Part 2 - Let's Get Going - June 3 - 5, 2002

On Tuesday morning Irene and I prepare to take the cats to the vet, load our luggage, and head for Mom's house in Waverly. Packing and loading luggage has been no small deal because of considerations like Alaskan weather and the nature of a cruise/tour. We must pack a large suitcase for the cruise, a very small one for the land portion going into Denali National Park, and carry-ons for the plane. I, of course, insist on making all this more difficult by taking my computer along. This means I will have a computer, two cameras, and a pair of binoculars to manage. Irene will have two suitcases, a large purse, and an all-purpose fanny pack as well as her mother to manage. No big deal. Once packed, we need to fit it all in the trunk of our Taurus to allow room for Mom's luggage.

Sadly, we drop the cats at the vets, condemning them to two weeks life in cage while we get to experience the great wide open. The drive is uneventful. We arrive at Mom's where Irene goes into conference with her to decide how to pack what and where to put it all. I try, unsuccessfully, to keep out of the discussion, but must put my two cents worth in. The problem lies in cruise wear. Holland America Line has formal, informal, and casual wear dinners. We all agree that none of us want to dress in gowns and tuxes for dinner. I've bought a new blazer and pair of slacks to fit my new figure. Irene has acquired a bunch of clothes cast off by her sister, Carla. After some discussion and a good deal of agitation on my part, we've decided to eat in alternative dining places for the formal dinners; we have plenty of clothes for the informal and casual times. The other clothing problems grow from the exigencies of Alaska weather.   We could have temperatures as high as the mid-eighties or as low as the forties. We could have sunshine, rain, or any combination of temps and precipitation. Thus, lots of clothes. We finish packing Mom and settle down to wait.

On Wednesday morning we do some final errands and wait some more. Finally, I can't stand it any longer and get us headed towards Newark. The drive is easy. Newark provides a convenient airport without the hassle of trying to get to Kennedy. We follow the hotel's directions and find ourselves enmeshed in new construction surrounding Newark airport. As a part of the Port Authority airport system, Newark is undergoing a huge, and much needed, building project. After checking into the Days Inn, I take the airport shuttle to the Northwest Airlines terminal to do a test run. The shuttle drops me at the monorail, which takes me to Terminal B where I must take an escalator up to the check-in desks. I quail at the thought of schlepping (this is the last time I'll use this word in this journal - promise) Mom and all our luggage through this maze. After re-confirming our reservations I come back to the hotel for more waiting. We have arranged a park and fly deal with Days Inn, so we won't need to move our car.

I get up at 3:00 AM on Thursday morning and go down to the lobby to read. While there a young man comes in and we chat. When he learns of our upcoming trip he runs to his room and returns with a Jon Krakauer book called Into the Wild, a tale of a man's journey to Alaska, and gives it to me. Nice treat. Many weeks later I read this story of the strange odyssey of Chris McCandless from his comfortable childhood in suburban Washington, D.C. to starving to death in a lonely shelter in the Alaska wilderness. The book will help provide a perspective on this huge place we are about to experience.

I return to the room to discover the US World Cup team playing its first game against Portugal. How can I keep this all straight?  We take the baggage down to the lobby, load it onto the airport shuttle, and get on our way.  After all my worry, the shuttle drops us directly at the Northwest check-in.  We are early enough to avoid the crowds and check through to the loading area in about fifteen minutes.  It’s 5:30 and our plane leaves at 8:00 AM.  As we wait, I try to get updates on the world cup and take video of the airport scene

After about five minutes a lady from airport security arrives and tells me, in no uncertain terms, to shut off my camera. So much for video story-telling. At boarding time we learn all our tickets have been selected for carry-on inspection.  We’ve never seen such thorough inspection before. They look down the barrels of our binoculars, through everyone’s underwear, into our camera cases, and discover hideaways in our bags we didn’t even know about.  They put the stuff back in where they found it and we board for the first leg of our trip.

