Dear Motor Home

Dear Motor Home,

I want to talk to you about your driving. This is something I do a lot, and I might know one or two things about.

I find your driving habits quite frustrating. The speed you choose to drive really bugs me quite a lot. I love to take the drive slow, and enjoy the scenery too, but usually I am not able to do that and stick to my schedule. It takes me a long time to pass you when I am in my coach bus, so I would appreciate it if you tried to travel close to the speed limit. It makes my life a whole lot easier. There are lots of places to pull off the road. You can use those to look at the scenery. They are also great to help out motorists behind you. Pull out if you're going slow, and let everyone behind you get past you safely!

Sometimes you do just the opposite, which is possibly more annoying. I know that you hate being stuck behind a coach, and I really cannot blame you. It can be hard to see around me in a bus. It really annoys me when you pass me, and then slow down in front of me. If you want to pass me, keep going faster than me when you get in front! I will pass you if you slow down like that!

You carry tourists all over Alaska. I have no problem with tourists, I move them around Alaska too. They can be really great people sometimes, and it is nice to show off your state. I understand all that. It really bugs me when you slow down to show them something with no warning at all. You do have turn signals, and it would be very helpful if you used them when you are turning off the highway or pulling over. Those of us behind you would know what you are about to do, which is quite helpful. Please use your turn signals, and if you want to be really helpful, use them before you step on the brakes!

Sometimes you pull your passengers'car behind you as you drive. That is fine, but please make sure you make all the connections so the lights work properly. I really would hate to run into their car simply because you couldn't be bothered to hook up the brake lights. This also goes for pulling trailers. It only takes a minute to hook all that up, and do a quick check to make sure it is working properly before you head out to the road!

The thing that bugs me the most about your driving habits actually has more to do with the people you carry. You are not selective about who you let sit behind the wheel. You may not realize this, but most of them have no idea how to handle a vehicle as large as you. Many are nervous about it, and a nervous driver can be very dangerous. Most of these problems would be avoided if you were simply more selective about drivers. I know, you are made of fiberglass, so you are very light and therefore not a commercial vehicle, but you still need better drivers. You are sometimes as big as one of the coach buses that I drive, even though you might be significantly lighter. You need to have drivers that understand principles like "tailswing," "off-tracking," and "planning ahead." It would help your drivers do so much better. Maybe then your drivers would not be afraid to go 65mph when that is the speed limit! Find better drivers!! Make sure they not only understand what they are getting into, but also make sure they actually are capable of handling a large vehicle!

Your help would really be appreciated. If you follow some of these simple safer driving steps, the roads will be better for everyone, and there will be fewer accidents. If not, you may end up like one of your brothers did today on the Parks Highway. I passed one of your brothers in shoulder, completely charred and smoking, a total loss, reduced to a propane tank and a skeleton. You wouldn't want that to happen to you, now would you?

Sincerely,

James the Driver

Tips are about as Predictable as the Weather on Denali

Tips are an interesting thing, as a driver. Some runs we get generally do better for tips, while others generally do not do so well. Having said that though, they really are completely unpredictable. To illustrate this, let me explain a few of the trips we do.

We operate some runs from Denali to Seward and from Seward to Denali, on Sundays. They are for Holland America guests either getting on the ship directly from Denali, or getting off and heading directly to Denali. It is about a 10-hour trip, with stops, so it is a long day, and we tour for the majority of the trip. Usually this is a pretty high tipping run, although we find that the southbound one usually does a little better than the northbound. The first time I did this run, I went north, and I made about $80 in tips, even with a tour director. The very next week, I did the exact same run. The weather was the same, we ran a little late actually, but other than that, it was almost exactly the same. I figured I wouldn't get a dime though, because the whole coach was from other countries, where tipping is not customary. On that run, I made nearly $200 in tips. It is such a fickle thing, tips, they are impossible to predict. This run had fewer people than the first too!

Just this past week, I had a seven hour tour to Portage Glacier, which I thought went well. As far as Portage tours go, it was not my best, but mother nature helped a lot, which usually increases tips. We saw a moose as we were leaving town, right in the road in fact. Everyone got a great view of it. On the glacier cruise, we are lucky if the glacier calves for us once. Usually the best we get is a couple small pieces falling unnoticed into the water. On this trip, we got two major calves. I have never seen that much at once. The trip went quite well, I thought. At the end of the trip, I got $19, from about a dozen people. Yesterday I was assigned to do airport shuttles. Usually you can expect to make less than $5 all day on those, because they are only about 15 to 20 minutes from downtown to the airport, and there really is not a lot of touring to be done. I did not tour at all yesterday on shuttles, yet I ended the day with an additional $30 in my pocket, including $10 from a group of four! It makes no sense to me, but I'll take the cash!

I had someone ask me yesterday if this job was really worth it, or if it was just a fun vacation job. As far as our hourly rate goes, the job is not worth it at all. Drivers here start at just $10.50 per hour. Transit drivers here make more than twice that, and the level of guest services in transit is minimal. The only that really makes this job worth it is the overtime and the tips. Working 60-70 hours a week makes the pay better, and adding tips to that helps too.

