The Journey: Alaska Day 1

Today we finally arrived in Anchorage after a long day of traveling. For me the day began shortly after I finished my final Maymester Spanish test. After the test was over I scurried back to my apartment, collected the bags that I had packed the night before as a way of procrastinating studying and headed home to meet my parents and pick up James.

Unfortunately 45 minutes and 50 miles later I realized that I had forgotten my birth certificate, which unfortunately because getting a passport renewed apparently takes several years, I needed to board the cruise. So I got to drive all the way back to Boulder for a single scrap of paper. At least James was there to give me some company. I suppose it was a lovely day for a drive.

Upon arriving at DIA we made the discovery that the train that runs between the terminals has had its music and voiceover changed! Instead of a female voice informing you that your big rump is delaying the departure of this train, it is now a man’s voice that loosely resembles the voice of the Avalanche announcer at the Pepsi Center. And the music has been upgraded to a rock ditty! Needless to say it was the highlight of the airport segment of the journey

The first leg of the journey was a 3 hour flight to Seattle which passed rather uneventfully save for the rather spirited arguments about Pokemon coming from the row behind me. From what I gathered, Pokemon with fire abilities are the best!

For the second leg we bought passes on Continental so we had to leave the terminal and pass through security again. I got my first pat down in quite some time, because my ticket came up with the mark of doom: SSSS emblazoned across the ticket. So we boarded the plane and flew into the sunset. For 3 hours… And then it got brighter… We landed in Alaska at about 11:30 local time, and still had about an hour of daylight left before a few hours of twilight and a sunrise at around 3am.

If you’re ever staying in the Mariott hotel in Anchorage, I challenge you to remove the wrapping from one of the free suckers they have at the front desk. If you can, you are a more talented person than I!