We woke up really early, about 6 or 7a prior to leaving on our trip to Alaska. The night before we had packed until 1:30a or so so we were quite bushed. Had bagels for breakfast and wrapped up our packing. Adrianne arrived around 9a and we set off for the airport. This was our first time flying out of the new terminal at RDU — as we mostly fly Southwest if at all possible. The United folk were very friendly and helpful even if we were nickeled and dimed by having to pay $100 extra to check in four bags. Modern air travel, ugh. Breezed through TSA (Addison even got pre-checked, the lucky guy) other than forgetting my FitBit was in my pocket. Bought some snacks and the like prior to the 11:30a flight to Houston.
The flight to Houston was uneventful. It was a smaller plane with only two seats on either side of the aisle. I sat left of the aisle, Genetta to my left at the window. The approach to Houston was neat as we saw much of the surrounding bayou and the like and the skyscrapers far in the distance. The airport had a bronze statue of George H. W. Bush and it seemed that every store had a stuffed steer head above it or the Lone Star flag flying. We ate at a place called Home Team Sports that was pretty average airport faire. The mozzarella sticks appetizer was pretty yummy though.
Unfortunately the flight to Denver was quite late to board as it was late in arriving and, as it was an international arrival, had to clear customs. As our layover in Denver was less than an hour leaving well over thirty minutes late was cause for some concern. Once in the air the plane was very hot and I was crammed in a window seat sitting next to a stranger. For a long while I just sat there miserable but ultimately decided talking to my neighbor may be the only thing to distract me from my situation. Turned out she was a very nice older woman that lived in Houston but was visiting family in Billings, Montana. We talked about Montana and Houston as well as my travels and also her travels to Alaska. Landed in Denver quicker than expected — though they did not make up all of the lost time they had put quite a dent in it.
Luckily the departure gate for our flight to Anchorage was only two down from our arrival gate. While they were lining up to board, we still had plenty of time. In large part because that flight had also been delayed due to a recent thunderstorm in Denver — yay weather! In fact, Addison, Genetta, and I even managed to make a quick run to a store to buy some Ritz Bits, Chex Mix, etc. to eat on the plane. We knew it was going to be a long flight and would not be getting a meal on the plane (again, modern air travel, ugh).
Thunderstorm that hit Denver Airport still in the distance
When we had originally booked the flight we had been hit up after-the-fact with a fee of nearly $300, something about our seats. Turns out that what it was is that there were no more Economy seats left when we booked and we were forced to upgrade to Economy Plus at $70 per seat. Totally worth it, if only an accident. That said, though, I’m likely too cheap to spend it on the flight from Anchorage to San Francisco or San Francisco to Washington, DC — that’d be nearly $600 and that’s a big “nope”. Still, the flight was quite enjoyable with the extra leg room. We paid a little extra so the kids could watch movies and TV on the back of the seat in front of them and that helped the time pass for them.
Me, I just stared out the window. It was light the entire trip though we left at 7p Denver time (-2h) and arrived at 10:30p Anchorage time (-4h). The Rockies were gorgeous but unfortunately it clouded up for the duration of the flight shortly after that, though as we were arriving near Anchorage some snow capped mountains peaked through. In addition we did skirt by some really impressive thunderheads.
Rocky Mountains as seen from the flight to Anchorage
Our flight avoided these huge thunderstorms
Southern Alaska's snowy peaks peeking through the clouds
Final approach to Anchorage
Landed in Anchorage. What a stark change from Houston and Denver. A much smaller airport but with a lot of charm. It has the feel of a wilderness lodge with lots of wood and stone. There was a long corridor that was dimly lit but had colored patterns on the ceiling that evoked the Northern Lights. Really cool. We went to the Enterpise desk and were helped by a very friendly person and then directed to the garage where we picked up our sport SUV — a Hyundai Santa Fe. Set out from the airport down a really narrow spiral ramp — so tight that various paint streaks of various colors had accumulated throughout the years. Yikes! Headed left on Spenard out of the airport and were at the hotel in no time, about 11:30p. Even at that hour it was a nice pleasant dusk, kind of a headlights optional type of light. Checked-in and quickly headed to the adjacent strip mall with a pizza place called Capri Pizza hoping to get a pizza before closing time at midnight.
Anchorage airport with gorgeous mountains in the background
Anchorage's Ted Stevens Airport
Northern Lights motif in the Anchorage Airport
Were able to snag a pepperoni pizza and some drinks, turned out to be delicious though Addison wasn’t a huge fan of it. Unpacked stuff, set up the computer and organized the cameras but decided I was too tired to blog and turned in. A very busy day!