back. Originally, this trip was supposed to take us to Whittier, but in April there was a rather massive rock slide near the north end of the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, and the road to Whittier has been closed since. The only access to Whittier is by rail, or by boat. Rail is the most practical. Originally, the road was supposed to reopen after the weekend, but it has been nearly a month now since the slide, and it is still closed. The slide was much worse than everyone realized. Due to the slide, our trip was unable to go to Whittier. Instead, we went as far as Portage. There we saw Portage Glacier Lake and the Begich, Boggs Visitors' Center. The ship M/V Ptarmigan sails on that lake, and many or our trips down Turnagain Arm will include a stop there. As drivers, we are allowed to sail on the Ptarmigan for free, since Holland America is the owner and operator. It sails across the lake to the Portage Glacier. The lake was still frozen yesterday though, so the boat was not out, and the glacier was not visible from the road.
On the way to and from Portage we made some other stops. We first stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, in Portage. They have a lot of animals there that, for whatever reason, have been rescued and are unable to return to living in the wild. They take care of them there, and allow people to visit and see the animals. There were a lot of moose, bears, and caribou there. It was interesting, though it will not be a regular stop for the tours. There are a few that stop there, but not many.
On the way back towards Anchorage, we stopped at the Alyeska Resort, which is also near Portage. That was our fifteen minute lunch break. I ate on the bus though. They have a tram there which goes up one of the mountains. It is not yet open for the season. Many of the Princess guests will be spending some time at Alyeska, and when we bring them there, we can ride the tram with them for free. We also get to eat there for half price, and we get all the hot drinks we want for free. There are some perks to being a driver! It was a very nice place, up in the Chugach Mountains, but it was rather expensive! Even at half price, I cannot see myself eathing very much there. They definately charge tourist prices. It was very nice though.
Tomorrow we have another exciting familiarization trip. We will be taking the train from the Anchorage station to the Denali Princess Lodge, near Mount McKinley. Our meals are all included, and there is a dinner show at the lodge. We will be staying the night at the lodge, and returning via motor coach on Wednesday. On the return trip, we will also be stopping at the McKinley Princess Lodge, to see where that is. I am excited for this trip! All our meals will be included on Wednesday as well, and we will be back in the middle of the afternoon.
Here is a link to the pictures I took yesterday, on our trip to Portage and back. There are quite a lot, so I am not going to post the pictures on this site. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2259461&id=17812966&l=2b12dd1c13
Yesterday, we had a familiarization trip to Portage and back. Originally, this trip was supposed to take us to Whittier, but in April there was a rather massive rock slide near the north end of the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, and the road to Whittier has been closed since. The only access to Whittier is by rail, or by boat. Rail is the most practical. Originally, the road was supposed to reopen after the weekend, but it has been nearly a month now since the slide, and it is still closed. The slide was much worse than everyone realized. Due to the slide, our trip was unable to go to Whittier. Instead, we went as far as Portage. There we saw Portage Glacier Lake and the Begich, Boggs Visitors' Center. The ship M/V Ptarmigan sails on that lake, and many or our trips down Turnagain Arm will include a stop there. As drivers, we are allowed to sail on the Ptarmigan for free, since Holland America is the owner and operator. It sails across the lake to the Portage Glacier. The lake was still frozen yesterday though, so the boat was not out, and the glacier was not visible from the road.
On the way to and from Portage we made some other stops. We first stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, in Portage. They have a lot of animals there that, for whatever reason, have been rescued and are unable to return to living in the wild. They take care of them there, and allow people to visit and see the animals. There were a lot of moose, bears, and caribou there. It was interesting, though it will not be a regular stop for the tours. There are a few that stop there, but not many.
On the way back towards Anchorage, we stopped at the Alyeska Resort, which is also near Portage. That was our fifteen minute lunch break. I ate on the bus though. They have a tram there which goes up one of the mountains. It is not yet open for the season. Many of the Princess guests will be spending some time at Alyeska, and when we bring them there, we can ride the tram with them for free. We also get to eat there for half price, and we get all the hot drinks we want for free. There are some perks to being a driver! It was a very nice place, up in the Chugach Mountains, but it was rather expensive! Even at half price, I cannot see myself eathing very much there. They definately charge tourist prices. It was very nice though.
