Day Thirteen

Was rudely awoken by Ann telling me it was ten to four. No other instructions were given. Got up. We were in the lobby by 4.45am. We weren't the first. Still managed to get on the first shuttle to the airport at 5am. 

Checked our luggage and then headed for security. Long queue. Eventually got to the front of it. Went through the body scanner. Was asked to stop because I had 'a discrepancy in the groin and buttock area'. That is the direct quote the security guard gave me. He told me he was going to do a search and asked me if I wanted to be searched there or in a room. I said there. No discrepancy was found. Whilst the search was going on I looked at the screen. It just showed a red square in said area. I presume it was the button fly on my shorts. 

Having been touched up by a stranger, we got our stuff and made our way to the gate. Thought we would get breakfast at the Starbucks there before we boarded. Turns out it was the slowest Starbucks ever. By the time we got our order it was time to board. Got on. Flew. Arrived in San Francisco having completed the sixth of seven flights this trip. Last time we were here was 2010. Thirteen years since our first trip! Doesn't seem like more than five since we were on Alcatraz. Absolutely ridiculous. 

Deplaned. Went to baggage claim. My suitcase arrived first. Wasn't sure what was happening or how to react to this. Thought that Ann's one might jump out just before mine reached us on the conveyor but it didn't.

Next we needed to pick up the hire car. Now I've realised that airport car hire plays on the fact you are trapped and, whether you pre book or not, you have no choice but to choose from the selection they have. When I was booking the car a month or two ago, I realised that if we collected from there we could either get a smaller SUV or a premium one at a large cost. Presumably you can't get a plain full size one so that people have to take the expensive one instead. What I did find was that at another Enterprise about seven or eight minutes from the airport you could get one, so I booked it from there instead.

This, however, left us a conundrum. How do we get to the pick up? We couldn't walk so we would have to get an Uber. Ann checked the App and the cost was going to be about $40. Far too much. So I had hatched a plan. There was a Hyatt Regency a couple of mins walk away from the pick up and there was a free shuttle bus to the hotel for those staying (which we weren't). We went to the bus pick up and waited. Got on. Got dropped at the hotel. Got off with our suitcases. Waited for the bus to depart and then walked to the Enterprise office down the road. What a cheeky little move. Ann said it made her feel nervous. I suggested we reverse the trick when we drop the car back. She says no. We'll find out hat happens in a later blog. Picked up the car. Black Chevy Tahoe, a car we have had before on previous trips.

The Beast

Filled up with fuel at the nearby garage and then set the satnav for our hotel about an hour and twenty minutes north. The progress was slow as it was Friday night rush hour. Lots of traffic and lots of traffic lights as we headed through the west side of San Fran. Eventually we ended up crossing quite a famous bridge.

Eerie

It was misty. Luckily it wasn't hit by an earthquake, tsunami, tornado or aliens as normally happens to it and we made it across.

Slowly we continued until we reached our destination cambriasonoma.com. It is very nice and has a price tag to match. Checked in and dumped our stuff. Headed out for dinner at mikesatthecrossroads.com. I had a Grilled Cheese a la Miguel. Ann had something. It was a a good place. Ann and I discussed writing a book about American road trips and all the tips we would put in it. One would be to follow the locals when it comes to picking places to eat. Mike's was full of locals and more and more kept coming in. We did well to get a table. It is the sort of place where there are never any other visitors other than us, which is just how we like it.

Nipped to Safeway to buy a 24 pack of water to put in the car. Headed back to the hotel. Ann couldn't remember if breakfast was included with our stay so asked at reception. It wasn't. Ann looked at the prices. Needless to say we'll head out somewhere to eat instead.

My book has been found in Hawaii. The lady who's apartment was going to post it and we were going to send her the money but the cost of posting it anywhere is more than the cost of the book. We've told her not to bother. She says she'll read it instead. I'm more devastated that my five euro note I use as a book mark is in it. Been my bookmark for seven years.

Now watching a double header of Pretty Woman and Big. They just don't make films like these anymore.

Ann is still awake. Another oddity in a day of them.

States visited - 4

Discrepancies on the groin and buttock area - 1

Times violated by a stranger- 1

Day Twelve

Up early yet again. Learnt our lesson from yesterday and got to IHOP earlier. Got in without having to wait. I had a waffle. Ann had something. Back to the room and packed everything. Although we were leaving the hotel/room, we weren't leaving Hawaii. Our flight tomorrow is at stupid o'clock so we are relocating to be near the airport. Carried everything down to the lobby and deposited Ann there with it.

