The first day of fall was on Saturday. I couldn’t be happier. Skytresses and Skyters know summertime flying is the hardest flying of the year. Our airplanes are full. Plus, Mother Nature loves to send nasty weather anywhere our airplanes are headed. Thus, reroutes are inevitable. Needless to say, our schedules are packed with trips, whether we want them to be or not. Skytresses and Skyters can become quite exasperated with summertime flying if they don’t have a vacation to break up the summertime craziness. I’ll admit. I no longer take a summer vacation. So, I swear the four months of summertime flying actually feels like three years for me. I typically try to block out the fact it is summertime flying. Heck. There are many summers I don’t recollect. Skytresses and Skyters like to reminisce about how bad summer flying was the previous years. Astonishingly, I recall nothing. Except for the fact I survived each summer of flying. Egads. I don’t need to remember the details of how awful the flying was or how I survived it all. The mere fact I survived is good enough for me.

I’m confident I will remember most of my flying this summer simply because I was flying Anchorage trips. Flying Anchorage trips can’t be categorized as typical summertime flying. No siree. One doesn’t survive Anchorage trips, one relishes every spectacular moment. However, there are a few non-Anchorage trips I’d like to forget…and with a few more fall days under my belt, I most certainly will. Thankfully for you, my brain won’t release these summertime memories just yet. Heck. I still have flashbacks to my Denver trip. As Ron would say, that trip was awful, awful, awful. Yes, indeed. My crew and I were rerouted to work a flight to LaGuardia because the original crew timed out. Of course, we were informed about our reroute as we were about to head to our hotel for a layover after a long day of flying. Ultimately, we stayed on the airplane at the gate with passengers for several hours because of storms and lightning in the Denver area. Then we timed out because we reached our 15 hour duty limitation. Incredibly, the flight was never canceled. No siree. The flight was delayed until we had our legal rest. Then we reunited with the same passengers who spent the night in the Denver airport and worked the flight to JFK. Yes. I said JFK. JFK was the original destination of the passengers the day before…only Mother Nature forced the hands of those in charge and miraculously a JFK destination became a LaGuardia destination. Since Mother Nature was feeling much better after a night of raging storms, our LaGuardia flight reverted back to JFK. I know. It’s crazy. Just as crazy was the 10,000 steps my crew and I logged between our arrival gate in JFK to our gate for our deadhead flight back to Atlanta. Fortunately, we made this flight in the nick of time. I thank my angels in Reroute Heaven for this miracle. Yessiree. Thanks to them I was able to catch the last flight home and I wasn’t forced to spend the night in the crew lounge……again.

Spending the night in the crew lounge is never fun. This kind of slumber party is never really a party. For one thing, it means you missed your flight home. For another thing, there isn’t any slumber. There is commiseration though with other Skytresses and Skyters in the same situation. So, at least there is that. My slumber party was the direct result of a lack of communication on the part of the crew van company. They never communicated to a driver to pick us up after we got rerouted and had to layover in downtown Atlanta. Incredibly, our airline had communicated with the crew van company numerous times the day before and that morning to make sure we had a driver scheduled. Fortunately, a kind gentleman driver was rerouted to pick us up after he picked up two pilots across the street. Unfortunately, the delay in our pickup caused us to get stuck in the atrocious Atlanta afternoon traffic. Our flight to West Palm Beach was put on a rolling delay until we made it to the airport. Unfortunately, the delay enabled Mother Nature to whip up a nasty storm over West Palm Beach for our arrival. It felt like an eternity waiting for Mother Nature to give up on her weather wrath. My flight home was long gone by the time we landed back in Atlanta. Don’t feel too bad for me though. I slumbered in the crew lounge with my Skytress friend Kellie who missed her flight home because of weather. Yessiree. We sat in our makeshift chair- beds and talked most of the night. I, also talked with my commuter Skytress friend, Agnes. Agnes and her crew had been rerouted. They were hanging out in the crew lounge waiting for a hotel assignment. Their Skytress In-Charge waited on hold for several hours for crew accommodations to answer…so, Agnes and I had plenty of time to chitchat. After Agnes and her crew left I kept myself entertained by watching the reactions of the Skytresses and Skyters as they came into the crew lounge to start their duty day. They were shocked to see the crew lounge had become a makeshift hotel for ill-fated Skytresses and Skyters. My luck did rebound a wee bit on my flight home. I was blessed to have a wonderful crew working my flight. I did have to sit on the jumpseat after my slumber-less party in the crew lounge. But, I was blessed I had the jumpseat. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it home that day either. Yessiree. Every flight home was full. Every jumpseat home was booked. Ah, the joys of summertime flying!