Tomorrow we have another exciting familiarization trip. We will be taking the train from the Anchorage station to the Denali Princess Lodge, near Mount McKinley. Our meals are all included, and there is a dinner show at the lodge. We will be staying the night at the lodge, and returning via motor coach on Wednesday. On the return trip, we will also be stopping at the McKinley Princess Lodge, to see where that is. I am excited for this trip! All our meals will be included on Wednesday as well, and we will be back in the middle of the afternoon.
Here is a link to the pictures I took yesterday, on our trip to Portage and back. There are quite a lot, so I am not going to post the pictures on this site. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2259461&id=17812966&l=2b12dd1c13
Friday, May 8, 2009
Moose Everywhere
Most major cities around the world, regardless of where they are, seem to have excessive amounts of pigeons and rats. I have found in the past week that this is not the case with Anchorage. Their problem seems to be moose. Every time I turn around, there is another moose, just chilling there, munching on some branches. I had heard before arriving here that there were a lot of moose here, but I never imagined it would be like this. When I visited Newfoundland several years ago, they mentioned a number of times that that island was full of moose, yet I never saw one there. There were a lot, I'm sure of that, I guess I just looked in all the wrong places.
My first day, maybe two, but I think that is a stretch, I did not see any moose. I figured it would be like Newfoundland, and I would really have to be on the lookout, and just look at the right places. I was wrong. My second day here, we discovered a moose in our backyard. That was interesting. Every day since then, I have seen at least a couple moose. Last night, while I was on the phone with Rachelle, I was walking outside, in the midnight sun, and just about walked into a moose. Now, you may ask how that is possible, as they are not exactly small animals. In fact, the small ones are bigger than me. Well, they tend to spend most of their time in the brush, chewing on twigs and branches. Right near our apartment, there is a little grove of trees, which is full or brush and twigs, and I am certain a few moose live in there. Well, I did not make that connection until last night. I was walking around, paying little attention to what was going on around me, seeing I was a little more focused on the person on the other end of the phone. As I rounded the corner again, the thought popped into my head that there were probably moose that live in that grove. About the same time as I had that thought, I realized that there was a moose standing in front of me, and looking at me, about five to seven feet away. That startled me. I don't think the moose cared very much. She watched me jump and walk away, and then she just went back to eating her branches.
The moose in this place are everywhere. Just today, I saw a few more. Most of them just wander around the city, looking for food. The bulls are just beginning to grow their antlers. Most of the moose we run into, some of us literally, are quite accustomed to people being around, so they just look at us and then go back to whatever they were doing to begin with. They can be found anywhere there are any trees, however many or few trees there are in the area. They can be found at any time of the day, but to see them in the trees, you sort of have to look for them. They are huge, but they are brown, and usually surrounded by brown trees. If you know what they look like though, they are not usually that difficult to spot. For those that are wondering, some moose are so accustomed to people that they will eat out of your hand, however the Municipality of Anchorage has a $5,000 fine for people who try that, and they will kill the moose, to prevent any diseases from potentially spreading to the rest of the moose community.
My first day, maybe two, but I think that is a stretch, I did not see any moose. I figured it would be like Newfoundland, and I would really have to be on the lookout, and just look at the right places. I was wrong. My second day here, we discovered a moose in our backyard. That was interesting. Every day since then, I have seen at least a couple moose. Last night, while I was on the phone with Rachelle, I was walking outside, in the midnight sun, and just about walked into a moose. Now, you may ask how that is possible, as they are not exactly small animals. In fact, the small ones are bigger than me. Well, they tend to spend most of their time in the brush, chewing on twigs and branches. Right near our apartment, there is a little grove of trees, which is full or brush and twigs, and I am certain a few moose live in there. Well, I did not make that connection until last night. I was walking around, paying little attention to what was going on around me, seeing I was a little more focused on the person on the other end of the phone. As I rounded the corner again, the thought popped into my head that there were probably moose that live in that grove. About the same time as I had that thought, I realized that there was a moose standing in front of me, and looking at me, about five to seven feet away. That startled me. I don't think the moose cared very much. She watched me jump and walk away, and then she just went back to eating her branches.
