Juneau the Hard Way

Woke-up at the Coast Gateway Hotel at Sea-Tac yesterday and immediately went online to check the Juneau weather.  Roh Roh.  High wind warning.  Winds at the airport gusting to near 50 mph.  On Sheep Mountain gusts to almost 80 mph.  Not auspicious for my scheduled departure three hours later.  Still, the forecast called for diminishing winds before my scheduled arrival...

Got packed-up, turned-in the rental car and off to the airport.  Checked-in...no hint of delay or weather problems.  It took quite awhile to wind my way through security.  The process was punctuated by a TSA goon slamming a big stack of empty trays on my thumb just as I was reaching for a tray in which to place my computer.  Ouch!  I am going to have one black-and-blue digit for a awhile.  The goon apologized profusely.  I pondered making a scene and filing a complaint/claim; but the prospect of missing my flight and spending six hours or so filling out federal paperwork deterred me.  And god knows what kind of list you go on if you formally complain about TSA...

So it was with some trepidation and a throbbing thumb that I approached gate C-16 to board my Juneau flight.  Figured the odds were good we would spend an hour or two hanging-out waiting for the winds to die down.  Nope.  No suspense at all.  Just a smiling agent at the gate to inform me that the flight had been canceled due to high winds and I should hustle my buns down to the Alaska Airlines Service Center to be serviced.

The stroll gave me time to ponder what I should do...hang-out at Sea-Tac and try to get on the 3PM milk-run via Ketchikan and Sitka?  Go into town for the day and come back for the evening direct flight?  Would I have to collect my checked-bags including the bloody golf clubs?

One of the advantages to having a smart phone (a device I do NOT possess)  is that in situations such as this one can leap online and change one's reservations before the huddled masses can be serviced one-by-one by an agent.  I suspect half of my fellow would-be flight mates exercised this option.  And most of those who had not were ahead of me in line at the Customer Service Center.  An hour or so later when I am finally serviced by an agent the options for getting home on Friday had dwindled to exactly one:  Take a flight from Seattle to Anchorage and then the Cordova-Yakutat,-Juneau milk run.  And of course if I elected to remain in Seattle for another day - it would be on my own dime.

Alrighty then!  I took the offered deal which did not, by the way, include any guarantee that I would be seeing my checked-baggage anytime soon.  My bags, not requiring a seat, would most likely travel to Juneau directly from Seattle on the next available flight.  What were the odds of both me and my bags arriving in Juneau before the day was out?  Not high, I thought; but what the hell, it's an adventure.

The flight to Anchorage was quite pleasant even though I was in a middle seat.  I got engrossed in a book I had purchased a few days earlier "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson.  Best novel I've read in some time...

Got off the plane in Anchorage just in time to hear the "boarding all rows" announcement for my flight to Juneau.  Flight 66 operated as a combi yesterday - the first time I have flown on Alaska's new 737-400 passenger/freight aircraft.  Departed on time and off to Cordova where the sun was shining brightly.  A bumpy approach into Yakutat; but still on time.  Dropped into Juneau a few minutes early.  And miracle of miracles...my checked-bags joined me only a half-hour later on the flight from Seattle.  A long day but all's well that ends well.

My bed felt real comfy last night.  And I am resolved to take a break from super rich food and wine binging - at least until the official kick-off of the holidays at Thanksgiving.  Is it possible to have a food hangover?  I think maybe so...

But it was one mighty fine vacation!