My last trip before my vacation I, also, went illegal due to duty limitation rules. I’ll admit. I was hopeful we would go unscathed by the reroute gods on this trip. Yes. On our last day we were scheduled to fly to Newark before we flew back to Atlanta to finish our trip. Still, I had high hopes we’d make it to Atlanta on time. Heck. I was even hoping for an early arrival. Mother Nature must have caught wind that I was going on vacation for a few weeks and it put her in a foul mood. Yessiree. She wouldn’t have an opportunity to put another devious weather system in my path for awhile and it obviously ticked her off. So, what did she do? Well, she created a weather system so evil that it caused ground stoppages in Newark….for hours. Part of her sinister plan was to initially give us all hope that we would make it to Newark on time. I’ll admit. I sat on my jumpseat with a huge smile on my face when the Captain announced we were number three for takeoff. In a few short hours I would officially be on vacation. Alleluia! I now know the sound I thought was the engines revving up was actually Mother Nature’s guttural laughter reverberating outside the airplane as she flipped her weather switch. Egads. Mother Nature caused such a weather frenzy air traffic control in Newark was forced to extend numerous ground stoppages The extended ground stoppage then forced scheduling to reroute us. Instead of going to Atlanta, we would be laying over in Newark. Yessiree. Scheduling had given up any hope that we would make it back to Atlanta. Unfortunately, this awful reroute would get me back home to St. Louis mid- afternoon the next day. Of course, The Rerouted Skytress found this reroute unacceptable. So, I put in a request with my angels in Reroute Heaven. I knew there was a morning flight from Detroit to St. Louis that I could take home. However, I needed to layover in Detroit for this to happen. Well, alleluia. My angels in Reroute Heaven made it happen. I’ll admit. They had a hard plan to execute. Mother Nature is a formidable opponent. She kept giving the powers that be hope that the weather would clear up. Thankfully, Reroute Heaven stalled her weather system with heavenly force. In the end my crew and I had to wait several more excruciating hours at the gate with our passengers. But, we eventually hit the maximum duty time of 15 hours. Scheduling released us to go to the airport hotel in Detroit. They also granted my deviated from our scheduled deadhead to Atlanta in the morning. Yessiree. I would be able to take a flight directly home to St. Louis. I’ll admit. I’m not a fan of my 3-day trips turning into a 4-day trip. Especially when I am going on vacation. Nonetheless, I was grateful. I was grateful for my angels in Reroute Heaven. I was grateful I was going on vacation. I was grateful I wouldn’t see an airport for weeks. Mostly, I was grateful I survived my 34th year of summer flying.

