Wednesday, January 14, 2009

My Morning in Anchorage

So, remember that fluffy snow I JUST wrote about? It is now a sheet of ice. Last night, I could literally BLOW the snow off my car. This morning, all parking lots and roads were slippery-- as in Kodiak, OMG I forgot my yaktrax slippery. My usual ten minute drive from my hotel took almost thirty.

Locals were polite and careful. We took our time, kept our distance, and stopped to help others. At one busy intersection, I witnessed a truck spin so quickly that the chains on his back tires flew off and hit another car in oncoming traffic. Both stopped, precariously picked their way over the ice, greeted each other with handshakes and shook their heads. Other cars stopped as the man made his way to the intersection to collect his chains and return to his car. No honking, no screaming, no drama.

I listened to the radio weather report: continued ice/sleet and 105 mph winds this evening. Oh joy. My flight is scheduled to take off at 1815. Any bets on if and when I get home to Kodiak?

In December, I was stranded in Anchorage for 14 hours. Some fellow passengers had been there for two days or more, so one took it upon himself to book a flight to Homer. There, he took a taxi to the ferry terminal and took the 13 hour ferry ride to Kodiak. We all laughed at him, "Oh, he'll never beat us home." Well, the son-a-gun docked at the ferry terminal 45 minutes before my flight landed that evening. He had rough seas on the way over, but he was warm, comfortable, had movies and a bar to entertain him during the day.

Perhaps I should check the ferry schedule...nevermind, the next sailing from Homer to Kodiak is Saturday.

1 comment:

Flo said...

It's so good to hear about people helping each other through the tough weather. I can't even imagine what that wind will look and feel like, but I hope that your flight home will be safe and soon. Congratulations on driving so well through the scary roads!