outside the lower 48
My trip to Alaska this summer started with a phone call from my dad. I remember it was a Friday night. I was working. Dad called to tell me that after deciding not to go to Alaska this summer, since he and my mom were so busy with other trips and activities, they were indeed going to go to Alaska, and I needed to join them. Oh yeah, and this would all happen in a little over two weeks from that Friday night.
I was able to swing it…don’t ask me how. And don’t ask me to try to do it again. Travel is stressful enough without having to deal with the ins and outs of booking a flight into Kodiak—an airport the size of my big toe with only 2 commercial flights in and out daily.
Take off from SFO was a dream. I was immediately upgraded to first class because I had booked my flight with frequent flier miles. Yes! This made me feel a little better about the booking hassle. I was able to wait on my flight in the Board Room instead of in the terminal, got to board the plane first, and—hello—free food and booze on board! (Actually it’s all free in the Board Room, too…but there’s only so much one can consume without drawing attention! In fact, I think I still have some peanut butter stuffed in my computer bag.)
The smooth sailing came to a screeching halt when I arrived in Seattle for what should have been a measly one-hour layover. Instead, I checked the gate status of my flight to Anchorage to find that all flights to Alaska had been canceled for the night due to the amount of volcanic ash in the airspace over Alaska. Apparently, the ash can crystallize in the atmosphere and seize a plane’s engines. Duly noted.
Lines quickly started forming at the gates so everyone could re-book. Luckily, I re-booked quick enough that I was only grounded there for one day. I overheard several others down in baggage claim (a whole other blog entry to be filed under ‘chaos’) talking about being stuck in Seattle for two days. Fortunately, I didn’t let this act of Mother Nature get me all riled up. I was starting to see this 24 hours in Seattle as a vacation within my vacation. And it was. I had a great day in Seattle!
The next night, I made my way back to the airport to pick up my journey where I left off the previous night. And everything went according to plan (sans first class assignment, but what are you gonna do when you’re just trying to get out of town?). I arrived in Anchorage to find my luggage patiently waiting for me—something I was prepared for not to happen. And I took off again and arrived in Kodiak as planned.
I had a great week visiting with my brother, sister-in-law and my parents. It was definitely short-lived, and there were just too many things that I wanted to do that I couldn’t get to. On my to-do list for next time: stay long enough for the sun to come out and clouds to clear (which is exactly what happened only hours after I left), kayak around, go 4-wheeling (this was on my to-do list this time, but the rain and other things kept us from doing it), and visit more of Alaska other than Kodiak. Very doable, right?
the law of murphy
Our canoe flipping over is the one wrong thing that didn’t happen—but it did happen to Grant and Ky. (And our cookies were in their boat! Man!)
Things that went wrong on my recent trip to the Russian River:
1. We saw a sheep on the loose on Hwy. 12. This isn’t necessarily something that went wrong so much as out-of-the ordinary and a bit alarming. Yet, it fueled some good ‘Mary lost her little lamb’ jokes—the best one was when Grant called 911 to report it he described the lamb as having fleece as white as snow. heh heh heh
2. We were late by about an hour. (But, honestly, when you’re dealing with a group of 18, someone has to be late, right?)
3. We mistakenly ran into tree branches, got hung up on some rocks, and I almost lost my life to an enormous spiderweb.
4. I had a wardrobe malfunction with my bathing-suit top while trying to take my sandals off to go swimming. It’s quite possible I gave a show—or 3, as the top ‘popped’ more than once due to a faulty closure—to my friends. But if they saw my breasticles, they were kind enough not to say anything other than “keep your clothes on!”
5. We actually ran into a duck. How that happens, I still can’t figure out. All I know is I felt a thump and saw an angry duck quacking and skittering away.
6. After a long day of rowing—and knowing full-well that I would be sore—today I’m feeling that I pulled a muscle in my leg. Not my arms—my leg!
I have to admit, that list makes me smile and giggle. It really was a great day.
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