Well, I’m writing another blog from thousands of feet above the ground. Something I appreciate about flying is that it’s always sunny when you’re soaring above the clouds… Figuratively speaking, I have been soaring miles high since this past Thursday.
I didn’t wake up all sunshine and smiles on Thursday though. The Steel Panther show made for a late night Wednesday and I admittedly was feeling a little haggard as I drove to Dr. Charles Best Secondary School on Thursday. But as soon as my presentation to the grade 10s began my day improved exponentially. The students at Charles Best proved what they’re ‘best’ at - being an incredibly respectful and amazing audience. I received yet another standing ovation on Thursday bringing my streak to I’m pretty sure 9 now. Truth be told… I can’t recall exactly if I had a standing O on Tuesday at Windsor Secondary School in North Vancouver, but I may as well have. This audience was also amazing, proving why Windsor is one of my favourite schools to speak at, and I can safely add Charles Best to this list now too.
I left Coquitlam, BC all smiles on Thursday and headed straight for Vancouver International Airport. For the first time I breezed through customs with confidence and ease. It was a great feeling having all of my American work Visa details finally sorted. And off to Alaska I flew, but first to Seattle. Yes south then north for some odd reason and with a delay in between I didn’t actually land in Anchorage, Alaska until after 1am. I got settled at my hotel around 2am and into bed by 2:30am. I couldn’t sleep though and just laid there for hours kind of asleep but not quite. I looked at the clock around 5:10am thinking ‘Oh crap, my alarm is going off in an hour and a half and I haven’t slept!’
Tired being an understatement, I awoke to the song Rise by Eddie Vedder. I thought it would be a fitting way to start my Alaska tour as I first heard this great tune on the movie Into The Wild - a great film based on the true story of a young man’s journey to Alaska to discover the true meaning of life (You may have just caught a glimpse of this flick if you hit the link on Rise above).
So maybe I wasn’t exactly soaring Friday morning on less than 2 hours of sleep, but I was still game to give’r in my first ever presentations in Alaskan high schools.
SIDE NOTE: I had a conversation just days ago about whether I enjoy surprises. I was kind of on the fence with my answer; but can officially now say Yes I do quite like surprises! At least the one I got Friday morning was awesome!!
See all of my USA bookings are arranged by my buddy / Tour Manager extraordinaire Jason Filler. I so appreciate the fact that I can rely on Jason to make all of my travel arrangements for me. And I’ll admit I don’t really pay attention much to the details. I know I am looked after, and that’s good enough for me. Well all that I knew Friday morning was that I was being picked up at the Anchorage Hilton at 8am. I assumed by a teacher or something. So when my phone rang I was mighty good and surprised to hear the words “You’re white limousine will be arriving in about ten minutes.” That little ditty of information definitely gave me the kick in the pants I needed to knock the sleep from my eyes and get me uber stoked for the day ahead. A Starbucks coffee also attributed to my alertness, not to mention a knarly Turbonegro-fest pulsating my soul with good ol Norwegian rock n roll!
Straight-up, I felt pretty badass rolling in a white limo, in Alaska’s nearly endless Winter night skies listening to the Scandanavian Leather and Party Animals albums both almost in their entirety. RIP Turbonegro. I made small talk between tunes with Brent my driver, also repeatedly apologizing for my appetite for death punk! My white limo approached the school right on time blasting What is Rock. I couldn’t help but thinking that showing up to a school in a limo is pretty ROCK - not that the question needs to be answered. I was also admittedly a little nervous thinking maybe Colony Middle School would be asking themselves why is our speaker showing up at our school in such Rock Star fashion.
Fortunately upon entry to Colony Middle School I received one of the warmest welcomes I have ever had from people who had never met me before. I also learned that it was the school in fact who was responsible for my rock n roll ride in style. Well setting the bar high must be the top of Colony’s agenda because Friday was as good as it gets! The staff were so kind and welcoming, the students were incredible, especially considering I gave them the extended version of our story - running probably 80 minutes at least! When my closing video ended, I left 800+ grade 7 - 9 students with my signature reminder to ‘Just Wiggle Their Toes and Remember Our Story’ and like dominoes in reverse, one by one, the members of the audience rose and applauded. Colony gave me one heck of a standing ovation! This was a real beauty. I was stoked!! Super stoked and reminded that this passion of mine - this path I have chosen - is exactly what I need to be doing. Experiences like this one at Colony are the driving force behind the smile that seldom fades from my face these days.