Strangest Things

I have had some weird experiences while driving buses at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, in Vancouver, in Alaska, and as a school bus driver in Salt Lake City, UT. I have decided that it might mildly entertaining to post the top ten strangest things that have happened, with a brief description of the situations. These experiences have all occurred as a result of me having driven bus somewhere, although not all have occurred while driving. Some did not even occur while on a bus!

10. Moving

When I was first learning to drive commercial vehicles, I was being trained by Holland America Tours, which is part of the Holland America Line, a global cruise line. They own the Gray Line of Seattle, so most of the motor coaches we were training on came from there. A couple vehicles came all the way from Skagway, Alaska. The training I was in took place in Provo, Utah, which is about 1,000 miles from Seattle and quite a bit more from Skagway. The two motor coaches from Skagway were E4500 luxury coaches. They are advertised as "Explorer" coaches by Holland America, and they are designed to be extremely comfortable for long highway trips.

Tim and I were finishing up our studies for a semester about the same time as we were going through the training program. One of the requirements for the training program, after a commercial drivers' license was obtained, was to take a coach out with another driver and just go on a road trip, to get a little more time behind the wheel. It was very close to the end of the semester when we got to this part of the training, and we were beginning to think about moving out of our apartments for the summer.

Tim and I had a brilliant idea. We combined moving with this "dual driving" time. We picked up one of these Explorer motor coaches, with an enormous photograph of a breeching whale on the side, and we drove it to my apartment. There we double parked it on a street about as wide as it was, opened the baggage bays, and loaded my stuff into it. Due to the narrowness of the street and the size of surrounding vehicles, it looked very large. Now, it was big anyway (45 feet long), but in a tight street, it appeared to be even larger than normal.

Once all of my stuff was loaded into the luggage bays, we headed over to Tim's apartment. Again, we parked the bus and loaded his stuff into the baggage bays. At his place, we were able to find a spot on the curb big enough to get the motor coach into, so we did not need to double park. Between the two of us, we were not able to fill a luggage bay. There is quite a lot of space under the floor of those vehicles. Once all of Tim's stuff was aboard, we headed out to his sister's house. She had an unfinished basement and allowed us to put our stuff in a corner for the summer.

Tim had warned his sister that we would be coming to store our stuff, so she was expecting us. Well, she was expecting us in a much smaller vehicle. We pulled the bus into her neighborhood, and we could see her outside doing some yard work. We passed by the front of the house and pulled onto the street alongside her house, where we stopped and parked the bus. As we passed, we could see her staring at this bus, which looked completely out of place in a residential neighborhood. Not only that, but we were in Utah, with a large picture of a whale on the side of the bus, which only made it look more out of place! She was still staring bewildered at the bus when we stopped, and we nonchalantly hopped off the bus to say hello. When she saw us appear out of the open door, she just started laughing, and said she should have known it would be us.

We stored our stuff and visited for a few minutes before heading out again. Once we were underway, we determined that moving all our stuff by motor coach had been the most efficient and cheapest way to move out of our apartments. We also concluded that it would be highly unlikely for us to have such an efficient move again in the fall, when we returned from Alaska.

9. Sarah Palin

In Alaska, nearly every person who boarded my bus would either make a comment about or ask about Sarah Palin. For some reason, everyone wanted to see her. If we drove through Wasilla, someone would inevitably ask if we could stop in and visit her. It was a bit of an obsession really! There were three occasions when we actually did see her. Two times were simply driving by, and she was at a park speaking. One time was a little different.

I was boarding at the airport, in Anchorage. One of the Guest Service Hosts there was escorting a group of people out to my coach. As they walked from the terminal to the motor coach, a black limousine pulled up at the drop off curb. A couple people got out of the limo, including Sarah Palin. Apparently a few people in the crowd noticed her, and diverted from walking to the bus. Eventually the majority of the group had crowded around her. Only one passenger came to the bus with the Guest Service Host. As that passenger boarded, I stowed her luggage and just made a comment about Sarah Palin being there. I asked her if she had wanted to meet Sarah Palin, to which she enthusiastically responded, "Hell no, I'm a democrat!"

8. Wild Wildlife

The call it wildlife for a reason! Driving in Alaska presented many opportunities to see some wildlife. Most sightings were pretty normal, such as a moose out in a swamp grazing on some brush. What follows are some of the more wild sightings of wildlife in Alaska.

Just the other week, I was heading into Whittier, and I came across a moose and her calf. She saw the coach coming, and began to walk away from the road. The calf looked up, and saw mom walking farther away, and jumped, and tried to run after her. The calf was very young, and its legs just collapsed under it as it tried to run. I watched the moose calf fall flat on its face as I drove by!

One day I was heading into the international airport, in Anchorage. As I drove past the parking lot, I had my most unusual wildlife sighting. I saw an animal walking across the road in front of me, from the parking lot. As I got closer, I realized this animal was a black bear meandering across the road. I guess commercial parking just wasn't where he wanted to be!

Recently, while driving on the Denali Highway, we came across a Willow Ptarmigan, which happens to be the Alaska state bird. Having never seen one before, I slowed the coach down a bit to get a look. Just as we got to the ptarmigan, it took off and began flying. This ptarmigan must have loved the attention, because a race began. The bird began flying next to the coach, in the same direction, right at the height of the windows. A better photo could not have been staged! As we drove, the ptarmigan would land, and immediately take off again, once again, flying alongside the coach. This continued several more times. We were only moving about 25mph, but this ptarmigan flew alongside us for over a mile! Just when we thought we would leave it behind, it would take off again and fly just a bit farther.