The moose in this place are everywhere. Just today, I saw a few more. Most of them just wander around the city, looking for food. The bulls are just beginning to grow their antlers. Most of the moose we run into, some of us literally, are quite accustomed to people being around, so they just look at us and then go back to whatever they were doing to begin with. They can be found anywhere there are any trees, however many or few trees there are in the area. They can be found at any time of the day, but to see them in the trees, you sort of have to look for them. They are huge, but they are brown, and usually surrounded by brown trees. If you know what they look like though, they are not usually that difficult to spot. For those that are wondering, some moose are so accustomed to people that they will eat out of your hand, however the Municipality of Anchorage has a $5,000 fine for people who try that, and they will kill the moose, to prevent any diseases from potentially spreading to the rest of the moose community.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Coach Captain Training
Let me tell you a little bit about the training we are all going through to become new Coach Captains, or bus drivers as we are often called.
Before arriving in Alaska, we went through the training required to actually drive a motor coach. We had several A model and E model coaches in Utah, on which we learned to drive. We started on a closed skills course, which was set up in a large parking lot. It was a course outlined by orange cones. We learned how to maneuver the coaches, both forwards, and backwards. We started with the slalom, which is a line of cones that you simply weave through. In the course, the cones were 40 feet apart, the same distance as the bumpers on one of the coaches. The idea was to weave between the cones without hitting any of them. Once that was done a few times forwards, it was then time to do it backwards. We also had a box set up, and we would back around a 90 degree corner into that box, and stop with the rear bumper of the coach within three feet of the end of the box. We had a 55 foot parallel parking spot, in which we learned to parallel park the coach from either side. That was required for the drivers test, but really is not a very practical skill. If I ever find that I have the opportunity to parallel park a bus, I will simply double park it. It is too risky to try to parallel park one in an actual city street. We also had a pair of lanes parked out with the cones, in which we learned how to back up in a straight line, and do offset backing. Offset backing is when you pull forward in one lane, but back into the other. It is not that difficult. In all this training, the most challenging thing was getting used to the fact that the mirror is the best way to see what is going on behind you when you back up. It is not possible to look back to back up, so you just have to rely on the mirror.
Once we could do everything on that skills course well, we moved to light density driving. This is easy driving, like in residential areas, where the biggest thing to worry about is a stop sign or parked cars. There are not a lot of decisions to be made, but it helps us get the feel of the coach on the road. This was supposed to be four driving sessions, but that was a little unrealistic for most people. Most people only needed one session, and then it was on to medium density driving. Medium density is sort of your average driving. There is other traffic, traffic lights, and an average amount of decisions to be made. There is nothing extreme, but it still keeps us on our toes. It is during these sessions that we learned to enter and exit the freeway, navigate narrow streets and tight turns, go up and down hills, without destroying the engine or overheating the brakes, cross railroad tracks properly, and deal with the every day driving situations.
Following several, at least four, sessions of medium density driving, we moved to high density driving. High density driving is the extreme situations that require a lot of decisions in a very short time. This would be found frequently during rush hours, accident scenes where the road is partially blocked, very busy areas of town, especially where the road is small, and on big hills that see a lot of traffic. Anywhere were more than the normal amount of decisions would need to be made could be considered high density. Since this does not represent the majority of the driving we will do, it is practiced, but not nearly as much as the medium density stuff is.
After all the driving sessions were completed, it was time for the commercial drivers license test. We scheduled a time to meet with an examiner from the state, and he had us go out and drive with him, testing our ability in a variety of situations. He also has us practice important things such as hill driving, and crossing railroad tracks. He also would ask us the height on bridges, after we were under them, to make sure we were paying attention to our clearances. At the end, he has us go through a pre-trip inspection, and identify various important components and parts of the vehicle. After that, he fills out some paperwork, which is given to the DMV, and the test os over.
Now, I am in Anchorage, and there is more local training. The training in Utah was primarily to help us learn to properly and safely operate the coaches. Our training here is more location specific. On Sunday afternoon, we had a big meeting where we met the various supervisors and managers for the different departments here. It was basically an orientation meeting. They also showed the promotional video for the Holland America Line, and the one for Princess Cruises, since those are the two companies we work under. They wanted us to get an idea of what the guests for each company are expecting when they come here.
On Monday, we had training over at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The first hour was a guided tour of the place, which was quite interesting. This will be a frequent stop for our guests, and it is important that we are familiar with it, to answer whatever questions our guests may have about the place. It was really fascinating, and a visit to Anchorage ought to include a stop there. After the tour, we used theis theater for a meeting, in which we went over many of the policies, operational schedules, and various abbreviations and acronyms that the company uses.
