Two Weeks of Silence

Sorry about that by the way. Things sort of got going around here. Well, that is nothing new I guess, I just lost track of time.

This weekend was a little interesting. On Thursday, I was sent to Seward, to overnight there and then head back into Anchorage with a load of people from the m/s Ryndam. That worked out quite well. When I got back into town, they asked me if I would mind going back to Seward for the night. I had no problems with that, as long as I could wash my coach first. I had to do it myself, since it was the middle of the day and the wash crews only work nights, but I took care of it. It takes a while when you have to do it alone! My coach had become quite disgusting from some road construction on the way back from Seward, and I wanted it cleaner. After I finished giving it a bath, I went to the airport and picked up a group, and headed back to Seward. They boarded the m/s Ryndam. I stayed overnight again, and on Saturday morning, I drove right to Whittier, where I picked up a group heading to Anchorage. Once back in town, I had driven over 600 miles with that coach. They have enough fuel for about 600 miles, so I needed fuel. My plan was to stop by the shop, get fuel, and then head back out to Seward, the way I had been scheduled. When I got back there they told me to change coaches. So I got a different one, and headed back to Seward, for another night. On Sunday morning, I got up and did the Seward shuttle all day long. After a long day of driving in circles, I headed back to Anchorage, for a night back in my own bed! That was a nice change!

On Monday, the Island Princess was in Whittier. Much to my surprise, I did not work until the afternoon. I headed to Whittier with a group of people who had just flown in, and dropped them off at the ship. They were not a very responsive group, so I was not sure if they actually were interested in my tour at all. We made a picture stop at Portage Lake, and then we went through the tunnel. As we exited the tunnel several minutes later, one guy, close to the back of the coach, shouted out, "Hey James, do you accept tips?" Jackpot! Whenever someone else mentions tips, it gets everyone thinking about it, and then they generally tip better!

After I unloaded everyone I moved the coach out of the way. I had several hours to kill in Whittier because I had to bring train employees back to Anchorage. Rather than sit in the coach, I went in the terminal to see if there was anything to do or someone to talk to. As I was milling around in there the supervisor came out and told me that she had met one of my guests. Apparently this guest absolutely loved the tour and the transfer to the ship and wanted to make sure someone in charge knew that I had done a great job. That was nice to hear. I guess I had a great group, even if they were a little unresponsive.