Flying away from San Juan Once I had my tickets purchased and Unwritten Timeline’s scheduled maintenance completed Lisa rented a car to drive me to the airport in San Juan. The airport is about a 3 hour ride from Marina Pescaderia. We decided to go up the night before and stay in a hotel. In order to make it to Alaska from Puerto Rico without an overnight layover in an airport I had to get an early morning flight and we didn’t want to start driving at 2 am. After a relaxing night at the hotel, Lisa dropped me off to catch my flight.
I had a layover in Dallas, Seattle, and Sitka before finally touching down in Juneau, Alaska. I had arranged for a place to stay for the season online before I departed Puerto Rico. I grabbed my bags and jumped in a cab. I was ready to get settled and get some rest after 18 hours of sitting in coach and wandering around different airports. The next morning I woke up and had to find a vehicle. I wasn’t able to buy a car before I arrived and a rental car would be way too expensive for the entire season. I had been looking at craigslist for cars before I arrived with no luck. My house was next to a bus line so I took the bus back towards the airport to rent a car for a few days. I wanted to get around town and look at a few cars. After a few days my rental was due to be returned and I still had zero leads on a car. The landlord did have an old jeep in the driveway and while talking to him one day about my car problems he said he was getting ready to junk the old jeep and asked if I wanted it. It had a flat tire and the alternator was out. There were also a few cosmetic issues but it ran and had heat which was pretty much my only requirements. He let me purchase it for $1 and I would sell it back to him at the end of the season. All I had to do was put a tire on it and swap out the alternator, too easy for a used car. I think I was all in for under $500 including insurance and title. Things were looking good for the season. I had a place to stay and a car to get to work.
I still had a few days before my official start date at Allen Marine so I took advantage of my new car to run to the grocery store for provisions. I wasn’t sure what my schedule would be but I was told it would be 40-60 hours starting with week one. I took a trip down to the Allen Marine dock in Juneau to see where I would be working. I wanted to make sure I knew where to go on the first day of work. It wouldn’t be good to be running late on day one. Things were looking good for the season and I was ready to get started running whale watching tours in Alaska.
I had a layover in Dallas, Seattle, and Sitka before finally touching down in Juneau, Alaska. I had arranged for a place to stay for the season online before I departed Puerto Rico. I grabbed my bags and jumped in a cab. I was ready to get settled and get some rest after 18 hours of sitting in coach and wandering around different airports. The next morning I woke up and had to find a vehicle. I wasn’t able to buy a car before I arrived and a rental car would be way too expensive for the entire season. I had been looking at craigslist for cars before I arrived with no luck. My house was next to a bus line so I took the bus back towards the airport to rent a car for a few days. I wanted to get around town and look at a few cars. After a few days my rental was due to be returned and I still had zero leads on a car. The landlord did have an old jeep in the driveway and while talking to him one day about my car problems he said he was getting ready to junk the old jeep and asked if I wanted it. It had a flat tire and the alternator was out. There were also a few cosmetic issues but it ran and had heat which was pretty much my only requirements. He let me purchase it for $1 and I would sell it back to him at the end of the season. All I had to do was put a tire on it and swap out the alternator, too easy for a used car. I think I was all in for under $500 including insurance and title. Things were looking good for the season. I had a place to stay and a car to get to work.
I still had a few days before my official start date at Allen Marine so I took advantage of my new car to run to the grocery store for provisions. I wasn’t sure what my schedule would be but I was told it would be 40-60 hours starting with week one. I took a trip down to the Allen Marine dock in Juneau to see where I would be working. I wanted to make sure I knew where to go on the first day of work. It wouldn’t be good to be running late on day one. Things were looking good for the season and I was ready to get started running whale watching tours in Alaska.
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