8 Hours on the Denali Highway

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I think I had too much coffee late last night. I went to bed thinking to myself of how tourist act on the big day......

Get to the to your 45 degree, 5AM, pick-up point hours earlier. Stand in line, waiting to get the best front seat for the most awesome view of your road trip. Mark your turf by standing stern with your arms crossed, talking trash how you are the most feared travel trailer to roam the state. Determine to know exactly where that bad boy is going to stop so you can be the one in the front of the line to greet the driver with the best toothless grin you can muster. Then, you can start to drool uncontrollably over that first passenger side seat right above the entrance stairwell. But wait, a third world, 80+ year old women is pushing her way to the front under your arm and mumbling how she should be the first one on board and sit in the coveted of all recliners on that eighteen wheeled land yacht.

I woke up from that nightmare, with the phone buzzing like the Alaska state bird. I swat it off the hook just like yesterday, swatting the mosquito after it finished draining half my blood supply high in Denali Park.

We're late. So I grab an in-room coffee while Debbie buys a muffin. It's late, but we make it to the waiting area. Luckily no bus yet.

People are everywhere. I stand over by the curb, waiting for my muffin and observe the crowd upstream, knowing we'll get on board, maybe last, but after all, it's vacation. I can see them pressing forward toward an invisible mark that is directly in front of the lobby doors. Debbie comes with our muffin and we talk about the crowd doing a self implosion of anticipation. We look at each other as our big transportation bus makes a U-turn into our complex. I pick up my bag, and notice that the bus in pulling right up in front of the large crowd. All we needed to do is wait till until the mass of people have funneled through the small door into the expanse of seats that will house them for the next 8 hours. We'll simply jump on when everyone else is done seating.

But wait! It didn't stop in front of the crowd! It sailed like the mighty Titanic right on by them to their bewildered astonishment. I could have sworn I saw weeping and great gnashing of teeth. Since we were upstream, the hotel guest steward, Debbie & I walked right along with that bus until it stopped with me looking at that golden arch of an entrance. Could we be the chosen ones? The ones for the seats of all seats? I greet the driver and sure enough we start to walk on board. But not before a third world women pushes her way to the front demanding to get on first. Fortunately, the bus driver had the same dream as me.

Now, if I could only find my teeth.

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