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.