One a visit to the Mount McKinley Princess Lodge, we spotted a grizzly bear and her two cubs in the lodge road. We stopped to get a look, but the bears ran off into the woods, away from the coach. We watched as they all ran to hide behind the same tree. We waited a moment to see if they would reappear. They remained hidden for a minute or so, but then curiosity got the better of the cubs. After a minutes, we saw two furry brown hears peek out from either side of the tree. They just looked at us, and all we could see was their little brown heads. Eventually, curiosity got the better of mom too, and we had three brown heads looking around the tree at us. They never came out farther than that, but the did want to see what was going on.

7. Unreasonably Dissatisfied

One of the risks to running any sort of transportation business is the risk of an accident, even as careful as those in the business may be. This was the case for the Alaska Railroad on one evening in August 2009. Both Holland America and Princess Tours had chartered the train to pull some of their private cars behind the train. Everything was going well as the train headed south to Anchorage. It was running right on time. In Anchorage, just a couple hours before the train was due, a call was received from the railroad indicating that there had been an accident involving the train, and it would be heavily delayed getting into Anchorage. A plan was formulated very quickly to get the passengers on the train into town by another means of transportation.

The train had been heading south through Willow, AK, at the track speed, which is 60 mph. As it approached the Willow Station Road crossing, a car pulled up at the gates and stopped. Just as the train got to the crossing, that car lurched forward and onto the tracks, making a collision inevitable and unpreventable. The train ran into the side of the car at speed, killing the driver of the vehicle. The driver was the only person in the vehicle, and was a 66-year woman from Talkeetna, AK. She had just been learning to drive a manual transmission, and had accidentally taken her foot off the clutch at the crossing, while the car was still in gear, causing it to lurch into the path of the train.

That day the train was operating with 19 cars and 755 passengers. Some of those passengers were travelling with the Alaska Railroad, while others were travelling with Holland America Tours or Princess Tours, aboard the private cars on the end of the train. In any case, the entire train was stopped indefinitely while all the reports were completed and car parts were extracted from under the train. The train was still a couple hours from Anchorage, so even if it got away from the accident scene at a reasonable hour, it still had to travel for a couple more hours before everyone would be able to get to their hotels in Anchorage. The alternative was for several coaches to be sent to Willow to meet the train and take the train passengers off the train and drive them to Anchorage. That is what was decided, and the Alaska Railroad asked us to send enough coaches for all the passengers on the train, even those that were not travelling with either Holland America or Princess.

Coaches were sent to Willow, and people were taken off the train. It was a rather tricky operation, seeing as people were disembarking the train along the railroad right of way, and not at a station. Overall, it went fairly smoothly, and the amazing part of the situation is that no luggage was lost. However, there were some people who were quite annoyed by the situation. I was loading my coach, which had some Holland America passengers and some Alaska Railroad passengers. Some of the people aboard my coach would go to the Hilton Hotel, and the rest would go to the Anchorage depot, where the railroad would pay for a cab for them to get wherever they were headed. Most people were tired and understanding. They generally were just happy to be moving in the right direction again.

Of course, there is always an exception. I had one woman, with her two children approach me and tell me she was with Holland America, but she was going to the Howard Johnson hotel in Anchorage. She asked if I was going there. I explained that I would drop her off at the train station, where the railroad would pay for her to take a cab there. Well, that was not good enough for her. She immediately started shouting and demanded that I take her to the Howard Johnsons. I calmly explained that it was not physically possible for a motor coach to get in that parking lot, and explained again that there would be a cab to take her there for free when we arrived in Anchorage. Well, that still was not good enough. She began shouting things I would not repeat to anyone. I closed the door to the coach so the other passengers would not have to listen to this. She went on and on, telling me how I was a terrible person and a lousy driver. She then started telling me how Holland America was a terrible company and she would never travel with them again. My personal favorite exclamation was, quite loudly, "I cannot believe Holland America would let the train hit a poor woman in her car! I just cannot believe they would do something like that!"

This woman sure was fired up, and she continued to get louder. I couldn't possible say anything, because she had an endless supply of oxygen, and she just kept going! She got so loud that I began to wonder if closing the door had really been effective. Eventually, one of my supervisors overheard this woman over two locomotives and 17 idling motor coaches, and he decided to see what was going on. She took a breath when he arrived, which gave me a second to explain very quickly to him what was going on and why this woman was dissatisfied. As soon as she had air again, the tirade started right where it had left off. I watched as my supervisor's eyes grew larger listening to this woman. Most of what she said is not repeatable in about any company. She kept repeating how much she was appalled at the Holland America Line, for letting the train hit the vehicle. Finally, when she went for more air, both Jason and I interrupted her, and miraculously, she let us talk. We explained the situation again, and encouraged her to board the coach. I suppose she was out of alternative ideas, because she made one more rather nasty comment, and then turned around to board the coach. Once she was on board, I did not hear another word from her. The silence going back to Anchorage was almost deafening!

