Usually, when I travel I just write as I go on the computer. I decided to travel to Alaska without a computer, though. For one thing, I wanted to travel light. For another, my computer is buggy despite updates and driver downloads. It drives me crazy when I try to type.  This time, I tried taking notes on index cards, which was not much use. By the time I got back, the cards were crinkled like tissues. Besides, I couldn’t read my own writing. Anyway, I am home now and willing to put up with the computer and get some Alaska stories on paper, even if it’s only from my memory. 

The trip was bookended by Tango pulling on the leash while the dog boarding lady restrained him. He pulled hard and tried to run but ended up just running in place. This in turn caused his nails to click, click, click on the floor. When I left he was straining to run towards me because he knew what was happening. When I picked him up, he was just trying to get over to me after he heard my voice. Leaving him behind is really hard. I missed him every day. We had so much fun in Alaska last year. 

In addition to Tango and his excellent ability to run in place, the trip was also bookended by Alaska Airlines flights. I purposely took a 10 PM flight up to Alaska because I wanted to see what it was like flying into the midnight sun. I was not disappointed. After a half hour of darkness, we were flying into a perpetual sunset. The horizon was a wide ribbon of orange/red and the sky above it was a beautiful blue. There was enough light to see the earth below, and I discovered that the flight path follows the coastline of British Columbia and SE Alaska. After that, the plane flew over icefields and glaciers, across the rugged, snowy Chugach Mountains. The twilight made everything so dramatic. Coming back, the view was smoky from the current fires and I didn’t see much of anything. My view on the return flight was also hampered by the bad seat I had right over the wing. I could see a bit of terrain if I looked back, behind the wing. 

My seats and my treatment by Alaska Airlines are a sore subject. I have not flown much in the last 4 years, and I learned how much things have changed. Anyone who buys a ticket from a third party (Expedia in my case) is automatically assigned to the E class. That means you get your seat assigned for you (usually in the center seats), you cannot change seats, and you board last. You are basically a second class citizen. I did not know this when I asked for a window seat on the way up to Alaska. I got extremely lucky because I was in the handicapped seat and the gate agent was quite willing to exchange it for a decent window seat. On the way back, the gate agent was extremely reluctant to change my seat because I was an E flyer. I asked her how I got that designation and she told me about buying through 3rd parties.  I pushed a little about the window seat and she said no. Then, suddenly, she came over to where I was sitting and handed me a boarding pass with a window seat. “Oh, thanks so much”. I was effusive. Then I boarded and discovered it was the window seat with only a view of the wing. It felt like an insult. I did some research on the whole E class thing after I returned home and discovered that most airlines are limiting perks for people who don’t buy directly from the airlines. Some, like United, are threatening to stop offering flights through 3rd parties. Fine with me; the flights that were available were not at premium times, anyway. 

This rude behavior by airlines is such a sad thing. How can you get ahead by treating ANY of your customers as second class citizens? And, if I may sound like an old person for a second, let me reminisce about the glory days of flying. As a girl, I flew on propeller planes to visit my dad in NYC. This was in the 60s. My older brother and I dressed up (him in a suit and me in a dress, patent shoes, white socks and gloves) for the flight, as did everyone else. We were served fabulous meals on china with real silverware. The meal tray included candy and little boxes of cigarettes. We kept the candy and gave the parents the tobacco! The stewardesses always gave us our “wings”, little pins that looked like the pilot wings. My brother hated flying but I loved it, and I have no doubt that is where I was infected with the travel bug. When I compare that with my most recent experience, well it seems sad. Poor customer service will surely come back to bite the airlines, especially as demand for flights wanes in the coming decades. It sounds impossible to imagine but, in some places, people are already waking up to the extreme climate damage caused by the thousands of flights that cross the globe every hour. I recently read about Europeans who are choosing to travel by train or other means during family vacations. Could Americans follow? Will customer service return? 

So, Alaska! I arrived during the wee hours in Anchorage after a visually stunning plane ride on the Solstice Eve. The air was cool and crisp. Yes, it was light too, all night long. I had to wait until 5:30 A.M. to get my rental car so I hung around the airport. Walmart was my first stop after I had my rental, so I could pick up groceries. After that, I was off to the Kenai Peninsula, towards the little of Hope. Since I could not check in to my little cabin until the afternoon, I stopped at every overlook and art gallery I passed! I also checked out the small town of Girdwood, which I had bypassed last time

As the crow flies, Hope is close to Anchorage. However, the road winds around Turnagain Arm and over Turnagain Pass before a side road goes back to Hope.

That road (The Seward Highway) from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula is legendary. After an hour or so hugging the coastline, it crosses magnificent mountains. At that inland turn, I start to unwind. I don’t travel with a good camera so here are a few photos I found online of the Seward Highway. 

Finally, I arrived at my little cabin, which I found online on Airbnb. It was super cute and perched over a creek. The logs used to build the relatively new cabins still smelled like pine. The bathrooms/showers were in the building just in front of the cabins. The common kitchen was in the same building but upstairs. I stowed my groceries in the frige and settled in for a quiet afternoon and a nap! I did not sleep much the night before and I was pooped. 

Above, the approach to Cabin 1, where I stayed

Above, front porch, which overlooked a gushing, fast-running creek

Above, common area with bathrooms/showers downstairs and a large kitchen/dining room upstairs.

…to be continued!