I have been remiss about blogging lately. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago I got Covid. Understandably, I was down for the count for a few days. Then I got a severe sinus infection and was down for the count for another few days. This was followed by my annual FAA training. All Skytresses and Skyters know productivity of any sort is null and void until training is officially over. Yessiree. We become fixated on the stress of the impending training. Basically, we are rendered useless for days. As you can imagine, it’s been a whacky couple of weeks to say the least. Don’t feel too bad for me, though. I was able to fly an Anchorage trip with my Skytress friend, Nicole. We had grandiose plans for our layover. And goodness glacier, did we have an outstanding time.

Skytress Nicole is based in New York. However, she tries to pick up some trips out of Atlanta. You may remember, Nicole and I drove to Santa Fe on our Albuquerque layover. You may, also, remember Nicole had to be the Skytress In-Charge on that trip. Skytress Nicole rarely flies as flight leader these days. Goodness glacier! The things we do in order to fly with our friends. I’m happy to report Nicole didn’t have to fly in-charge on this trip. No siree. We hung out together in the back of the aircraft counting the minutes…well, actually the hours…until we landed in Anchorage.

Skytress Nicole and I made reservations prior to our trip to go on a tour to see the Portage Glacier. The tour included several stops along the Turnagain Arm and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Our tour would start at 1pm. That meant we had time in the morning to hang out in Anchorage. Goodness glacier! I love hanging out in Anchorage.

Our morning started with a stop at The Kobuk to get a cup of Samovar tea. It was a nice way to spend time before we headed to the Snow City Cafe for breakfast. Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake and didn’t put our name on the Snow City Cafe waitlist when I first got out of bed. Locals and frequent visitors to the Snow City Cafe know if you aren’t at the cafe as soon as it opens, you are doomed to wait for a table. Goodness glacier. Our wait time was 45 minutes! Luckily for Nicole and me, it was a beautiful Anchorage morning. We visited The Kobuk and then meander into a few other shops as we made our way to the Snow City Cafe.

I’m sad to say this visit to the Snow City Cafe didn’t go without a glitch. We waited an exorbitant amount of time for a server to come to our table. Yessiree. This was uncharacteristic of the typically exemplary Snow City Cafe service. Then we waited forever for our meals to arrive. I have no doubt our food was ready to be served in record time. Unfortunately, our server wasn’t ready to serve it. Egads. Our food arrived lukewarm. I have no doubt the restaurant would have taken care of this issue. Unfortunately, we were now facing a time crunch. Goodness glacier. We didn’t have a second to dawdle….let alone wait for a new hot meal. We needed to hustle to the tour pickup point or forfeit our day of adventure. One thing Skytresses and Skyters are taught early on in our careers, never be late to pickup. Especially when glaciers are involved.

Our driver for the day was Gary. Gary is a New York transplant. However, he is definitely an Alaskan at heart. Gary told us he moved to Alaska years ago and hadn’t looked back. His knowledge of Alaska and Alaskan history was very evident. When tsunami alerts started popping up on our phones, Gary explained that tsunami alerts are very common in Alaska. However, he did pull over to make sure we were safe to continue on with our day. Goodness glacier. I never would have expected a tsunami to reroute our tour. Fortunately for us, the alert was for an area 600 miles away. Yippee! There would be no reroute for the Rerouted Skytress….or for everyone else in the van. Not surprisingly, the drive along the Turnagain Arm was breathtaking. I didn’t know whether to look right or left. My mind was finding it difficult to comprehend how each turn of the road was more beautiful than the last. All of us tried to capture the exquisite beauty on our cell phone cameras. Incredibly, each photo paled in comparison to what we were actually seeing out our windows. Goodness glacier. Alaska simply refused for it’s spectacular beauty to be captured in a photo.

Driver Gary explained to all of us that the weather could change drastically a few miles outside of downtown Anchorage. Fortunately, the intermittent fog and drizzle we were experiencing on the drive didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. No siree. It made us appreciate the mystique of Alaska even more. Driver Gary eventually pulled over at Explorer Pond. I’ll admit. When Gary pulled over I wasn’t expecting to see a hidden gem. However, after walking a few steps down a nondescript path we were rewarded with a view that left me gobsmacked. The pond was filled with beautiful blue-green glacier water. Driver Gary made sure we all got a photo of ourselves standing at the edge of the pond. The fog and misty rain made this stop feel magical. I could only surmise what the pond and surrounding mountains would look like with sunny weather. I surmised it would be utterly stunning.

