Home, but still daydreaming…

Well, as my last post indicated, Amy and I went on a trip to Alaska a couple of weeks ago. We had a fantastic time, and the weather could not have been better! We are back (have been for a week now) and are getting caught up on the normal stuff of life. I, however, am still dreaming of Alaska...

Here is an album of our pictures. I have not titled them or put any comments down just yet, but hopefully they will be self-explanatory. I am saving a few to highlight later on (don't worry, none of the really good ones) for various purposes in this space, but most of the picutres worth seeing are included in the album. Enjoy!

Victory at last!

I am pleased to announce that logic has prevailed, and we will NOT be flying in a redundant circle in Alaska!

On a final note on this topic, I put this list together last night when again banging my head against the phone dealing with American and Alaska Airlines...

You know you have spent too much time on the phone with the airline when:
(see previous two entries for back story...)

• You call American Airlines and mention your record locator to the phone rep and they immediately know who you are.


• Each new rep that answers the phone takes 5 minutes to read the history of your case before being able to answer your questions.


• Every single person at American Airlines sides with you, but Alaska Airlines just keeps telling you there's no other way to get you to Seattle.


• You are gathering supplies to put together a sandwich board sign so that everyone in the airport will know just how ridiculous the situation is.


• The thought of your vacation in Alaska raises your blood pressure and pulse to dangerous levels.

The Death of Common Sense

For those who read my post yesterday about our trip to Alaska, here's an update: Alaska Airlines refuses to change our reservation, and insists on making us fly in a 4 hour circle from Sitka to Juneau to Sitka before making any progress towards home. And they call it "protection" against schedule changes...

Planes, planes, and … more planes

This made my head explode, and I thought I would share it and see if others have similar stories...

Amy and I are going to Alaska soon, partly for a medical conference she is going to attend, and totally for a much-anticipated vacation. We managed to use frequent flyer miles with a major carrier to fly up, but of course they don't fly to the small town where we are staying, so they are using a partnering airline to get us from Seattle to Sitka. Given that this is the peak season, we were disappointed but not terribly surprised that the flights on which there were still frequent-flyer seats available were not at the friendliest times. For example, we will get to Seattle just shy of midnight. We then leave Seattle two days later (by choice) on a 7am flight (not by choice). Not ideal, but oh well. Those are the breaks.

Our return flight was even worse, leaving Sitka at 6:00am to fly to Juneau. From Juneau, we would wait several hours and catch a flight to Seattle. From Seattle (again, several hours later) we were to catch a flight back home, arriving after 10pm local time. The plan was definitely less than ideal, but what can you do when you have to make 2 connections with layovers? They don't exactly offer non-stop service from DFW to Sitka. For that matter, they don't really offer non-stop service from Sitka to anywhere, including Sitka.

You think I'm joking...

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Our second 5k!

Hard to believe, but it was a year ago that Amy ran her first 5k race. I was ill and not able to run with her, but this year I did! Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures to show for it, because we were both running and had no place to safely keep our camera. Amy finished in about(*) 32 minutes, evidence that she slowed down to run with me for the first half of the race. I, on the other hand, finished in about(*) 42 minutes, having to walk parts of the last half of the race to spare my knees and legs that are not used to running. Amy tells me that's not too bad, given that I've only run 4 times in the last year, and all of them have been in the last 2 weeks in preparation for this race. I think I'll stick to swimming and let my knees recuperate...

* - exact times were measured with chips we strapped to our shoes, but we have not gotten the results yet.