Tuesday's training found us at the South Shop, and dressed down a little. We were divided into groups, and then we went to various stations. At the first station, we learned how to properly clean and wash a coach, including emptying the lavatory. If we end our day here in town, we willnot normally have to clean and wash our coaches, but we will need to dump and clean the lavatory. Out of town, we will need to also wash and clean the coach. The second station was basically a fire drill. They had a smoke device on one of the coaches, and we all practiced evacuating a coach that was on fire. The third station was the spill response station, where we learned what to do if chemicals are spilled. Next, at the fourth station, we learned how to do a pre-trip inspection on some vans, and use the wheelchair lift on the airport vans. The fifth station was all about wheelchair lifts. We learned how to operate the lifts on the VanHool buses, and then on the MCI coaches. There are at least six different types of lifts that I can think of right now. The last station was a short video on Back Safety, and then a walk through the shop.
We had a barbecue for dinner. The comapny had a ton of food for us, and we ate a ton of food! It was great. After the barbecue, we had a meet the mechanics night. They showed us various parts of the coach, and helped us learn to troubleshoot in the event of a breakdown. They also lifted a coach about seven feet in the air and let us see the bottom. There actually is not a whole lot down there, except right around the wheels. In the middle, all you see is the botom of the baggage bays. It was interesting.
Tonight we have fire extinguisher training. They have scheduled that to run for five hours, so I am not sure what we are doing. I hope we get to shoot off some of the extinguishers, but I would be surprised if they did that. That can get expensive. Maybe they have some other activities planned also, and maybe we will just be done early. I guess we will see tonight.
Before arriving in Alaska, we went through the training required to actually drive a motor coach. We had several A model and E model coaches in Utah, on which we learned to drive. We started on a closed skills course, which was set up in a large parking lot. It was a course outlined by orange cones. We learned how to maneuver the coaches, both forwards, and backwards. We started with the slalom, which is a line of cones that you simply weave through. In the course, the cones were 40 feet apart, the same distance as the bumpers on one of the coaches. The idea was to weave between the cones without hitting any of them. Once that was done a few times forwards, it was then time to do it backwards. We also had a box set up, and we would back around a 90 degree corner into that box, and stop with the rear bumper of the coach within three feet of the end of the box. We had a 55 foot parallel parking spot, in which we learned to parallel park the coach from either side. That was required for the drivers test, but really is not a very practical skill. If I ever find that I have the opportunity to parallel park a bus, I will simply double park it. It is too risky to try to parallel park one in an actual city street. We also had a pair of lanes parked out with the cones, in which we learned how to back up in a straight line, and do offset backing. Offset backing is when you pull forward in one lane, but back into the other. It is not that difficult. In all this training, the most challenging thing was getting used to the fact that the mirror is the best way to see what is going on behind you when you back up. It is not possible to look back to back up, so you just have to rely on the mirror.
Once we could do everything on that skills course well, we moved to light density driving. This is easy driving, like in residential areas, where the biggest thing to worry about is a stop sign or parked cars. There are not a lot of decisions to be made, but it helps us get the feel of the coach on the road. This was supposed to be four driving sessions, but that was a little unrealistic for most people. Most people only needed one session, and then it was on to medium density driving. Medium density is sort of your average driving. There is other traffic, traffic lights, and an average amount of decisions to be made. There is nothing extreme, but it still keeps us on our toes. It is during these sessions that we learned to enter and exit the freeway, navigate narrow streets and tight turns, go up and down hills, without destroying the engine or overheating the brakes, cross railroad tracks properly, and deal with the every day driving situations.
Following several, at least four, sessions of medium density driving, we moved to high density driving. High density driving is the extreme situations that require a lot of decisions in a very short time. This would be found frequently during rush hours, accident scenes where the road is partially blocked, very busy areas of town, especially where the road is small, and on big hills that see a lot of traffic. Anywhere were more than the normal amount of decisions would need to be made could be considered high density. Since this does not represent the majority of the driving we will do, it is practiced, but not nearly as much as the medium density stuff is.
