a day in the life

As most of you probably know, I've been working a lot up here in Alaska. Yesterday I just got back from 2 days, or 30 hours, or work. Some of you might wonder what a typical day on the train is like for me, so I thought I'd break down what a normal day is like going northbound from Anchorage to Fairbanks. I should say, however, that there really isn't a 'normal' day on the train - the number of passengers is always different, the number of passengers who are on the train and come to the dining room to eat is always different, and each day I'm assigned to a different car, possibly with different co-workers in the kitchen or dining room. So I'll try to clarify as best as possible what a 'typical' day might be.

5-5:45 am: Groggily wake up, shower, shave, and maybe grab a quick bite to eat before leaving to work.

5:45-6 am: Bike from my apartment to work - 'work' in the morning is the railyard just below downtown Anchorage in an area called 'Ship Creek.' In the morning our train cars are not attached to the train we will be a part of that day, so I report to the Holland/Princess buildings where our cars are stationed when not in use.

6-7 am: I usually clock in at about 6, though we don't actually have to be there until 6:15. When I clock in there is a list that shows which car I'll be working in for that run, and I head directly there. Most cooks try to get to work early, because the first thing that we are responsible for is taking an inventory of the kitchen that we'll be working in. It's really important for us to have everything we need for our two days on the rail because if we run out of a product, and another kitchen on the consist can't spare any, then there's really nowhere to get more of that product. So, we check everything we have, and if we are short anything we have to request it from the ground before 6:30 and hope that it can be delivered to our car before we leave the depot.

At about 6:30 we start prepping breakfast, which includes cooking off bacon, breakfast potatoes, and biscuits, and slicing fruit and vegetables.

7-8 am: At around 7 or so, we usually get 'bumped,' which simply means that the train that we will be a part of that day connects our cars to the consist (or group of cars). Perhaps it's self-explanatory, but it is called the 'bump' because when the train backs into our cars to attach us, all of our cars lurch a bit, and you can feel that the cars have been bumped, or attached. Once we are attached, the train makes the 'loop,' which simply means that it slowly gets out of the train yard by going through a series of switches until it's made it to the depot where it will pick up passengers.

8 am: At this point we are in the depot and waiting to board passengers. As a cook I'm usually finishing up breakfast prep, or sometimes helping load luggage. Some days take longer than others to get all the passengers embarked, but we usually hope to leave the depot by about 8:15 or so. On Wednesday during these last few minutes before departure, I was frantically texting friends, trying to figure out what was happening during the U.S.A./Algeria World Cup game, which just happened to be dramatically ending as we were getting ready to leave Anchorage.

8:15-9:30 (or later): During the first leg of our trip, from Anchorage to Talkeetna, we cook and serve breakfast. Depending on the number of passengers we have, and the number of people who choose to eat, we could have as many as 150 or so people eat. However, the past couple of runs I've been able to get through breakfast by about 9:30. It's nice to finish this early, because we don't get into Talkeetna until 11:30, so if we finish early it gives us plenty of time to clean up breakfast, relax for a bit, and then prep for lunch. This past Wednesday, my fellow cook and I had a 'dead leg' for lunch, which means we didn't have any passengers in either of the cars we were cooking for, so I got to take about an hour long nap or so after we finished cooking breakfast.

11:30 - 4 pm: This is the second leg, from Talkeetna to Denali. Normally it is when we serve lunch, which includes burgers, chili, cold sandwiches. However, as I just said, on Wednesday I had a dead leg for lunch, so I was able to just relax, read, chat w/ fellow co-workers, etc. My fellow cook and I were responsible for employee lunch, however, so we made lunch for the 60 employees who were on the consist that day. This is also the most impressive leg of our route as far as scenery goes. When I have time I try to look outside as much as I can and just remember where I am. If we are stuck in the kitchen, it can be touch to get views of outside, but some of cars have small windows in the kitchen so I can catch glimpses of the wilderness we're passing through (as can be seen in the photo at the beginning of this post).

At around 3 pm, before we get to Denali, we start prepping dinner. This includes cooking rice, a prime rib, pork ribs, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.

4 pm - 8 pm: During this final leg of our journey, we travel from Denali to Fairbanks and serve dinner. This is the most time consuming meal service, so if we have a lot of people who want to eat, we try to start right away. Our dinner menu includes steaks, crab cakes, reindeer sausage mac 'n cheese, and an Alaskan-style jambalaya. It's pretty fun to cook and serve these dishes, but it can also be very busy and a little crazy.