I went out into the morning sun and walked to the same Enterprise we had used on Tuesday. Collected our car for the day. Drove out and then had to navigate back to the hotel in the one way system. Parked up and Ann brought all our stuff out. Loaded it in the car and then set course for our first stop. It took about fifteen minutes to arrive and then another twenty for us to circle three times trying to work out how to get to the onsite parking. Eventually we worked out how to get in and finally arrived at Iolani Palace

Crystal

We hadn't booked a tour as we weren't sure if we would find time to get there. I went and checked but they couldn't get us a tour until 1.30pm. It was 9.30am. They did say we could do the basement tour for $5 each. Bought tickets for that and went back to report to Ann. There was also a fifteen minute video we could watch so we did that too. Hawaii used to have a royal family. This was their palace. In 1893 it was overthrown with the help of the USA as they wanted to annex Hawaii, which they did five years later. The palace was then used as a government headquarters and then when that moved to a new building, the palace was restored. We got to see the basement which held an exhibition about the history as well as seeing some of the lower rooms.

Bought a magnet. Went back to the car. Next we decided to heed the advice of the Uber driver who picked us up from the airport on our arrival. He said there was this overlook which gave a great view of the city. We made our way up the side of the mountain via some hairpin bends and arrived at the Tantalus Lookout Point. Gave the car a quick photoshoot.

Wrangler

Then went to look at the scenery. He was right. It was a great view over Honolulu.

Diamond Head Crater

Panaroma

Look at the blueness!

The Roffe-Knightley Effect™ came into play again. It was empty when we got there and then a bus load arrived. Once we had spent time taking in the great view we set off for the next stop. We cut across the island heading through a tunnel under the mountains and ended up on the far side where we had been on Tuesday. Eventually ended up here: Kualoa Ranch 

With planning this whole trip we made one error. This place runs a massive variety of trips and experiences each day but it books up well in advance. We planned to go but by the time we decided on the tour we wanted to do it had sold out. It runs every 20 mins but every time slot had gone. When I tell you it was three weeks ago we tried to book it, it shows you how popular this place is. Nevertheless, despite our devastation we decided to go and just so we could say we had been there, not that that helps with the disappointment we both felt. With the fact it is unlikely we will ever make it back here our one chance to see the real Jurassic Park in all its glory had gone. The tour goes around some of the locations and sets from the film/s plus some other big movies that have been filmed here. You get to see the log from the 'Gallimimus are flocking this way' scene, the Indominus Rex Compound from the more recent version, King Kong's footprints. We went in the shop and bought a magnet. Took some photos of the scenery. Didn't help.

Large

Headed back south and stopped at Subway for lunch. Went to a supermarket and grabbed some snacks for the flight tomorrow. Saw an interesting brand of soap.

Bet it smells good!

Drove back to the airport and arrived at the Best Western Plaza. Parked up and unloaded the cases. Checked in, dumped the stuff and then drove back to drop off the car. The guy who took the keys seemed interested in the name Knightley, asking questions about it.

Walked back to the Ala Moana shopping centre. It is the largest open-air shopping mall in the world apparently. It seemed very much like a tourist trap, full of luxury retailers like Prada, Rolex, Armani, Chanel, Cartier, Tiffany, etc. Didn't seem like there were many locals shopping in there. Eventually got bored of wandering so we got an Uber back to the new hotel.

Went out to a different IHOP for dinner. Mainly because it is the closest place to eat to where we are and we could walk there. Had exactly what we had for breakfast again.

Came back to the hotel to organise our packing properly. Realised I have left my book in the other place. Don't really know how I managed it but I have. Another devastation for the day but not a lot we can do about it as we have to catch the airport shuttle at 5am to catch a 7am flight to San Francisco. Of course Ann is asleep! Why did you even have to ask!

States visited - 3

Books lost - 1

Dinosaurs seen - 0

Day Eleven

Got and went out for breakfast at about 8am. Our plan was to go to the IHOP which is joined to the hotel. Got down there and there was a big queue with a long wait time just to be seated. Went for a walk to try and fine somewhere else to eat. Everywhere was the same. Eventually gave up and came back to our room and ate whatever we had lying around.

We were planning to catch the bus to travel but decided it was a lot simpler to get an Uber. A good decision as we got to Pearl Harbour in seventeen minutes rather than an hour. We had to dramatically reduce what we had with us for the day as, for security reasons, you are not allowed any bags when you enter, so you were reduced to what could fit in your pockets. This meant we could just walk in when we got there. A bit odd as I'm pretty sure I could fit a gun in my pocket but no one checked.

