The end of October I was attempting to leave Alaska for a several week trip. The complicated factor was that I was flying standby, courtesy of my airport job. But flying standby can be frustrating, to say the least. I flew down to Anchorage with no issues, but that night I waited at the gate to see if I would make the flight to Denver to start my adventure..... but alas, I was the next person on the list and no more seats were available. sigh. Well, my adventure did begin, just not the one I was hoping for. I never leave home now without a blanket.... cause when you sleep in the airport terminal, it comes in handy. I don't understand why some airports keep it so chilly.... that and I don't understand why their announcements are played so loudly! there are no flights from 2-6am, but still the announcements jolt you from sleep every hour or so... therefore, a restless night.
The next day I had hours to kill until the next flight left and I had no desire to stick around Anchorage. So for $20 I rented a car and set off. First stopped for a yummy breakfast and coffee and then drove south. I have never been to Kenai before, so figured that was a good time. It was a clear, sunny, winter day. Which meant the sun was shining and reflecting off the freshly snow capped mountains. Spectacular! It was a bit chilly outside, but in my warm car, I could enjoy the beauty from warmth and safety.
All I did was drive to Kenai, ate lunch and drove on some side roads for a bit looking for a bluff I was told about. Never did find that bluff. Then drove back to Anchorage. Tho it was completely unplanned, it was a marvelous roadtrip.
To finish my standby saga.... made it back to Anchorage, once again waited at the gate for the flight I wanted to get on. This time, even one of the paying customers didn't get a seat, let alone us standby passengers. One lady I talked to, it was her 3rd night trying to make it out. :/ We laughed about sleeping in airports. She had a son to stay with, but she had done her fair share of spending nights in airports. I think I've slept 5 nights in an airport in the past two months.
Anyways, I slept at the airport, then caught an early flight back to Fairbanks. Came home and slept for real. Tried getting out of Fairbanks that night with no success.... but the next day, after three days of trying I made it on a flight!! I almost canceled my trip, but glad I stuck with it!!! Made it to the U.K. and met some pretty awesome people and even ran into some old friends I didn't know were there! More about that to come....
