Our last day in Alaska, and nothing planned. Kelly wanted to go for a bike ride along the Cook Inlet foreshore trail, and I thought I might go for a walk along there too. But first I'd pack up and be all set to depart. Our plane didn't leave until about 1:15PM, so there was no particular rush.
As I was packing, I discovered the plane left at 11:25AM! Yikes, that's 90 minutes from now! I had previously asked at the front desk about when to depart for the airport, and the general consensus was that one hour would be plenty of time. We had 90 minutes, I needed to find Kelly, check out and return the rental car.
Fortunately, Kelly had decided to go for a run, not a ride. And was actually just getting out of the shower when I banged on her door! A rush packing job, and speedy hotel checkout and we were on our way. Fortunately the rental car return lot is just outside the terminal with Alaska Airlines in it, and the paperwork was completed quickly. And Alaska Airlines "Instant Ticket Machines" are just wonderful when you're in a rush, as we were.
Fortunately, we were in time. We even had about a 10 minute wait in the terminal before boarding started!
Anchorage Airport has a delightful view out the window.
Many Alaska Airlines pilots take pleasure in describing the scenery along the way. And fortunately Kelly and I were on the side of the plane with the great scenery - glaciers! Alas, neither of us had a window seat.
The Barry Glacier, emptying into Port Wells, a part of Prince William Sound, made famous as the place where the Exxon Valdez emptied some of its crude oil.
The Columbia Glacier, which also extends to Prince William Sound.
I believe this is the Copper River Delta. The Copper River is famous for its salmon - there's quite a competition in Seattle each year to be the first place to have fresh Copper River Salmon on the menu - usually flown in!
After this, we flew over cloud most of the way to Vancouver, BC, which appeared out the left hand side windows. We were a little late getting into Seattle as there were very strong headwinds (tailwinds expected on this route) and the plane was full. Seattle was sunny when we arrived, and we had a pleasant journey back home on the shuttle, finding yet more new streets along the way.
Our Alaska experience was over. We had a grand time, greatly exceeding my expectations. I took five paperback books to read. I finished one over the entire period! And I'd do it again any day!
Day 10: Anchorage Foreshore
Alaskan Tour