September fever -- counting the weeks until the season ends

Today was another gray, drizzly and cool day. What a surprise. Must be summertime in Skagway!

Crowds of cruise ship guests looking for their shore excursions at railroad dock (this was taken on a day when we had a rare break in the dampness)

Standing out on the docks on days like today (and there have been many like them this summer) is not for the faint of heart. We stand out there in our Marmot rain jackets with our little signs for about 1/2 hour or so for each pickup, with rain dripping off our hoods and blowing into our faces, driven by the strong winds coming off the open water of the ocean, as we round up guests for their tours and move them toward the buses like two-legged herding dogs.

Margot at the Red Onion Saloon (historic brothel tour) in downtown Skagway. Is she photogenic or what?

Then as we collect tickets and complete waivers and coordinate with shorex's to release the buses for departure, as we finally escort guests to the parking lot and get one bus of passengers headed on its way, we head back to the dock to do it all over again for the next pickup. It's a strange sort of life.

Skagway dogs waiting patiently for their owners to return. Check out that igloo doghouse in the bed of the truck.

There are those days when we arrive at the docks around 7am for the early morning pickups to find the ship had arrived late and the gangplank isn't even down yet. This is typically not a great start because all the tours run a pretty tight pick-up schedule. So when the ship is late arriving, then all the tours get backed up, so the bus drivers have less time for their passengers at each stop, jeep tours may not make it all the way to the top on the off-road portion, the river guides may need to shorten their float route, the fast ferry to Haines may be late departing from small boat harbor......and so on does the ship's lateness ripple throughout Skagway.

The White Pass Narrow Gauge Railroad heads up the steep pass

It's amazing how much everything in this town depends on the arrivals and departures of the cruise ships. And when they run late it tends to make both shorex’s, tour guides and passengers a bit stressed and isn’t a great way to start the day. But, such is life and these things happen.

My approach is to show up at the dock with a big smile on my face and try to keep it there no matter what happens. And if a passenger is very unhappy because of the delay, even though it was beyond our control, I can still put on my most empathetic and understanding face – because after all this is their vacation and a pretty expensive one – and do my best to turn things around for them by making their experience the best that I can. That's my job.

The trail approaches the lakes of Fraser in Canada.

Inside an old-time passenger car of the White Pass railroad (even still has the old wood stove at the back of each car).

But I must admit, after almost four months "trapped in this town" as I heard someone say the other day, end-of-season fever is here in force for pretty much everyone in town. The countdown has begun until the end of the season which officially ends with the last ship day on September 27, and I hear a lot of "just 7 more weeks" or "2 more weeks" or whatever the time may be for that person's departure from town. I've noticed I've started counting down myself.

Some of the summer staff is starting to go home now -- mostly the college students who are about to start their fall semester in Utah, Florida, New York, Washington, California and numerous other states. And as people start to leave, it's hard not to envy them as they talk about their departure a week from today or how they are about to start their last tour into the Yukon before their trip home and so forth.

The train trip between Skagway and Carcross (Caribou Crossing) in Canada climbs steeply and goes through tunnels, often coming seemingly perilously close to the rock walls of the hillsides.

As for me, I am winding up my season at one company for both the position in the gift shop at Liarsville and the dock repping for jeep tours and salmon bakes -- although I've offered to be a fill-in person if needed during peak times for while I'm still in town if they need it.

So for now I'm back to just one job, kind of a relief after two months with three.

My newer position at the Holland American Sales and Service desk finishes in early September, although the general manager of that company asked me today about the possibility of continuing after that to help with dock repping for them and perhaps some other positions they may have coming open in September. I haven't decided yet whether I want to stick it out until late September, or whether I'll wind up things for the season earlier in the month. I'd like to work for this company again next year perhaps as a tour director for the escorted tours, so staying on until the end would be great experience.

But the pull of home is pretty strong now that I see the end of the tunnel finally approaching. Whether I depart in early September or later to see the season to it's conclusion, I admit I'll be glad to see September arrive because that means I'll be home soon!