6. Speaking Before Thinking

The front seats on either side of a motor coach are typically reserved for people who are disabled and find it difficult to walk down the narrow aisle, to a seat farther back on the bus. In Alaska, we had little signs we would put on the front seats to reserve them for a passenger who might need them. We did not have specific qualifications for sitting there, but generally people were respectful of those with disabilities and left them empty if they were able to sit somewhere else. On some days, I would board the coach after helping all the passengers up the stairs, and I would find the front seats to be empty. If that was the case, I would remove the signs and invite anyone who wanted to move up front. If no one moved up front, I let everyone know they were welcome to run to the front to take pictures during the drive.

On other occasions, I would board the bus and find those seats occupied, either in part or entirely. Sometimes the people sitting there would have a very obvious physical disability. On other trips however, the people using the front seats were very overweight.

One day, I was picking people up at the airport in Anchorage, and I was destined for Whittier, Alaska, where there was a cruise ship in port. My passengers were getting on the ship. As usual, I reserved those front seats for anyone with disabilities, and then began to load the coach. Towards the end of the boarding process, I have a very heavy woman board. When she was about halfway up the stairs, she asked if I could have someone in one of the front seats move, so she could sit there. Very occasionally, there would be someone sitting there who could move, and the would almost always give up their seat for someone who needed it. I hopped on the coach for a moment to address the situation.

I looked at the people who occupied the front seats, and the woman asking for one of the front seats. In the front row on the left side, I had a gentleman who had one of his legs missing below the knee. His wife sat with him. On the right side I had a woman who had a cast around one of her legs, which did not permit her to bend that leg, and her husband. We did not separate travelling partners usually, unless there was no alternative. The woman on the steps was not disabled, although she was very overweight. Both travelling partners who were not disabled offered to give up their seats for this woman.

I politely explained to this woman that I could not ask these people to give up their seats for her, as they were physically disabled and really had a difficult time moving around. She sighed and mumbled something about being inconsiderate. She was not happy, but she really did not have much to argue with, so she walked back. Someone in the second or third row was polite enough to let her take their seat. As she walked by, the man who was missing his leg muttered, rather loudly, "You wouldn't have a problem if you lost 300 pounds!" I almost laughed out loud. She just glared at him, and his wife elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him too.

5. Carnivores

On one occasion, while shuttling people from the airport, in Anchorage, to one of the cruise ships, either in Whittier or Seward, I was giving my tour, as usual. Things were going well, and people were asking intelligent and interesting questions, which I love, because it really helps me tailor the tour to the group. That makes everyone feel like I am interested in them, which adds up to more tips for me at the end of the trip. The trip was going quite well, which is why I was not surprised to hear from behind me, "James, I have a question."

"Sure, go ahead," I replied.

"Do people in Alaska eat more chicken or beef?"

That question did surprise me. I told them I had no idea, and I still have no idea! I like beef!

4. Alyeska Gone Wrong

When we operate a Portage Glacier Tour in Anchorage, it includes a stop at the Alyseka Resort, in Girdwood, AK. This is on the way to Portage, where the glacier cruise is located. This is just a day tour. The Alyeska Resort is our lunch stop. It is a first class resort with several dining options. One of the features of the resort is the only five star hotel in the state of Alaska. There is a tram that operates up about 2,700 feet of the mountain, and there are a couple more dining options at the tram station at the top.

When I give the tour, I explain some of the dining options at the resort, and I usually encourage people to pay for the tram ride up the mountain, because of the view. They can eat lunch and look out the windows at a spectacular view of Glacier Valley and Turnagain Arm. It is quite breathtaking on a good day. On this particular trip, I did just as I had before, and the people I had on the tour were quite excited to use the tram and get some lunch.

When we arrived at the Alyeska Resort, I disembarked everyone at the tram station at the base of the mountain, and they made their way to the ticket office. I was going to park the coach, and then join them on the top. I also wanted to eat. Just as I was boarding the coach to move it to parking, one of my passengers came along and said the ticket window was closed. I was puzzled, so I went to check, and sure enough, every ticket window had a closed sign in it. So I ran over to the tram station, and there were closed signs in the doors, and everything was closed. I did see someone mopping in the station though, so I pushed on one of the doors and it opened. I asked what was going on with the tram, and he explained it was closed for the day for its annual maintenance. Figures I would show up on that day! I passed this news on to my guests and apologized. They found a restaurant to eat in at the base of the mountain. The only way up was on foot.

I returned to the motor coach and moved it to the parking area, and then headed up to the hotel to grab something to eat for myself. I got to the hotel, and I went in the front entrance, and then I was just starting up the stairs to go to one of the restaurants, when there was a loud beeping throughout the hotel. I was momentarily confused, because I knew they did not make public announcements. Then I realized all the fire alarm lights were blinking, so I turned around and walked out the front door again. Apparently this would be the trip where everything exactly against the plans! I walked around the building to try to locate my guests. They were around back laughing at the situation. The alarm continued to sound for several more minutes. It eventually was silenced, and then the manager made an announcement indicating that there was no emergency requiring evacuation and he apologized for the inconvenience.