The flight to Minneapolis is uneventful. I'm delighted to discover that the GPS receiver works on the plane. I sit looking at the screen and following our route. This solves the problem of flying over a small town, river, or lake and wondering where we are. The GPS also shows our speed and elevation with remarkable accuracy. We cruise at about 422 MPH and 37,000 feet. We know where we are, but can't see a thing as the whole eastern part of the country is covered in clouds. We land in Minneapolis and walk across the terminal to our departure point. Having read in "USA Today" that Northwestern has the oldest fleet of major US airlines, we are unsurprised to discover the flight before us has been delayed for more than two hours. It's full as is our flight. We notice loads of Holland America Line tour tags attached to people's carry-on luggage. We chat with several people we'll be spending time with over the next twelve days, although most of them are leaving on their tours a day ahead of us.

We board our plane for Anchorage, a Boeing 757, which is full to the brim. We're surrounded by folks off on their Alaska tours. Lefty keeps asking if we're over water. Unless the Sea of Alberta counts, it looks like land to me. John Bishop and his wife, sitting across from us, are taking a longer land tour in order to have more opportunities for photography. He's writing a book about the history of grocery stores. Turns out to be pretty interesting. I'm sorry they won't be on our itinerary. As the five hour flight continues, people circulate about the cabin, chat, stretch - anything to avoid the boredom and discomfort of this form of travel that, in the past, was looked upon as an adventure. The GPS is a hit, but my maps of Canada are sketchy and I can't really tell anything about the topography we're flying over. I know where we are, but not much else. Irene looks out the porthole and sees snow-covered mountains with no evidence of human habitation. It's more interesting than the computer screen, but also more cloud covered. As we cross from British Columbia into Alaska the cloud cover increases. Landing in Anchorage we're greeted by low overcast clouds and rain. The temperature is in the low fifties.

Now's the first test of the promised HAL (Holland America Line) service. As our luggage is delivered on the conveyor belt, we give it to the red and black-shirted HAL employees who load it on carts. Soon, a bus comes to pick us up and we are driven along wet roads into the city of Anchorage, the biggest city in Alaska. The moose has left the shopping center parking lot, but the bus driver warns us not to mess with any we happen to encounter. We're dropped at the Hilton and, after a brief wait in line, are handed our room keys. We head to room 965 and discover our bags there waiting for us. HAL has passed its first test. It's about 3:30 PM Alaska time, four hours ahead of eastern standard. We've been up since three or four ourselves. We find a nearby restaurant for a light supper and are astounded by the prices. A bowl of delicious sounding fish stew costs $23.95 and a pound of Alaska king crab goes for $37.50. Beef is expensive, too. It must be imported from the lower forty-eight, as little or no beef is grown in Alaska.  Locals hunt for moose to provide meat during the winter. Mom and Irene have chicken sandwiches and I have a haddock sandwich. The fries are great, the bill is $34.00 for three sandwiches plus a tip. We take mom back to the hotel to go to bed while we take a walk. It's six or so and the sun is high in the sky.

Irene and I walk around the block, visiting a few gift shops.  They mostly deal in typical tourist stuff, but there are a few places selling nicer items.  We want to bring something nice back, but will wait to see what kinds of things are both lovely and authentic.  It has cleared a good deal and is warm enough to walk wearing a light sweater.  Irene buys post cards for the grands.  We return to the room and manage to stay awake (sort of) until 8:00 PM. Today the sun will set at 10:15 PM and will rise around 3:00 AM. It will never get completely dark. We close the blackout shades and collapse to sleep.

I wake up around 1:30 and Irene has moved a lamp and is reading. The four hour time change has us completely confused. By 3:00 we're all up and drinking coffee. As it gets lighter we can see the view. The Knik arm of Cook Inlet leads off to our left and mountains, with snow still on them give a background to this rather dreary city. As the clouds recede, more mountains emerge in the distance. It's pretty spectacular stuff, even with the foreground. At 4:30 we're ready to go, but nothing will open for a few hours. We have a free day to explore Anchorage before preparing to board the McKinley Explorer for our trip to Denali National Park tomorrow morning.