Tale of a Lost Passport

Posted on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Driving home the other day I had a sudden thought…Where is my passport? As I thought about it I became more and more nervous. By the time I actually reached the house I was in a full blown panic.

I last used the passport on my cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. I knew I had the passport when I got home because I’d seen it but where?

While I was on the cruise and then in Florida I kept the passport in the folder I carry on each trip with all the print outs, tickets, guide books, attractions, reciepts and maps. I have a separate folder for this Alaska Cruise. I’ve found that doing it this way organizes not only my travel documents but my thoughts and helps me squeeze in as much as I can on these trips because who knows if I will ever “pass that way again”.

When I get home this folder combines with my notes and photos to provide the basis for my tales of my trips which I share here so that those of you interested in a location can have the benefit of my experiences or mis-adventures, as the case may be. 🙂

Well, as I was writing my posts for Florida and the Everglades I remembered seeing the passport and thinking I should put it away where it belonged. But I am the world’s best procrastinator and didn’t remember doing that.

Baby Alligator

Now at home and in a panic I checked all the places I usually keep the passport when not traveling and even some I don’t usually use. Nothing. I pulled out my luggage and checked all the pockets and linings…nope… nothing.

Finally I went though the pockets of my photo vests, coats, jackets and pants. Those were a real long shot but I was hoping. Still nothing.

I’m sure by now you are asking yourself why I didn’t look in the folder. Well, that’s because as I was cleaning off my desk a few days before I looked at the huge folder and thought “I don’t want to save all this stuff. It takes up too much room in my file cabinet” so I did something I normally don’t do…I threw out my folder with notes, and maps and travel documents. In the process I threw out the passport. 🙁

I raced to the post office where they calmed my fears and said they could expedite a replacement and have it in 2 weeks. Of course it would cost me…what doesn’t these days..so now the search was on for my birth certificate…last seen 7 years ago when I applied for the passport. Lets just say it’s in a safe place.

It was looking more and more like I would have to drive to upstate NY for another certified copy of my birth certificate. So that was my plan for Monday but Sunday as I was doing routine house work I emptied the small trash can under my desk. As I tipped the can I spotted a manila folder! What’s this? Could it be? OMG it’s the Cozumel/Florida folder.
My hand was shaking as I pulled the precious folder out. The first quick flip through yielded nothing, a big fat goose egg so I took the folder to my desk and spread it out. I went through everything one piece of paper at a time and there it was. A bit battered and bent but intact.

I can now share this cautionary story because all’s well that ends well but I did have quite a few days of stress over this silly mistake!

Planning for Port of call~ Juneau

Posted on April 3, 2013April 3, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Progress …that’s what we’re making. Sandy agreed to the combo tour of the Saxman Village and the Totem Park and we made that reservation. Now we have to tackle what to do when we reach Juneau our 2nd port of call.

Juneau is the Capital city of Alaska and the 2nd largest city by area in the US. It is also home to the famous Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau also has WHALES! We’ll be in port from 8:00 am to 9pm so we have a full day to explore.

Usually my sister and I are pretty in tune as far as tours go but here we almost had a rift. I didn’t want to force a “photo” tour on my sister but I really wanted to take the opportunity to get some coaching because the glaciers can be a challenge. I want my pictures to move to the “next level” beyond the post card , snapshot stage. But Sandy is not “into” photography the way I am so I wasn’t sure if she would want to go on a Photography Tour.

In the end both tours were going to the same place at the same time so I decided to go with the tour Sandy liked and do my best with my pictures on my own. The tour description for her Whales and Mendenhall Glacier Trail sounded more interesting than the Photo Tour which talked about photographing the moraines.

Also located in Juneau is Mount Roberts which has a tram ride to the summit. The “Whale Mendenhall Tour” is about 5 hours so we can take the tram in the afternoon.

I can’t wait to compare the actual experiences with what I’m telling you here because so far this is just guidebook information.

