One Year Ago

It's hard to believe one year ago today I flew into Anchorage for my 4 1/2 month journey through Alaska. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but it has.

The sad thing is I'm not going back this year to tour with my tour directing friends. I'm embarking on a new journey with new guests through the rest of the West.

The great thing is I made friends when I was in Alaska that I will have for the remainder of my days. For that, I'm truly grateful.

Sherry, Eric, me, Janis, Jamie and Diane at the Princess Lodge
Fall colors are amazing in Denali!
Sockeye salmon swimming upstream near Portage Lake
Massive kite flying at Delaney Park in Anchorage
Statendam ship's Lido Deck. The roof opens up to reveal the mountains and have the open air around the pool.

The days are numbered! I head home Sept. 17, and I'm very excited. I just ended a tour and have one more remaining. My next tour picks up on the ship Sunday, ends Thursday, I do an exit interview Friday, deadhead home on Saturday from Fairbanks and fly home at 2 a.m. on the 17th.

My last tour was interesting. I had nice enough people, but they ere all pooped out from the ship. I had a guy helicoptered to Anchorage because of cardiac issues, and then I had a few others get sick through out the stay ...

I can't wait to see you all!

Photo Updates

I just walked to Wal-Mart to get my photos on CD ... I will try to do better about posting ... I promise!

Here I am after a flightseeing trip around Mt. McKinley. This was a spiritual experience to say the least. The plane sat six people, and I was in the co-pilot seat. We were within six miles of Mt. McKinley and one mile of Mt. Hunter. You could see mountains, valleys and glaciers for miles upon miles.

These are all views from the plane. You can't tell me that God didn't have a hand in this!

Isn't Mt. McKinley spectacular?!




















The McKinley Chalets - This is where most of our guests stay while in Denali. This is only the lobby which has a gift shop, coffee shop and the Nenana Grill in it. Behind is the Cafe and then the "cabins" where the guests stay. The accomodations are much like individual motel buildings.

Can't you tell? This is the Top of the World ... or at least according to the Anchorage Marriott.



Anne Marie and Melissa (roommates) and Janis all sit at the Top of the World. The Marriott had a familiarization party for Holland America employees where we got free food and drink. You gotta love the free food; it costs too much to buy it up here.



Janis, Juli and I decide to try out a hat shop in the mall to pass the time. I hate taking pictures with pretty people! I need to learn how to take a good photograph before the end of tour. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Step 1: Lose the Dr. Seuss hat ...

This picture is for Wyatt. I get to ride this very long train when I'm on tour from Anchorage to Denali and again from Denali to Fairbanks, for a total of 12 hours. The train car I ride in has a glass domed ceiling and then we eat breakfast, dinner and supper underneath in the dining car.





On my tour run to Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse, AK, our first stop outside of Fairbanks is Joy, AK. All it is is a gift shop with refreshments and "old school" outhouses. If you get in the wrong stall, the run off proves disastorous. Good think I had the smarts to put my feet up ...





Standing in line in Joy, AK.










Our lunch stop is at the Yukon River Camp. You can see that our bus has seen better days. The Dalton Highway is rough and dirt 80 percent of the 499 miles up to Prudhoe Bay. The River Camp had great food, but it's a bit rough. They sell "bearly" worn clothing there. A couple years ago, a bear and its cub decided to hibernate in the gift shop, using the inventory for its nest. What a great marketing ploy!




The Trans-Alaska pipeline. The pipeline is laid in a zig-zag pattern to help with movement when earthquakes hit. The pipeline also sits - not bolted down - on vertical support members that are covered in Teflon to help the pipeline move and shift with the earth. It also helps with the earths movement and settling due to permafrost.









This is the Arctic Circle. I was a bit disappointed; there was a dotted line or anything at the stop. It was only the sign.

Welcome to Coldfoot, AK, and our accomadations for the evening. There is running water, but the walls are paper thin, the shower is tiny, and you're lucky if the water is warm. Oh, and did I mention there are only twin beds, no T.V.s and no alarm clocks. Enjoy!