5:15 pm: On Wednesday at this time, as we had just begun cooking dinner service, the generator in our car went down and we lost power. Obviously, this put a bit of a kink in our service, but fortunately the power wasn't out for too long. To regain power in this situation, we usually have to turn off all the non-essential things in our kitchen - which includes the air conditioning. This equals a very hot kitchen...but isn't that how a kitchen is supposed to be??

8 pm (ish): When we arrive in Fairbanks, we should be long finished with cooking dinner and have our kitchen cleaned up. When the passengers disembark, it doesn't mean we can get off the train, however. All the cars need to be cleaned up and checked out before we can all get off the train, which is usually around 8:45 or 9 pm. After disembarking, the crew boards a motorcoach that heads to Fred Meyer's, the local grocery store. Everyone usually picks up some food and beverages to enjoy after a long day of work. When we get off the bus at the grocery store, we clock out...so that means we're on the clock from 6 am until 9 pm - or a 15 hour day. Some are a lot harder than others, but it's surprising how quickly the day goes by.

9:45 or 10 pm: After Freddy's, we go to the Best Value Inn, or as we affectionately call it, the BVI - were our staff always stays in Fairbanks. When we get there I usually get cleaned up, eat some food, and either hang out w/ fellow employees for a while or watch some TV before going to bed. After such a long day, everyone is ready to climb into bed and get some sleep, because at 6 am the next day, the bus leaves for the train and we get to do it all over again on our way back to Anchorage.

Well, I've quickly written a pretty long entry without thinking about it...in much the same way one can realize on the train that 12 hours have passed, or that after 4 straight days of work you can suddenly realize that you've been on the clock for 60 hours. The days are long, and the work can be hot and sometimes stressful...but for the most part it is fun and there are a lot of interesting people to be working with. Plus, I'm getting paid to do something that I really enjoy - cooking and serving food - and doing it in a beautiful place.

work, work, work...and poutine?

It's been quite a while since I last wrote anything, but not without good reason - I've been working...lots. In fact, over the past six days I worked three runs on the train straight. Though I didn't write down the exact number of hours that I had on the clock, I'd say that I logged at least 80 hours in those six days! I had been working two days on, two days off pretty regularly, but I decided to pick up a two-day shift on Sunday and Monday, so that is why I've been working so much. Fortunately, a few of these days were pretty easy. On Sunday, for example,I was cooking on a car that did not have any passengers riding, so all I had to do was cook employee lunch; and yesterday my car only had passengers for breakfast. These slow days are pretty nice, because you can relax, enjoy the scenery, even take a short nap, and still get paid. It's not every day, though, that you get days like that, so I tried to take advantage of them.

One highlight of days on the train is something called 'the meet'

- this occurs once a day when the northbound and southbound trains meet each other. One of the trains will always pull off onto a siding, and the other will pull up and stop on the neighboring track.This gives our managers a chance to talk to each other about supplies or staff that each train may need and gives the stewards a chance to check out any issues with how the train cars are operating (as can be seen in this photo). The meet is also just really fun - staff will hopefully be done serving lunch so that they can take a moment to run out to a platform and wave at fellow employees as they pass, and it gives staff a chance to send 'meet mail,' or letters/packages to friends working on the opposite train.

Another cool segment of the route between Anchorage and Fairbanks is an area called 'the canyon.'

This is a section of the track that runs through the Nenana River Canyon and offers some great views of the river and the canyon walls. One day we were lucky enough to see a bunch of Dall Sheep on the opposite canyon wall. Occasionally there will also by rafters on the river below as we roll by, which there were yesterday as you can see in the picture.

About a week and a half ago I was lucky enough to finally get to go hiking here in Alaska. I ran in to the pastor of the Mennonite church here in Anchorage and he invited me to go hiking on the Turnagain Arm - which is an area just south of Anchorage. After church on Sunday we drove down to a small trail that was just off the road, but immediately (and steeply) went right into the mountains. The trail, which I unfortunately forget the name of, followed a small stream pretty soon we were high enough to see some great looking peaks in front of us, the water of Turnagain Arm

behind us, and a few Dall Sheep climbing on the rocks high above us. It was great to get out of the city and into the wilderness, even though our hike was fairly short. Hopefully I'll be able to get out and do some more exploring in the near future when I have some time off.