Sadly, this vacation hasn’t been without sorrow. It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this blog. Ron’s dad passed away on September 13th. Papa Ed, as I affectionately called him, was the kindest, most caring, sweet-witted gentleman. He religiously read my blog and faithfully commented on each one. Words cannot express how much this meant to me. I loved texting Papa Ed when I was about to start a trip. Ron used to text his Dad his whereabouts when he was out flying. Every once in awhile Ron would mistakenly send the text to me instead of his Dad. This always made me laugh. Without fail, it made me appreciate Ron’s beautiful relationship he had with his Dad even more. I always hoped Ron was smiling in Heaven as I continued his tradition of texting Papa Ed where I was headed on my trips. I always felt Papa Ed’s fatherly love when he would text me back and tell me to be safe and to have a good trip. Papa Ed’s texts and phone conversations always made my Irish eyes smile. Usually he would pass along a story about Ron that would either make me laugh out loud or deeply touch my heart. Inevitably, Papa Ed’s stories would make me love Ron and the Paden family even more. I know without a doubt God compassionately had Papa Ed help me with my grief. I pray I helped Papa Ed with his grief, too. I know Papa Ed is in Heaven with Ron and Mama Linda. I can only imagine the glorious reunion that took place when Papa Ed entered Heaven. I like to think Ron has lovingly moved another seat into his Reroute Heaven office so Papa Ed can sit beside him. I know Papa Ed will enthusiastically assist Ron, Mama Linda and my Dad work their reroute magic whenever it is imperative. Without a doubt, I will continue to marvel at their creativity and dedication to make sure The Rerouted Skytress is lovingly taken care of. I am truly blessed that God continues to let my angels manage the Reroute Heaven office. I know God has graciously left them to their own devices, too. I am utterly grateful for this autonomy. Yessiree. With God’s backing and their perseverance I have been the recipient of many Heavenly reroute miracles. I may say I don’t know how I survived summer flying. But, I really do. God and my angels in Reroute Heaven are the ones I need to thank. With Papa Ed as the newest member in the Reroute Heaven department I may become a huge fan of summer flying. Or at least loathe it less….Which is still a miracle in my book.

I am a proud Montana gal. Yessiree. I have a deep propensity for the West. Mountains, cowboys, rodeos….they all speak to my native Montanan heart. However, for 6 weeks this summer, this Montana gal felt more like a gal from Alaska. I’ll admit. I ate my fair share of crab, salmon, Yak burgers….and baked Alaska ice cream. I would reactively looked skyward whenever I heard bush planes flying overhead, wondering if I knew the person at the controls. I quickly learned to tell the time of day based on the train whistle as it departed or arrived at the Anchorage Depot. As I went about my day, I would casually search the horizon for a view of the very elusive Denali. Heck. I even learned to sleep without darkness outside my window. And just like a true Alaskan, I anticipated a moose crossing my path at the drop of a dime. Yessiree. I had a blast hanging out in Alaska with my fellow Skytresses and Skyters. I had so much fun being an honorary Alaskan this summer….this Montana gal plans to return to Anchorage next summer to do it all again.

The best thing about flying to Anchorage is that everyone on the crew is excited to explore the city. It’s infectious! Heck. Not one Skytress or Skyter batted an eye whenever we made plans to meet in the lobby at 7am to go to breakfast at the Snow City Cafe. Okay. Maybe we silently batted an eye. But, we all showed up in the lobby at 7am! If you are not familiar with the Snow City Cafe, you need to know one very important detail. Local Anchoragites and tourists flock to the infamous Snow City Cafe everyday. Thus, each week, our goal was to beat them all to the restaurant. I’m proud to report we were victorious each week. I’ll admit. The taste of victory is even sweeter when it is served with a delectable egg omelette filled with crab and a hot cup of Milky Way Mocha on the side.

My first trip to Anchorage Skyter Wayne, Skytress Kari, Skytress Kelly and I decided to rent bikes and ride The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. The bike path hugs the Anchorage coastline one way for 11 miles. Of course, we told each other that we were excited to ride the bike path and get a feel for Anchorage. If truth be told….we were going on a moose hunt. Heck. Even the owner of the bike shop guaranteed we would see a moose. Skyter Wayne told us he saw several moose on his last bike ride. I’ll admit. The possibility of seeing a moose thrilled me and scared me at the same time. For 22 miles, I kept my eyes peeled for moose hanging out along the trail. I’m sad to report we didn’t encounter any moose. Nope. Not even one pooping moose! “Pooping moose” was our rally call all month long thanks to Skyter Wayne. Don’t feel too bad for us though. We did have a Denali sighting from the coast line…which is a very rare thing indeed. Yessiree. It more rare than seeing a moose! On our ride back to town I bought several photographs from a local artist. I’ll admit. It’s been a month of Sundays since I last road a bike. But, I was determined to get myself and my photographs safely back to town. I figured if Captain Cook could navigate a boat around unexplored Alaska, I could navigate a bike down a smoothly paved bike trail holding on to photographs. I know Captain Cook wouldn’t have been impressed. But, my crew sure was! Afterwards, we went to the 49th State Brewery for dinner. The rooftop dining area that overlooks the coastline and Alaskan Railway Depot became the new neighborhood hangout for me and my crews for the following weeks.

