O.k., so now I'm getting ready to go back to Alaska. Not, now now, but now then. This is like one of those movie sequels that is made years after the original but takes place "later that night". Simple plan really, less steps than the trip to Chicago. But as we have all learned there is no "simple" in Alaska.
Leaving on a Monday, the best option was to take the train to the airport. Less than an hour, less than $10, nobody has to take off work. The train is scheduled to leave Crystal Lake at 12:14. I'm going to drive there, leave my car and Jason will pick it up when he gets done with work tonight or possibly tomorrow. After running some last minute errands I have about 20 minutes to go 2 miles. As I get to the train station I find out my mom was right, there is no overnight parking. If the car is there after midnight I get a ticket or towed. Jason gets off of work at 11:30 and might not even be there tonight, so I decide to park at the other station. As I pull up to the parking lot, I see the train closing its doors so now I have to rush back to the original station and hope Jason gets there early enough on Monday night. I get to the other station, park the car and start to run to the pick-up point. As it turns out, I'm carrying close to 100 pounds of suitcases and stuff. I run and run and huff and puff until eventually the huffing and puffing wins out over the running and I miss the train. I drive to the airport, park in the long-term lot and hope Jason can get there soon ($19 a day). He did get there that night.
At the airport, I have a few hours to relax until the plane takes off. I relax a little too much and almost miss the plane. The previous sentence will be in effect for the next two flights; I almost missed the plane in Seattle and in Anchorage as well. All three times I was sitting in a nice quiet part of the airport reading, not paying attention to the time and eventually running to catch my plane.
I left Chicago on time and landed in Seattle at 6:00. I was not scheduled to leave Seattle until 8:00 the next morning (Tuesday), so I got a hotel room right across from the airport and decided to go sightseeing. After talking to the desk people we decide the best place to go is the Space Needle. There are all kinds of attractions there so off I go. (Yes, I know that I switch from past tense to present) The desk people tell me its a 10 minute walk to the (subway-type) train, 15 minute ride downtown, then get off the train and take the monorail to the Seattle Center. The 15 minute ride is actually 50 minutes; I admit, I probably misheard. I get off the train in downtown Seattle and I'm a little surprised. I don't know exactly what I was expecting but this wasn't it. Anyway, I walk around the block a couple of times, can't find the monorail, remember my incredibly poor sense of direction and decide to go back to the hotel. After another 50 minute ride back, it's now after 9:00 and I'm wet, tired, cold, and hungry. I go into the hotel restaurant, the bartender/waitress that I am wet, tired, cold, and hungry. She asks if I want a beer. After I get done eating I go up to my room and realize I don't have my phone. I retrace my steps and decide I must have dropped it in the garbage can with my newspaper. I talk to the manager, she calls the housekeeping person. The housekeeper puts on her gloves, starts digging through the trash and there it it, in my pocket. I apologize and go upstairs to bed.
Tuesday morning I get up and go to the airport. After going through security, I realize I don't have my keys (Keyless in Seattle, get it?) I check my pockets over and over but they're not there. I go back to the security people and tell them I must have left them in one of those little bins. The guy, who surprisingly was not happy about it starts digging through the pile of bins and there they are. On top of my carry on bag, about 2 inches away from my hand the whole time.
Seattle to Anchorage goes off without a hitch, other than almost missing the plane again. Spend a couple of hours in Anchorage and this was the closest to actually missing the plane, the doors were already closed as I got there. But I was able to get on and get going. After landing in Bethel the plan was to leave for Chefornak in about 2 hours. However, planes are on weather hold and we're not going anywhere. In Bethel I met up with most of the other teachers. Spend the night in Bethel, scheduled to leave the next morning at 9:00. At 9:00 we're told there is a weather hold but we do get out at 10:00 so it's not that bad.
At about 11:30 Wednesday morning we land in Chefornak...
Coming soon, part III: Somebody's Knocking at the Door
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Take me home, Alaska Air.
Ok, I'm back. In Alaska and online. I've got all kinds of stories to tell but I'll just do one at a time. Besides, it's kind of hard to type more than one story at a time anyway.
Way back in December the plan was to leave Chefornak and go back to Illinois for Christmas. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? My original plan was to leave Chefornak after school on Friday, December 17th, spend Friday night in Bethel, leave Bethel Saturday night, leave Anchorage at 2:30 Sunday morning, land in Seattle, spend a couple hours there and leave for Chicago around 8:30 am. Then Jason was going to pick me up at the airport. What could be easier?