I have enjoyed enjoying the city on my days off as well. Today I walked to downtown and all throughout midtown. The highlight of my day had to have been lunch - a unique and unexpected treat in Anchorage, Alaska - poutine. Downtown Anchorage is well known for its hot dog carts (I saw three on the same side of one block on 4th Street today) which feature reindeer hot dogs, but I was surprised to see Smitty's Poutine stand. For those who don't know, poutine is a Canadian dish that originated in Quebec. It consists of french fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy.

This may sound like an odd mix, or like a heart attack waiting to happen, but I definitely wanted to try it. I probably can't speak to the authenticity of the serving of poutine I ordered, but I can say that it was delicious. It was exactly what I expected - hot, crispy fries that contrasted with the texture of the cheese curds, and a gravy that seemed to permeate the whole dish the deeper into it I got. And by the end of the order, I was not only very satisfied, I also knew that if I ate enough of these delicious, artery-clogging snacks, I would be a heart attack waiting to happen. But you only live once, so splurging on a comfort food, even a foreign comfort food, every now and then can't hurt.

Tomorrow I head back to work for two days, but then I have three days off - which will feel great. I'll hopefully have some time to explore around Anchorage a bit more, and write another blog entry. Until then...

disc golf & whittier

I've rediscovered a hobby that will probably take up a decent amount of my free time this summer - disc golf. Last Friday I ran into a coworker in downtown Anchorage and disc golf was mentioned. He asked if I play - I've played just a few times over the past couple of years - and we then went to play at a course which is practically visible from my apartment. Unfortunately I gave away the discs that I owned in Goshen, but I picked up a couple of new ones on Friday. I also had Saturday off, so I biked down to Kincaid Park here in Anchorage, which in the winter time has miles of nordic skiing trails. They also have a great 18-hole course that covers a lot of ground and a lot of hills. There are some great views of Cook Inlet, as you cansee in the picture to the rights that was taken at the hole 4 teebox. Unfortunately the picture doesn't quite do the view justice; there was a great view of mountains across the water that are kind of hard to see in the picture. On Sunday/Monday I had another run, which was a bit different than normal trips. On Sunday we only went as far as Healy, which is just past Denali village, so our day wasn't as long as normal days. It was nice to be finished early, and also to be up in the mountains, because several coworkers and I spent our evening under a big blue sky and surrounded by mountains tossing a frisbee around.

Monday was also a modified day, what we call a 'ship day,' which means we picked up passengers at Denali Village, and they stayed on the train for about ten hours as we took them straight to Whittier - which is a port where the train dropped them off a couple hundred yards from their cruise ship. A picture of the cruise ship from the train is at left.

The trip to Whittier was great because I got to see a new part of Alaska, an area known as Turnagain Arm, which is between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.

This area offered some beautiful views of Cook Inlet as well as the surrounding mountains. We also got to travel through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, a mixed-use train/auto tunnel to Whittier. It is almost 2.5 miles long, and by the time we got to it, I was all finished cleaning up the kitchen, so I was able to go out on one of the open air platforms and experience the tunnel from there.

Tomorrow I head out on a normal run to Fairbanks and then have the weekend off. Until then I'll probably enjoy the beautiful weather today by heading out to the disc golf course.

one run down

Yesterday I finished my first official run on the train. I traveled northbound on Wednesday to Fairbanks, stayed over night, then came southbound back to Anchorage. This will be a typical run for me, and I'll do this a couple of times a week. The craziest part about these past two days was the number of hours I worked - in 2 days I was on the clock for almost 31 hours!

We weren't working nonstop for that entire time, but we were definitely working hard. On Wed. morning I had to do a thorough inventory of the kitchen I was working in (along with one other cook) and then begin prepping for breakfast. Our kitchen was serving two dining rooms, so our breakfast service was pretty long and as soon as it was over we went right into lunch prep and service. Then in the afternoon, we jumped right into dinner and served that - so Wed. I was on my feet the majority of the day.

Thursday was a lot easier, however, because one of the cars that our kitchen was serving didn't have any passengers for the southbound leg. At the end of our two days, though, we did have to thoroughly clean and organize our kitchen so that it was ready for the next run.

In many ways the work I did these past two days was very similar to the work I did at the Soda Shop - it's fast paced, a pretty small working area, there needs to be fast turnover of tables, etc. - basically the qualities of the majority of restaurant kitchens. The main difference was simply the fact that we were on a moving train car. It takes an hour or so to get adjusted to the bouncing and rocking back and forth of the train. By the end of yesterday I was pretty used to it, your legs start to naturally compensate for the movement. One downside is that this compensation really works your ankles, legs, and back - so I'm pretty sore today, but I'm sure I will get used to the physical demands of the job.

