Last night I set the alarm on my phone, the clock radio in
the room, and also requested a wake-up call from the front desk. But by 3:30 I was awake without
the help of any of them. The wake-up call from the hotel was six minutes late, which I found amusing and irritating at the same time. By 5:00 we were sitting
at the gate, ready to board. The flight was really pleasant, I’m always expecting to
crash or someone to throw up on me and every time that doesn’t happen, I’m just
so pleased. When the drink cart came by, the flight attendant asked Ashley if
she’d like anything to drink.
“Could I please have some Sprite?” Ashley asked.
“Yes, and thank you! You have wonderful manners,” the flight
attendant said.
“Thank you,” Ashley replied.
She turned to me and said, “I can count on one hand the number
of times I’ve heard ‘please and thank you’ this morning.”
Our flight was
completely full and Ashley and I were in row 28, so this flight attendant had just served over
one hundred and thirty people, and no more than five of them used manners?! That’s a lot of rudeness.
I am a lover of common courtesy so I was interested in how she handled it. I asked her,
“Do you ever want to hold their cup just out of their reach and say, ‘Now, what do you
say?’”
“I do with children, but I’ve just about given up on
adults.”
Me too, lady. Now stop jabbering and give me my dang coffee.
We arrived in Anchorage and Chad was there waiting, with a
dozen red roses in his hand, which was met with, “Oh, so just Mom gets flowers?” from Jackson, a hug and kiss (and dumb tears)
from me, and one more example for our girls of what kind of man they should
marry.
The drive from Anchorage to Seward took just over two hours.
Our first stop was along the Turnagain Arm at a rocky outcropping called “Beluga Point.”
Beluga whales chase salmon there around this time of year, but we didn’t spot
any. We didn’t spot any wildlife today, in fact. Except seagulls and a duck.
But if I don’t see one animal during my time in Alaska I think I’ll be okay,
because I got to experience driving along one of the most beautiful highways I
have ever seen.
 |
| Searching for beluga whales... with no luck. |
Our next stop was just south of Beluga Point at milepost 109
where there is a small pipe, plastered with stickers, jutting out of the side
of a mountain. On Chad’s drives to and from Anchorage, he had noticed people
filling up jugs with the water that pours from the pipe. On his last drive, the
hitchhiker he picked up (Yes, you read that correctly… and it was a GIRL hitchhiker!) told
him that locals think the water has healing powers. I researched it and it
turns out the Department of Transportation drilled a hole in the mountain and put the pipe
there as a draining mechanism, but the water was tested and it turns out it’s actually
purer than the water we get from faucets. So people flock to this pipe for
their water. I tasted it—it tasted like snow.
 |
| Magical Water |
For two hours, we drove surrounded by hills covered in every shade of green imaginable and mountains were everywhere we looked. The rivers and streams ranged from steel grey to turquoise, and we saw no billboards or telephone poles. Well, maybe they were there, but if so, they were eclipsed by the sheer beauty of that drive through a tiny part of Alaska.
 |
| The rad doorbell to the apartment |
We arrived in Seward at 10:30 and Chad drove us through town
before taking us “home” to a tiny, ancient one-bedroom apartment with thick
wood trim, 5-paneled doors that have antique brass doorknobs with skeleton
keyholes, and windows that have long been painted shut. I love it here. The
rent is more than our mortgage, but we are located in the middle of town and
everything in Seward is within walking distance.
We walked to Apollo Restaurant for lunch. They serve an
interesting mix of Greek, Italian, and seafood and if you bring in your own
catch, they’ll cook it for you. The food was really well prepared and
incredibly delicious, but the eighty dollar bill startled me nonetheless (thanks Mom,
Chad paid with his birthday money).
Chad had to go to work for a few hours, so we walked to Sweet Darlings, the candy shop below the apartment. The owners are Chad's landlords and they have an apartment above the store as well. I can’t wait
to meet the wife. Her name is Iris Darling. I already want to keep her. In the
candy shop, we sampled the homemade gelato, purchased a few goodies and then
walked upstairs. The rain had been drizzling all morning and the fog hung low
on the mountains that surround us here. And what does that kind of weather induce? Sleep, of course.
So, we napped and waited for Chad.
The kids wanted to keep sleeping when he got home from work, so Chad
and I went to a few gift shops, and walked around a bit. Then we went grocery
shopping. There is absolutely nothing interesting to tell you about this part
of the day. Except that our groceries for the next 3 days cost as much as our lunch
did this afternoon.
Chad made dinner and now we are going to enjoy the rest of
the night in, and go to bed early. Because we're here for eleven more days and Alaska's not going anywhere. Unless a tsunami washes us away.
Alaska fact #2:
Turnagain Arm, a glacial fjord along the southern part of
Chugach State Park, has one of the highest tidal variations in the world at 32
feet.
The Niemeyers
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