ALASKA!

Hey all! So Dad and I headed out to Alaska and it was an adventure! We left at around 8ish and it was a solid 5 hour and 15 min. flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage. The flight wasn't bad at all. Dad smoozed the airline and got an exit row seat so he could have leg room. Happiness ensued. Dad and I napped and read.

Once we landed we had a few issues finding a rental car. Dad wasn't quite sure if he rented a car or not so we went around to a bunch of the car rental places to see if we had a reservation or not.....slightly awkward. In the end we didn't so we had to get a cab. All the while we were dragging all our luggage around, which proved to be quite ridiculous and uncomfortable. We were sweating by the end of it. Finally we got to the hotel and took a few minutes to collect ourselves.
We went on walk about and took in downtown Anchorage. We made our way to JCPennys and took care of some things. Eventually we ended up in "Humpys" ......which is a nick name for the pink salmon.....sickos.....Anywho it was a funky bar/restaurant and dad and I enjoyed some nachoes and halibut. Good times. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted! Dad fell asleep by 7:30 (10:30 ND time) I managed to stay up until 9:30...trying to acclimate.....and listened to Dad's snoring.

Day 2 involved getting a rental car and driving around Anchorage. Along the way we found a Wendys and Appleebees! Great town by our measure :P Dad and I got me set up at Sam's club and payed a butt ton of money to ship my food and all out to Kong. After that we stopped at Best Buy and dad harrassed them for a bit....cause he can....at one point the guy brought up google earth to help dad find a store.... :D Then we hit a sports apparel store. By the end of all that dad and I were very hungry. We finally found an A & W and enjoyed our lunch! We eventually went to a battery store to pick some things up for dad. We went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. Later that night Dad and I decided to go to the movies and when we got there we had missed "Transformers" so we decided on "The Ugly Truth" Hilarious! Especially since I went with my dad!

Day 3 involved a road trip! Dad and I drove down to Seward to just experience the drive. It's gorgeous! We saw mountains, the ocean, glaciers....it was just incredible! When we got into town we putzed around, shopped a bit, and took in the sights. We saw some pictures of HUGE hallibut! HUGE I tell you! Then we grabbed some sandwiches and went back to Anchorage. It was about a 2 hour drive, so a fun travel day! After that we just packed and took it easy....we had to get up at 4am the next morning to head to Kong.

Day 4 Dad and I traveled to Kong. The airport was ridiculous and dad and I almost didn't get our coffee! That would have been bad for everyone! Once we got to Bethel.....we hit more chaos. It was a mad rush to get to the shuttle to take us to the other hanger for our flight to Kong. Once there it was getting into line.....waiting.....make reservations for the 5th time....waiting again. The flight to Kong was awesome! Small plane! It sat 4 all together (pilot included) It was loud but the view was too cool. The tundra is truely beautiful! Dad and I snapped some pics and tried to talk over the loud plane. Once we landed we met up with my principle. NICE GUY! He totally saved our lives. None of my food, clothing, etc have arrived yet. Yeah....none of it. So I had nothing....at all. My principle gave us some food, toilet paper, etc. Life saver! Dad and I unpacked what was there and got my house in order. Then we went over to the school to just take that in. Afterwards we watched movies and ate PB's...it was awesome!

Day 5 dad was supposed to leave at 11:30 but no one showed up. We wound up hanging out in the office for a couple of hours trying to find Dad another flight and figuring out if he'll make his flight back home tomorrow. It was pretty tense for a bit but he finally got out later in the day. It's been raining most of the day so he almost had to stay another night.

It's been an adventure so far and I'm leaving for Bethel for the training tomorrow....I have a feeling more good times are around the corner! :D