Let me start this series of posts with a bit of background information. We booked the trip with our long-time friends and travel companions, Cathy and Steve. Natural Habitat Adventures, often called Nat Hab, called it the Ultimate Alaska Wildlife Safari. Alaska had long been on Cathy’s travel bucket list, so we went all out on it by booking the 13-day trip and booked it a year before the trip. I thought it sounded cool (both temperature-wise and experientially). I’m always up for a trip. Unfortunately, Steve couldn’t make it due to some of his own health issues and his 92-year-old Mother’s care needs. He gifted his trip to his daughter, Karen. Lucky woman. My parents never gave me a trip to Alaska.

THE TRIP BEGINS

We got up at 3 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight. Both of us just popped out of bed when the alarm went off. This was our first big trip since the Covid pandemic lockdown and we were ready to go despite the early hour. The evening before, we’d taken Sadi, our long-haired dachshund to Sara’s, the dog sitter, and said our goodbyes to her sweet doggie face. She was more interested in playing with Sara’s dog, Baron than seeing us off. When we travel, it is always kind of lonely the night before we leave because she’s at the pet sitter’s house.

Despite missing the dog, we had the 22-inch bags packed and already in the back of the car. We pack light, so we don’t have to wait for the luggage to be unloaded from the plane. Not to mention not paying the extortionist charge the airlines have added to checked bags. Yes, we do cheap out on some things. All we had to do was get dressed (which we’d set out the night before), comb our hair, and brush our teeth. We had spent weeks compiling the equipment that Nat Hab had told us we’d need for this trip: Hi-top hiking boots, rain jacket and pants, fleece jackets, scarves, warm hats, and let’s not forget the hiking poles John bought me for Christmas in anticipation of this trip. They collapsed neatly and fit in the 22” bag diagonally.

Finally, we packed up the carry-on bags with our toiletries, noise-canceling headphones, and phone chargers. John brought his iPad for early morning news reading and I decided to leave the laptop at home. I didn’t think I’d have time to write anyway. The term “carry-on bags” was a misnomer, since we carry on the 22-inch bags, too. Let’s call them the smaller bags, then. We put the smaller bags in the car with the bigger bags. I’d bought a smaller travel purse when we went to Italy and I’d switched to that the day before as well. Were we ready? Check. Bags packed and in the car? Check. Let’s go!

We got out of the house at 3:30 as planned. Another check on our travel checklist. John drove through the dark streets. As we sat at the light at Pathfinder and Great Hills Trail and no traffic, John threatened to run the light. It changed in time to save us from being scofflaws. There was a slight bit of traffic on 183 to the Austin airport at that time of the morning. Where were those people going at 3 o’clock in the morning?

The last two times we’d been to the airport John had missed the exit. This time he was determined to get it right. We had the map app on in our hometown to get to the airport! The exit had changed places and was visually different since the freeway had been built up and made into a toll road. It is a left exit which is unusual AND the second left. How confusing is that? I understood why he’d not recognized it, but it was an affront to his male ego to not be able to navigate to the airport. We made it, but not without some consternation and last-minute decision-making. Whew! I was so glad we made it. Having to turn around to get back on track due to a missed exit is too much excitement on a travel day and that early in the morning.

WHERE’S THAT EMAIL CONFIRMATION?

I had made the parking reservation at an off-airport parking organization a few weeks earlier, so the reservation email was on my phone. I was very careful to keep it in my inbox for weeks, I wanted it there when I needed it. As we drove up to the entry kiosk, I got my phone out of my purse, pulled up the email from them, and handed it to John. Somehow, in the passing of the phone one of us hit something on the screen and the email disappeared. I could not find it anywhere. It was gone. How does that happen? Oh, for the love of all that is holy, I thought. Seriously? We aren’t going to be able to park because an email disappeared? That can’t be right.

The person in the booth said we had to have the email. I kept frantically searching the phone and she finally asked for our name. Evidently, we didn’t have to have the email. She found our reservation, then directed us to an aisle, and we parked right behind the shuttle that would take us to the airport. We could breathe now. I never did find that email. Of course, I didn’t look too hard for it since I didn’t need it anymore.

I always have a little knot of anxiety in my stomach until we get through security. Made it by 4:30 a.m. No problems. There were a few people in front of us in the TSA line, but not many. I still say the $85 we spent to get TSA precheck was money well worth spending. For some reason, a TSA agent pulled John aside for extra searching. He didn’t even have a belt on. I gathered our luggage while he was patted down. I thought it was interesting how the TSA employee used the backs of his hands on John’s legs. I assume they do that to cut down on people claiming they’ve been groped. I was glad that there were no weapons on John and we were allowed to go on.

NEXT BEVERAGES AND BREAKFAST

Walking along the concourse at ABIA at that time of the morning, there was very little open to get our morning beverage or meal. Eventually, we found one shop that was open with a pretty long line, because… it was the only place open. But we had an hour before anything was happening with our flight, so coffee and breakfast were in order. John got in line while I stood out of the way with the luggage. I’d asked him to get me some hot water for tea since I bring my own tea bags. You can’t count on coffee shops to have the kind of tea you like. When he got to the front of the line, I noticed they had muffins next to the cash register. I sent him a telepathic message to get a muffin, too. Either he heard me or he knows I like blueberry muffins when we are at an airport. I internally cheered (Yay!) when he picked up a muffin and put it on the counter.

Our gate wasn’t too far from the coffee shop and we found somewhere to sit near our gate. I enjoyed my muffin and shared it with John. Soon, it was time to board the plane. We had no trouble boarding and finding overhead bins above where we were sitting. That’s another of John’s concerns when we fly. Will he find an overhead bin? Will it be close to where we are sitting? Usually, the answer is yes.

BOARDED

I had the best flight to Seattle. The young man sitting next to me was not an armrest hog and slept most of the flight with his head against the bulkhead. I totally appreciate the new-ish seats airlines have put in with individual entertainment centers. Yes! I can watch what I want to watch, so I chose two movies that I totally enjoyed. The first one was called Moonfall with Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson. It was a fun sci-fi romp. From what I read about it when I got home, it was considered a flop, but I enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure some of the things they did were scientifically impossible (the hollow moon being a spaceship definitely isn’t considered current science), but whatever. Suspend disbelief! One line made me laugh out loud. One of the characters said “Ludicrous speed!” I recognized the line from the 1987 movie Space Balls. Too cute! The second movie I watched was called Marry Me with Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. She looked amazing and he looked like he’d had some plastic surgery done that wasn’t a very good job. Ha!

Next stop: Seattle.