North To Alaska-Or Not

Free food has my total attention whenever or wherever. And it did when AAA travel invited me to an evening presentation on Alaska.

My parents had been there twice so with nothing else to do I went to the presentation and the free food.

A trio of speakers painted a picture of our fifty-ninth state that was hard to resist. Starting with a cruise ship where there were several places where they would dock and the passengers would then be treated to various land excersions as they had pruchased.

The main port that was used was at Skagway, a town so small that there is no Walmart. Four or five land sice tours available begin here in this quaint town.

My parents had gone there in a amotor home. But as a single person I did not find this as a practical option. And if I chose to drive, the gas and hotel bills would have eaten me alive. So I sat there listening, enjoying the scenic pictures they showed and enjoyed the free food.

The last couple, just before the presentation ended, told all of the attendees about the company who employed them and gave the public these memory making opportunities. Seems their employer is owner not only of the cruise ships but also the busses, hotels, restaurants and bars. During peak travel time they had over four thousand seasonal employees.

Then they said something that totally got my attention.

"Workers are all responsible for finding their own lodging which is pretty expensive. So they usually have three or four housemates. But in Skagway, because the town is so small, housing is hard to find. So the jobs include room and board."

Bingo, I thought. This is the way for me to go and see Alaska and get paid while I am there.

Suddenly I could not wait for the presentation to end. I had to find out how to apply for one of these jobs.

With where, how to and by when to apply fresh in my head, as soon as I returned home I went on line, filled out an application on the company web page and made a point to request a job in Skagway to take advantage of the room and board.

The very next day I received a call to arrange for a telephone intervies. Two days later I got the phone intervies. It seemed to go quite well I thought.

Two days later came a call offering me a position in Skagway as security at one of the company owned hotels. I wasted no time in accepting.

This prompted me to wonder what to do with my apartment and stuff while I was in Alaska. Self storage for my stuff was cheaper than keeping the apartment, paying not only the rent but electricity I would not be using so I bgan looking for storage places.

For two days I packed my stuff into totes and boxes, had Veterans Of America come and get my furnature (I could always buy new when I returned), and prepared for a new adventure.

That Monday a call came from my location supervisor. Since I would be assigned to the night shift I would have a private room. So I gave them my sizes for my uniform, got recommendation on the best way to get to Skagway and told to look for an e-mail with tax information and direct deposit info that I needed to fill out and e-mail back. Again I wasted no time in completing this.

Then I called Alaska Air Lines and bought my ticket to Juneau. From there I had to take either a ferry or a pontoon plane to get across the bay to Skagway.

Next I went to the apartment management and kind of let them think I was being transferred Alaska. Since I would be reporting to Alaska in less than a month they agreed to let me out of my lease but I would not get back my one-hundred dollar deposit. No problem.

I found a selr-storage spot close to the apartment so once I got everything in a box or a tote, except for what I planned to take with me, I rented a u-haul and loaded everything to take to storage. Once again I kept a few things back to get me to the last day in the apartment.

By this time I am really getting excited and it had only been two weeks since I began this adventue. One more week in the old apartment. Then I would actually be homeless until departure time. But all seemed to be proceeding nicely for such notice.

Less than a week to go and day two of living in my car and I began to hear people talking about a nes and dangerous virus. Seems it had already hit Europe pretty hard. Suddenly schools, gyms, churches, bars and restaurants and most public gathering places were closing. Live concerts were cancelled. Soccer matches were cancelled. March madness was cancelled and travel was cancelled.

In my mind I had hoped I could get to Alaska before things got out of hand in the USA. Suddenly, four days before leaving, reports of this virus spreading rapidly in the US had the president ordering all travel shut down, all public gathering places shut down and everyone was urged to find a place to to quaranteen. Masks were not required and unless you were employed by a grocery store or a gas station you were to work from home. Schools were closed and students had to begin online learning.

What a mess. Boy was I in a pickle now. The storage unit was paid up for a year so that was okay. The old apartment had already been reated out. Now suddenly I had no job and no place to live.

Being a military veteran, all I could think to do was call the Veterans Administration office and ask for advice as to what I should do. Was there a place I could go to quarenteen? They gave me the address of a VA shelter.

At this same time came an e-mail that I have come to hate. It informed all of the four thousand plus employees that the whole summer season had been cancelled. We would not be needed and for us to be safe.

And that was it. The grand new adventure North to Alaska was now a bust.

The new adventure was not working out as this new virus was apreading.

So began another adventure and not one that I had planned. Finding a new apartment and a new job would be the next adventure.

Bummer!