After the announcement, I headed back inside and then got myself something to eat at one of the cafes inside. When I arrived at the cashier, the beeping began again. I finished paying, took my food, and headed back outside to find my guests again and make sure they were all safe. Again, I found them all outside behind the building, laughing at the situation. After that, I decided to head back to my coach in the parking area, where it would be a little quieter. Fortunately, that was the last time the fire alarm went off.

3. The Whales

In Alaska, when you drive south from Anchorage, you follow a body of water, called Turnagain Arm, for about an hour. This is salt water, and there is occasionally some ocean wildlife out there. On the other side of the road is the Chugach Mountain range. The highway is squeezed between the two. I drove along the Turnagain Arm nearly every day of the week, and on some days I would drive that road several times. We had to use that road for access to all the ships that came to that area. When I had passengers, I would always narrate the trip, in either direction. I would encourage my guests to ask questions, because it would help me cater the narration specifically to that group.

With one particular group, we were traveling along Turnagain Arm, and I was talking about the whales we would sometimes see out in the inlet. As I finished talking about the whales, I heard from the back, "Excuse me, driver, I have a question. Which side of the bus will the whales be on?"

2. Manhattan Mall

I have never driven a bus in New York, or anywhere close for that matter. However, I had quite a strange event occur at the Manhattan Mall in December 2009. It had actually been some time since I had sat behind the wheel of a bus at that time. For anyone who has not been to New York around Christmas, it is very busy. New York is always busy, but it is even more crowded for all the holiday festivities, especially in shopping centers, like the Manhattan Mall.

Let me side track for just a second to help illustrate the significance of this event. During the 2009 tour season in Alaska, I drove a total of 18,873 miles, and I carried 7,388 revenue passengers during the five months I was employed in Alaska. Since then I had also driven school bus in Salt Lake City. Needless to say, I had moved quite a few people during the summer.

A few days after Christmas 2009, I was walking through the Manhattan Mall, simply because it was warmer than walking outside, and I was stopped by a stranger. Normally I ignore strangers because they usually are asking for money. This was different however. There was a group of three, and one asked me if I was a driver. I was caught off guard, and a bit confused, and I must have looked the part, because he clarified without me saying anything. He restated the question, "Did you drive tour buses in Alaska?"

I said I had over the summer, and his face lit up a bit. He asked if I knew a town called Whitter, and I told him that I worked out of Anchorage, but I typically drove down to Whittier about six to eight times a week. When I told him that, his face really lit up. He explained where all this was coming from. His wife had recognized me, and pointed me out to him, among the crowds at the mall. I had been their driver from Whittier to Anchorage, when they arrived here on one of the Princess ships. I was completely blown away, to say the very least. I am not sure if I was more surprised at running into people I had driven, half a world away, or if I was more surprised at the fact that they recognized me well enough to pick me out in a very large crowd!

1. The Accordion

On a trip from Whistler, BC, to Vancouver, about a two hour drive, I had a man in the third row get bored. Most people bring a book or puzzle to remedy this problem. This man started digging in his luggage for something to do about 25 minutes into the trip.

I was a bit surprised when he pulled out an accordion, and I was even more surprised when he remained standing in the aisle and began playing it. As he played, he also sang, in Spanish. This actually went on for about 45 minutes, and surprisingly, none of the other 20 people on the bus ever said anything. One person even slept through the whole thing. As this guy was putting away his accordion, I happily thought this was all over, and he would sit quietly like everyone else for the remainder of the trip. He did sit, although quiet was not exactly the operative word.

It turned out he also had a harmonica with him, which is more likely on a bus trip I suppose. He began playing that, and the person sitting next to him began singing, also in Spanish. Again, none of the other passengers said anything about it, and the guy in the front seat remained sound asleep. I wondered if he was still alive! Fortunately the harmonica only laster about 20 minutes. By that point we were getting close to Vancouver, and I was just hoping this person would not be on the shuttle back later in the afternoon, which I was also driving.

May 2010 Statistics

Miles Driven: 3,099
Passengers Carried: 566
Hours Driving: 76.25
Hours Worked: 210
Average Speed: 40.64mph
Percentage Driving: 36.3%
Average Hours/Day: 7.78
Days Worked: 27
Incidents/Accidents: 0

In May I traveled to places like Denali, Seward, Whittier, Portage, Paxson, Copper Center, Valdez, Glennallen, and many destinations in Anchorage.

Tour 13B

I spent this weekend bringing a tour from Seward to Denali. This was a Holland America Line tour, tour 13B to be exact. On Saturday afternoon, I drove to Seward, to get in position for the tour. On Sunday, the ms Ryndam was in port, and I met this group on the dock that morning.

We pulled out of Seward just before 8:00am, and headed north on the Seward highway. I was touring for most of the trip, and I played a couple movies during the trip as well. I thought the trip went quite well. We made our first stop in Portage, at the Glacier Lodge, for some snacks and a chance to stretch and use the bathroom. We only stayed there about fifteen minutes, even though the schedule called for us to be there nearly an hour. I chose to left early so we could spend a little time touring in Anchorage.