Obviously, another big part of being on this moving train (in Alaska) is looking out and seeing the passing scenery. Our kitchen had a tiny little window that we could peek out of here and there, but yesterday I did have some down time and was able to go out into a dining room and watch outside. Even though the hours were long and the work was hard, I just had to glance out and tell myself that i am working in one of the most beautiful states in the county. Unfortunately I don't have anymore pictures right now, but I'll try to get some more soon.

My next run is on Sunday, and then I'll have two days off again, and go back for another run on Thursday. So, as of now, I'm working two days on, two days off - but later in the summer as business picks up, I'm expecting to be two on, one off. It's nice to have a couple of days off to recuperate/reboot a bit, but right now I'm off to get some things done here in Anchorage and maybe even do some hiking outside of town.

denali, end of training, time off!

This past weekend was the training run for all of the new Holland/Princess Rail employees. That meant that we actually got to get moving on the train, after sitting through three days of lectures about company policies, safety training, etc. It was great to get in and actually start doing some hands-on work in the kitchen. I didn't get any pictures of the kitchen that I was working in (hopefully I will later in the season), but I did post some pictures of views from the train. The kitchens aboard the train cars are fully functioning, though one major difference from a normal kitchen is that there are no open flames. It is also set up as a galley kitchen, so there is a lot of turning back and forth to each side of the galley; and there are lots of people, like stewards, on-board managers, and wait staff, walking through your kitchen from car to car.

During our training run, I got to prep for and cook both breakfast and lunch. The work was surprisingly easy, though our kitchen did have more cooks than it will normally have. Nonetheless, our menus are pretty small, so during meal services there is a lot more plating of precooked food and a limited amount of cooking to order.

Obviously one highlight of the trip was all of the extraordinary

views from the train. Because our kitchen was overstaffed, I was able to move about the train and take in some of the views, which I won't always get to do during normal runs. The highlight of the day was getting a chance to see Mt. McKinley, which wasn't hidden by clouds for a bit in the afternoon - apparently we got pretty lucky on the weather. Another cool moment was passing over Hurricane Gulch, which is a spot in the route where the track passes over a trestle bridge high above a river.

We did not go all the way to Fairbanks on Saturday, we normally will; instead we stopped at Denali village, where we stayed at the Denali Lodge, a resort where many of our passengers will stay this summer. While there we attended a dinner show called "Music of Denali," which featured wait staff that doubled as the stars of the show. They put on a great production, but I was happy that I was being paid to sit and watch the performance; I wouldn't normally pay to go to a dinner theater that features audience participation.

In the evening after the dinner theater show, I hiked down to the banks of the Nenana River with another guy who is working on the train. The river was frozen over just a week or two before we visited and it just recently broke. There was still lots of ice on the banks that we could climb around on, and hiking around just for a half an hour or so really made me want to get away from the resort and do some hiking in the wilderness.

On Sunday we returned to Anchorage via motorcoach; then we had two more days of training on Monday and Tuesday. Monday was more classroom type training, but Tuesday we had an in-service training in the railyard during which we ran through a dinner service. Again, our kitchen was overstaffed, so many hands made light work, but the dinner menu was also pretty limited and not terribly difficult.

Getting into the kitchen for just a couple of days really makes me excited to actually get working regularly. However, we also got our schedule for the next couple of weeks, and I found out that I don't work until the 19th, so I've got a whole week off! It's nice to have that time off, but I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for the next 6 days. Unfortunately all the sunny weather we had last week has been replaced with clouds, but I'll still try to get out and do a bit of hiking or biking. I'll also get my housing situation squared away, but otherwise I'll have a lot of time to read and explore Anchorage. If you've got any ideas for things that I should do during my free time, let me know!

cheesesteaks in anchorage!!

As I took a walk around the area near the apartment where I was staying the other day, I was surprised to run into a little restaurant named Straight Out of Philly, which claims to have the best cheesesteaks in Anchorage. I can't help but wonder whether they have much cheesesteak competition in this city, but after working at the South Side Soda Shop for years and cooking up 1000s of cheesesteaks, I had togo see what they are all about.