I exited the gymnasium, head held high, proud in the knowledge that I had just made a large room full of friends - or maybe more accurately described a room full of little brothers and sisters. Indeed it appeared to be clear that I had just given a lesson to these youngsters that hopefully in turn they will never have to learn firsthand themselves. And as if the limo, the standing ovation and the Palmer, Alaskan hospitality wasn’t enough - the staff at Colony upped the ante by feeding me a feast fit for a rockstar. I know you have read it already, but I’ll say it again as I did between bites yesterday of honey ham, double baked potatoes and other lick-lippingly delicious lunch eats - Colony Middle School set the bar high! Actually Colony reinvented the bar!!
With a smile on my face and a tummy full of yummy I headed for Colony High School. I assured my security guard / tour guide Mrs. McMahon (the principal at Colony Middle) that I was all goods for the trek through the snow (have I mentioned I was well looked after?) Off we went. With daylight illuminating the sky, I caught my first glimpse of the magnificent mountains towering in all directions beyond the school grounds. The brisk winter air cleansed my lungs. I felt a boost of energy that made the battle through the snow covered ground below me that much easier.
We set up and got rolling (pun intended) pretty efficiently in the high school and with good reason; I was going to be tight for time. So after a demonstration by the school’s guard (were those real guns I am wondering too - anyone?) and a perfectly short and sweet intro by (I think it was Chelsea - sorry if I got it wrong - I so suck with names) I launched into my talk… I started with a disclaimer…
“I’m a little short on time, so I’m going to talk fast. I hope you understand me still…”
Well, I think it’s safe to say the audience was hearing me loud and clear. The end of my second ever Alaskan school talk was met with a thunderous and lengthy standing ovation that hugged my heart and inspired me to expose as many of my teeth as I could show in appreciation. Two for Two! What a day!!! I’m pretty sure I would still be hanging out at Colony High School chatting with students had my ride back to Anchorage not arrived with a smile. I said my final goodbyes as snowflakes fell from the sky building upon one another as they reached the ground like lego blocks.
Kay my driver was kind enough to tour me around a bit allowing me to see some of the spectacular sites Alaska is known for. The clouds had dropped from the sky and had blanketed the massive mountains in a dense fog. In brief clearings I witnessed the raw beauty of Alaska’s bounty of powerful peaks. A partially frozen river snaked it’s way beside the snow covered road; massive blocks of ice intruded over the icy waters, their thickness exposed in openings among the many ice sheets. Snow continued to fall, as it had since I arrived and would until I left this wonderful place. Kay was a fantastic tour guide and another example of the genuine hospitality Alaskans are renowned for. I appreciated Kay’s pride in being an ambassador to her homeland and listened attentively as she shared Alaskan stories and facts young and old with me.
I quickly freshed up at the Hilton then 4×4ed my way through the lightly snow covered sidewalks to a nearby restaurant / pub called F Street Station that one of the doormen at my hotel had recommended. I considered retreating upon the realization that all of the tables in the bustling F Street were high. But one look at the waitresses and one smell of the succulent seafood wafting from the exposed chaotic kitchen made me reconsider braving the snow outside in search of a new dinner destination. My waitress was a Filipino / American who had lived all over the US. Her tanned skin, flowing chocolate hair and chestnut brown eyes reminded me of a beautiful Filipino / Hawaiian student nurse named Sherise I had befriended when I was going through my physical rehabilitation at GF Strong in Vancouver ten years ago. I flirted with Vanessa my waitress with rockstar confidence. She brought me plate after plate of seafood; buttered clams; red wine reduction shrimp and scallops. I feasted and smiled wholeheartedly reflecting on the day I’d just had. I basked in the recognition of how truly fortunate I am to be able to travel the world on such purposeful adventures.
I finished feasting and was just relaxing in the moment when a man took a seat beside me. I learned that David was a lawyer from Anchorage. I remember his name because he gave me a business card! David struck a huge resemblance to Conan O’Brien. I didn’t share my enthusiasm with David about his semblance to Conan, but rather we both talked about Americanisms vs Canadianisms. I like making new friends. It’s what I do and how I never get bored travelling alone. I was enjoying my night.
