Alaskan Adventure

Day 1 - Early Bird Gets the Plane

I am not a morning person. Usually my tank doesn’t run empty until 11or 11:30pm so I am not an early riser. Last night I tried to go to bed early but anticipation of my solo adventure ahead made sleep very difficult. The positive thing about a 6:40am flight is that there is tremendously less traffic on the highways at 4:30am and shorter lines at security. However,  it might have been my imagination but it seemed like the TSA agents were a tad bit grumpier in the wee hours. Any over enthusiastic traveler who inadvertently stepped over the yellow waiting line before their turn with  the TSA agent checking ID’s and boarding passes, got a firm scolding from said agent. I made sure my tingling toes were a good 2 inches behind that magical line. I had no time for a stark white room interrogation today!

The downside of an early flight obviously, is the tossing and turning the night before caused by the worry that you’re going to oversleep! 

The clue to the destination of my adventure is given away in my title- yes I’m headed to Alaska! I’m meeting up with my little sister who is soon to become an Alaskan resident. She is relocating from Northern California  to Anchorage to begin her own great adventure. When I learned that she was going house hunting this week,  I invited myself along. Who wouldn’t fly to Alaska in order to snoop in other people’s houses? My parttime gig this year is very advantageous!

I am currently on my second and last leg of the trip from Seattle to Anchorage. Since I had a little sleep on my first leg ( and Starbucks in the Seattle airport) I felt a little more sociable  and struck up a conversation with my seat mate. He was born and raised in Alaska and was returning from a visit to Colorado relatives. Come to find out he is a commercial salmon/ crab fisherman during the summer and is out to sea months at a time. I told him that I was familiar with his work ( I eat salmon and crab- ha!). It is so interesting to visit with people with such different life experiences. Our conversation reminded me of the book I read called the Alaskan Laundry which was about a young twenty something New Yorker who moved to Alaska to work on a fishing boat. You have to be of hardy stock to be in that line of work!

Update:

Lori and I successfully rendezvoused at the Anchorage airport and made our way to a nearby hotel which is right next to a lake where the pontoon planes land. The realtor met up with us and showed us 7 houses. A good start with more to follow tomorrow. The view of the majestic snow capped mountains surrounding Anchorage from the airplane on its descent was so spectacular that I’m making sure that Lori finds a house with at least one guest room!