Kodiak, Alaska-Martin Day 1
Kodiak, Alaska-Martin
Day 01 - Friday - May 28, 2010 - Alaska Airlines Flight – Denver to Seattle to Anchorage to Kodiak, Alaska
The first early morning light was just peeking over the Black Forest when we left the house at 4:45 am. It was a beautiful Denver Bronco morning with the sky orange and blue. It always amazes us how many people are up and about at this time of day.
The Pikes Peak Parking area was full as it was Memorial Day Weekend. We had to use the Mt. Elbert lot which seems like it is almost to Kansas. The shuttle buses were there quickly and we arrived at the check-in counter at 6:00.
Gennie had printed our boarding passes yesterday but we had to stand in line to get our luggage tags and check our bags all the way into Kodiak, Alaska.
We boarded our Alaska Airlines flight at 7:45 and departed on time at 8:10. The first leg of our journey took us to Seattle in a bit over two hours.
It was a full flight, but we slept a bit and the time went fast. Compared to the long flights to and from Eastern Europe, it was a breeze!
The layover time was short and we walked to our departure gate which was right next to our arrival gate – very handy for a tight connection.
The arrival of the flight to Anchorage was a bit late and our 11:00 flight did not take off until 11:15, but the flight crew made up the time with good tail winds.
We landed in Anchorage at 1:30, Alaska Time. We had time to share a sandwich at Quizno’s and look around a bit at the Eduardo Stevens International Airport. The views from the floor to ceiling and wall to wall windows were spectacular!
With just one more flight, we got back on a plane which took us to Kodiak in just under an hour. The plane was packed and there were more than a few grumbling passengers.
Evidently, the Kodiak Airport had been fogged in forcing the evening flight yesterday and the morning flight today to be canceled. Needless to say, we had lucked out and our flight was on time with no delays!
When we got into the tiny terminal, we saw that the baggage claim area was in the same space as the departure gate. There were hundreds of people who had been stuck in Kodiak waiting for those two planes that had not arrived and fighting for space on ours!
Getting the luggage was another unique opportunity. Instead of a conveyor belt, the luggage trucks pulled up to the side of the building, the large doors opened, and the baggage haulers put the bags on a ledge.
I helped unload bags as ours were the last to be unloaded. Gennie asked a woman at the Avis counter how to contact the Best Western Shuttle and she looked up the number and let Gennie borrow her office phone. What a kind gesture!
While we waited for the van, we talked about how friendly the people have been on our first day in Alaska. Everyone seems genuinely kind and very helpful to us from the Lower 48…
We shared the five mile van ride with another family and arrived at the Best Western at 5:00 to find our friend Kathy Martin waiting for us.
It did not take us long to check in but this is the weekend of the Kodiak Crab Festival so the town was busier than usual. We found our room, set up the computers, and made sure we could connect to the internet.
At 6:00 we walked down to the Harbor and found the Capella III in Slip B14. We talked to a few fishermen along the way who were baiting the hooks on huge nets for an early morning trip out to sea. Again they were very accommodating, answering questions from curious tourists!
I took a weather reading, it was 50 º and the humidity was 85%. We found the Martin’s 45 foot sail boat and were granted permission to come aboard. We met Vic’s sister Pat and her husband Donny who have been with them for the past two weeks.
After a short Happy Hour on the boat, we walked to Henry’s Great Alaskan Restaurant where we had a super dinner of salad, clam chowder, and Halibut with sweet potato fries.
We left our friends at 8:30, they walked back to the Capella III and we walked to the Best Western in a light rain. We took time to sort through the few photos of the day and to type up the journal.
Accommodations: Best Western Kodiak Inn
Comments
Rainy Seattle
SeaTac Terminal
Ted Stevens Anchorage
Kodiak Terminal
St. Paul Harbor, Kodiak
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