I Hear The Train A Comin'

Well once again I chose a job where it's sink or swim, and at the start at least I was able to tred water. We trained for a week on policies, emergency procedures, etc. while us host guides tried deperately to learn everything about Alaska that we can. Honestly I feel like I'm back in college again only this time I deserve a degree or at least a minor in Alaskan History! What makes it harder is that there is not an "official" history book so sometimes I get conflicting stories and views of what really happened or numbers that aren't always accurate. However it's been great to learn so much about the rail line and events that happened here in this beautiful state.

Now at the same time that I'm learning about Alaska I wan't to also be experiencing Alaska but my group was able to ride the train to Fairbanks on training and then have a whole day to do tourist stuff before we headed back "live" or with guests. I absolutely LOVED panning for gold at the El Dorado Gold Mine (I panned - well Kyle the boy that helped me - panned $19 of gold flakes) then we took a river boat down the Chena River and stopping at a re-created native village and seeing the dog kennels of an amazing woman who competed in the Iditarod.

And one of the highlights of the week too was that Anchorage hosted the World Championship Beard and Mustache Festival so some of us went downtown to the parade and took pictures with some of the competitors and we even snapped a great photo with the two time champion of the freestyle division!