Tour 13 is not scheduled to stop in Anchorage, but I thought it would be nice to detour a bit in town and see some of the highlights on the way through. We went around Lake Hood, and then headed out across town on Northern Lights Boulevard, because there are often moose on that road. So we spent the extra time in Anchorage, because no one really had a lot to do in Portage. Our next stop was in Wasilla.

We drove through Wasilla. I took a route that allowed the guests to see the house where Sarah Palin grew up. I figured that was politically safe, because the group was from Tennessee, which just might be more conservative than here. Well, we had one Texan on board, but generally Texans are not exactly liberal either. That ended up being a big hit, and then we stopped at the Settlers Bay Lodge for lunch, which was included with the trip. We spent about an hour eating lunch, and then continued on again.

Our next stop was at milepost 147 on the Parks Highway. There is a big Veterans Memorial there, which is about halfway from Wasilla to Denali, so we use it as a rest stop. On a good day, it also offers a good view of Mount McKinley. Unfortunately, Sunday was cloudy, with rain periodically, which meant we were not able to see the mountain. We made about a fifteen minute rest stop there. At that point, the group leader asked me what time we would be into Denali. I told her we would definitely be there by 6:30pm. That was not a good answer for her. She had signed the whole group up for a dinner show that started at 7:00pm, and they wanted to be there fifteen minutes early. She was worried that they would not have time to get to their rooms to drop off their luggage, and make it to dinner on time. I guess wen she booked the tour, she had been told that they would arrive in Denali at 4:00pm, which is simply impossible when leaving Seward at 8:00am, unless it is driven nonstop. I apologized and explained the schedule and the distances to her, and we got going again after about a fifteen minute break.

We crossed the continental divide, and arrived in Denali just a few minutes before 6:00pm. As we were arriving in Denali National Park, the group leader handed me a tip envelope, and thanked me for all the information and entertainment had given them during the trip. When we got to the lodge, I drove them right to the building they were staying in, so they would only need to walk about six feet to the door. I unloaded their luggage and then helped them all off the motor coach. After all the guests had disappeared, my tour director wanted me to count the tip money, because it would give her an idea of how she would do at the end of the trip.

It was very low. In fact, on my first highway tour like that, I had driven from Denali to Seward, and made more than twice what I made this time. I was a bit disappointed, because the first trip is supposed to the worst. I did my best and really gave them a great trip, but I could have done better financially just driving people back and forth between the ship in the airport. I know that tips are not a good indication of your worth as a person, but it is a bit disappointing when you get one of the most coveted tours in the division and then it is nothing more than a pretty drive with a lively bunch of people.

New England

Over the last couple weeks, I have, not surprisingly, spent quite a lot of time on the move. At the end of March, I drove back to Utah, from Whistler, Canada. That was a long drive, split into two days.

Once I arrived in Utah, I basically began packing up again. I took care of some business and got everything packed up for the summer. Once all that was taken care of, I was on the road again, figuratively. I boarded the train in Provo, and headed east.

The train trip across the country was great. The weather was perfect, and everything ran on time, allowing us to spend most of the daylight hours in Colorado, which really is quite spectacular. The whole trip to Chicago went off without any problems, and we arrived in Chicago the next day, just a few minutes ahead of schedule. In Chicago, I was to catch a train to New York. I decided to check on the possibility of upgrading to a sleeper roomette for that leg of the trip. I was in luck. Rooms were still available, and I was even offered a very good price, so I bought one. At the same time, I decided to check a bag to New York, just so I wouldn't have to carry it anymore. I still held onto my other bag. I checked those at the station, and then left for the few hours I had in Chicago. One of these days I'll spend more than 8 hours there at a time! I walked over to the lake and the Navy Pier and just enjoyed the pleasant weather and the breeze. I also found some dinner at a local restaurant, and then made my way back to the station. Before long, the train was boarding, for the first class passengers, so I got on.

The first class passengers board the train over an hour before it is scheduled to depart, and have some time to get settled in their rooms. Before the train leaves, there is a free Wine and Cheese event for all the first class passengers. I went to that, and then retired to my room. When I got to my room, the bed was made and turned down, and all I had to do was go to sleep. Breakfast was still 600 miles away.

I woke up the next morning, as we were pulling out of Depew, NY, which is the stop that serves Buffalo. I looked out the window, and lazily got ready for the day. I really did not have a lot to think about that day, as all I had to do was sit on the train and watch upstate New York roll by. I eventually showered and went to the dining car for breakfast, followed by a leisurely late morning nap. It was a great day. When we arrived in Albany, we were about 45 minutes late, but we made up that time along the Hudson River, before arriving in New York City. By then, it was the end of the evening rush hour, and things were beginning to quiet down to some degree in the city. I collected my luggage and got on the next train to Long Island, to go see my grandparents.

I had a very nice, although short, visit with my grandparents. Once the visit there was over, I got on the train again, and headed for Boston. This was a comparatively short trip. After a short delay in the Bronx, due to a failed signal, we really got moving. We did arrive a little late everywhere, but we did not get further delayed. The trains really move through that area. Our maximum speed was 126 mph. At one point, we were stopped at the station in Kingston, Rhode Island, and one of the high speed trains passed us in the other direction. As I understand, the track speed there is 150 mph, so you can just imagine the blast as it roared by. Our entire train shook from the air it pushed out of the way. We arrived in Boston about 20 minutes behind schedule, and I continued to New Hampshire, where I have been for about a week now. It has been nice to visit the east coast again. It always will be my home.

