I Finally Made it Out of the Anchorage Airport

There are two reasons for that title:

1. For years when people have asked me if I have been to Alaska, I've always had to say, "Yes and no." I had landed twice at the Anchorage airport back in the days when all flights to Asia had to stop here to refuel--once in 1967 when headed to the Philippines with my Peace Corps group and once around 1975 when headed to Asia to visit Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Singapore. But I never left the airport. We just sat on the floors inside for about 2 hours and then reboarded and headed off again. This time, I have actually left the airport and had my feet on normal Alaskan soil. So now I HAVE been to Alaska, no but to it!!

2. My flight arrived about 20 minutes late last night at 00:40 (40 minutes past midnight). Wes was coming from Corpus Christi on other flights. I got my luggage and had to go to another terminal to meet him. His flight, however, was about 1 1/2 hours late! It arrived at 01:40. I sat at the exit area with a large group of other people waiting for passengers. I expected him to come off early, because he was flying first class on the segment from Portland to Anchorage. But everyone else met their parties and there was still no Wes. I walked down to baggage claim to see if I had missed him. I asked the people at baggage claim to make an announcement for him to meet me there. He didn't show, and they would not look at their computers to see if he had been rerouted. Finally, at 02:07, I called the hotel for their airport pickup. They said they had a message that he was still stuck in Texas. I had waited at the airport about 1 1/2 hours longer than would have been necessary if I had known.

It was a LONG trip here--much like going to Europe. I slept some, though. Mostly, however, I read magazines I had collected in the last 2-3 weeks. During the 4-hour layover I had in Phoenix, I took advantage of the opportunity to go to the United Airlines desk and have them reissue my ticket. A flight I had planned to take from Anchorage to San Francisco on my way to Taiwan when I leave here no longer existed. I was rebooked on TWO flights, meaning I would need two flight coupons rather than one and also meaning I would have to see a representative to get the ticket reissued. I've had to do this before for the same reason once and also when Arne died and I had to be rerouted. Both times, it took TWO HOURS. I was worried that it would take as long again. But this time, it was much faster. We were finished in 30 minutes. And now I don't have to worry about my ticket any longer; it matches my itinerary for the rest of my way to Bangkok.

Phoenix is one of the expensive airports for food. Many airports are lowering their prices now that the airlines have quit serving free meals. Nothing has been lowered in Phoenix, though. Simple cold, boxed sandwiches sell for $7.99. Drinks are $2.00 or more. A small bag of chips costs $1.39 or more. So, a simple snack can be like eating in a restaurant off the airport. I ate a Burger King burger. I've always liked those, but I hadn't had one in a long time. It was good.

Anchorage is cool, but sunny. It was around 40 F when I arrived last night. But there was a breeze that made it feel cold as I waited for the hotel van. Today, the air is cool, but the sun and my walking make it feel nice. It should be in the 50s today and in the 60s starting tomorrow. It's on flat land with beautiful snow-capped mountains visible to the east. It's a spread-out city that seems rather quiet. But maybe that is because it is morning on a weekday and it was late when I came through it last night.

It was 3 a.m. before I got to bed last night. I slept until 9:00 this morning. Then I started realizing things I hadn't remembered to pack--a flashlight and my small binoculars. I looked up Wal-Mart in the phone book. And I looked up the public library for using the Internet. They were both near each other about 35 blocks south of my hotel. So here I am. I walked out here along a trail called the North-South trail. Mainly, it was just a sidewalk along a street, but once it veered down to a small stream and back up. Anyway, I bought a new LED flashlight to use in dark villages, in caves, etc., and a small 8x set of binoculars to have to see the wildlife.

When I logged into the computer a moment ago, there was a message from Wes. He had been trapped in Corpus due to thunderstorms in Houston. He said they got on and off the plane several times before they canceled the flight and rebooked him. He is coming today following the same routing. He's lucky he got seats. Both of my flights yesterday were 100% full. Anyway, he will arrive tonight around 01:30 and will have missed a day in Alaska due to the problems in Houston. At least he is still coming. I would hate to pay these Alaska prices without having him to share the ones for the car, the gas, the hotel rooms, etc.!

I will try to update the blog again soon. I didn't find a downtown branch of the library, so I may have to wait until I will be back in this part of town again. I don't want to waste the time walking 72 blocks round-trip just to use the computer. And I doubt there are any cyber cafes downtown. Most cities in first world countries don't have them, since everyone owns their own computer.