We are back to work! In Alaska! When we were planning this trip, Dan and I had always talked about getting an end of season job while we were in Alaska. We have been full-time RVing for 9 years now, and this was the first summer that we were “taking off.” Around mid-July, we started discussing what we were going to do after visiting Fairbanks, our last stop in Alaska.

I contacted our friends Tom and Ellen that are working in Skagway, and they put us in contact with the general manager of the company that they are working for. (You may remember we did a quick side trip to Skagway to see them, the town and the stores they work at.) We spoke with the general manager of the five family owned stores about the possibility of finishing out the season, and she was thrilled to have us come and work for them, as they had high school and college students that would be leaving in August.

So we are now working full-time for the Corrington Ivory Company. They have five gift stores in Skagway. Every day up to three cruise ships come in to port in the morning, and depart early evening. Passenger totals for the three ships can be up to 9,000 people. So we are keeping busy!

I was hoping to have more time to get caught up on the blogs, but there is only one cell tower in town for Verizon, and it gets heavy use when the ships are in port. Some days it feels like we are back to “dial up” service! I will keep plugging away though.

We will go back to “tourist mode” after September 22, and travel back down through Canada. This winter we will again be in Yuma, Arizona, so we still have another 3,000 miles to travel when we leave Skagway.

If you are considering traveling to Alaska, but are concerned about the costs, getting an end of season job is a great way to offset the expense. And there are plenty of jobs. Everyone is looking for help, especially end of season when school starts back up. We saw plenty of openings in all the cities we traveled through.

We will be paid $13.00 an hour, with a $2.00 per hour end of season bonus. Plus, we receive a free campsite, with full hook-ups, including 50 amp service. It will be nice to have money coming in, instead of going out for a change! Alaska does not have a state income tax, so we will not need to file a state tax form in the spring.

Karen and Al came down to visit Skagway for the day, and then we said our good-byes. They are making their way back to Florida (another 5,000 miles!) with stops along the way. We had a wonderful summer traveling with them, as you will see in my future blog posts.

Quote of the day: “If you don’t want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won’t have to work.” – Ogden Nash