Downhill Skiing

I apologize for the delay in this post. It has been some time coming. About a week ago, I had the opportunity to attend the downhill skiing event at the Paralympic Winter Games. This was combined men and women, and it was three different categories. They started with the women in all categories, and then had the men compete afterwards.

The first event was the downhill skiing for the visually impaired. This amazed me, because the athletes that were competing in this were blind, or pretty close to it. They all had a guide who skied the course about 10 metres ahead of them. Both were wearing headsets and would talk to each other as they skied down the mountain. We were asked not to cheer until after they had crossed the finish line so that they would be able to hear their guides.

Following the visually impaired athletes, the women sit skiers competed next. There were only six of them. These were women who were paralyzed. They had a special arrangement, where they sat in a bucket which was mounted on a single ski. There was a suspension system that connected them to the ski. On the ends of their poles, they had little skis, so they could use their poles to help them balance. These skiers were faster than the Olympic skiers. They are the fastest skiers in the world usually. Unfortunately, the two skiers competing for Japan both were unable to finish the race. The first one had a pretty serious crash because her binding came apart when she was going about 120 km/h. She was actually pretty seriously injured and was picked up by a helicopter and flown away from the scene. The second woman from Japan also crashed, although it was much less serious. She was not hurt, but she was not able to finish the event.

After the sitting skiers the standing skiers competed. None of these were the same. The Standing skiers all had limited or no use of at least one limb, but sometimes it was a leg, other times it was an arm. In a few cases, an athlete could not use either of her arms. Some were missing limbs as well. After the last standing skier ran the course, the women were all done the event. There was a short break while they touched up the course and repainted some of the lines, and then it was time for the men to compete.

During the break, Jeremy and I got talking to the woman sitting next to us. We knew she was an American by what she was wearing and by the fact that she was cheering for all the American athletes. As it turned out, she was from Kingston, New Hampshire, which is only about 45 minutes to an hour from where I grew up. Also, she was the mother of Chris Devlin-Young, one of the athletes who was yet to compete. He is one of the sit skiers for the USA team. He would be competing in a little while. She was telling us a bit about him though. He had won medals, both gold and silver, at past Paralympic Games, in Salt Lake, Torino, and Lillehammer. He had won many other events worldwide for his sit skiing ability. She was very excited to see him compete again, and had even made a big banner for him.

After the break, the competition resumed with the visually impaired men. Once again, their guides led the way, typically only by about 10 metres ahead of them. Every team had their own way of doing it which worked for them though. Some preferred to ski a bit closer together, while others liked being farther apart. I was impressed at the fact that there were really only one or two crashes, even though these guys couldn't see what was in front of them. They were out there skiing a pretty fast and challenging course without ever skiing it. It was incredible.

Once the visually impaired skiers all finished up, it was time for the sit skiers. The lady next to us was excited for this part, because this was where her son would compete. He had to wait for several other skiers to go before him. When it was his turn, he got a good start, but he was 0.36 seconds behind the person who was in first place up to that point. By the second checkpoint however, he had made up some time. He was actually in the lead by 0.52 seconds. If he kept that pace, he would take the Gold Medal again. His mother's excitement was getting higher and higher as she watched her son compete and ski extremely well. He did very well, and came into view just about 200 metres from the finish line. There was one final hill, where most people got a bit of air, and then he would come off that to the finish line. He was doing very well, and it looked like he had probably gained more time since the second checkpoint. He came around that last turn, into clear view of all of the spectators, and hit that last hill. He got air, which was expected, but when he hit it, he was still finishing up the turn, and he did not land the jump. He crashed, and got right back up, still finishing quickly. Unfortunately, that crash cost him just over four seconds, which put him well outside the possibility of getting any medal. His mother was just devastated. I had no idea what to say to her, because there really is nothing you can say to make losing a gold medal better. He did finish the race, despite the crash, which was good, but still disappointing.

After the rest of the sitting skiers were finished, the standing skiers competed. The man who won for standing skiing actually did not have any arms. Yet he was the fastest person down that mountain. It was amazing. When the last standing skier reached the bottom, there was a short break and then a flower ceremony for those who had won medals. The actual medals ceremony was not until later that evening though. Medals were given for each category and for both men and women, so for the whole day there were six of each medal.

Opening Ceremonies-Part 2

Today, again, we have Opening Ceremonies. This time, they are for the Paralympic Games. They will be this evening. Unlike with the Olympics, tickets are not sold out actually, and go for $30. For the next nine or ten days (I think it is ten, but I am not sure) we will have the Paralympic Games going on, mostly in Whistler. Actually, Vancouver only has two events. The sledge hockey and wheel chair curling events will be held in Vancouver, but everything else, including the Closing Ceremonies, will be here in Whistler. Most of the events are skiing events. I am actually going to the Alpine Skiing event on the 18th, which is a standing event. The athletes will be standing to ski down the mountain. There is a separate event for those skiing sitting. It is both men and women, and I imagine it will only be a couple of hours. It should be good though. I have heard, from just a few people who have actually been, that the paralympic events are often more exciting and incredible than the Olympic events.

