Yesterday was moving day. We packed up everything, loaded it in the car and headed off to the airport. We stopped buy the Post Office on the way to mail some stuff home. Parcel Post from here to home was reported to be 5-6 weeks. According to the USPS guy the stuff has to go by barge to a mail center in the lower 48 then via truck to Virginia. Some will have to wait a while for their Alaska gifts.
Since we were on Alaska Air for our flight to Fairbanks we got to go to the “New Terminal” in Anchorage. It is a monument to the “pork” (Alaska legislators are famous for). Seems as though the travel force was with us yesterday, but just a hair out of sync with our universe. We arrived safely in Fairbanks so all was well, but along the way weirdness abounded. We got to the new Taj Mahal terminal only to be told the computer system was down and we’d have to check in at customer service. But by the time Jerry got back from returning the SUV, the computers were up and working. We got to security and my usual strip search to get through the checkpoint was compounded by having a new TSA guy in training, so I got to be a guinea pig. I told him I was good training material since I was an experienced searchee. I got through security, thanked the TSA folks, and was now cleared for flight.
This terminal has a real weirdness I’ve never seen before. Their gate numbering system starts with zero. So you have Gate C0 which makes perfect sense in the computer world, but I can see some 70 and 80-year-old folks scratching their heads over it. We landed at our Gate C4 and sat looking out the window watching the parade of freight planes go by. Anchorage must be the refueling and crew change hub for every airfreight flight in the Pacific. I never saw so many huge planes in one place. While we were sitting there Jerry informed me that you can Google the tail numbers of airplanes and find out when they were built along with their history. There were two Alaska Air 737-400’s sitting at the gate so I checked them out. Turns out one of them was “The Spirit of Alaska” the first 737-400 ever delivered to Alaska Air 15 years ago. Even the air crew, who were standing nearby waiting to get on our plane, didn’t know that.
We boarded our plane and got all settled. The door closed and we waited for them to back out but it didn’t happen. Then they opened the door back up and a whole bunch of folks got on. They must have waited for a connecting flight. We finally pushed back and got ready to take off. It was dreadfully hot in the plane but I figured it would cool off after we took off. Well it never did. Folks were shucking winter clothes like a stripper convention. It was a short flight over incredibly scenic landscape, your basic snow covered wilderness.
We arrived in Fairbanks, in our hot plane, and taxied up to the gate. The plane stopped and everyone got up like they always do. Only problem---no one went anywhere. They had jet way problems and couldn’t get it up to the side of the plane. The pilot came on and said we might have to move the plane. After what seemed like 15 minutes, they finally got the door open and we got off.
We headed down to the rental car area to find 6 or 8 rental car counters. Only thing was the one we were using was the only one that had any customers and the line there was eight deep. Seems like the other rental car companies might need to examine their marketing for Fairbanks. We finally got our car and headed for the parking lot. The air was crisp and cold and the snow crunched underfoot. It was interesting that the rental contract had a big warning to be sure and unplug your rental car before leaving. When we left, the rental car thermometer said –8 but it was off about 10 or 15 degrees to the cold side. Temp was really in the mid teens.
We found our motel, which is right beside the ice carving competition. We could see some of the carvings as we drove in and are very excited to go and see them up close. We checked in at the motel and for some reason they had Vickie and I set up to be in a king Jacuzzi suite. We didn’t understand it, but weren’t about to complain. We found our room and it was really great—very big. This is nice cause it gives the 4 of us a great place to hang out. Jerry, Brenda, and I went to the Safeway and stocked up on groceries. We had a little relaxation hour and headed off to the Pump House for dinner. The Pump House was a giant pumping station that supplied water to the gold dredges back in the 20’s. Miss Vickie had reindeer for dinner, which is actually caribou according to the Pump House menu, and it was quite tasty.
When we returned from dinner Vickie called the front desk for an Aurora Borealis wake up call. They offer this service so a late night/early morning viewing is available. We surely do not want to miss an opportunity to see the northern lights!
We figured out later why they gave us the room upgrade---it’s haunted. Inside the walls there is this creaking and groaning from the heating system that goes on continuously. Also, periodically the clock radio makes this Morse code like faint buzzing noise. But the bed was good and we slept wonderfully. Had biscuits and gravy on the continental menu this morning along with waffles and Danish. Very nice.
Today we are off to explore Fairbanks. More later.
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