So we flew out yesterday on a 737 Max 8, so you know there had to be some bad parts on the plane. Ours turned out to be a wheel. Once we got going the flight was uneventful. It was a 6 1/2 hour flight, overcast most of the way. And while they found a new wheel for the plane they weren’t able to find any food for those in steerage class so that little bag of pretzels had to tide us over. Once the clouds cleared as we got closer to Anchorage we were treated to some incredible views, including glaciers.
After a long and tiring day, you’d think sleep would come easily. However, that wasn’t the case. We had read about the sun rising at 3:30 AM and not setting until 11:00 PM, but reading about it is quite different from experiencing it firsthand. It turns out it never really gets dark. Here’s a shot of the view from our hotel at 10:45 PM.
Tonight we are dining at Jen’s Restaurant for some local cuisine. I found out about it from a UPS pilot who I follow on Twitter. She flies all around the world and always posts comments about food. Tomorrow will be an early rise (shouldn’t be difficult with dawn at 3:30 AM) to catch the train to Denali.
Well let the adventures begin! At least the doors stayed on.
Steerage class, Rob? Is this 1900?
It might as well be.
I hope you had the halibut at Jen’s. Does the train to Denali have any parts that might malfunction? Keep us updated!
Love to be on this journey with you!!
Wayne & Rob. In the ’80s, I went to Alaska to shoot a Snow Tire C (ommercial for Sears in late April. Alaska was the only state with snow. We needed a street with a train crossing with hard packed snow. Hawaii, Alaska (its real name), with a population of 80 people ( 4 automobiles), is only reachable by the Anchorage/ Fairbanks Alaska railroad. We had a film crew of 9 and boarded the Anchorage train with a rented train crossing gate signal courtesy ‘Of City of Anchorage.’ The train only had 20 passengers that day, and I got to ride in the engine with the train engineers. We had to stop often and I got to blow the train whistle to encourage the moose to get up from sleeping between the railroad tracks.(snow 5′ deep). No hotel, so we slept in a storage room above the only grocery store. The storage room was packed with trapped fox furs…good blankets. We set up the train crossing sign at Hawaii’s rail crossing and waited two days for the train to make its return trip from Fairbanks. The train blew its whistle as it approached the town, and the director shouted, “Roll’em.” Our car stopped perfectly using its Sears snow tires at the signal crossing when the train rolled through. The train stopped, and the engineer said. “Would you like us to back up the train and come through the “crossing” again?” Director said “Sure”. We got two takes, piled all our stuff on the train, and returned to Anchorage for sunset at 2 Am. Tell the engineer you want to blow the whistle and scare the moose. I envy your trip. Alaska is the best state for adventure. Order the best Salmon on earth. G&C