The restaurant has a small dining room and appears to do a lot of to-go and delivery orders. When I was there, most of the tables were full and they seemed to be staying busy with orders being picked up to go as well. I ordered the "North Philly," which features onions, mushrooms, and cheese. When it was brought out to my table it looked pretty legitimate and definitely appetizing - unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to take a picture. I don't have a lot of

cheesesteak experience, and none in Philly (yet), but I was definitely satisfied with this sandwich. It was cooked well and had plenty of cheese - the only negative was that it was a bit heavy on bun. This may have been different if I had ordered the double steak option. I was also impressed with the staff, as one of the cooks walked out into the dining room as I was finishing up to ask each table how everything tasted. I also had a chance to chat a bit with this cook, who said he was originally from Philadelphia, so I know they have some knowledge of what makes an authentic cheesesteak. Anchorage is a city full of little hole in the wall restaurant and I'll hopefully have the opportunity to visit many of them while I'm here. Yesterday I also had a chance to eat at a Mexican restaurant, which was surprisingly good for Alaska, but didn't compare to some of the Mexican offerings in Goshen, IN.

I also finished my third day of training today with Holland America/Princess Rail Services. So far training has consisted primarily of presentations about company policies and procedures, so it's been a bit boring. We have had an opportunity to be on the train cars that we'll be working on, however, which has made me excited to get moving on the rails. One highlight of training was a fire training in which we got to test out our fire extinguishers on some controlled flames - again, unfortunately, I didn't take any photos.

This week we were also issued our uniforms -

I'll be wearing chef whites in the kitchen, which is a first for me. The photo posted to the right is titled "Look, I was issued my own thermometer!" Not only did I get my own thermometer, but I also now have a personal set of knives, so I guess that should make me feel like a more legitimate cook. Tomorrow morning I report to work at 6:15 am (which is standard reporting time, except for the days when we need to show up at 4:45 am!) and all of the new staff will be departing on a training run up to the Princess Denali Lodge, just outside of Denali National Park. I'm excited to actually be on a moving train, doing some hands on work in the kitchen, and seeing the interior of Alaska. On Sunday we'll depart Denali, visit the McKinley Lodge, which is close to Talkeetna, AK. I'm hoping for some great views of Mt. McKinley - and I'll definitely take my camera along on this trip.

Until my next post and hopefully more pictures, I'll leave this picture of a sunset reflecting off of the Chugach Mountains west of Anchorage that I took a couple of days ago from the balcony of the apartment where I am staying.

moose, mountains, and sky blue sky

After a long day of traveling yesterday, I finally arrived in Anchorage - more than five hours after my scheduled arrival. Because of some mechanical trouble with my original flight in Kansas City, I was put on two later flights and had to spend a few hours in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport killing time.

[side note - There are three arcades in the MPS airport, which I found out by walking through all of the terminals. However, I'd advise against playing pinball there - of the three machines I tried, only one worked. The second one only had one working flipper and the third simply ate my quarters.]

The flight from MPS to Anchorage was about five hours; I slept for the first hour or so, but when I woke up anticipation kept my eyelids from closing again.

With maybe two hours to go there was thick cloud cover below us, but at one point when I noticed a break in the clouds I thought I could see some snow/mountains below. Sure enough, for the last hour and a half or so of the flight, the skies started to clear, and every time I looked down I saw more and more mountains. As we got closer to Anchorage, we also started to pass over some water and there were mountainous islands that rose up out of the water. The picture here really doesn't do it justice.

After arriving in Anchorage, I made may way to the apartment of a fellow Goshen College alum where I'm staying until I get into a place of my own. I also met up with two other GC alumni that live nearby for a bit of dinner. When we got back to there apartment building there were three moose - a mother a two calfs - walking in their yard/around their building. I was hoping to see, and knew I probably would see, a moose while here, but I definitely didn't expect to see a family of them within hours of arriving. (unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on me)

Today I ventured out and explored Anchorage a bit. I took a bus downtown and looked around a bit. I found the railyard where the trains that I'll be cooking aboard will leave from. In the late morning I was planning on taking a bus back to where I'm staying, but there weather was so nice out (mid-50s and sunny, clear blue skies) that I just decided to walk all the way back, which was about 45 minutes or an hour. As walked I couldn't help but be amazed as I looked past the buildings, streets, and urban sprawl and see snow covered mountains rising up all around the city. I can't wait to get outside of the city and see what Alaska really has to offer.

Tonight I played an unexpected game of ultimate frisbee with some of the members of the Mennonite church here in Anchorage. It was a great way to get outside, meet some people, and get active to try to fight the jet-lag I felt creeping on during the late afternoon. Tomorrow morning I have my first day of orientation/training, where I'll hopefully learn a lot more about the work I'm doing this summer and meet many of my new coworkers.

Until next time, when I hopefully have more pictures and an apartment of my own...