‘Tis true what they say…
…all good things must come to an end. It has been a whirlwind of a month…lots of good-byes, lots of end-of-the-year parties, lots of packing, and on a more weather-based note, lots of rain and fog. Soon it will be my turn to say good-bye. I have officially booked my transportation home. October 1st is the date, just a week away from this upcoming Monday! I’ll continue with tours until the 27th (that’s when the last cruise ship is in town) and then after that it’s cleaning and winterizing buses as well as our 3 employee houses that Princess rents out for the summer. With 6 days left to go in the season, we’re down to 9 drivers. Tomorrow my most favorite driver of all, my roommate Nicole, is leaving. We call each other Siamese twins because we rarely spend more than 2 minutes apart it seems, except when we’re working. And even then, we moan and complain when we don’t get assigned the same tours. So sad will it be to have a half empty room. Who will I talk with late at night? Who will I cook dinner with and/or make dinner for? Who will listen to me when I need to complain about stupid passengers, or on a positive note be there to recept my praises after a great tour day? Who will help me decide what to wear, especially on work days? Even with a standard uniform, there are still little decisions to be made (long-sleeve or short-sleeve blouse, Nicole?)? I know we’ll see each other again soon but 10 days just doesn’t seem soon enough. I guess I’ll have to continue working 13+ hour days to help bide the time. :P
10 things I’m looking forward to seeing/doing upon my return to the Pacific Northwest:
1) Eating lots of good, cheap sushi
2) Seeing my sister who I haven’t seen since August 2005
3) Hearing Richard preach
4) Living in a place where I don’t have to share a bathroom with 5 other people
5) Hanging out in a coffee shop past 6 p.m.
6) Driving a vehicle that isn’t designed to hold 40+ people at one time
7) Going to HH (Happy Hour) with my old roommate Cristina
8 ) Visiting my grandparents and other extended family in eastern Washington
9) Utilizing an internet service that doesn’t get cut off when someone uses the phone
10) Giving my niece a great big hug
And of course, I look forward to seeing all of you, my faithful blog readers. Thanks so much for following my summertime adventures in Skagway! Can’t wait to share more stories about life behind the big wheel upon our meeting in person.
8 random facts
My friend Mel has tagged me to list eight random facts about myself. Normally I’m not up for these sorts of activities as they’re hard for me to complete–something about thinking/talking about myself…a bit of a challenge for Kaycee!; but, I found Mel’s facts to be quite interesting and I also felt I should return the favor to her. So, here it goes… After my list, I’ll tag another eight people to do the same. Let me know when you post!
1. I love being high up in the air but don’t like having to get down from high places, especially when doing so requires me to jump, walk, or run down slippery slopes.
2. I am pretty anal about having a clean kitchen, to the point where I will clean the dishes as I bake/cook versus letting them pile up in the sink.
3. I drink coffee practically every day, not for the caffeine but more for the taste. I LOVE the taste of coffee!!
4. I enjoy taking pictures but wish to become more knowledgeable in the actual art of picture taking.
5. I hate ear wigs for the simple fact that they pinch whatever object they latch onto, i.e. my flesh.
6. I sometimes become obsessive about movies and music; and my obsession plays out with me watching the same movie or listening to the same song over and over and over again.
7. I am probably one of the slowest texters you will ever meet, probably because I hate text messaging and think it’s both silly and unecessary.
8. I don’t really like the sound of my own voice and think it’s funny that I’m working a job where I have to speak into a microphone all day long.
And I’m going to tag…
1. Lisa
2. Mistylena
3. Cousin Sarah
4. Lara
5. Holly
6. Alex
7. Gretchen
8. Maria
WELCOME HOME, KARILYNN!!!!
My sister surprised us ALL and showed up back in Washington State this past Wednesday after a 2-year long mission contract with YWAM in Ukraine. Family and friends had been told that she wouldn’t be flying back until the 15th of this month. Little did we all know, she bought a ticket around Christmastime and has planning all along to come home the 5th. The only people that knew were my parents, and they were only informed because she needed a ride back from the airport. :) Being in Alaska, I haven’t had the chance to actually see her in person but I did have the chance to talk with her briefly on the phone when I called my parents’ place Wednesday night. Now the whole fam is camping together at our favorite eastern Washington camping spot, Lake Roosevelt. Sure wish I was there sharing in all the outdoor fun. Soon…very soon. In fact, I was just shopping on-line for airline tickets today. I anticipate making a return home the 1st or 2nd of October. It’s coming up!!!
Welcome home, sister. Can’t wait to see you and give you and your long hair a great big hug. 
