I was hesitant to include this picture. I know it’s rather corny. This was taken at home Saturday night. Gib (Gibson) is a very likeable dog. He’s the kind of dog that looks directly at you, makes eye contact with you, and if you talk to him, you’d swear he understands every word you’re sharing with him. I, of course, don’t believe this for a minute (the part about him understanding everything one says), but it is nice to imagine it’s so.
Usually, when I get up close and personal with Gib on the floor, he at first accepts the closeness and will receive affection with no “push back”. He also (after a minute or two), will usually take the first opportunity to escape to another room. Saturday night he didn’t, but rather rolled over on his back, toward me, and (not sure if you can see this in the picture) leaned his nose toward me. I took it as a sign that he knew I was leaving the next day and that he would miss his morning walks with me and wanted to let me know. I realize that’s impossible for a dog to feel but it makes me feel good to think he appreciates me. I know, when I return home, he’ll meet me at the back door with some sort of toy in his mouth after I’m gone for 10 days, just like he does when I’m gone for 10 minutes. Must be nice not to have a perception of time.
The flight out to Anchorage was uneventful. I flew Delta Airlines from MKE, with a short stop in MSP. Literally, I walked from my arrival plane to the other side of the MSP terminal and got right on the plane to ANC. No wait, no hassle. I think I liked Delta better when it was Northwest. Seems to have lost something, although all the airlines have lost “something”. I remember the days when flying commercially was special and you were made to feel important. Probably a really long time ago.
Isn’t the concept of air travel grand though? You get on in one place, fly 6 hours and are magically in another place. The time in between just seems to be a total non-event. Kind of a waste of 6 hours of your life (other than getting you where you want to go)? The downside of flying commercially now is that there’s no sincerity from anyone involved in the process. From the desk people to the flight attendants, no one really seems to be enjoying what they do. I guess they all feel they have been screwed over by their employer, like it was their employer’s fault that it becomes increasingly difficult to make profit in the service sector anymore.
Travelers are different now too. Everyone’s on their cell phone. Most have small head phones on, listening to some real special music, I guess. I wish I was so into music that I wanted to block out any potential for social interaction in a place like an airport terminal by walking around in my own world of listening to, whatever.
I didn’t take any pictures in route to ANC because there really wasn’t anything interesting to take a picture of.
I sat next to a 60 something hippie lady on the way from MKE to MSP. I found her looking at me several times and avoided her stare. I was a little afraid to get into any kind of conversation with her. She was tall but still managed to curl her bare feet up under her in her seat. I wish I was that flexible. Not that I’d want to do what she did, I just wish I was that flexible. She kept combing her hair too. I’m usually not too particular about other people’s body stuff flying at me but it did kind of bother me that she had no consideration for me sitting like 6 inches from her. The flight was only 40 minutes. What can you really talk about that’s worth while in that short of a time.
On the flight from MSP to ANC, I sat next to a real nice Eastern Indian couple. They were headed to Alaska for the first time for a vacation.
There were also several groups on that plane. I was in the middle of a group from Texas or someplace southern (because they were having a really good time with their accents). They were heading to a resort for some salmon fishing. I didn’t talk with them directly but couldn’t help eavesdrop while I was reading. They were real talkers and I think they liked hearing themselves talk.
The guy in front of me, who was in a section of the plane where no one sits in front of you and you have like 6 feet of leg-room, kept pushing back in his seat, right into my knees. Sometimes I wish I were the type of person to get really mad and make a scene about stuff like that but I’m not. I just put up with it. I did give him a couple of dirty looks to the back of the head and shared a smirk with the Indian guy next to me about it.
On arrival at ANC, we came through heavy clouds and rain but we were able to make the runway visually around 1,500 feet above the ground. We landed right base for runway 4 left (that’s what the pilot informed us before landing). Bag recovery was smooth. Car rental went well (a candy apple red Toyota Corolla). Heading out of the airport and finding AK HWY 1 was pretty simple. Took Hwy 1 to the Palmer/Wasilla split then HWY 3. Rained off and on all the way. It kept looking like I would loose daylight (it was after 7 PM), but never did. The clouds were just obstructing the sun to different degrees. I used a combination of iPhone GPS and a printed map from the B&B to find my destination (Grace and Bill’s Freedom Hills B&B). The last 3 miles was rutted dirt and gravel roads with switchbacks. There was a note on the door welcoming me. I’m in a separate building from where Grace and Bill and their two kids live. No one else here but me. There’s a central kitchen, three rooms upstairs and my room on the main floor. It’s pretty nice. I’ll post pictures later.
I hope this mindless rambling isn’t turning too many people off to visiting my blog. Let me know either way.
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