Alaska Planning

Posted on April 2, 2013April 2, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It’s almost cruise time. The long-awaited Alaska Cruise and Denali Landtour is only about 6 weeks away. Yes, I’m still going. After all, it was paid for before I knew I was about to be laid off. The money is gone. It won’t solve anything by not going. And since it’s a cruise most of the meals are all paid for as well. Our day-to-day out-of-pocket should be minimal unless we go crazy for souvenirs and since mine are usually the ones I take with my camera I’m not too worried.

We’re booked on the Island Princess. The web site describes her this way:

Island Princess was built to Panamax size – this means she was built to the maximum size a cruise ship can be to sail through the Panama Canal. A high percentage of balcony staterooms give passengers the chance to view this feat of engineering up-close, or take in stunning views of spectacular glaciers during cruises to Alaska. Featured on just one other Princess ship, the Bayou Café and SteakhouseSM is a unique dining venue on board in which to enjoy authentic New Orleans cuisine accompanied by live jazz.

The only thing left is to decide what excursions we want to do while in port.

Our First Port of call is Ketchikan, the First City on the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska.

With an estimated population of 14,070 in 2010, it is the fifth most populous city in the state.

Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles, located at three major locations: Saxman Village, Totem Bight, and the Totem Heritage Center. So of course we want to see those. Combining a visit to Saxman Native Village and the Totem poles seems like a perfect way to soak up some of the Native Alaska-American Culture.

Visit Saxman Native Village and experience the rich living culture of southeast Alaska’s Native Americans. Get an exclusive look at the fascinating culture of SE Alaska’s original inhabitants. The Tlingits welcome guests in the traditional style that defines the culture of Southeast Alaska. A short video program introduces you to the culture and history of Saxman. You will then enter the Beaver Clan House where you are welcomed by song and dance by the Cape Fox Dance group. Visitors are encouraged to participate in the final dance, before moving on to the Saxman Totem Park, one of the largest gatherings of totems in the world. Your guide will help unravel the mysteries of these towering, majestic poles. At the Village Carving Center craftsmen pass on their skill to eager apprentices. Learn how modern day carvers differ from their ancestors and learn of their current projects around the world. Fine Alaska Native art and small mementos are for sale at the Native Faces store.

Now I just have to see if my travel companion , this time my sister not Joe, agrees. 🙂

Change

Posted on April 1, 2013April 1, 2013 by Dusty Roads

When one door closes another one opens…or so the saying goes. No matter what, change is hard and sometimes scary. These last 3 months have been a roller coaster of emotions; sometimes exhilarating, sometimes sad, sometimes nearly panic only to swing back to excited.

I have worked many places with many people but no other work situation has fostered such close ties. From the dispatchers I shared the office with to the techs in the field it was like a big family. Things didn’t always go smooth. There were disagreements and arguments but there was also laughter, kind words, support and fun and over the years we began to feel like family. This made for great working conditions but now that it’s over there is a lot more emotion than just leaving a job.

This last week has been a concentrated version of the past three months. Everyone seemed to be wearing their feelings on their sleeves, one moment laughing, the next crying and the work demands never let up to give us a chance to come to terms with the “Last Day”.

This week the management team ordered pizza, the HR manager brought pizza, even one of the techs spent his own money to bring us pizza. Then the last morning we all brought breakfast food; juice, coffee, sweet rolls, coffee cake, apple fritters, fruit, bagels, muffins…enough food for an army. I couldn’t help thinking it was like a wake or funeral as more food poured in and visitors came by to say their good byes.

At a particularly loud moment it hit me hard. Yes like an Irish Wake without the whiskey and like a funeral after the burial those of us that remained would be…alone.

For all the complaining and groaning that goes on in a normal day-to-day give and take, when it was over those of use not going on to Malden would be alone with no place to go on Monday morning. No co-workers to chat with, fight with, laugh with…no work family.

But then the emotional swing went the other way arching back up to optimism. Look at all the opportunity, a clean slate . This is different because of the bonds made over the last 10 years but the job changing is not. Everything will be fine, not the same but it will be fine.