We had purchased a pass that covered all the exhibits so set about seeing them all. First up we needed to take a shuttle bus to Ford Island. It is still a live military base so the bus is the only way to get on it. Got off at the first stop, the USS Missouri, a rather large battleship. Got onboard and had the guided tour, which wasn't really a tour. The guide called Ford basically told us about the ship and we moved to just three places. We had to guide ourselves around the actual ship. 

The ship was not at Pearl Harbour when it was attacked because it wasn't commissioned until 1944. It played a part at Iwo Jima and most famously was where Japan officially surrendered in 1945 bringing an end to WWII. That is, of course, unless you count it being the star of the Cher 'Turn back time' video or where Steven Seagal was Under Siege in the movie.

Ship

Guns

Where is Cher?

The exact spot of surrender

80s computers

Eventually we had seen everything so we caught the shuttle bus to the next stop, The Pearl Harbour Aviation Museum. Immediately we went to the café and got lunch as we were starving. We then went around the museum. It mainly focussed on the attack on the base and the air response, plus about the USAF bases on the islands. There were some other bits of info and some modern planes too. 

Style of Japanese aircraft that carried out the attack

Where they flew

This civilian plane was out flying when the planes appeared

Tower

F15

Ann wanted us to stop by the Bob Hope exhibit. Not sure why. The final part was outside and it was hot, so we soon decided we had had enough. Caught the shuttle back to the mainland.

Next up was the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum and the USS Bowfin, a WWII submarine. Went on the sub first.

Sub

Deck

Twat with a gun

Torpedo tubes

Decided that I would have struggled as a submariner.

Tight fit

Next was the the sub museum. It had a lot of info. We were starting to flag by now.

When we finished we moved onto our final thing which was an audio tour of the Visitor centre which had a few different exhibitions about the attack and its impact on the island. Of course this was narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Memorial to all those killed that day

The only thing we didn't get to do was visit the USS Arizona memorial. This was a free trip by boat but needs to pre booked really early on which we hadn't done. The memorial sits over the ship where it has laid since being sunk during the attack. 1107 crew lost their lives when it was destroyed, 900 of which are still on the ship below the water. A lot of the survivors have since had their remains interred with their shipmates. 

USS Arizona memorial

Having completed everything in about seven and a half hours, 'museum back' was setting in so we decided to head back. Got an Uber. Our driver was great. She gave us a tour as she drove. We discussed Hawaii as it is now and how the cost of everything has soared and that lots of Islanders have left for the west coast of the mainland. She is the only member of her family left. Also her grandparents/parents lived in the hills during WWII and watched the attack happen. They thought the planes were US ones until the explosions happened. Disappointingly we eventually got back to the hotel so had to finish the tour.

Recovered in the room for a while before we headed for Waikiki beach. Swam in the Pacific whilst the sun was setting. It was unbelievably warm.

After heading back and getting changed, we then went out for dinner at tropicswaikiki.com There was a quiz going on. Seemed to be the world's slowest quiz. One question then a song. Most of the things in it we had never heard of. I had a Cheesy Pie. Ann had something. I recklessly ordered a Mai Tai cocktail. Ann asked me why I had done so. My answer was simply that we are very unlikely to ever be back here and therefore we needed to be able to say we had a cocktail whilst we were in a tropical paradise. 

My Tie

We trudged back to the hotel weary from a long day. Ann has fallen asleep a long time ago.

States visited - 3

Day Ten

Woke up in the night fairly cold as the aircon has a fan setting of on or off. Nothing in between. We got up at around 7am and were out the room by 8am. Walked around the corner to the Enterprise which is a couple of minutes away to collect our car. The guy behind the desk was amused by our address. He said it must be pretty old if the road is just called 'The Street'. Told him it is because there is only one street.

Got the lift up to the car park to collect the car. I had booked a Mustang. What we got was a convertible Mustang. I was very pleased. It was quite busy so we just had to get in and get out the way which didn't really help as we needed to work out what we were going to do. As we started to navigate the mean streets of Waikiki, I told Ann that late last night I had looked at places for breakfast and there was one which seemed ok. Tried to remember the name so she could put it in the satnav and we could actually go somewhere. Eventually remembered it was called jacksrestauranthonolulu.com

Put it in the satnav and drove there. Ordered breakfast. I had pancakes. Ann had something. It was ok. Whilst we ate we discussed our plan for the day. We decided to follow the main road anticlockwise around the island, following the coast where we could. The car had to be back by 5pm so we thought we would be able to make it with a few stops.