Driver Gary drove a little further down the road to the Portage Lake. We were about to board the boat to see the Portage Glacier. Nicole and I were extremely excited. Before the cruise started Nicole and I used the restroom on board the boat. I’ll admit. When I washed my hands I was shocked how cold the water was coming out of the faucet. It actually made me chuckle. Heck. I am convinced my hands would have been warmer if I had washed them in a bucket of ice.

Skytress Nicole and I sat inside the boat for a few minutes after we pulled away from the dock. However, we knew the best views were going to be outside on the top deck of the boat. And we were correct. The views were unbelievable. We completely ignored the light rain that was falling. My heart raced as we came closer to the Portage Glacier. Waterfalls dotted the landscape in several directions. Yessiree. The waterfalls were magnificent gifts from the glacier. The Captain slowed the boat down and pulled in close to the glacier. He then cut the engine. And if I didn’t know better, he pulled a lever to stop the rain. It was a fascinating coincidence. The rain completely stopped. I had to keep reminding myself I was looking at an actual glacier. It was surreal. I, also, had to remind myself this glacier had been here for ages. Incredibly, we were only seeing a very small part of the glacier. The Portage Glacier is 6 miles long. I learned the glacier used to fill the Portage Valley. The Portage Valley is 14 miles long. The crew had a small piece of the glacier on deck for us to touch. It looked like a chunk of ice from an ice sculpture. Goodness glacier! The tour was exceeding all my expectations.

Our adventure continued after we left the cruise. We drove to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. The center is home to injured and orphaned wildlife, such as, moose, reindeer, elk, bears, bison, muskox and bald eagles. I’ll admit. The bears tried their very best to be elusive. Thankfully, Driver Gary provided us with binoculars. Thus, I was able to see all the bears as I stood at the van door. It was the perfect height and angle to see them all. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to take a photo. But, I did have enough time to create a memory of a lifetime. Another memory….I finally saw an Alaskan moose up close. The only other moose I had seen up to this point in Alaska was a moose eating in the distance at the airport. The moose at the conservation center seemed unfazed by us staring at them. I kept telling myself these were not docile animals. Their powerful legs could kill me if given the opportunity. Thankfully, the opportunity never arrived.

Our drive along the Turnagain Arm back to Anchorage could not have been more different than our drive to the Portage Glacier. Yessiree. The sun was shining. The mountains were glistening. More importantly, the water along the Turnagain Arm had receded with the low tide. A few hours prior water was visible all along the road. Now, only mud flats were visible. It seemed like Mother Nature had pulled the plug and drained the water. The extreme water change with the low tide was almost incomprehensible.

I was still trying to comprehend everything we had experienced on our adventure when our adventure sadly came to an end. Yessiree. Driver Gary dropped us off where our tour had begun hours prior. Skytress Nicole and I decided to walked down the street to grab a bite to eat at The 49th State Brewery. Unfortunately, we could see the line was out the door long before we got to the restaurant. We decided to pivot and return to one of the gift shops we stopped in earlier in the morning. Skytress Nicole wanted to get a gift for her mom. Goodness glacier. We were fooled by the Alaskan summer sun. It was much later than we realized. The store was closed. Undeterred, we turned around to head to another gift shop I knew would still be open. Along the way we decided we would try some reindeer sausage from one of the street vendors. I’ll admit. I can’t even count the number of times I have walked by the street vendors on my many layovers. The reindeer sausage always intrigued me. Still, I was hesitant to try the reindeer sausage, just like I was hesitant to try the Yak burger several years ago. I’ll admit. I’m not a huge fan of sausage anymore. Airline sausage ruined it for me many years ago. I’m happy to report I actually did like the reindeer sausage. Yak burgers and reindeer sausage. Goodness glacier. Alaska really does bring out the adventurer in people.

Skytress Nicole did find a gift for her mom at the next gift shop. Then she promptly left it outside at our hotel restaurant. To be honest, we were completely distracted when we left the hotel. Yessiree. We were sitting outside at the hotel when we made a last minute decision to head to Wild Scoops for a scoop of ice cream. We were almost to Wild Scoops when Nicole remembered her gift bag. Fortunately for Nicole and Nicole’s mom, the long line at Wild Scoops made us realize we didn’t actually need ice cream. Instead, we about-faced and went back to the hotel to retrieve the gift bag.

Nicole and I decided we needed to work another Anchorage trip together again. We simply ran out of time to do all the things we wanted to do on this trip. The sun might not rest in the summertime in Alaska. However, we needed too. I’ll admit. There is truth to the sayings, “Alaska, the adventure awaits”….and to “Alaska is calling and I must go”. These sayings tug at my heart every summer. Yessiree. Alaska is an extraordinary place. I eagerly await to hear Alaska’s summertime call beckoning me back. Goodness glacier! I will answer that call in a heartbeat.