Living life in the not so fast lane

Something I quickly discovered when I moved to Alaska is that things up here are frequently about 10 years behind with regard to technology, clothing style and music, as well as with regard to the speediness in getting things done in the service industry. One might expect after being a ‘city girl’ from the “Outside” that things always work fast; repair shops have access to all the latest and greatest, and everyone take credit cards, right? Not so true! And what do you mean there is no cell service for 2+ hours on the only road to Anchorage? There are days when I feel like I have stepped back in time by at least 10 years up here in the Last Frontier. Which is ok most of the time, since we moved here to get away from city life, and the hub bub of the the Outside. But sometimes, that can backfire on you!

Case in point, I went to a workshop in Anchorage the first weekend of August with a group of fellow dancers that are new friends and/or students. We were headed down for a Friday night performance (that I was in), as well as a weekend workshop. This is normally a 6-7 hour drive with a few stops, but as there was a lot of smoke from the wildfires still (Fairbanks was inundated with smoke for a couple weeks and I could not go outside due to the poor air quality) and one of the fires was rumored to have the Parks Highway closed, we decided to leave an hour earlier than we have planned and were on the road at 8am on Friday.

After about 5 bathroom breaks (I had a total of 5 women in the van, two of which were pregnant) we stopped for a meal in Wasilla, which is just an hour away from Anchorage. It was at 2:30 and we thought we were doing really well on timing. Had a great lunch, but noticed before going into lunch that there was some smoke coming out of my hood. Popped the hood, and noted the area around the serpentine belt was smoking, but as the belt was NEW (I had replaced it along with the alternator back in April when I drove to Palmer and had broke down on the way home) I figured it was just hot from driving and noted that I would look at it when we came out of lunch and the engine had cooled. After a nice lunch, we went out to the van, and I tugged on the belt to test it for tightness; it came right out into my hands! This is not good. It is 3:30pm and 2 of us in the van are supposed to be fully dressed for a performance at 6:30 in Anchorage, which granted is only an hour away but we also had planned to check into our hotel and have time to relax while getting ready for the show. The other three were coming to the show, but didn’t have to worry about performing and to make matters more complicated for me I was in two numbers with two different troupes. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone!

There was a Chevron less than a block away, I walked over hoping to find a mechanic who could install a new belt (silly me for thinking it could be THAT simple). No mechanic on site, but the mentioned there was an auto repair place very close, “Wasilla Auto”. Called them, and with some gentle pleading on my part they were kind enough to send someone over to have a look but it seemed that the A/C compressor motor has frozen and would need to be replaced. So, we drive my hobbled van to the shop (no power steering, yikes!) and they proceed to give me quotes, tell me there is no such motor in town, it will be ‘at least Monday if not later’ before they get one, but MAYBE they could install a bypass motor, although there are two types and they are not sure if the one they have coming will actually work. And the bypass motor is going to cost as much as the a/c motor. And, they might not be able to get it done tonight!

Oh well, I need to be able to drive my van to get home to Fairbanks, it cannot move without some form of motor and I can live without A/C now that I am in Alaska, so I tell them to do it and start calling dancers in Anchorage that I have never met to beg for a ride for me and my 4 passengers. A ride (two actually) is sent for us (thank you Joanna Lee!), although they are an hour away which means arriving at the show at the last moment, so Jenni and I start getting ready for the performance in front of the repair shop. Someone mentioned renting a car and I try to call Enterprise because “they pick you up” but they are out of cars. Apparently because of the wildfires there are lots of canceled flights and at this time rental cars are super hard to come by. So, we continue getting ready and hope the van is fixed or the ride gets to us in time for us to make the show.

Another customer has overheard our plight, and tells us there is a car rental place ’across the street’ and would we like a ride over there? Apparently all my ‘stranger danger’ fear is gone, and I jump into the lady’s car. We drive across the parkway and down about 4-5 blocks, to a “Toy rental” place. There are 3-4 passenger vans sitting out front and I think to myself “GREAT, we can just rent one of those and I can come back tomorrow to get my van”. But little did I know what a cranky lady I was about to meet. I go inside, and still using my calm and friendly voice, I ask if they have vehicles that will hold 5 people. “No. We are all out of midsized sedans!”.

I then ask “What about the vans out front, are they part of this business??”

“You want a 12 person passenger van?” she says without almost a snarl on her face.

“Why yes, it would hold all 5 of us and I need to be in Anchorage in an hour”, I reply

“Well, to rent THOSE you need proof of full coverage, PLUS it is $150 per day, PLUS a credit card guarantee, PLUS blah blah blah….” And she rattles off a bunch of criteria I can fulfill, without a problem. But she is such a witch, I say excuse me, I need to make a quick call, and I go outside, and LEAVE. I refuse to support such terrible customer service even though I am in a pinch. She just lost a sale, harrumph!

After all this, I am frustrated, and tired, and starting to stress but need to be calm so I can get ready for the show. I come back to the shop and note that in the bay, my van is RUNNING! They have fixed my vehicle and we are back on the road again after a grand total of 1.5 hours and some very awesome people at Wasilla Auto.

So, we get to the show, have time to get ready, meet fabulous people, and have a weekend of dance and drills that challenged me like not other dance workshop has (other than the first time I took a Mira workshop). I have not sweat like that since leaving Florida and I was exhausted for a week but loved every minute of it. Still have lots of dance material to work through personally, and ideas for lots of drills to incorporate into my own classes.

While down in Anchorage, I also got to eat at Sahara (Middle Eastern Cuisine), “Mexico in Alaska”, and Bombay Deluxe (Indian food). Good stuff! Took pictures of my food (as usual) and will post photos eventually. I really miss having access to restaurants like that living up here in FBX.

10 hours to get there, 6.5 to get back. All around a good time except for the breaking down bit. I am starting to think that the Parks Highway is detrimental to the overall health of my van (as mentioned, I broke down on the way home from Palmer in April this year). Van seemed to have no problem getting me _to_ Alaska but now it doesn’t want to leave Fairbanks.

Not sure when I’ll be back, and maybe next time I’ll fly!