- The sheer majestic ruggedness really blows away anyplace that I have ever been, and I have traveled extensively throughout the great west. Let me just paint a brief picture from a boat trip outside of resurrection Bay in Seward. Orca whales playfully jump along the boat as we skim across a glassy aquamarine colored ocean. Just off shore on a rocky outcrops we spot several seals sunning themselves. The rocks soon give to the sheer cliffs of a mighty fjord, mountain goats dotting the cliffs. We follow the rocky and tree filled outline of the mountains until we reach a large valley. A massive glacier slowly makes its way to the bay, shaping the earth as it slowly moves. Our gaze is soon moved to a family of puffins that are flying along the waves looking for food. This description captured only a 10 minute period from the trip.
- Salmon are a very abundant resource. Every river that we saw was chock full of salmon in search of their spawning grounds. It wouldn't take much at all to catch one, I wonder if the locals get sick of them...I was after eating 4 consecutive dishes showcasing their meat.
- You would have to be an independent and solitude seeking individual to live in Alaska, with the exception of Anchorage. You really get a feeling of peaceful isolation up there. I would imagine that many people can feel small and insignificant compared to the size and majesty of that state.
Some other thoughts from the trip.
- While spending a lot of time with my brothers family I was able to make some observations regarding child rearing. Some good and some bad. It is very easy to critique a situation that you are not in. This is very common for me as I am constantly around my nieces and nephews. In one of my next blogs I intend to make a large list of things that we will and will not do regarding our future children. I will keep this list and see how many rules are broken or modified when I begin raising them. Right now, my siblings are constantly reminding me that being an "armchair parent" is very different then raising one and that my standards will cave in after the first year. I want to see if that is true.
- Airline customer service is horrible. Our continental flight from Anchorage to Seattle, leaving at 1am, was delayed for four hours due to some engine problems. I can live with that, safety is job #1. But what ensued upon landing in Seattle really exemplified why people are so weary of traveling. The airline promised that when we got off the plane that a number of customer service reps would be available to help us obtain a connecting flight to our final destinations. We all missed our flights by now but were relieved with this gesture. We got into the terminal to find one person, she was immediately overwhelmed by customers. She didn't really understand what was going on and told us to go to the front desk. The airline effectively passed on responsibility to a few local reps, unaware of our circumstances or the promises made on the flight. To make a long story short, we ended up spending 5 hours trying to fly standby on a flight to Phoenix and got home at 6pm rather then our intended arrival of 9am. Kind of makes you want to buy an RV.
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