Adventures of an Alaskan Transplant: flying

Friday, August 7, 2015

Florida in July = VERY HOT

Recently we decided to visit my parents in Florida... In July. I don't know quite what we were thinking, but the average temperature with the heat index while we were there was over 100 degrees! That's hot for us Alaskans (and even my parents too)! All in all, we had a very goo time, but decided to visit at a different time of year in the future.

The air travel however there and back was not so pleasant... Leaving Anchorage, we were delayed for two hours - two hours into the actual flight - around 1 a.m. I woke up to someone saying "Oh my gosh, the wing's on fire!" Yeah, not what you want to hear when you wake up on an airplane. After 2-3 minutes, the fire on the right engine (we were on the left) was finally out. The crew alerted us that we would be landing in Seattle (it was originally an Anchorage flight to Atlanta, and we were over Vancouver, British Columbia at the time), and needed to learn the "brace position" for the landing in case it went poorly. A few folks threw-up and were hyperventilating, but the landing was one of the best we've ever had! After landing, we were met by over a dozen emergency vehicles who inspected the plane before we moved to the gate. Everything looked safe so we moved to the gate and were able to deplane normally. We then sat in the S Gates for six hours before we could get a flight to Atlanta, but Delta provided us with lots of free snacks and blankets.

On the plane - before we knew what was going to happen!

The fire coming out of the right engine!

Our amazing crew!

Free food from Delta

The night we arrived (over eight hours late), we ate out and went to HarborWalk and watched the fireworks.

Staying hydrated!

Sunset through the trees

Dad's new awesome ring toss!

Loaded-down golf cart for all our gear!

Monday night we headed to Pensacola for a Blue Wahoos baseball game - it was fantastic!

Tuesday night we headed out to a Matt Redman concert down the road at the Village Baptist Church. While it was packed and hot, it was neat... and Jonas Myrin and Chris Tomlin showed up!

Last night in town at Mellow Mushroom

Golf cart ride to Dairy Queen at sunset!

Coming back to Anchorage, we ran into more problems. We sat on the plane in Florida for two hours due to lightening. Finally we were able to get back into the terminal while Atlanta had their own storms. Got some more free food from Delta though!

Pouring-down rain while waiting on the tarmac

We finally made it to Atlanta (again, hours later than planned), and ran into some Alaskan friends of ours, who also pointed out that Willy Robertson from Duck Dynasty was also there!

The requisite Chic-fil-A meal in Atlanta.

Because our flight to Atlanta was so behind, we ended up getting routed through Seattle again. However, we ran into another reality TV star - this time, we actually had time to talk to him (well, Andrew did) - Josh Harris from The Deadliest Catch!

While the time at the beach was great with my family and nice and relaxing, the traveling was very... memorable. By the time we got home, we were in town for five days before heading out again to Ketchikan!

Friday, May 8, 2015

Graduating in Juneau!

This past week, we flew down to Juneau to celebrate my commencement at the University of Alaska Southeast. I received by Bachelor of Business Administration in Management. While there, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather down there and had quite the Alaskan vacation!

Our first full day there was Saturday, and it was sunny and in the upper 50s (it was actually this nice all week we were there)! That evening, we decided to fly out to a beach on Admiralty Island (nicknamed Blacksands Beach) with our friend Joe in his plane, and his parents. It was both of our first beach landings (Joe has done many of these), and we had king crab, green beans, and king salmon for dinner, all cooked on the beach!

On the way back, we flew over parts of Admiralty Island during sunset - it was gorgeous!

Sunday, was the big day - and boy did the weather come out for it! During the ceremony, I not only received my degree, but was also recognized as the UAS School of Management's Outstanding Graduate, receiving the Bob Ellis Award.

That evening we had dinner at my favorite pizza place in the area, in Douglas and walked Sandy Beach there.

Monday night, brought another beach picnic, this time at Admiralty Cove on the same island.

Tuesday, we drove north to the Shrine of St. Therese.

We then stopped by the UAS campus, so I could receive my award as it had not arrived in time for Sunday's ceremony. I met the SOM Dean and some staff and then went over to the UAS Development Office and met some coworkers there - including a family friend who Andrew grew up with in Ketchikan.