Alaska, Day Two: “We’re Sorry, But Alaska Is Closed For The Winter”

Another 6:00am start to the day, but this time with better results. After a six-hour flight, I touched down, at last, in Anchorage. Unfortunately, my luggage did not. I stood in line at Northwest Baggage Services for nearly two hours, only to find out that because my luggage might be coming in on a flight later that day, I could not register a claim. Rather, I needed to wait around until the last scheduled flight, arriving at 7:00pm. Maybe everyone else’s delayed luggage could keep me company…

Not to be deterred from my Alaskan adventure, I picked up my rental car and headed into town to see the acclaimed Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Imagine my surprise when the front door was locked. I pressed the button to talk to the security guard, who informed me that the museum was closed for the next two months. “That’s okay,” I thought, “I’m hungry, and the tourist guidebooks I bought have several recommendations.” The first recommended restaurant, Marx Bros. Café, was located in the now closed museum, so I walked several blocks down the road to Sacks Café. Sadly, they stopped serving food approximately 30 minutes earlier. Okay. I walked further down the street to Snow City Café, but their kitchen had just closed. I had been in Anchorage for nearly four hours and had encountered nothing but…well, nothing. Having not eaten in over 12 hours, I tossed aside the guidebooks and partook of a substandard sandwich and soup combo at some anonymous restaurant.

Rejection at Snow City Café

As my raging headache subsided, I was once again filled with an obstinate optimism, determined to make this a good trip. I sauntered into the Alaskan Mint, where the staff were incredibly kind and talkative. This trend continued as I perused the 5th Avenue Mall, which smelled and felt exactly like good ol’ Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City, Utah. Part of me kept wanting to check my watch to see when my lunch break from B. Dalton Booksellers was over. Everyone I ran into was super nice, and once they found out I was on vacation, they had all sorts of suggestions for me. Now armed with the necessary cheap pair of sunglasses and a car stereo cord for my iPod, I was ready to go back to the airport and scavenge for my luggage.

The Cash Register at the Alaskan Mint

The day continued to improve when, at the suggestion of Krista, a friend/Sinai co-worker/soon-to-be fellow CHOC intern, I pulled into Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, where I had the best pizza I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. Yes, even better than The Pie on The University of Utah campus. I ordered “Santa’s Little Helper,” which consisted of pepperoni, blackened chicken, steak, bacon, red bell peppers, cilantro, mozzarella, provolone, and marinara sauce. Exquisite. Joy to the gustatory world! Santa’s Little Helper delivered a tremendous gift to my palate.


A comfortable bed, fireplace, Jacuzzi bathtub, and the Food Network awaited me at Alaskan Frontier Gardens Bed & Breakfast just outside of town. At last, I was in Alaska, my luggage was in Alaska, and the adventure had begun. My Alaskan adventure.

Alaska, Day One: Why I Will Never, NEVER Fly Northwest Airlines Again

Northwest Airlines has always given me trouble. Delayed (or sometimes) missed flights, poor customer service, and lost baggage are just a few examples. But perhaps worst of all was their resistance to my redeeming a free flight voucher I obtained when I voluntarily gave up my seat on a flight in March 2008. I tried to redeem the voucher on multiple occasions, and each time was met with the line, “I’m sorry sir, but there are no available seats on that flight for purchase with your travel voucher.” Did I mention that the voucher was only valid for one year?

I’m not normally a vindictive, spiteful person. Yet I must admit that by the time February rolled around and my voucher had yet to be honored by Northwest, I became somewhat frustrated. In response, I decided to find out the most expensive location Northwest flies to and book a ticket there (i.e., I stuck it to “The Man”). Although it took several phone calls, a blundered ticket, an erroneous charge on my credit card, certified mail, and switching dates, I finally obtained my prize: a free roundtrip ticket to Alaska.

Given our rocky past, I should not have been surprised by my experience with Northwest Airlines today. For the first leg of travel, we sat on the ground for almost an hour-and-a-half while we de-iced, had an equipment malfunction, and de-iced again because the response to the malfunction took too long. Now when I say “equipment malfunction,” I’m referring to the pilot’s announcement that “…during de-icing, one of the workers noticed part of a gasket poking up out of the plane. We’re going to pull up to a maintenance area where they can trim it off, do some paperwork, and then we can get on our way.”

When I was a little boy, I, too, noticed some unauthorized poking out, only it was on top of my head and not on my plane (as I didn’t own a plane). Sadly, much to my dismay, cutting off the errant hairs did not make the problem go away; rather, I began to develop short, bristly hairs that stuck straight up and could not be tamed, even with liberal amounts of Dep Styling Gel. Apparently large, complex planes that carry hundreds of passengers high above the earth’s surface are more forgiving than a 7-year-old boy’s head, at least when it comes to trimming off offenders.

Due to our unplanned (yet strangely predictable) delay, I was somewhat anxious about catching my connecting flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage. But I needn’t have worried, for you see, Mt. Redoubt had once again erupted, causing the Anchorage airport to be shut down. The departure time for the flight kept getting pushed later and later into the day until all flights to Anchorage were cancelled. When I approached a Northwest staff member for assistance, I was told that I could either sleep on the floor or put myself up in a hotel until tomorrow morning. The staff member then returned to the conversation she was having and ignored the remainder of my questions.

In sum, day one of my Alaskan adventure was anything but. Most strangely, Alaska looks a lot like the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. Hmm.

CHOC Full of Good News

http://www.choc.org/psychology/internship.cfm

Internship News: Part One

Matched.

Tortola, B.V.I.

My excursion today was cancelled due to inclement weather. Bummer. I was scheduled to take a boat from Tortola to Virgin Gorda, where I would be snorkeling and checking out The Baths, a series of gigantic rocks strewn across one of the beaches. And I was looking forward to seeing Bill and Mary Alice, the newlywed couple I’d dined with my first night. They were scheduled to be on the same excursion.