Denali pics
Luck has crossed my path tonight. Little ol’ compy here has been working long enough for me to post some pictures from my Denali trip. As I mentioned before, our time in the park included lots of wildlife sightings (below are pictures of a large grizzly bear, a small herd of caribou, an arctic ground squirrel, and lastly two moose calves walking across the road..to meet up with their mama,), hikes along lakes and rivers and through miles of colorful tundra, and most amazingly of all, a full shot view of Mount McKinley which we got to see on our last morning there. This trip solidified my opinion that Alaska is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places God has ever created on the face of this earth.
summer can’t already be over!
We have woken up the past week to crisp autumn air and mist on the ground, all indicative of the fact that summer is coming to an end, This means four things for me: 1) more rain and more cold temperatures, 2) fewer hours of daylight, 3) more hours of work as many of our drivers are leaving to head back to school or full-time jobs, and 4) a soon-to-be-purchased plane ticket back home to Seattle. The chapter of Skagway 2007 and my “life behind the big wheel” is nearing its closure. It’s been a great ride…one can only hope for experiences like this some time during their life.
August was a busy month. Since I last blogged, I made a trip up into the interior part of the state to Fairbanks and Denali National Park with my friend Courtney; I had my biggest tip day and also my worst tip day of the summer; I experienced my first moose sighting–a cow and her two calves to be exact; and I bid farewell to 7 of my fellow colleagues/driver guides. I’ve been wanting to post pics from my trip to Denali but the computer I’ve been using and downloading pictures on seems to have caught a virus of some sort, making uploading pictures onto my blog a very slow and tenuous process. I’ll try and get some posted soon as there are certainly some amazing shots to show off. I got to see lots of wildlife–grizzlies, caribou, moose (as mentioned above), dall sheep, arctic ground squirrels; and I also got to see BEAUTIFUL Mount McKinley which we had the privilege of seeing IN ITS ENTIRETY. Only rarely does all 20,320 feet of Mama Mountain which I call it and the adjoining peaks on either side of the summit show up at once. It was the most incredible naturistic sight I have ever seen…too incredible for words. Sooo…stay tuned for some Kodak moments and in the meantime, have a GREAT week!!
Late night blog make-over
I decided to try a new look for the blog. Let me know what you think. Normally I wouldn’t be attending to such silly details at this late of an hour in the evening but the stifling hot temperatures in our room are keeping me from sleeping…which is a travesty considering I have to get up super early tomorrow morning.
Another possible reason for tonight’s insomnia is my mind is reeling with excitement over the knowledge that in just three short days from now I get to see my friend Courtney!! She and her husband are meeting me up in Fairbanks on Saturday and from there just us girls are heading north to Denali National Park where we will be spending the next 6 days camping, backpacking, and bird watching. Okay, maybe not bird watching but wildlife watching for sure. This vacation marks my only planned vacation this summer. I have been counting down the months and days until August 11 ever since the planning of the trip first started in early February. Rest assured, the camera will be making the trip up with me. Check back for amazing pictures and stories. After all, those are the only kind I know how produce, obviously. I also get to see my friend Mistylena whom I haven’t seen in over a year. She is flying up from Sacramento to visit on the 16th. As if THAT wasn’t enough–a trip to Denali and a visit from another good friend, my roommate’s dad and brother, Bruce and Morgan, are also driving up to Skagway on the 16th for a weekend visit. It will be an eventful week and a half packed with lots of travel, lots of amazing fellowship, and many sweet tastes of home for which I will be so extremely grateful (Washington, I miss you!).
On that note, thanks to all of you for continuing to read, comment, and take part in my journey this summer. My time here has been wonderful in and of itself, but my enjoyment increases all the more by being able to share the experience with each and every one of you.
Wish me well on my travels into the interior!
No dice…
No dice meaning the bug stuck around and I’m still stuck in bed feeling nauseous, achy, and lethargic. There’s actually 3 of us in my house who have been feeling under the weather the past few days. Welcome to community living! I didn’t end up working yesterday and luckily I already had today and tomorrow off. I’ve been doing a LOT of sleeping; in fact, I think I’ve been awake a total of 20 hours the past 48 hours. The sad thing is, because I haven’t recovered as quickly as originally hoped, I had to find a replacement for my speaking engagement tonight at church. Be as it may, I am humbly spending my Sabbath in bed, trying to stay awake as long as possible (so that I can actually sleep through the night) by reading, watching movies, writing letters, and now blogging. Now that I say that out loud, my day really isn’t all that bad…relaxing, actually.
