The Trip of a Lifetime to Alaska – Land and Sea – Trip Report - COMLETE!! 4/13/12 - Page 8 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I agree- the day before a big trip is always crazy!! All those last minute things eat you alive. I also flew Continental/United- I was able to check in on Continentals site even though parts of the flights were through different carriers....
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Whew! All caught up! Honestly Marnie, you amaze me with all your research. We've talked about an Alaska trip but the planning seemed so daunting! Thank goodness I can now get all the info I need from your TR That's not the first time I've dipped into that bag of tricks!
Love the sarcasm! We have similar issues at our house with packing. Someone, (Jeffrey) always forgets underware, someone argues incessantly (Jeffrey) that I can't get all I need into xxx amount of bags, and someone (Jeffrey) always forgets either his glasses or spare contact lenses. If he wasn't (presumably) an adult, I'd just do the packing for him
I am so with you - the day before our trips always seems to be a nightmare, no matter how much preparation we do. Hopefully that's an end to any issues and it's all plain sailing from here on in....
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You're always so entertaining to read Marnie!!! I love your honesty when it comes to the reality of traveling with family. I do all the packing for my husband and I as he wants nothing to do with packing, so even though it's a lot of work for me, I am in control of what goes into the suitcases! The difficult part is when you're trying to repack the suitcases on the return trip. That really gets to me sometimes when you're trying to pack all the stuff you brought plus all the extra things you bought on a trip! Oh for the old days when you didn't have to worry about paying for your baggage. I'm sure it was all worth it though as it sounded like a wonderful trip!
Why oh Why are the days before vakay so trying??? I would have lost it if I ran out of gas while mowing and stormed off. You are a much better person than I! Hopefully all the stress made the start of vacation that much sweeter.
Day 1 – Travel Day and Anchorage – Saturday June 25th
The alarm is scheduled to go off at 3 (we have a 6 AM flight and are 45 minutes from the airport). I am restless at 2 AM, which means I’ve had a whopping 2.5 hours of sleep. Craptastic! Finally 3 AM rolls around and we’re out of bed, and heading out the door by 3:30 AM. The drive goes fine, since there’s really no one on the road at that time of morning, other than the deer that dashed across the road. A quick stop to the valet parking and a quick ride to the airport, and we’re in. There was a bit of a line to check the bags, and as luck would have it, the kiosk wouldn’t recognize my reservation and I had to wait for an agent. Of which there were 2 at that point working 7 machines. Not good odds. I finally get her attention, we get our luggage tags (apparently no ID required at United for that), and no mention of baggage fees again. I decide just to keep my mouth shut and not look a gift horse in the mouth! Plus, our seats are not together. We’re in twos, in the same row (window and middle) so I guess it could have been much worse. Off to security, which again wasn’t too bad, but who had the pleasure of a body scan plus a pat down? Ding ding ding. We have our winner. Me! Thankfully the pat down was hardly that, and I got scolded for having items in my pocket (the baggage confirmation tags)! Matt also got scanned, but no pat down. Thankfully they just walked the kids thru the normal scanner.
Breakfast was at McD’s (just apple wedges and grapes for me) and off to the gate. For some reason, it takes United 30 minutes to load the plane. These people could take a lesson or two from Southwest. Just as 6 AM is approaching and they are about to close the door, someone from the back starts screaming “get me off this plane”. Really? I was waiting for an air marshal to come flying on top of her! No such luck! Apparently, she was on the plane, but the rest of her family was not, and they would not let the rest of the family board. DRAMA! So she gets off, they try to see if they can get the rest of the family on, and before you know it, we’re pulling away without any of them! The story seemed to be that since the rest of the fam was so late checking in, they gave their seats away to standby, so now for a party of 6, there were only 3 free seats on the plane. Now really, was that extra 30 or 45 minutes sleep you got that morning worth it? You’ve just ruined the start of your vacation. Live and learn. Airlines are ruthless. They wait for no one!
The flight was uneventful. Matt of course slept the entire way. I was seated with Colin, who would not sleep, so we listed to the FAA/tower channel (which frankly was very informative – the geek I am)! Touchdown early at O’Hare even with the delay drama, and have a 2+ hour wait for the next flight. We park it at the gate, get some food, and wait. And wait. Met a very rude concession agent, but that’s a story for another day. Finally we get to board. Continental could stand to learn a few things about boarding from Southwest as well. Really, does it take over 30 minutes to load a plane? Apparently it does when you’re loading 2-3 rows at a time. Really. So frustrating. Finally onboard, and Colin’s booster seat doesn’t fit under the seat. Apparently Continental seats are about 4 inches thinner than everyone else. I could feel it, and I’m tiny. The poor guy diagonally from me was about 6 foot 5 inches, and looked like a marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers and seeping out the sides. And for a 6 hour flight no less! But jackpot, there are personal TVs on this one, and that credit card pulled itself right out of my wallet and swiped across two screens. Best money ever spent! And best long flight ever with the kids! We all napped a couple of hours (so much for my best money ever spent) but we survived. And arrived early.
The Anchorage airport is BEAUTIFUL! Looks brand spankin’ new! Lots of nature sculptures everywhere, of which I have no photos! Baggage came off relatively early, we hitched a ride on the shuttle to the hotel, and we’re soon checking into our room.
First plan of action, food. It may be lunch time here, but it’s dinner time for us! We hitched a ride on the FREE Ulu Factory trolley right next door to the hotel, and drove up to the visitor center.
Lunch was at Phyllis’ Café as Matt wanted crab legs (he decided on snow). Alexa quickly scoffed down her salmon and then some crab legs. I went for the burger and Colin went for the chicken tenders. Tummies full, we walked around town a bit, stopped briefly at the Farmer’s Market (which I guess is really a flea market) and walked back down to the hotel.
It was time for some fishin’. Since the hotel is right on Ship Creek, it’s just a quick walk out the back door. The creek was full of people. We caught nothing. We saw a fisherman catch a couple salmon on his line, but they always ended up coming off! And the fisherman were really rude to each other, moseying in on each other’s area or just taking it over completely! Enough of that fun. I guess that’s what they call combat fishing!
The kids wanted to go swimming, so that was next, followed by showers. Matt has been out since about 7 if not before. Alexa made it to 8:45 and Colin is about to go down at 9. The skies are starting to clear (it’s been cool and cloudy here all day although no rain) and we can now see the mountains in the distance. Hopefully tomorrow’s forecast for sun will hold!
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. I also flew Continental/United- I was able to check in on Continentals site even though parts of the flights were through different carriers.... 
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That's not the first time I've dipped into that bag of tricks! 
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Deb
I'm sure it was all worth it though as it sounded like a wonderful trip!
2 and a half weeks!!!, I'm ready to read all about it!
Baggage came off relatively early, we hitched a ride on the shuttle to the hotel, and we’re soon checking into our room. 
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