After all the driving sessions were completed, it was time for the commercial drivers license test. We scheduled a time to meet with an examiner from the state, and he had us go out and drive with him, testing our ability in a variety of situations. He also has us practice important things such as hill driving, and crossing railroad tracks. He also would ask us the height on bridges, after we were under them, to make sure we were paying attention to our clearances. At the end, he has us go through a pre-trip inspection, and identify various important components and parts of the vehicle. After that, he fills out some paperwork, which is given to the DMV, and the test os over.
Now, I am in Anchorage, and there is more local training. The training in Utah was primarily to help us learn to properly and safely operate the coaches. Our training here is more location specific. On Sunday afternoon, we had a big meeting where we met the various supervisors and managers for the different departments here. It was basically an orientation meeting. They also showed the promotional video for the Holland America Line, and the one for Princess Cruises, since those are the two companies we work under. They wanted us to get an idea of what the guests for each company are expecting when they come here.
On Monday, we had training over at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The first hour was a guided tour of the place, which was quite interesting. This will be a frequent stop for our guests, and it is important that we are familiar with it, to answer whatever questions our guests may have about the place. It was really fascinating, and a visit to Anchorage ought to include a stop there. After the tour, we used theis theater for a meeting, in which we went over many of the policies, operational schedules, and various abbreviations and acronyms that the company uses.
Tuesday's training found us at the South Shop, and dressed down a little. We were divided into groups, and then we went to various stations. At the first station, we learned how to properly clean and wash a coach, including emptying the lavatory. If we end our day here in town, we willnot normally have to clean and wash our coaches, but we will need to dump and clean the lavatory. Out of town, we will need to also wash and clean the coach. The second station was basically a fire drill. They had a smoke device on one of the coaches, and we all practiced evacuating a coach that was on fire. The third station was the spill response station, where we learned what to do if chemicals are spilled. Next, at the fourth station, we learned how to do a pre-trip inspection on some vans, and use the wheelchair lift on the airport vans. The fifth station was all about wheelchair lifts. We learned how to operate the lifts on the VanHool buses, and then on the MCI coaches. There are at least six different types of lifts that I can think of right now. The last station was a short video on Back Safety, and then a walk through the shop.
We had a barbecue for dinner. The comapny had a ton of food for us, and we ate a ton of food! It was great. After the barbecue, we had a meet the mechanics night. They showed us various parts of the coach, and helped us learn to troubleshoot in the event of a breakdown. They also lifted a coach about seven feet in the air and let us see the bottom. There actually is not a whole lot down there, except right around the wheels. In the middle, all you see is the botom of the baggage bays. It was interesting.
Tonight we have fire extinguisher training. They have scheduled that to run for five hours, so I am not sure what we are doing. I hope we get to shoot off some of the extinguishers, but I would be surprised if they did that. That can get expensive. Maybe they have some other activities planned also, and maybe we will just be done early. I guess we will see tonight.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Story
Well, I figured I had better explain a few of the comments in my last post, especially the one about being engaged! Let me start with the shorter story first though.
The short story is the one about the moose. So, I am in Alaska now, the last frontier, where the moose outnumber the people by quite a lot, and some town have more huskies for dogsleds than they have people. I live in a fairly quiet apartment in the middle of Anchorage, which is a sprawling city of 280,000 people. Despite the populated nature of the area, the moose are still quite well represented residents of this area as well. Yesterday evening, as we were all relaxing at the end of the day, one of my roommates, Robert, came in and asked if we wanted to see a moose. Seeing as we are not from here, all of us wanted to see one. We grabbed our cameras and followed him out the door, and around to the back of the building. As we came around the corner, there was a moose, kneeling in the grass, and just eating. He was quite aware of us, but really did not seem to care. He was hungry, and just kept munching on the grass, despite being the target of quite a few cameras. The neighbors, who are natives to this area, found our excitement over the moose rather amusing. It sort of gave away the fact that none of us are from this area. I will post some of the pictures we took at a later date.
Now I will tell the engagement story. It actually starts several weeks ago, when Karen started asking me what was going on with Rachelle and me. I was startled the first time she asked that, and told her not to worry about it. She kept asking me from time to time about Rachelle and me, and I kept telling her not to worry about it, or I would change the subject. Finally, Karen threatened to ask Rachelle, since I was not giving her any information. I left before Karen did, and flew to New York, and then took the train on to Boston. I stayed in New Hampshire for a few days before Karen got there, and in that time I had the opportunity to talk to Rachelle. By this time, Karen had arrive on the train in New York. As I talked to Rachelle, we talked about how Karen was suspicious of something, because she kept asking about us. Rachelle then mentioned to me that Karen had indeed asked her about it, as she was boarding the train in Provo. Rachelle had just changed the subject and did not really say anything on the subject.