Headed out of the restaurant and made for a couple of lookout points off the Kalaniana'ole Highway. Pulled off the road and had a look. Apparently so did everybody else who was on holiday.

Igneous rock meets the sea

A bit further down the road we we stopped at Sandy Beach. A rather apt name. It was a beach and it was sandy. Had a paddle. 

The water was very warm. I mentioned I had my swimming stuff in my rucksack. Ann seemed surprised because she didn't have hers. I pointed out that I had put it in as I had seen her get her swim stuff out as she was packing her bag so I presumed that I needed to take mine. Turns out I was correct it was just that she forgot to put hers in her bag. At that point I knew I wouldn't be needing mine either.

Decided that we should put the roof down on the car, put some tunes on and do some bazzing.

Headed around the eastern tip of the island, past Tent City and then inland for a bit. Traffic was quite heavy and there were a lot of roadworks. Seems like most visitors were out doing the same drive. After a while we got back to the coast and then stopped again. The sign in the car park was alarming. 

Scan the QR code for a message saying 'run!'

'
As we got out of the car, the Tsunami alarm was going off. Thought ok that's not a good thing. Looked at the sea, it was still there. Looked at other people. No one was running. The alarm then stopped so we walked to the beach. 

A lovely example of bay and headlands

There were lots of wild chickens knocking about. They seemed to think we were going to feed them. We didn't. The car had a photo shoot.

Sally

We then decided to go to Subway and buy lunch. There was one in the north of the island which was not far from where we found ourselves so that is where we headed. Tried to run the chickens over as we left but they ran away.

Arrived at Subway. Got lunch. They had no coke so we walked to a garage shop across the car park. Saw a couple of bikers get pulled over by the rozzers. Whilst in the garage the cashier asked us what we were up to. We explained. She said you should go out of here and across the road and just up to the right. There is a lookout spot and it is really nice. So we did. And it was.

It was so nice we decided to sit and eat lunch there. Obviously that meant that the old Roffe-Knightley Effect (scientifically proven) then took place. For those uninitiated in the effect, if Ann and I go somewhere that is empty, us being there acts as a magnet and it fills up. Similarly, if a place is packed we have the opposite effect and the place empties. Before we knew it there were cars and people everywhere so we decided to carry on our journey once we had finished eating. Headed up towards the northern tip and then started back down south.

Now when I was growing up I got to know one specific place on Hawaii from Paul banging on about it because of the wave size and surfing that goes on in the winter. It was one of those things as a kid you never would expect to actually visit in your life as it seemed so distant. As luck would have it our journey took us right to Waimea Bay, so we decided to stop there. It has a small car park and an awful lot of people wanting to stop there. We sat in a queue for some time, eventually we were up next and we had to be patient but then a family came back and left and we got into their space. Result.

Got out and walked the very short distance to the beach. Paul, here is the proof, nearly forty years later, that I have been .

Proof

More proof

It was great. The water was so warm. Wanted to jump in. Remembered I wasn't allowed. Had to make do with paddling. The beach was very steep hence the large waves in the winter. Both got our shorts wet. Tried not to fall down the slope any further. When we started to get very hot we walked back to the car. Washed our feet at the tap and then made our way back. Still a queue of people waiting to park so someone lucky got our spot.

Headed back towards Honolulu as time was getting on. There was an extremely long queue for a few miles which turn out just to be the sheer volume of traffic and people parking/crossing the road. Eventually we got past it all. Put the roof down again and the tunes up.

Hit more traffic as it was rush hour in Honolulu. Topped the gas tank up and returned the car with twelve minutes to spare. We actually could have had it until 8am tomorrow but that would mean having to pay to park it somewhere overnight, so we wanted to return it before they shut at 5pm.

Walked back to the hotel/room. Sat in the aircon for a bit trying to plan the next couple of days. Headed out for dinner at around 7.30pm. Went here. Rock Island Cafe

It was a diner in style with lots of memorabilia knocking about. There were some old Trivial Pursuit cards on the table so I tested Ann. The questions had an American twist which meant some were very tough for us. Headed back to the room and now trying to get the aircon right so it is on but the room is just nice. Currently struggling with this.

Googled the alarm we heard. It was a island wide test being run today at 11.45am. Just right for the time we got out the car by the sign!

Ann asleep as ever.

