Well, Last sunday I wasn't able to go to church because I was giving a whale watch tour. I really don't think Nigel (the Allen Marine dock rep) likes me very much. I had to back with passengers again that day in order to get out. And there were three of us running passengers to the dock anyway. I'm sure it's nothing personal, but still. When I finished that run I got to go on a Ride-along with Kelly to the Salmon Hatchery and the Glacier. We do ride-alongs to see how others do their tours and to gain more material. Actually, a lot of my phone call to my Mom that day was about different odd facts I've learned for my tours. I heard that Braden is doing well and I sure wish I could have talked to him, but c'est la vie. I love him anyway. ;)
Monday I actually had a day off! However, Jenny and Rachel didn't, so I had the house to myself. I blasted my music while I cleaned and did some laundry. After that Sean came over for a while before we went exploring downtown with Jonathan. If you ever come to Juneau I MUST recommend just a few places to you. The Alaska Fudge Co (which has positively amazing chocolate/fudge/candy), Imagination Station (a really awesome toy store), Trove (a store with lots of fun novelty items such as plunger magnets, mustache cookie cutters, etc), and Samovars (a great russian restaurant that opened just this season). After out explorations we hitched a ride to FHE out at the Auke Bay Recreation Area. While there we beach-combed, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and explored the peninsula. I had a really great time, and met some great new friends. :) However, I didn't get home till about 10:30 and I had a ferry drop-off at 4:15 the next morning...
Tuesday I was up at 2:30, to the yard by 3:15, pre-tripped the bus and then left out to the ferry with Dylan. We loaded the two busses that are being shipped to our Ketchikan division. Afterwards we drove the company van back to the yard where we talked until it was time for breakfast. We ate at a fun little coffee shop called The Rookery*. It has really great hot chocolate and these amazing pastries that reminded me a lot of Brian's cooking from last year. :) My next adventure was when I tried to get the Goshen into Franklin dock at 8. I had to circle to the Tram lot twice to wait in order to get a parking spot to meet my passengers. I drove them out to Auke Bay where I dropped them off. Then I went to stage at Brotherhood Bridge where I promptly took a nap. ;) I picked up my passengers and dropped them off at the dock just in time for the next company vendor tour. We learned the routes to the Alaska Brewery, The Cooking School, and Angel Gardens. All three are amazing places. After we got back I fueled the Goshen, walked home, ate a little something, took two Benadryl, and went straight to bed. So I slept from about 4:30 pm clear through the next morning. After and 11.5 hour day, sleep felt glorious!
On Wednesday I had my first ever Era drop-offs. Era is one of our helicopter companies that we transfer passengers for. On my first run I was so into telling a story that I missed my turn at the Douglas bridge. I called in on my radio to find out where I could turn around (because there are only so many places big enough to turn around a bus) and by the time Shaner told me where to turn onto, I had already passed that road. I ended up telling my passengers that they were just getting an extra-long tour and I turned them around at the salmon hatchery. We eventually got to Era and there were quite a few people who told me that they loved the extra part of the tour, so obviously I didn't do too bad. ;) Parking in Era is very fun thoug, especially when there are multiple busses down there. What's really funny is when tourists jump on the first bus they see instead of trying to find the bus they originally came on. It has actually happened. ;) Later on I had a drop-off at Allen Marine and I got out on my first try! I hope Nigel is happy with me. ;) One of the girls that works at Era is also in my ward. After she got done with work she gave me a ride to Institute. Considering I couldn't attend church on Sunday, I really enjoyed it! The teachers are a senior missionary couple, and I met more people that live in my area of Juneau! I really hope I get home/visiting teachers soon. That'll also help. :)
Thursday I got called into work and while I was pre-tripping the Goshen wouldn't start. I looked around and found that someone had left the exterior lights on the day before. I found Matt (our head mechanic) and he helped me jump-start the Goshen. Matt also told me I couldn't turn it off until after my first passenger run. It was ok; it just made for an interesting morning. My first run was a drop-off at Auke Bay. Then I dropped off at Era (without missing the bridge), and went straight up to Eagle crest for a pick-up at the Zipline. From the zipline I drove them clear out to the Glacier. On the way I used up basically all of my tour material so I had to think really hard for things to say on the ride back from the glacier to the docks (ie: Isostatic glacial rebound, etc). It went well though, and I even made a tip. After that I went on a ride-along with Bryce to Glacier Gardens (which has the most amazing hot chocolate!) and then up to the Glacier. While we were staging I got a call from Shaner asking if I wouldn't mind coming and helping out with cars. Turns out that ACT also owns the Hertz car rental at the airport and they didn't have enough staff to finish washing cars by closing time. So I helped clean and wash cars for about an hour. Then on the way back to the yard Brenna got us Oreo Mcflurries. :) After work we went out to a pizza place inside The Wharf for Shaner's birthday. It was really fun to have everyone there. :)
Yesterday we had wash crew and I was assigned as a sprayer, so I got the hose. Mwahahaha... Just kidding, I was nice. ;) It really reminded me of the MHS Fine Arts Car Washes we had back in Marching Band. Happy memories at that. :) Also, we had an old radio tuned to a local station that had a good mix of a lot of songs. Every once in a while it would play a perfect Lindy hop song though, and it made me really miss my Swing scene in Rexburg... Sigh, I might just have to teach my co-workers how to dance swing. :) Anyways, when we finished there we cleaned up our office area before going out on a grocery trip. We packed everybody into the 15-passenger van and made trips to Costco and Fred Meyer (I guess our Fred Meyer store is the largest one in the western United States. Who knew?). Getting everyone's food to fit in the van (not to mention all the people) was an adventure, but we all made it home safely. I'm set for the next while on food, but I'm mostly excited because I have the stuff I need to make cookies... :)
Today I gave a Glacier/Whale Watch tour and I'm positive that it's the best tour I've given yet! It flowed really well, mt passengers were responsive, and I even made tips at the end! The boat today was unique in the fact that it left by 3:00 this afternoon. Since I had some "free time" I decided to spend it making homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch and then white chocolate craisen oatmeal cookies. It was all very delicious. :)
I'm still having a wonderful time, but every once in a while I'll miss something from home. Regardless, I'm sure all things are turning out for the best. I love and miss you all!
[Insert fun signature sign-off phrase],
Shawni
*There are tons of crows/ravens/rooks (one of the above) here in Juneau! They're really smart too. They have a system where they work together to undo the latches on the bear-proof garbage cans to get at food...
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