Last weekend was a fun weekend! Nicole and I got Friday off and went up to Whitehorse for a much needed day away. Usually a large group of us drivers go up together to stock up on groceries and maybe catch a flick at the theatre. This time it was just the two of us…and it was BLISS! We could do whatever we wanted, in whatever order we wanted, for as long as we wanted. We were craving fast-food, so as soon as we got to town we stopped at McDonald’s and ate double cheeseburgers, chicken McNuggets, and fries to our heart’s content. Afterwards, we met up with our friend Alex who had driven his motorcycle up and had blizzards at Dairy Queen. By this time our bellies were bursting…and raging at us for all the crap we had just piled into our bodies. Alex left us and we headed downtown to walk off the grease fest and looked through shops along Main Street. It was a really nice day so we drove to the park near the river, laid out a blanket, and spent the next two hours visiting and dozing in the hot afternoon sun. Then we went to Wal-Mart and Canadian Superstore for some quick grocery shopping. Come 7:30, we decided it was time to start heading back. We didn’t leave however without squeezing in one more stop at McDonald’s drive-thru for a quick dinner-to-go. Call us ridiculous (fast-food 3 times in one day is quite ridiculous) but it seriously was one of our favorite days of the summer so far. I came home that night reminded of how fortunate and blessed I am to have such a good friend up here with me this summer.
We (“we” meaning Nicole and me) both worked on Saturday but the good weekend continued with another out-of-town venture on Sunday to Haines for the Southeast Alaska State Fair. Haines is a town of about 3,000 and is a 45-minute ferry ride from Skagway or 6 hours by road. For those of you who have seen “The White Fang”, you may recognize the ”town” below. The set was built for the filming of the movie at the fairgrounds and is still used today during the fair.
The fair is very small but still a lot of fun. We managed to find enough to entertain us for an afternoon….
Nicole feasting on a sea of cotton candy and me watching her suck it all in (literally)
Awww…wook at duh widdle puppy…sooooo cute!
Ben & Jason trying to maneuver the kiddy sized John Deere tractor
Introducing Klondike, the largest and slowest competitor in this year’s 4-H horse rodeo
Fair fun lasted until about 6 on Sunday evening. We then met up with some friends who had driven over on Friday and we all went out to dinner, then drove to Chilkoot Lake, a very still and serene glacier lake, and camped out for the night. I had to work Monday morning so I caught the 6:30 a.m. ferry back to Skagway.
And this concludes today’s blogging entry. Oh, before I leave you, here are some pics from the glacier sightseeing tour I mentioned earlier. Seriously, if you ever come visit the southeastern part of Alaska, you have to go on one of these tours. Even from the windows of a little puddle jumper plane, Mother Nature showed herself so majestically. These snapshots don’t do the hands-on experience the justice it deserves, but it’s a sampling to say the least. Enjoy….
Boo for the bug…
…the flu bug that is, at least this is what I suspect has attacked my system. I started out with a headache last night and today it mutated to a headache/achy body/queezy stomach/and…fever for part of the day. I was scheduled to do a Yukon tomorrow but the thought of being away from a real bathroom for hours at a time is a bit scary considering my current state; so I traded with one of my co-workers and am doing in-town shtuff. Should be an exciting day. :P Anyway, pray for betterment of health. Throw up a prayer for me this Sunday as well–I’m speaking at church and am feeling both anxious and excited over the opportunity to do so. Thanks all, and I’ll try and drop a line or two again this weekend as I have the weekend off! SWEET DAY!
My humble abode
Finally…FINALLY…I am posting some pics of my house and room. Now you no longer have to imagine in your head the places I’m e-mailing/calling you from. The first row of pics show Nicole’s & my bedroom. We have dubbed our room “The Penthouse”, mainly because it’s the largest bedroom in the house (it used to be the TV room) but also because we have our own walk-in closet! Starting from left to right is what you would see as you approach our door and then glance around the perimeter of the room. The buses are what we see from our bedroom window. Because we always have our window open (our room is always hot and stuffy due to getting hit with direct sunlight all day long), we wake up most mornings to the sound of engines starting and horns honking. Such a glorious way to start the day….
The second row below includes pics of our lovely bathroom which we share with 3 other boys (ewww), our community living and dining room, and the one kitchen in the house, all of which are located downstairs.
Lastly, here are a couple aerial shots of our house and the encompassing bus yard and mechanics’ shop taken this past Sunday during an AMAZING flightseeing tour I got to go on with Nicole and our friend Alex. I’ll post more pics from that later on this week but for now here’s a couple of the yard and also an overhead view of the entire town of Skagway. To help scale the picture, Skagway is 4 by 22 blocks. The wider part to the right is the south end of town. If the shot was panned out a bit more you would see Lynn Canal to the right wherein the cruise ships make their approach each day, and our house would be on the far left hand side, situated just a couple hundred feet northwest of the city limits.
