Why do we do it?
3.30am alarm call, having gone to bed at midnight, for a 4.30 pick up by taxi.
Checked in at Manchester for flight to Amsterdam and also checked in for our through flights to Seattle and Anchorage. Despite the ridiculously early check in for the later flights there are no window seats left. I suspect that Northwest Airlines pre-allocate seats and depending on the whim of the check-in clerk, may or may not be prepared to change it and this was one of those not prepared to change.
We get an earlier flight for Amsterdam and so have plenty of time to get from one gate to another and sit around waiting or looking in the shops.
We board the plane quite late on since I don't think they called the flight until the last moment relying on looking at the departure boards for flight information. The consequence of the late boarding was that all the overhead storage was taken by other passengers so we had to carry it under the seat in front which was all a bit restricting. For such a big plane like the DC10 it's suprisingly cramped - or is that just on Northwest Airlines aircraft .
The flight was delayed on the way to Seattle due to a headwind, but we had plenty of time `till our next flight so that didn't really matter.
Just before de-planing, as they called it, there was an announcement which we were all TOLD to listen to because it was going to be a very important one. It was - "One hundred and twenty pieces of luggage didn't get loaded at Amsterdam", there then followed instructions on what to do if you were one of the unlucky ones.
It took an age to get through immigration, where we were told by the immigration officer that the visa we had, which was marked "valid indefinitely", isn't any more, though he wasn't too clear why.
Down in baggage claim there was no sign of our luggage. The pile of unclaimed luggage stacked to one side was those that didn't make yesterdays flight. Thoughts of "maximum take-off weight exceeded a few days ago so lose the luggage and catch up later" sprang to mind. The absense of luggage means we have to claim our lost luggage vouchers. On our way out I glanced at another carousel and commented to Val that one of the spare cases looks like ours so lets take it - Val was more positive than I was and actually thought it did belong to us - turned out it was ours! Other luggage around this same carousel also belonged to our flight, their owners long gone assuming it lost.
So we were only one case down, which is exactly what NW Airlines knew because that is how many vouchers they had waiting for us - one. The value of the voucher was $100 off the cost of the next flight with them - this must be how they get customers to fly with them again.
The onward flight was with Alaska Airways so we needed to change terminals and what a palava that was. During the tooing and froing the hand luggage got zapped 3 more times - unbelievable. It wouldn't be so bad, but they insist every thing goes through the X-ray machine - bum bags and all. Now there is a wrongly named piece of apparel, how many people do you know that wears them round the back, most wear them up front. Imagine my suprise when Mr X-Ray called me back because I'd forgotten my fanny bag. At this point British readers are either shocked or laughing/smiling and American readers wondering what the fuss is about.
To help us with our overnight hygene Northwest Airlines gave us a couple of overnight bags with toothbrushes in because Val knew the washing stuff was in the other case.
The flight to Anchorage was without incident and on landing we had to let the people there know our whereabouts for the next few days so that the luggage can catch us up.
Having finally arrived in Alaska (23hrs after leaving home) we have to wait now for the rest of our tour group who are due in from Minneapolis in about quarter of an hours time - bang on time they were, too.
Short transfer from the airport to Westmark Hotel in downtown Anchorage where we dump what we've got in the way of luggage before going out for a mini tour of the local area, particularly the ice sculptures - carvings in large slabs of ice - which are in the town square two blocks away.
The judging of the ice statues was only two days ago, but the clear skies and sun of recent days has already taken its toll on some of the more delicate bits.
I overheard one "trendy" remark to her boyfriend that she though the ice carvings were "cool" - I wonder if she appreciated the pun as much as I did.
On returning to the hotel it was time to get some some sleep, but first need to freshen up after a day travelling. First was a quick brush of the teeth with disgusting toothpase and a brush whose bristles you have to floss out afterwards.
I then opted for a shower before going to bed and that means it's time for the traditional intelligence test on the bath tap, plug and shower operations. I often think that hotels should provide a manual to the basic things like taps - do you twist, pull, turn, push and how do you vary temperature. Invariably the bath tap is a slightly different design with, in this case, no obvious way to divert the water from tap to shower. There had to be something because the shower was there saying "come on one of those things will fill me with water"
Goto Day 2: Anchorage sightseeing
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