I had 2 back to back deluxe tours, which are the longest tours I've given thus far (4.5 hours to spend with a group), so I spent my day at the glacier, the hatchery, and the gardens. Now I'd say that these are probably the 3 coolest sights in Juneau, except for maybe whale watching, so it was easy for me to get stoked for my guests. The second group was especially peppy; I had no problem bonding with them. All things said and done, some really noteworthy things happened today, in my long 14 hour day. At the glacier, a bear came within 10 feet of me - he just waltzed out of the woods, crossed the street right in front of me like he does it a hundred times a day, and then disappeared into the woods on the other side of the street. All the while, people are all around him snapping photos and he hardly even blinks. Then, when I was doing a couple of runs of shuttle, a man jumped out (not paying attention of course) right in front of my bus, and I was within inches of hitting him! He barely even looked twice as he watched me drive by. I couldn't believe what had just happened, and it definitely stunned me. Also, I broke my record for tips (not on a single tour, but for the entire day). It was a great day - I walked away feeling like I gave 70 people a fabulous time today, having had a great time myself.
I started reading "127 Hours, Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston and I'm totally loving it. He's the dude who winds up cutting off his own arm with a dull knife after he gets pinned under a rock. Once again, I find myself constantly chilled (in a good way) with descriptions of how he feels being out in nature and enjoying the simplicity of it all. I can always relate. But there was one thing in particular that he said that just totally gripped at every one of my heart strings. It was this, page 13: "There's a mostly unspoken acknowledgment among the voluntarily impoverished dues-payers of [Aspen and Moab] that it's better to be fiscally poor yet rich in experience - living the dream - than to be traditionally wealthy but live separate from one's passions." I can't say that anyone has ever summed it up more accurately than that for me. Being here in Alaska just makes me realize that I'm too young to settle down and have a serious job, and maybe I'll always be too young at heart for that. I just want to keep working these crazy adventurous jobs where I get to be outside, see beautiful places, meet wonderful people, and have more fun than actually making any decent money.
Anyway, life is great, things are going much better than a couple of days ago. I am feeling much better, thank goodness. And of course, Daniel flies in Friday morning; he'll be here 9 days and I have 5 of those days off to show him how we do things AK style, now that I finally understand what that means. :) Tomorrow will be something new, as always, and hopefully I have something interesting to report.
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