A 44 Hour Day

The three leg flight from from Sydney to Anchorage (Sydney -> Vancouver, Vancouver -> Seattle, Seattle -> Anchorage) was smooth and uneventful. Except for the fact that for all three flights (for which we were either too late or unable to do our own pre-flight seat allocation) we found ourselves allocated seats that were 1 to 15 rows apart. At least for the first flight we were able to change this on check-in to be seated together but there was nothing we could do about the other two flights.

Some of Aily Zirkle's dog team

Once on the ground in Anchorage at 3:45pm (after 23 hours in transit but only about three hours after the "time" we left Sydney) the free shuttle to our lodgings took a little longer to show than one of us would have liked - standing outside in the cold waiting while every other hotel shuttle seemed to cruise past twice. Otherwise the check-in was smooth and we were soon catching up with Sam & Keira who had checked-in earlier.

We also found our that one of the Iditarod contestants (Aily Zirkle, runner up the last two years) was also in residence and the truck with her dog team was parked outside. The dogs had just been fed and we were able to check them out.

Our party of four went for a stroll through the Anchorage down town precinct, which Sam & Keira had some familiarity with having been here for two days already.

Keira and Sam in pioneering mode

We ended up having dinner at a Thai restaurant before going to have a look at the snow sculptures. Well, at the remains of the snow sculptures. They had been carved a few days ago and with Anchorage's unseasonably warm weather (40F, 4C) they were looking a bit past their best. A couple had even collapsed altogether. Nearby we could only admire the fortitude of those who were going for fair rides at a carnival in the chilly evening air, but it did provide the opportunity to try a "funnel cake" for dessert.

It was only a few blocks back to our warm room where Laura and I were more than ready for  good night's sleep.

One of the aging snow sculptures