My second Anchorage trip I was without my friends, Skyter Wayne, Skytress Kelly and Skytress Kari. However, in true Skyter Wayne form, Wayne texted me to see what was on my agenda for this layover. Wayne heartily approved everything I had planned. My Skytress In-Charge, Ni-col, accompanied me on my adventures. We met up with Skytress Cynthia and took a trolly ride around Anchorage. It was on this ride that I finally saw a pooping moose. Mr. Moose was in the distance eating. Mr. Moose could have cared less that we were watching him eat. In contrast, we were ecstatic. Sadly, this would be my lone moose sighting in Anchorage. Well, except for the moose in the Anchorage airport that greeted us each week. He was the best pooping moose of all the pooping moose in Anchorage. Yessiree. He didn’t flinch even once when we stood next to him to get a crew photo!

Skytress Ni-col and I headed to the Ulu factory after our trolly tour. I regretted not buying an Ulu knife years ago when I was in Fairbanks. I wasn’t going to let this happen again. So, I didn’t. An Ulu knife was traditionally used by Alaska Natives to skin and clean animals, cut food and even cut blocks of snow and ice to make an igloo. I don’t anticipate using my Ulu knife to make an igloo. I think I’ll just use the rounded knife to chop my herbs and possibly chocolate bars for baking.

We learned on our Anchorage trolly tour that Alaskans consume more ice cream per capita than any state. So, the fact there are two Wild Scoops ice cream locations within one block of our hotel didn’t seem excessive in the least. Wild Scoops is know for their creative flavors. They use innovative ingredients in their ice cream such as spruce tips and fireweed. Mostly, though, they are known for their baked Alaska ice cream cones. My first taste of a baked Alaska ice cream cone came after Skytress Ni-col and I walked back from Ship Creek where we watched the fishermen fly fish. I’ll admit. This trip to Wild Scoops was the first of many this summer. As an honorary Alaskan, I felt it was my civic duty to take all my crew members here and force them to get a baked Alaska waffle cone. Funny, not one person complained. No siree. They were too busy enjoying the delectable marshmallow topping.

Skyter Wayne and I flew to Anchorage the following week. Our Skyter In-Charge, Yessid, joined us for our layover adventures….starting with breakfast at the Snow City Cafe. We happily did some shopping before we went on another trolly tour. It was Skyter Yessid’s first time to Anochorage and we wanted him to get a great feel for the city. Afterwards Skyter Wayne walked us over to The Kobuk. It’s a unique gift shop and cafe. I wanted to try their famous house blend Samovar tea. I learned Samovar tea originated with the Russians. Samovar is actually the vessel the tea is brewed in. The Kobuk Samovar tea has been hand-blended for over 50 years. It contains cinnamon, cinnamon oil, cloves and orange. It has a slight sweetness to it, although, it doesn’t contain any sugar. Of course, I bought some Samovar tea to take home. I’ll admit. I bought more Samovar tea several weeks later. What can I say? I’m a tea connoisseur. Plus, the tea smells absolutely incredible and tastes absolutely Devine! Each week I happily walked my crews to The Kobuk. Not surprisingly, they would happily purchase packages of Samovar tea to take home, too. What can I say? As an honorary Alaskan this was always a proud moment for me.