States visited - 3

Tsunami alarms heard - 1

Day Nine

Our last day in Alaska. We had to be out of the apartment by 11am so we were not in too much of a rush. Our flight wasn't until early evening so we had an agreement with the owner that we could store our luggage in the garage for the day so we could still get out and about and then come back and collect it before heading to the airport. Ann messaged him this morning to check how to get into the garage and he responded saying that the next people in weren't arriving until really late, so we could leave it in the apartment and keep the key until later. Basically we could check out at 4pm instead of 11am.

With this sorted we eventually headed out. Caught the bus to downtown Anchorage and from there walked to the visitor centre. We then booked ourselves onto the one hour Trolley tour of the city. Got on the trolley. It wasn't that busy. The woman tried to entertain us as she drove us around 'the sights' but in truth there is not much to see in Anchorage. We saw the train depot from which we had caught a train, a statue of Captain James Cook, a house built underground (just someone's house) and then Earthquake Park, so called because it suffered a loss of many homes during the 9.2 earthquake that hit 75 miles southeast of Anchorage in 1964. It remains the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded since the age of modern seismology. Had a look at Lake Spenard which is where people take off and land their water planes. There is a 12 year waiting list to get a mooring spot.

Eventually the trolley ended back at the start. We got out and went in some tat shops. Saw a grizzly bear.

If you are going to bear, bear grizzly!

Decided to have lunch. Walked to a bus stop. Caught the wrong bus. The bus we wanted was actually just behind us. It took us past our apartment so I said to Ann we'll get off there and then get on the other one when it stopped. Got off bus. The other bus overtook us as we stopped. Went back to the apartment to dump stuff. Came back out when another bus was on its way. Got on it.

Had lunch at the samiscitydiner.com I had pancakes and a chocolate milkshake. Ann had something.

50's Diner

Lots of drink

Eventually left when I could finally move and caught the bus back to the apartment. Packed up the final bits and then set out for the airport. Caught the 40 bus to the airport. It smelt of wee due to a couple of the passengers. Another younger guy introduced himself to me. He was Joel. Where was I from? Was I going to the airport? Why was I in Alaska? Is cannabis legal in the UK? Had I sampled some pot whilst in Anchorage? Unlike every other bus ride we had taken, this one seemed to stop at every bus stop due to someone getting on or off. Seemed to take forever to get to the airport. Finally arrived and we got off very relieved to be away from the smell.

Checked our luggage. Took an age to get through security, by far the longest of any of the five flights so far. Went to the gate and waited. Got on plane. It was packed. Flight droned on. No entertainment is provided by Alaska Airlines. Stared at the back of the seat in front for most of it. We took some sandwiches on we had made as you have to pay for food as well. Eventually the five and half hours passed and we arrived in Honolulu.

We celebrated our achievement of visiting all fifty states with a small fist bump as we deplaned. No one was there to give us flower leis as we arrived. Very disappointing. Collected our luggage. Without fail Ann's bag always arrives first. 

Caught an Uber to where we are staying which is the Aqua Palms Waikiki. Odd set up as it is a hotel, but people can buy rooms and then rent them out, so we are in a hotel but not a hotel room as such. Bit odd. It is now very late as it is 12.20am local time, which is 2.20am to us. I think Ann has just fallen asleep. She was talking to me ten seconds ago but now is out like a light.

States visited - 3

Total states visited - 50

Day Eight

After yesterday's rest day, today was another early start. Up by 5.45am and ready to leave just after 7am. Ann's hand still looked like Popeye's after he had had some spinach. We were heading to the airport so decided to take the bus. As we were about to leave I looked at the app to judge when a bus was coming but noticed there were no buses. Looked at the bus timetable and saw that on Sundays the buses didn't start until after 8am. Had to get an Uber instead.

Arrived at the airport and having already checked in online went straight to security and through. Got a drink and waited for the plane. Boarded and we set off quite swiftly. When we were looking for things to do in Alaska, we looked into the possibility of driving north to a small airfield and then catching an aeroplane tour of Denali, the tallest peak in North America. Ann contacted the tour with the best reviews but they said there weren't running any tours this year, so we didn't bother pursuing it any further.  Anyway today the flight went past Denali and we got a brief view of the peak out of the window.

Poking up above the clouds

Thought we at least we got to see it. Within forty five minutes we had arrived at Fairbanks. We chose to fly there as if we had gone there and back by train or car we would have spent two days travelling. Deplaned and headed for the car rental desks. Picked up our car for the day. It was a Ford Fusion.