And there you have it! Hopefully now you feel a little more acquainted with my summer home. Now it’s time for me to get reacquainted with my bed.
Surprise of the week!
This last Saturday I had some surprise visitors come to Skagway! I was on my way to the dock for a morning tour and on the way there, I get a call over the radio from one of my co-workers informing me that he had a couple folks with him who really wanted to see me. He was in town at the train depot and I was on the dock, so he told me he’d drive them over to meet me. I asked him if he had a hint as to who it is I should be looking for; his response was ”they like horses”. They like horses?! This proves to be of no help to me. I raced over toward the end of the dock and about 20 feet ahead, my eyes caught view of a couple people waving at me. As I got closer, their faces came into focus….lo and behold, it was my Great Uncle Larry and Aunt Ina! They had driven all the way up here from Zillah, WA. The trip wasn’t specifically made for me. They were (and still are) road-tripping up to Alaska, planning to spend the rest of July up here, and they decided to make a pit stop in Skagway and surprise me. No one knew they were coming except my grandparents and even they only knew about them coming to AK but not of their special plans to make a stop in Skagway. The stop definitely took them off the beaten path adding a couple hundred miles to their trip, but I’m so glad though they chose that detour. It was so refreshing and encouraging seeing more familiar faces in town. We made plans to meet up in the afternoon after I was done with my tour at the RV park where they were staying. We played canasta in the motorhome of their friends Larry and JoEllen with whom they were traveling…they fed me a bunch of homemade peanut butter cookies…we ate dinner together at the Red Onion Saloon here in town…and we even piggybacked onto a tour of the historic brothel which is located upstairs in the RO. It was a fabulous surprise and a perfect ending to a long and tiring week. Thanks so much, Uncle Larry and Aunt Ina, for making my week!!
I also discovered another surprise a couple mornings ago, one not near as exciting and worth bragging about as the last surprise. I was doing some errands on one of my breaks and noticed out of the corner of my eye a little white blob, a white blob that I later pinpointed as being a mini pile of bird poop resting atop the edge of my sleeve.
Go figure I’m in my work shirt IN the middle of a tour when all this happens. What’s worse is I had been walking around for about 45 minutes; thus I had no idea how long my new fecal friend had been showing itself. I immediately rushed back to my bus, checked the mirror, and was relieved to find my hair (I checked that first), clothing, and the rest of my body untouched. Since I didn’t have time to go home and change, I tried hard to wipe off the doo with a paper towel. That, however, only worked to successfully transform the decoration from a 3-D mini poo pile to a 2-dimension gray smudge. So then I resorted to rolling up the bottom of my sleeve. Thankfully that concealed the evidence enough to get me through the remainder of my tour. Still, I couldn’t help feeling thoroughly disgusted the rest of the day. For the record, bird poop does not wipe off of royal blue colored cotton fabric very well…just in case you were wondering.
Making other news headlines in Skagway: today’s weather reaching an amazing 70 degrees! We’ve got blue skies for miles and amazing mountain and glacier views to show off. On the hottest day of the week, I am doing a tour in an un air-conditioned bus. My poor pax, all 32 of them, spent most of their morning fanning themselves and drinking lots of fluids. They’re at lunch right now enjoying the sun and a nice cool breeze while I am at home reapplying deodorant and dabbing off sweatmarks. After I get off around 3:00, I hope to spend the later part of the afternoon laying out and getting some color on my skin. I kid you not, all my white friends are passing me up with their tans. The only color I have to show is that on my left arm, the driver arm. I have a fashionable watch band line to compliment as well.
When I have a couple days off this weekend (FINALLY, two days off in a row!), it is my goal to get more blogging done. I had every intention of being a consistent blogger this summer but sadly, I haven’t been the greatest. It’s too difficult sometimes to write a substantial recap of my day when I’ve driven 150 some miles and been with passengers for 8 hours straight and on the clock for 12-14. Hopefully I can make up for lost time and make a better go of this throughout my last two months here.
Speaking of which, can you believe I’ve been here two months already? Sooner than we know I’ll be back in the Pacific Northwest. I had the sweetest couple on my bus yesterday from Stanwood. They were my weekly my taste of home. Conversation quickly revealed that we knew a lot of the same people. And why wouldn’t we? It’s Skagit County after all! We discussed the current weather, real estate development in and around the valley (he was a contractor), and cute little Gretchen’s kitchen store in downtown Mount Vernon where she worked for 6 years. The exchange left me with vivid images in my mind of 1st Street and the Food Co-Op, beautiful Camano Island, and my dear colleagues at Peoples Bank.
Hope Thursday is treating you all well. Wherever you are, enjoy the gift of another day and know I am doing the same in little Skagway, AK.