Suddenly behind me I recognized a familiar looking mobile commandeered by an unfamiliar yet friendly face. I suck with names as I have mentioned already. It’s a fact, and this dude did not give me a business card; So I cannot tell you the young dude seated beside me last night in a wheelchair’s name. I can tell you facts like he was paralyzed in a crash where he over estimating a launch on a snowmobile 2 years ago; that he was an incomplete paraplegic who can stand to some degree; that he had a picture of his lovely girlfriend on his phone cuddling a puppy - his girlfriend who is currently on a Caribbean Cruise he chose not to partake in. Lastly, and most relevant to the story he was wearing a Santa Clause hat with blinking lights that just burst with Christmas cheer. In fact, his entire 20 odd person entourage that had just overtaken the better part of F Street were wearing red Santa caps that exploded with Christmas cheer. My new buddy and fellow four-wheeler explained this festive attire was part of a pub crawl Anchorage’s channel 2 KTUU-TV news team were doing.
”Sounds like fun, Can I come?” I asked.
My new friend explained that I could indeed join the group as long as I wore a Santa cap too. I paused and thought about how stoked I was with my Mohawks’ current badassedness. I wondered if I would have much game in a Santa Clause hat. I didn’t deliberate for long.
“Sure whatever! Pass me a hat man!” I said.
Minutes later we left the F Street Station to plow through the snow to a series of destinations. The tag-along Canadian always game for a random adventure was embraced by this group of friendly strangers. Before I left F Street , I said goodbye to my lawyer friend David OBrien and cleared up my bill with my beautiful waitress Vanessa. She gave me a big hug before I left and said she hoped to see me again soon. ‘I knew my Mohawk was lookin’ sick,’ I thought to myself; Oh well! Too late now.
I had a fun night with the Santa-Hat Crew. I chatted with everyone in the group about everything our conversations uncovered. Random and fun. I had a great night to cap off a great day! I sure hope I do get back to Alaska soon. Alaska… my new favourite state.
My alarm this morning came too early. I wished I could stay just a little bit longer. But this is the nature of my life as a highway donkey. So I sucked it up and got to the airport, figuring I would catch up on some zzz’s on the plane. My eyelids closing heavily and anxiously upon contact of my butt with my airplane seat.
As I began to drift off I could hear the faint sound of the Eddie Vedder song Rise from the movie Into The Wild playing over and over. I thought to myself how cool that the airline associates this song with Alaska just like I do. As I faded in and out of consciousness and after about ten consecutive listens to Rise I decided I’d had enough of the Veddster. I plugged in my iPod and bobbed my tired head with the last bit of energy I had in my reserve tank. Although the infectious reggae vibes of the band Passafire were bumping in my ear drums, I couldn’t stop hearing the song Rise echoing in my memory.
I started to think about how it is so true that life comes around full circle. I’d started my morning and really my Alaskan experience just 24hours earlier to the same song. I’d programmed my Blackberry to play Rise as my alarm to kick of my early day the day before with some Alaskan themed tunes to inspire me. Then I realized the song playing on repeat in the airplane was in fact my alarm going off in the seat pocket of my wheelchair cussion that was securely stowed in the compartment above me. I laughed to myself before finally dozing off to sleep.
I’m not sure how long my alarm went off for on the plane ride home or how many subsequent times Rise played during the 2.5hour flight to Seattle. How much juice did I have in my Blackberry battery? I guess I’ll probably never know! I just know when I woke up just before landing I didn’t hear it anymore.
Thanks to everyone I met on this whirlwind tour. Thanks to Colony Schools for being so kind and welcoming. Thanks to all of the amazing young people I met. I truly hope our story inspired you and sticks with you for a long time to come.
Until the next time we meet…
Just Wiggle Your Toes and remember our story!!!
\m/\m/
Kevin
Waddup Colleen!! Yo Yo Alexandria!!
Hey Hey Alexis, I really like your poem!!
Life
Life is full of…
Dreams…
Adventures…
Our dreams become adventures…
And our adventures become our dreams…
We live our life with mistakes…
Yet we learn from them…
At the same time…
We have those obstacles ahead…
But with friends besides us…
We can accomplish anything.
~Alexis O. Stevens~