Things have still been quiet around here. Tomorrow the work is expected to pick up a little bit again, because events will be starting tomorrow. We shall see what happens. It still will not be anything like a few weeks ago. Security is much more relaxed at the events this time around. Spectators will not even need to be screened.

Paralympics

About a million people have asked me what in the world I could possibly be doing in Canada for all of March if the Olympics ended a week ago. Well, for that last week, I have worked exactly eight hours. Starting next week however, we will be busier again. The 2010 Paralympic Games begin next week. There will not be nearly the same crowds or craziness or media attention that the Winter Games got, but there will still be a bit for us to do. After that, things will go back to really quiet. It has been very quiet everywhere for the past week. Actually, it was a little strange, because we were just getting used to the crowds and the craziness, and then it all disappeared, and people resumed life as normal. Normal felt odd for a bit. It is nice though. Whistler has gone back to the nice quiet skiing town in the mountains that it was when I arrived. Things are going very well here, although I really do not have a lot to talk about, because very little has been going on. I will do my best to keep everyone posted on everything though.

Life

I mentioned recently that I finally figured out what I am going to do with my life. A few people have asked me what that is, and a few people have made guesses as to what it might be. I will elaborate here, since this space is a bit larger than a comment box on Facebook.

All my life I have liked trains, which I have talked about on here in the past. I think it all started when my dad would take me to the end of the street, even before I could walk, so we could look down the tracks and see if there was a train coming. That was a daily ritual until I began going to school every day. Since I could talk I always said I wanted to drive trains when I grow up. I think growing up I never honestly thought I would grow up though. I still don't think I will! At any rate, now is the time when we try to figure out what we want to do with the rest of our lives. We are expected to choose a major in college or pursue some sort of technical training from which we can build a career. I have been in college for about two years now, trying to figure out which major sounds the most interesting, and which one I could have a job with for the rest of my life without being bored to tears.

When I first started college, I was a Civil Engineering Major. That was fine, and it was interesting enough, but I discovered, after two failed attempts at Calculus, that I am not very good at math! I decided that engineering was not for me, so I switched my major to Facilities Management. It seemed a bit easier, while still fairly interesting. As I continued in those classes it slowly became less interesting though. By the end of the semester, and after a mission, I was completely bored by it.

When I returned from my mission, I decided to switch my major to Construction Management. That seemed a bit more interesting. My only hesitation was that it required calculus. I figured I would give that class another chance. After all, they say that the third time is a charm! Well, I did manage to pass the class that time, although it turned out it was luck. I actually did not have any higher average than I had in the past, the way the grading ended up being curved was just enough to give me that passing grade. That was an obstacle I had overcome, even if I had barely overcome it! Construction Management did not lose its interest, however I did get thinking more about my future. I liked it, but I still wondered if it was interesting enough to do for the next 40 years.

Last summer, I took a job in Alaska, where I drove motor coaches around Anchorage and the surrounding areas. I had never planned or even wanted to be a bus driver, but it was a good opportunity that found me, so I took it. Buses had never been interesting to me. As I worked in Alaska, I learned a few things. I learned a ton about Alaska, and learned that I like that place a lot. I also learned that I really love transportation in any form, even if trains are my favorite mode. I also found that I liked work everyday. I liked being on the move all the time, and always going somewhere, even if I had been there before. That got me thinking about a career again. I really didn't and do not want to make driving a bus my career. As I mentioned, it was just a good opportunity for the summer, although it has provided me with work ever since too. I would like to work in transportation though.

As I was thinking about transportation work, I remembered a school I had seen ads for in some of my train magazines when I was about 17. It is called the Modoc Railroad Academy, and it is outside of Sacramento, CA. So I went online and got some more information about the place. It is a kind of trade school. They train people to be certified conductors and licensed locomotive engineers. The whole program is six months long. It is more than book learning though. There is quite a bit of that, complete with homework assignments, however a large amount of the time is spent actually operating trains in a railroad yard, and working on the tracks. They try to create as much of a railroad setting as possible. They set up scenarios in the yard, and you stay there for as long as it takes to complete, even if it ends up taking 15 hours. Classes are five days a week, but they are scheduled anytime during the day or night, and that time can change from day to day, just as your schedule likely would on the railroad.It sounds like a challenging program, but it sounds like something I would enjoy a lot. At the end of the six months, they help in the job search. They do not guarantee employment, although every person who has graduated from there has been offered a railroad job. There is an average of six job offers for each graduate. I have decided that I will go to Modoc, and then see where life takes me after that. I seems that my childhood dream of driving trains when I grow up is going to become a reality. I am trying to start school in September, however I will probably have to wait until May 2011 to begin. Part of this is the federal age requirement for engineers. If I do have to wait until May, I will just work and save money until then. I will no longer be attending BYU. Perhaps when I am a bit older I will decide to get a degree, but I think railroad work will be more interesting to me, and I will get paid quite a bit more to start than I would with a degree.

In short, my life plan is to get my Conductor Certification and a Class 1 license from the Federal Railroad Administration. Then I will get a railroad job, ideally as a locomotive engineer, but possible as a Conductor, and I will drive trains, just as I have been planning since I was three.