Well, Karen caught up with me in New Hampshire, and kept asking me about it, and I kept telling her not to worry about it, or I would change the subject, just as I had done before, and she threatened to ask Rachelle again. I guess that did not bother me, because I knew she had done it before. I was actually at lunch with Karen and Steven and Mom with all this went down. I guess Karen asked Rachelle again via text message. Rather than change the subject or avoid the question, Rachelle decided to just tell her that we were actually getting married. She then sent me a message to give me a heads up of this. I actually did not get that message until after Karen asked me about it. I just agreed with Rachelle, and then got that message later, telling me that we were getting married. Later that afternoon, I was talking with Rachelle, and we decided that November 22 sounded like a good day, and we would do it in Manti, Utah. Upon looking at a calendar, we realized that the 22nd is a Sunday, so that will not work, so we moved it to the 21st. Since I have arrived in Alaska, Tim has also been asking what has been going on with me and Rachelle, and I pretty much answer him the same way as I do Karen. Without me telling him anything about marriage plans, he has pretty much decided that we are getting married. He thinks we talk quite a lot on the phone, and text all the time, which we do I guess. That is the story. I guess if I really wanted to make it official I would need to get her a ring and get down on one knee, but I don't think this is serious, and I am 3,100 miles away from her now!
The short story is the one about the moose. So, I am in Alaska now, the last frontier, where the moose outnumber the people by quite a lot, and some town have more huskies for dogsleds than they have people. I live in a fairly quiet apartment in the middle of Anchorage, which is a sprawling city of 280,000 people. Despite the populated nature of the area, the moose are still quite well represented residents of this area as well. Yesterday evening, as we were all relaxing at the end of the day, one of my roommates, Robert, came in and asked if we wanted to see a moose. Seeing as we are not from here, all of us wanted to see one. We grabbed our cameras and followed him out the door, and around to the back of the building. As we came around the corner, there was a moose, kneeling in the grass, and just eating. He was quite aware of us, but really did not seem to care. He was hungry, and just kept munching on the grass, despite being the target of quite a few cameras. The neighbors, who are natives to this area, found our excitement over the moose rather amusing. It sort of gave away the fact that none of us are from this area. I will post some of the pictures we took at a later date.
Now I will tell the engagement story. It actually starts several weeks ago, when Karen started asking me what was going on with Rachelle and me. I was startled the first time she asked that, and told her not to worry about it. She kept asking me from time to time about Rachelle and me, and I kept telling her not to worry about it, or I would change the subject. Finally, Karen threatened to ask Rachelle, since I was not giving her any information. I left before Karen did, and flew to New York, and then took the train on to Boston. I stayed in New Hampshire for a few days before Karen got there, and in that time I had the opportunity to talk to Rachelle. By this time, Karen had arrive on the train in New York. As I talked to Rachelle, we talked about how Karen was suspicious of something, because she kept asking about us. Rachelle then mentioned to me that Karen had indeed asked her about it, as she was boarding the train in Provo. Rachelle had just changed the subject and did not really say anything on the subject.
Well, Karen caught up with me in New Hampshire, and kept asking me about it, and I kept telling her not to worry about it, or I would change the subject, just as I had done before, and she threatened to ask Rachelle again. I guess that did not bother me, because I knew she had done it before. I was actually at lunch with Karen and Steven and Mom with all this went down. I guess Karen asked Rachelle again via text message. Rather than change the subject or avoid the question, Rachelle decided to just tell her that we were actually getting married. She then sent me a message to give me a heads up of this. I actually did not get that message until after Karen asked me about it. I just agreed with Rachelle, and then got that message later, telling me that we were getting married. Later that afternoon, I was talking with Rachelle, and we decided that November 22 sounded like a good day, and we would do it in Manti, Utah. Upon looking at a calendar, we realized that the 22nd is a Sunday, so that will not work, so we moved it to the 21st. Since I have arrived in Alaska, Tim has also been asking what has been going on with me and Rachelle, and I pretty much answer him the same way as I do Karen. Without me telling him anything about marriage plans, he has pretty much decided that we are getting married. He thinks we talk quite a lot on the phone, and text all the time, which we do I guess. That is the story. I guess if I really wanted to make it official I would need to get her a ring and get down on one knee, but I don't think this is serious, and I am 3,100 miles away from her now!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
8,000 Miles in 21 Hours
The past two weeks have been interesting. Aside from finals, and all the craziness associated with that, I have been all over this country. I have been from coast to coast, and quite a bit further. As I write this, I am lying in a make shift bed that is closer to Russia than any other state in the United States.
