North to Alaska

[Justinf]

Is that Mt Rainier?

Sure is. What a sight she was on a clear day.

 

[Justinf]

Up early and showered and packed. We were both so excited to be heading to Alaska today. It has been a dream of mine since I was a boy.
I went to order an Uber but there was a massive surcharge and it was estimating $110 out to SeaTac. I tried Lyft and it was similar.
The hotel desk suggested a town car, which was a flat $45 (plus tip). We gladly accepted and the driver was there within minutes.
Check-in at Seattle was long and tiresome. Security took ages. It was a busy morning for a Wednesday.
Today we were Alaska Airlines flight 447 at 11am. The itinerary this was meant to be a 737-400, but I am pretty certain it was a 737-900. I didn't take a lot of notice.
Once again I was in first (seat 2D) and SIS was in coach. Flight time was showing around three hours.
Flight was on time and even though it was 11am I didn't care. I was on holidays and decided for an Alaskan Amber shortly after take off.
I also decided it was a while since I'd watched Little Britain so I took out my iPad and watched several episodes, laughing out loud while drinking Alaskan beer. Ah holidays!



The meal today was exactly the same as what I was served on the flight from Denver to Seattle - a chicken salad type thing with some bread and a cookie, except it was about half the size.


The three hours passed quickly and my next post will show some of the most dramatic scenery - no make that THE most dramatic scenery - I have ever seen while landing in an aircraft.
Anchorage came into sight and the scenery...oh my god I was so excited!

 

[Pushka]

Trust you were on the right side then.

 

[Justinf]

We slowly started to descend into Anchorage and the scenery was amazing.
I have a fetish for snow. I'm the type of person that always wants what I don't have and I'd love to live in a climate that allows for a couple of months of snow each year. It's just so beautiful and magical. Its purity (when it's not mixed with dirt of course) and the whiteness of it, stuns me.

 

[Justinf]

As our altitude decreased, the quality of the scenery increased.

 

[Justinf]

We made a series of turns which made the viewing better.

 

[lakeman]

Geat trip report Justin, I like your style .
I like trying the local beers too , but I thought you were a bit of a wine fancier as well.
Anything special you tried while away?

 

[LadyC]

Some nice photos there - I can imagine the scenery in Alaska only got better!

 

[Major]

Interesting airport photo of the cleared runways and taxiways

 

[Justinf]

Out of the airport and into the cold, crisp air. Temperature hovering around zero celcius.
Into a cab and I was spellbound by all the snow.

 

[Justinf]

It was a short drive to where we were staying, the Anchorage Grand Hotel.


Check in was fairly quick. It was obviously a very quiet time of year.
Rooms were OK but the thermostat in the rooms couldn't be changed and the room was stifling. Was told to open a window, which I did, but in the end had to sleep with a fan on next to me, which is absurd in winter.




For what we paid, the hotel was OK. Wi-fi was useless though, but the reason why we chose it was because it was just up a small hill from the train station, where we would be catching the Aurora Winter Train to Fairbanks.
The view from my window.

 

[Justinf]

By now it was late afternoon so we decided to go for a stroll before finding somewhere for dinner.
To say that I was loving all this damn snow was an understatement. I felt like I was in a different, magical world.

 

[Justinf]

The hotel was about four longish blocks into downtown. Downtown was eerily quiet, a trend that would continue for the whole three days we were there. I can't describe it properly. Vehicle traffic was almost nonexistent and pedestrians were scarce.
Temperature was quite OK. Zero celcius and got by no problem with just a T-shirt and a very good 800plus down parka, beanie and standard gloves.

 

[Justinf]

 

[RB]

We were in Anchorage in June 2010-your photos show a massive difference. We did find some nice bars there.
Looking forward to following more of your adventures!

 

[Justinf]

Back to the room for a freshen up as we'd wandered around for quite a while. The icey footpaths were hard to negotiate. It wasn't the snow that was slippery but the clear ice that was causing much angst.
We were now deep in Republican territory. I never make a point of talking politics anywhere, but I especially made a point of not bringing up the subject on this trip. However, many, many Americans wanted to talk about Trump with me. That was fine, as long they brought the subject up first. I'd been 'apologised to' no less than six times in Colorado and Washington for Trump.
Found a great brewpub that had a hand pulled cask conditioned ale. They also had a nice chocolate stout.










Sure enough after a few beers I went cough over tit on the footpath thanks to some invisible ice. I fell hard. Like really hard. I thought I'd broken my elbow it hurt that much. Took some painkillers and went to bed.
Tomorrow was going to be a 'rest day' with nothing in particular planned.

 

[Justinf]

We were in Anchorage in June 2010-your photos show a massive difference. We did find some nice bars there.
Looking forward to following more of your adventures!

Liked the Pioneer Bar. Divey place but fun and a good kind of dive bar if you know what I mean.
49th State Brewing Co was good. Glacier Brewhouse was OK. Humpy's was good, but service slow.

 

[Justinf]

Geat trip report Justin, I like your style .
I like trying the local beers too , but I thought you were a bit of a wine fancier as well.
Anything special you tried while away?

I love my wine, but I REALLY like the beers in the States and always stick to that. My sister drank wine on the trip and I had a few tastes of hers although she likes varietals such as pinot gris and merlot, which I'm not a huge fan of. We kept searching for the Beringer Reserve chardonnay, but couldn't find. Easily the best chardy I have ever had.

 

[love_the_life]

.....
Sure enough after a few beers I went cough over tit on the footpath thanks to some invisible ice. I fell hard. Like really hard. I thought I'd broken my elbow it hurt that much. Took some painkillers and went to bed.
Tomorrow was going to be a 'rest day' with nothing in particular planned.

That's bad news. Hope the injury doesn't turn out to be serious.
What type of shoes are you wearing in the snow/ice? Interested as we will be in snowy climes next year and looking for info on those with good traction.

 

[Justinf]

That's bad news. Hope the injury doesn't turn out to be serious.
What type of shoes are you wearing in the snow/ice? Interested as we will be in snowy climes next year and looking for info on those with good traction.

I was okay in the end. Made me very careful on every other night after that though. I wore some Salomon Men's Kaipo Mid Waterproof Boot and they were very good. Got them for around $100 on special and they keep your feet warm down to -20. Needed thermal socks for Fairbanks though.