First, to get there. We'll be up at a very early hour to depart JAX.
AA2789 JAX 0600 DFW 0738
AS233 DFW 1015 SEA 1230 PDT
Up at 0400 EDT, to the airport, takeoff at 0600, and all went well. Nice boring flights, both of them. Alaska Air (second leg, first experience) was very nice.
Checked in at the Hilton SEATAC and got a nice room. We rested through the remainder of the afternoon.
Walked down to 13 Coins to have dinner with daughter Susan, cousin Fran and her husband Duane. Good food, better conversation. Settled a few details of our cat-sit upcoming deal when we return to Seattle and take F&D's condo.
Back to the room and writing this note, now we'll settle in and go to sleep early. We've been cautioned that getting out of SEA early in the morning can be a hassle and that we should account for that.
Photo Link
Today we'll take AS231, the early flight to Fairbanks (FAI) at 0645 PDT (UDT - 7) to arrive around 0935 AKDT (Alaska Daylight Time (UTC - 8)).
And that's what happened. Up at 0345 PDT, caught the early-early shuttle to the Alaska checkin counters, through the TSA PreCheck lane into the secure area and to the gate. We were at the gate by 0500.
Alaska was playing musical airplanes this morning; we heard *three* gate changes announced and saw one herd moving from gate to gate. But our plane stayed where it started and departed on time.
We had a good ride above the clouds. Slept for an hour or so. Arrived on time to find light rain under overcast skies.
We claimed the rental car, a Lincoln Navigator. It's a little strange. When I first approached it, it sensed the keys in my pocket and lit up. It has a push-button gear selector. Unfortunately, the Panic Button is adjacent to the trunk open-shut button, so I accidentally hooted a couple of times.
But we did take in:
The Cultural & Visitor Center - really nice place with great docents and many exhibits (see photos for a few).
A gift shop with a friendly owner.
Forget-Me-Not book store for kid books.
Sam's Sourdough Inn - breakfast all day type diner - best in town.
Large Animal Research Station - the muskox and caribou were way down at the other end of the field.
Creamer's Dairy Bird Research - boodles of Sandhill Cranes and honkers.
Fred Meyer supermarket - wine and other goodies.
Then we came to River's Edge Resort to claim our little cabin for three nights. The photo at right shows our view of the Chena River. About this time the rain became heavier, so we're just waiting it out and relaxing.