My last final exam was for my Spanish, and took about a half hour. It was 100 questions, and it was not terribly difficult. Actually, it was unbelievably easy! That afternoon, I went up to UVU, in Orem, and met up with Katie Moon. We had decided that we ought to hang out before we both went our separate ways for the summer. We went out to eat, at El Gallo Giro, in Provo, and then hung out for a bit with Bonnie Ware as well. It was a lot of fun, and it was good to see the two of them again. It had been a while, and it was really the first time we had spent any time together in quite a while. That evening, Katie dropped me off at Karen's place, where I hung out until Rachelle got out of her accounting test. Rachelle had promised me that she would drop me off at the airport that evening. I had decided to do something a little different, partially because of the price, and partially because I get sick on planes. I found a flight that left Salt Lake City and went non stop to Kennedy Airport, in New York. The only catch is that it was an overnight flight. We left Salt Lake at 11:55pm, on 22 April, and arrived at JFK at 6:17am on 23 April. I figured that would be great, because it would not use up my whole day to get there, and I was also hoping that if I was asleep on the plane, I might not get sick. It actually worked quite well. I fell asleep during the safety video. In fact, when I fell asleep, we were still rolling backwards on the ground. I woke up briefly in some turbulence, but I fell asleep again right away. The next time I woke up, we were out over the Atlantic Ocean, because we were landing at JFK going west. It was great. It seems like the flight was ten minutes long! I stayed with Nana and John for a few days. Steven came down while I was there to visit them too. He and I had some fun there, and then I took the train from New York to Boston on 26 April. That was a nice ride, though it was too short. I would like to take a nice long rail trip again, but it seems like it is increasingly more difficult to find the time for that. Mom and Dad picked my up in Alewife, where I got off the T, and then I went to the last hour of church in Nashua. That was nice. A lot of people were not expecting me, because I had only found out on Saturday morning that I would be able to go to New Hampshire. It was nice to see everyone again though. I stayed in Nashua until Thursday. Karen and Steven came up on Wednesday, so the whole family was together again, though it lasted only a little over 24 hours. I guess it was better than nothing.
Thursday afternoon I went to Logan Airport, in Boston, and caught a flight to Portland, Oregon. From there, I flew on to Anchorage, Alaska. I flew the entire way on Alaska Airlines. I had no idea they had any service to Boston. That is not really that close to Alaska! It was a seven hour flight to Portland. As we neared Portland, we flew right past Mount Hood. That was the coolest thing I have ever seen from an airplane. It was out on the left. I had a window seat on the left. It was only a couple thousand feet below us, and so it looked like the wingtip was pasing right next to the peak of the mountain. It was incredible. We turned around to land, and facing north, you could see Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, in Washington. That was really neat. I changed flights there, and went on to Anchorage. We left Portland in the dark, and as we flew north over the Pacific Ocean, it got progressivel brighter. We landed just before midnight in Anchorage, just as the sun was setting. It was quite an odd experience.
Anchorage is nice. As far as ities go, it is average. It is just another city, but the daylight patterns remind you it is Alaska! On my first night here, I went to bed at 1:00am, and woke up when it got light, at about 3:50am. By 7:00am, I felt like it must be lunch time, because it had been light for so long. The sun stayed out until after 11:00pm. The length of the day is a bit difficult to adjust to! It gets us up early, but it throws off every routing I have ever had! I am used to getting up fairly early in the daylight, but I sleep for hours after the sun comes up here. I am also used to eating dinner when it ie getting dark. Well, that is considerable later than I am used to here, so that will not work all summer. During the month of June, the sun sets, but there is daylight for 24 hours a day. It is quite crazy! A lot of unterestung thungs have happened here, like today, we found a moose in the backyard, just eating the grass. That was a surprise. It could not have been fully grown, but it still was not a small animal! Also, somewhere in this crazy week, of getting everywhere, I have gotten engaged somehow! That is another story for another day though, but I don't think it is actually a serious engagement, more of a fun act for some friends. I'll write about that next time. It is a fun story.