P.S. Because there were no alarm clocks and did morning knocks beginning at 5:30 a.m. ...





Our lunch stop is spectacular on the way to Prudhoe. It's Galbrith Lake. We pack a lunch and sit out on the rocks and soak up the beauty and the sun.









Migrating caribou are a common sight from Coldfoot to Prudhoe. We had a number of caribou in the road along the way. I'm still waiting for musk oxen.






Our accomodations improved once we got to Deadhorse. We went from a double wide trailor to a Morton building. The food here is spectacular since they feed all the oil workers. This is still a working camp, but we do have the luxury of a 9" t.v., alarm clock and laundry facilities.



I did the Polar Bear Plunge in the Arctic Ocean! I really only went up to my waist, but it was like liquid ice. I got in and out so fast that my picture couldn't get taken. Some of my guests got a good shot of me going in and out. I'll have to post those once they're sent to me. One guest told me if Michael Jordan ran that fast, he never would have retired. I didn't run that fast because of the cold, but because I was in my bathing suit in front of a number of people!

Stay tuned for more posts ...

Training No More

Kenai Fjords - Sea Otter








Me at glacier on Kenai Fjords. Glacier is part of the Harding ice field.










Portage lake cruise and glacier. It was raining and sleeting that day, but still beautiful.




The training group at the Portage Glacier.




Zach holding glacier ice. You think I'm holding it with my bare hands?!





Colleen, Melissa, me, Janis and Ingrid at the top of Mt. Aleyeska.

















I can make anything look good!












Melissa, one of my roommates, and me. Juli is another one of my roommates and we found time to karaoke in Anchorage.





Reindeer a.k.a domesticated caribou




ATV riding... My head is too big, even for the helmet.






Give me land, lots of land under starry skies above ... This was a beautiful ride on the tundra near Denali. My horse's name was Kodiak. One of the other tour directors said I looked like a natural. I was
flattered at the moment, but after looking at this picture, I know it was a lie!
The only truth may be that I looked more natural than they.










Caribou









Me at the pipeline in Fairbanks.











Athabascan native modeling the coat made by her mother.

Tales of the Trip

I had a great trip to Anchorage, but it's not without a couple great stories. First, I flew to Las Vegas and there I had to switch planes. I arrived in LV at 7:30 ... the flight wasn't supposed to leave until 9:00. At a quarter til, Southwest canceled the flight due to mechanical difficulties. No worries, there was a plane leaving in 15 minutes that was stopping in Oakland on its way to seattle. I quickly switched tickets, and so did the other passengers, and we booked it clear across the airport. The best part is that I didn't miss my Alaska Airlines connecting flight.

While on the Alaska flight, I struck up a conversation with the gentleman seated next to me. Turns out, he's the human resources manager for the Aleyeska resort, which is one of the places HAL frequents. We exchanged information and I will probably make it down there during an off day to familiarize myself with the resort and the optional tours the resort offers. Anyway, he was such a nice guy! He offered to drive me to my complex from the airport, and I took him up on it. Otherwise, I would've had to have taken a taxi. This isn't something I would regularly do, but I believed he was legit.

The roommates I've met so far are great. There are some that are already training that I haven't met, some that are leaving tomorrow and others coming in next week and even more next month.

Today I explored Anchorage. It's amazing to see all the mountains surrounding the city! The city reminds me of a small town, but here's an odd fact; the city limits of Anchorage is the same size as the state of Delaware! I explored downtown, which is walking distance, and I will possibly bike a coastal trail tomorrow. My training starts in the evening, so I'll have plenty of time.

I also found out today that I'll be doing a Prudhoe Bay training on June 9, which is one of the northern most points in Alaska. It'll be extremely bright then since summer solstice is June 21. As I'm writing this, it's 10:30 p.m. and it looks like it's 6 p.m. outside!

I'm excited to learn what tours I'm doing and the processes tomorrow.