Minneapolis to Anchorage

Minneapolis to Seattle to Anchorage

The plane in Mpls had to balance the fuel and then the fueling nozzle was stuck, so we left 1.5 hours late.. Before we took off, I e-mailed Julie at R & R Travel, and when we landed in Seattle, she had sent our confirmation for an 11:30 Alaska Airlines flight to Anchorage., which gave us time to get our luggage and make our 3:40 to Fairbanks.

She is SO getting a present from Alaska!

Because we booked our flights at two separate times, first Delta Airlines to Alaska and second within Alaska, we had to claim our luggage in Anchorage. We weren’t sure with missing the original flight out of Seattle and leaving an hour or so later that our luggage would make it. Carl stayed with our carryon bags at the gate for our flight to Fairbanks, and I went to the baggage claim area to get our luggage. I waited quite a while for mine to come down the chute, but I didn’t see Carl’s on either of the 2 carousels being used. Then I noticed a baggage clerk scanning bar codes on bags and pulling them off the carousel. That’s where I finally found his bag. Then I had to go back to the ticket counter, check the bags to Fairbanks, re-enter security, and literally RUN back to the gate. I had 45 minutes in which to accomplish all of this and made it back just in time to walk onto the plane since they’d already started boarding.

The man next to me was from Anchorage, and as we came into the airport, he pointed out Mt. McKinley (called Denali by the locals) which was 185 miles away. Then on the flight to Fairbanks, we were on the left side of the plane and I got some great pictures of Denali. Once again, as in 2009 when we visited Alaska, we were fortunate enough to see both the north and south peaks! Only 30 percent of visitors to Denali National Park see Denali, and only 10 percent see both peaks!

The planes are getting smaller. The Boeing 757 from Mpls. to Seattle held 219 passengers. The 737 from Anchorage to Fairbanks held 144 passengers, as will the flight to Barrow and back. However, the Beechcraft 1900 has 19 seats for the flight to Wainwright. If there aren’t a lot of passengers, they’ll use the front half of the plane for cargo. Yes, this is an adventure!