Fusion

Headed out in to Fairbanks and towards our first stop. Got there twenty minutes before it opened so decided to go and find a place to get a drink. Ann decided on here buckoscoffee-ak.com

Menu

Decided on two medium bandits, a cinnamon roll and a chocolate chip muffin. Had to queue for a while as it was quite popular. Chatted to the server about where we were going today. She seemed to agree with our choices of places to visit. Headed off to eat and drink back at our first stop. When we finished we headed in. fountainheadmuseum.com

The woman on the till asked us where we were from. We told her. She said 'I couldn't decide if it was the UK or Australia'. Wanted to point out it was actually quite easy to tell the difference but instead just laughed politely.

Walked around and saw lots of cars. Here are some of them.

Yellow Car

Another car

Light blue car

Dark blue car

Beige Car

Red car

Car with bonnet up

Blue round nose car

Parasol car

Four poster bed car

Old car

Red car 2

There were plenty more than that selection. It was a typical American museum. Very clean and well designed and we enjoyed seeing the cars. Got a fridge magnet. 

Once out we got in the car and tried to find somewhere to eat. Went to one place but it was very busy. There was a twenty minute wait just to be seated. Decided we didn't have that time to waste so went looking for somewhere else. Eventually ended up here cjsdriveinfairbanks.com

Menu

It was fairly empty. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. Ann had something. From there we headed downtown to the icemuseum.com 

Arrived just after the 2pm show (If you could call it that) had started. Woman told us we could either go in as we had only missed two minutes or wait for the 3pm one. Told her we couldn't wait and would go in. She said the ice sculptor, Andy, would show us in. Andy was Chinese and spoke very little English. Doubted his name was really Andy. Went into a cinema which was very, very dark and there was a screen just showing some pictures of ice sculptures. 

As it finished 'Andy' did a big reveal and switched on some tacky coloured lights which revealed some ice behind some glass. It was very underwhelming. He then told us that we would have up to twenty minutes to go into the cold place and look at the sculptures and take snap snaps. We borrowed some jackets to wear and then went in. It was -7C. The first sculpture we saw was a moose which had one antler missing. That set the tone. It was very un American in terms of the quality of the place. Still we were there so we larked about taking snap snaps.

Broken Moose

Bear back riding

Muppets

Cheap lights

Husky?

Snow mobile

As cold as ice

There was an ice slide. Ann refused to go on it. I gave it a go.

It was the best thing about it. Eventually we left the cold bit and then sat in the cinema part to watch 'Andy' carve some ice. It was naff. He drilled some holes into a block and then filled it with some food colouring. We thought he would get a chainsaw and carve the Venus di Milo.

Left as soon as we could. Headed to Pioneer Park  We weren't really sure what to expect. It is basically an old village featuring historic buildings. There were quite a lot of people but wasn't much we were interested in doing. Wandered around a bit. Saw an old paddle steamer.

SS Nenana

Also saw a Pullman railway car which was used by President Harding on his Voyage of Understanding in 1923. The trip did go to well as he died whilst on it. 

Eventually we got bored so drove back to the airport. Returned the car and went through security. We were the only people there. Even so, Ann still got stopped as she tried to smuggle a bottle of water through the bag scanner. The security guy poured the water away and returned the empty plastic bottle to Ann. Bought a Fairbanks fridge magnet. 

Headed to our gate. It was empty. The screens for Alaska Airlines at the gates give you information about the number of seats on the plane and passenger numbers. Noted that there were only forty six passengers going to be on the flight. When we boarded it didn't take long and the plane pushed back early. Now the plot thickens. The Captain then gave an announcement and said we were leaving early so as we had time to kill he was going to do a fly by of Denali on the way. We thought that would be nice, as the weather was now nicer, it might be a little clearer. We took off and then waited. After a while he announced that he could see Denali and it was visible with a little bit of cloud. He said we are going to fly 3000m higher than it and pass it from about five miles away. Then he said will do the right hand side of the plane then we'll turn around and give the left hand side a view as well.

As we approached the cloud started to part and then suddenly there it was. We were so close it was unbelievable. Everybody on board including the stewardesses tried to get a look.

The money shot

If we had paid a shed load of cash to get on a tourist plane as we had originally thought about, I don't think we would have got such a great view. Sometimes fate gets it just right. 

Soon we were back at Anchorage and then made our way back home to start packing as we leave tomorrow on the next leg.

States visited - 2

Mountains buzzed - 1