Friday December 17th. Morning. There is excitement in the air; most of us are leaving after school to head back to our home states. Unfortunately, there is something else in the air but we'll get to that later. It's a nice sunny morning but rumor has it that bad weather is on its way. There are 5 of us scheduled to leave at 1:30 and a couple more leaving at about 2:00. Early in the day I call the airline and change my Bethel to Anchorage flight from 8:30 pm Saturday to 9:00 am Saturday. I'd rather spend the day at the Anchorage airport than hanging around Bethel. This was the first change but NOT the last. At 1:30 we are all outside waiting for our plane to come in. The excitement that was once in the air has now been replaced by freezing rain. We get a call at 1:45 that our plane was less than 10 minutes away from landing but had to turn back to Bethel. They may come back later if it clears up. We leave our luggage out by the runway and head back to school. At about 4:00 we're told that no planes will be coming. We call all the airlines, schedule a 10:00 flight for Saturday morning and have a charter planned for noon if we can't get out at 10:00. I call Alaska Air again and change my flight to Anchorage back to the original 8:30 departure.
Saturday, December 18. After spending Friday night looking out the door every few minutes and seeing how much warmer it's getting, I'm ready to go Saturday morning. However, with the warmth comes the fog. No planes Saturday morning. It's still ok; I just have to get to Bethel before 8:00 pm. I have all day. All day comes and goes, unfortunately, no planes do. I briefly think about paying a local to take me to Bethel on a snowmobile but sanity prevails and I change my reservations again. We as a group are now scheduled to leave from Chefornak on the first plane Sunday morning. Assuming we get to Bethel, my new plan has me leaving Bethel at 2:00 pm, spending the night in Anchorage, leaving Anchorage Monday afternoon at 1:30, stopping in Seattle at some point and getting back to Chicago at 11:30.
Sunday the 19th. Phone rings Sunday morning "the plane will be here in about 15 minutes." Everyone throws on clothes, grabs suitcases and runs out to the airport. We're ready but not too optimistic. The plane comes and we go. Hooray! Of course now we're only in Bethel.
Bethel: We get there around 12:00, plane scheduled to leave at 2:30. At 1:30 we're told the plane is at least an hour delayed. Negative- sitting at the Bethel airport for another few hours. Positive- I'm not scheduled to leave Anchorage til tomorrow afternoon; I'm in no hurry. Plane comes-off to Anchorage.
Anchorage- As soon as I get off the plane I call Alaska Air and ask for any earlier flights. There is a seat available on the 1:30 am flight which cuts 12 hours off my trip. It's also a first class seat. "I'll take it!" Now I get to sit at the Anchorage airport for the next 10 hours or so. While there I saw two interesting sights displaying another positive and negative. I saw two girls/women being taken off a plane in handcuffs. Not sure what happened there. I also saw a group of people waiting by the arrival gates. All of a sudden a little girl starts running the wrong way, into the "Do Not Enter" area. Then the whole crowd starts cheering. One by one more kids start running into the Do Not Enter, and one by one soldiers returning home were coming out. People were cheering, waving flags, hugging, crying... I got goose bumps then and am getting them again. Very cool.
While at the airport I start to get tired but don't want to sleep because the plan is to sleep on the plane to Seattle. I get on the plane with sleep in mind, sit down my next door seat neighbor turns to me and says "Hi, I'm Mark. I like to get to know the people I sit next to when I'm on a plane." We talk for a while but I'm thinking "nice to meet you Mark but I want to sleep." I did find out he's an actor (not famous but still an actor). He was in the play of A Christmas Story and he played the bully. He wants to work for NASA and he reminded me of Zach (he didn't tell me the Zach part.)
Monday, Dec. 18th. Get in and out of Seattle with no problems. Of course, this being a Monday afternoon I now have no one available to pick me up at the airport. I get to take the train again. El from O'hare into the city, Metra from the city into Crystal Lake, Jason to pick me up in Crystal Lake. As much as it would be nice to be picked up at the airport, I have to say riding the train is not a bad deal. It's inexpensive and quicker. As long as you don't have a lot of luggage I recommend it. At that point, much like now, I just want to get home. One quick stop at Wal-mart to get some groceries and it's back to good old McHenry.
Coming soon: Keyless in Seattle, or my trip back to Alaska.