My last final exam was for my Spanish, and took about a half hour. It was 100 questions, and it was not terribly difficult. Actually, it was unbelievably easy! That afternoon, I went up to UVU, in Orem, and met up with Katie Moon. We had decided that we ought to hang out before we both went our separate ways for the summer. We went out to eat, at El Gallo Giro, in Provo, and then hung out for a bit with Bonnie Ware as well. It was a lot of fun, and it was good to see the two of them again. It had been a while, and it was really the first time we had spent any time together in quite a while. That evening, Katie dropped me off at Karen's place, where I hung out until Rachelle got out of her accounting test. Rachelle had promised me that she would drop me off at the airport that evening. I had decided to do something a little different, partially because of the price, and partially because I get sick on planes. I found a flight that left Salt Lake City and went non stop to Kennedy Airport, in New York. The only catch is that it was an overnight flight. We left Salt Lake at 11:55pm, on 22 April, and arrived at JFK at 6:17am on 23 April. I figured that would be great, because it would not use up my whole day to get there, and I was also hoping that if I was asleep on the plane, I might not get sick. It actually worked quite well. I fell asleep during the safety video. In fact, when I fell asleep, we were still rolling backwards on the ground. I woke up briefly in some turbulence, but I fell asleep again right away. The next time I woke up, we were out over the Atlantic Ocean, because we were landing at JFK going west. It was great. It seems like the flight was ten minutes long! I stayed with Nana and John for a few days. Steven came down while I was there to visit them too. He and I had some fun there, and then I took the train from New York to Boston on 26 April. That was a nice ride, though it was too short. I would like to take a nice long rail trip again, but it seems like it is increasingly more difficult to find the time for that. Mom and Dad picked my up in Alewife, where I got off the T, and then I went to the last hour of church in Nashua. That was nice. A lot of people were not expecting me, because I had only found out on Saturday morning that I would be able to go to New Hampshire. It was nice to see everyone again though. I stayed in Nashua until Thursday. Karen and Steven came up on Wednesday, so the whole family was together again, though it lasted only a little over 24 hours. I guess it was better than nothing.
Thursday afternoon I went to Logan Airport, in Boston, and caught a flight to Portland, Oregon. From there, I flew on to Anchorage, Alaska. I flew the entire way on Alaska Airlines. I had no idea they had any service to Boston. That is not really that close to Alaska! It was a seven hour flight to Portland. As we neared Portland, we flew right past Mount Hood. That was the coolest thing I have ever seen from an airplane. It was out on the left. I had a window seat on the left. It was only a couple thousand feet below us, and so it looked like the wingtip was pasing right next to the peak of the mountain. It was incredible. We turned around to land, and facing north, you could see Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, in Washington. That was really neat. I changed flights there, and went on to Anchorage. We left Portland in the dark, and as we flew north over the Pacific Ocean, it got progressivel brighter. We landed just before midnight in Anchorage, just as the sun was setting. It was quite an odd experience.
Anchorage is nice. As far as ities go, it is average. It is just another city, but the daylight patterns remind you it is Alaska! On my first night here, I went to bed at 1:00am, and woke up when it got light, at about 3:50am. By 7:00am, I felt like it must be lunch time, because it had been light for so long. The sun stayed out until after 11:00pm. The length of the day is a bit difficult to adjust to! It gets us up early, but it throws off every routing I have ever had! I am used to getting up fairly early in the daylight, but I sleep for hours after the sun comes up here. I am also used to eating dinner when it ie getting dark. Well, that is considerable later than I am used to here, so that will not work all summer. During the month of June, the sun sets, but there is daylight for 24 hours a day. It is quite crazy! A lot of unterestung thungs have happened here, like today, we found a moose in the backyard, just eating the grass. That was a surprise. It could not have been fully grown, but it still was not a small animal! Also, somewhere in this crazy week, of getting everywhere, I have gotten engaged somehow! That is another story for another day though, but I don't think it is actually a serious engagement, more of a fun act for some friends. I'll write about that next time. It is a fun story.
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