Alaskans and honorary Alaskans such as myself know winter isn’t the only time inclement weather materializes in The Last Frontier. Unfortunately, Mother Nature reared her ugly head on several layovers. But, a little rain didn’t stop us from having fun. No siree, Bob. We came prepared with umbrellas! Take that Mother Nature. Skytress Jenet and I took advantage of the foul weather on one of our layovers and went to the Anchorage Museum. The Alaska Native artifacts and the narrative videos were extremely informative. I still cannot fathom how Alaska Natives survived the dark, cold winters in remote areas years ago. Heck. I marvel at how they still endure harsh winters in the extremely remote areas of Alaska. The Alaskan fortitude will forever flabbergast this Montana gal.

My last trip to Anchorage we affectionately called, “The Wayne Tour”…named after our beloved Skyter friend Wayne. Sadly, Skyter Wayne wasn’t on our last layover. Happily, we stayed in contact with Skyter Wayne throughout the day to keep him abreast of all our adventures. Of course, the first texts from Skytress Jenet, Skytress Suzy and me to Skyter Wayne came from the Snow City Cafe. Yessiree. We couldn’t have started the Skyter Wayne Palooza tour anywhere else. Afterwards, we hit multiple gift shops in Skyter Wayne’s honor. We enthusiastically devoured some baked Alaska ice cream cones at Wild Scoops. Later in the day we headed over to our old stomping ground, the 49th State Brewery for drinks and dinner to round out “The Wayne Tour”. Skytress Suzy and I threw caution to the wind and ordered the yak burger. Each week our waitresses had recommended this burger. Each week I passed on the burger. I couldn’t get over the name or the picture of the yak looking back at me from the menu. I’ll admit. Skytress Skytress Suzy and I were pleasantly impressed with the yak burger. As Skytress Suzy liked to say, …we didn’t yak from the yak burger. No siree. It was scrumptious!

I had a slight pain in my Montanan heart the morning of my last Anchorage layover. The locals I meet and saw on my many layovers had become my new found friends. I’ll admit. I loved tooling around the city like a local Anchoragite. I loved dropping into the Fire Island Bakeshop to grab an Alaskan scone to eat on my flight home to St. Louis. I adored having dinner outside on the roof top at the 49th Street Brewery surrounded by mountains and the coast of Alaska. Heck. On my first layover daylight was the norm at bedtime. My last layover Alaska was quickly transitioning into it’s nearly 24 hours of darkness. Yessiree. Each day the daylight diminished by 5 minutes. I’ll admit. I was going to miss this weekly daylight transition. Just like so many things in Alaska….It was utterly fascinating.

I know without a doubt I will head back to Anchorage next year. Heck. It’s a great place to be to beat the summer heat. Yessiree. The 60 degree weather was a beautiful reprieve from the hot humid weather at home. I’ll admit. I already have plans for my future layovers. I plan to venture out on the Alaska Railroad and explore the glaciers in Prince William Sound. I promised myself I would eat some reindeer sausage they cook and sell on the streets of Anchorage. For some reason my mind and belly wouldn’t allow me partake this summer. However, I have it on great authority from Skyter Yessid that the reindeer is better than the hot dogs sold on the streets of New York. Now that is an endorsement from a New Yorker that cannot be disregarded.

I want to thank my fellow Skytress and Skyter friends for an awesome summer. (I’m pretty confident they are reading this blog post). Each week I commuted off to work with a smile on my face. I knew I was going to have a grand time in Alaska. Without fail, I did thanks to them. We laughed. We explored. We ate….maybe a wee bit too much. Their excitement fueled my excitement for our Anchorage layovers. Happily, I have a suitcase full of exceptional memories from my Anchorage layovers. I don’t know how we are all going to work the same Anchorage trips next year. But, we all know Skytresses and Skyters are miracle workers. So, I am confident it will happen. Yessiree. Our Anchorage Adventures await us. Well, I should say our Alaskan Adventures await us. If we get our Juneau trips back next summer, we will have to bid them. I’ll admit. I have plans in place for this layover as well. What can I say? This Montana gal can’t get the Alaska gal out of her.