Way back in December the plan was to leave Chefornak and go back to Illinois for Christmas. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? My original plan was to leave Chefornak after school on Friday, December 17th, spend Friday night in Bethel, leave Bethel Saturday night, leave Anchorage at 2:30 Sunday morning, land in Seattle, spend a couple hours there and leave for Chicago around 8:30 am. Then Jason was going to pick me up at the airport. What could be easier?
Friday December 17th. Morning. There is excitement in the air; most of us are leaving after school to head back to our home states. Unfortunately, there is something else in the air but we'll get to that later. It's a nice sunny morning but rumor has it that bad weather is on its way. There are 5 of us scheduled to leave at 1:30 and a couple more leaving at about 2:00. Early in the day I call the airline and change my Bethel to Anchorage flight from 8:30 pm Saturday to 9:00 am Saturday. I'd rather spend the day at the Anchorage airport than hanging around Bethel. This was the first change but NOT the last. At 1:30 we are all outside waiting for our plane to come in. The excitement that was once in the air has now been replaced by freezing rain. We get a call at 1:45 that our plane was less than 10 minutes away from landing but had to turn back to Bethel. They may come back later if it clears up. We leave our luggage out by the runway and head back to school. At about 4:00 we're told that no planes will be coming. We call all the airlines, schedule a 10:00 flight for Saturday morning and have a charter planned for noon if we can't get out at 10:00. I call Alaska Air again and change my flight to Anchorage back to the original 8:30 departure.
Saturday, December 18. After spending Friday night looking out the door every few minutes and seeing how much warmer it's getting, I'm ready to go Saturday morning. However, with the warmth comes the fog. No planes Saturday morning. It's still ok; I just have to get to Bethel before 8:00 pm. I have all day. All day comes and goes, unfortunately, no planes do. I briefly think about paying a local to take me to Bethel on a snowmobile but sanity prevails and I change my reservations again. We as a group are now scheduled to leave from Chefornak on the first plane Sunday morning. Assuming we get to Bethel, my new plan has me leaving Bethel at 2:00 pm, spending the night in Anchorage, leaving Anchorage Monday afternoon at 1:30, stopping in Seattle at some point and getting back to Chicago at 11:30.
Sunday the 19th. Phone rings Sunday morning "the plane will be here in about 15 minutes." Everyone throws on clothes, grabs suitcases and runs out to the airport. We're ready but not too optimistic. The plane comes and we go. Hooray! Of course now we're only in Bethel.
Bethel: We get there around 12:00, plane scheduled to leave at 2:30. At 1:30 we're told the plane is at least an hour delayed. Negative- sitting at the Bethel airport for another few hours. Positive- I'm not scheduled to leave Anchorage til tomorrow afternoon; I'm in no hurry. Plane comes-off to Anchorage.
Anchorage- As soon as I get off the plane I call Alaska Air and ask for any earlier flights. There is a seat available on the 1:30 am flight which cuts 12 hours off my trip. It's also a first class seat. "I'll take it!" Now I get to sit at the Anchorage airport for the next 10 hours or so. While there I saw two interesting sights displaying another positive and negative. I saw two girls/women being taken off a plane in handcuffs. Not sure what happened there. I also saw a group of people waiting by the arrival gates. All of a sudden a little girl starts running the wrong way, into the "Do Not Enter" area. Then the whole crowd starts cheering. One by one more kids start running into the Do Not Enter, and one by one soldiers returning home were coming out. People were cheering, waving flags, hugging, crying... I got goose bumps then and am getting them again. Very cool.
While at the airport I start to get tired but don't want to sleep because the plan is to sleep on the plane to Seattle. I get on the plane with sleep in mind, sit down my next door seat neighbor turns to me and says "Hi, I'm Mark. I like to get to know the people I sit next to when I'm on a plane." We talk for a while but I'm thinking "nice to meet you Mark but I want to sleep." I did find out he's an actor (not famous but still an actor). He was in the play of A Christmas Story and he played the bully. He wants to work for NASA and he reminded me of Zach (he didn't tell me the Zach part.)
Monday, Dec. 18th. Get in and out of Seattle with no problems. Of course, this being a Monday afternoon I now have no one available to pick me up at the airport. I get to take the train again. El from O'hare into the city, Metra from the city into Crystal Lake, Jason to pick me up in Crystal Lake. As much as it would be nice to be picked up at the airport, I have to say riding the train is not a bad deal. It's inexpensive and quicker. As long as you don't have a lot of luggage I recommend it. At that point, much like now, I just want to get home. One quick stop at Wal-mart to get some groceries and it's back to good old McHenry.
Coming soon: Keyless in Seattle, or my trip back to Alaska.
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