Saturday, April 30, 2011

Alaska, land of ...well, never mind.

Somewhere in our 4th year of marriage, Mr. Kat Lady and I got a wild hair up our butts about seeing the world, and working in new places. Starting over, really. Well, yeah, not so much, as you will soon see...

It was on the plane ride from Seattle to Anchorage that I began to have my doubts. I was scared out of my mind. How were we, two podunk midwesterners going to survive Alaska...IN THE WINTER!  Needless to say, that thought was too little too late. We landed in Alaska and the scariest and most messed up adventure of our lives began.

It was around 8 pm local time, and the airport was crowded with vacationers returning home and workers flying out to the crab, lobster, and salmon boats. We stuck out like sore thumbs. Luckily, we were rescued by a taxi driver. We instructed him to the hotel we were set to manage, and a short time later arrived at a three story, tow up from the flow up, massive motel.  The name alone gives me pause these days...The Big Timber.

What our new boss had neglected to tell us before we left the land of Oz was that he was adding a strip club to the back of the motel. Oh, and have I mentioned the mirrors? EVERYWHERE. It was my job to scrub them down every day and make sure all the rooms were comfortable for the "clients."

It wasn't long and our ethics cost us the job. We were now homeless in Alaska, as we had been staying in the motel until we found a place. Luckily we had made a few friends who helped us find a hotel room for a couple nights so we could call home and ask to be rescued. Another friend found out we were missing from the motel and spent two days going all over Anchorage looking for us. He drove us to the airport and made sure we got home safely. (Thanks Guardian Angel John! You made some awesome crab salad!)

We had lasted all of a month in Alaska.  When we got home we made a pact to always stay where we were doing well, and travel for vacations only. So why do you all care about this story? Well the moral of the story is: When trapped in foreign lands, follow the yellow brick road home. Someday I'll tell you all about the porn superstore that was a block from The Big Timber.

To taking CALCULATED risks, and sometimes failing,

Love and Laughter,
-Kat Lady