Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A 48-hour trip to Alaska


Crazy, you might say, to spend 28 hours in transit and only 20 in Alaska, but the trip was fun and exciting nonetheless. As we approached the Anchorage airport at 2am, Alaska time (which felt like 6am to us) the flight attendants instructed us sternly to tie down our belongings because it was going to be a rough landing. That was a bit of an understatement and let's just say that everyone breathed a sigh of relief when our second pass at the runway landed us on solid ground.

The next day we were fortunate enough to have a whirlwind tour of the town from my college roommate's parents, Tom and Sherry, who took us to a delicious restaurant - Orso - and on a driving tour of the surrounding area. The morning was very cloudy and rainy (the remnants of our storm from the night before) but as we drove out of Anchorage to the base of the mountains, the sky cleared, the sun came out, and we had some spectacular views. I'm sorry to disappoint, but even then, I could not see Russia....

Our concert that evening was in the beautiful Alaska Performing Arts Center and we want to thank Kathryn and the whole staff who made our experience there so enjoyable!

But by 11pm, we were headed back to the airport for the journey home. Luckily three of my best friends (Anna, Julie and Andy) will be moving to Alaska in the next few months and so I have lots of excuses to go back for a longer visit soon!