Because the ship was tendered offshore for most of the day, there was a huge line of people waiting to take the smaller boat ashore. I elected to spend my time packing and wrapping up this here blog instead. When the Galaxy finally docked in Tortola, I had less than two hours to explore Roadtown, its capitol city. I think the British Virgin Islands deserve another pass at some point in the future. I saw photographs of the beaches, The Baths, etc., and it all looked very nice. We shall meet again, Virgin Islands.

My day was not a total wash, however. In anticipation of tomorrow, I took the funds from my cancelled excursion and applied them to a special they were having down in the spa called “Top-to-Toe Heaven.” Here’s how it went down:

1. I got brushed down with, well, a brush that was covered in something that smelled like eucalyptus. Apparently my body hair has sufficiently manifested itself enough that I need to be groomed like a horse.

2. My neck, shoulders, and lower back were massaged for a while. I have some serious knots and tension in my shoulders! When I stood up at the end, I felt such a greater range of motion…it was unbelievable.

3. I got some tingly gel rubbed on my back and a hot towel applied over it. Nice.

4. I think I got a facial. All sorts of stuff was rubbed into my skin…some gel-like, some scrubby, some soothing. Now my face is breaking out a bit.

5. My scalp was massaged ever so gently.

6. The masseuse attempted to massage my feet but I kept giggling and squirming, so she decided to massage my calves instead.

All in all, it was great. I’ve only gotten a massage once before, when I was working for Wediko. I need to do it more often.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, I’m grateful for all I’ve learned up to this point, and for the overwhelming support of friends and family. Plus, it’s like I’ve already been rewarded for my hard work; that’s what this cruise was for. Just think…if I don’t match and I have to go through this whole process again, I get to go on another cruise! Awesome! It’s like the security guard that works the cruise ship always says: “Happy! Happy! Haaaaapy Happyyyyyy.” And I think I’ve found that elusive happiness.

Food of the Day: Yorkie Bars. They're my favorite candy bar and they come all the way from England. How fortunate for me that I happened to be on a British island today! I bought seven.

St. Kitts

I can’t believe my vacation is drawing to an end. I’ve almost forgotten what my life was like back in Chicago. Cold weather? Huh? I’ve seen that on TV, I think. Graduate school? Hmm. I’m going to have to get back to you on that one. Wait, something crucial to my career path is happening in a few short days? What? Internship matching? I’m sorry, but you need to clarify what you mean by that statement.

Sleepy St. Kitts Countryside

My first stop today was at Romney Manor (a 17th century sugar plantation) and its lush botanical gardens. A 300+ year-old salmon tree greeted us as we arrived (okay, it didn’t actually say, “Hello, and welcome to Romney Manor,” but it did open its arms up wide, and I’m pretty sure some of the branches were waving in a very welcoming manner). The site has since been converted into Caribelle Batik, a studio specializing in the creation of…you guessed it…batik. There was a brief demonstration explaining the batik process, which consists of placing wax on cloth, dipping it in dye, removing the wax and applying it to other areas, repeating the process, and so on until you have a beautifully dyed piece of fabric.

The Ancient Salmon Tree Says, “Hello!” (Note the park bench at the bottom of the photo to get a sense of the tree’s massive size.)

Romney Manor Botanical Gardens

Caribelle Batik

The bulk of my time on the island was spent hiking through the rainforest above Romney Manor, stopping periodically to listen to the guide discuss some of the local flora and fauna. Many of the plants were (and still are) used by Kittitians for medicinal purposes.
Most of the fruits from the trees were absent, as the island’s monkey residents outnumber the humans on the island, and them’s a bunch of hungry, hungry monkeys.

Soaking wet from a rainstorm during the latter half of the hike, I climbed over giant tree roots and did the limbo under branches overhead, reflecting upon the similarities between these past two weeks of vacation and the two plus weeks of internship interviews. Both took me away from Chicago and my responsibilities there for two weeks or more. Both cost a nice handful of coin. Both involved removing all my metal and going through security scanners nearly every day. Both involved a new (yet increasingly predictable) daily adventure at a new destination. Just like internship sites, some islands wowed me, whereas others are not locations I plan to return to in the future. Both involved some nausea and headaches. Both involved culinary adventures, some good, some not. Both are tied to the same singular event: internship.

Some differences exist between the two. Regrettably, I didn’t have the opportunity to spend time with friends or family during this trip, although I hope to share a slice of it with them through this blog. Although California was really warm, the Caribbean is much warmer. I’m not traveling by plane much on this trip; instead, I sleep while my transport rocks me back and forth across the sea. And, perhaps most unexpected of all, my deep down insides…my soul…grew substantially during the internship process, whereas the only thing that has grown throughout the cruise has been my waistline. Flub. Chub. A-dub-a-dub.

Office Plants Gone Wild: Ficus!

Nature’s Soprano


Drip Drop

Wee Flowers

A quick stroll through Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts, took me past the Immaculate Conception Cathedral (open), St. George’s Anglican Church (closed), and a hint of the British Commonwealth influence: a red telephone booth. Pip pip, Cheerio!

Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Beloved

Dinner was a special treat tonight. Skip and I ordered frog legs; he because he liked them, I because I’d never had them before. As the saying goes, they “taste like chicken.” A few minutes later, our waiter, Helmi, brought a plate with a metal lid to the table and said, “Some extra frog legs for you all.” The grumpy red-faced German guy (whose name I thought was something like Herman, but Sue says it’s Jack) opened the lid and there was a live frog sitting on the plate. Okay, it wasn’t a live frog, but it sure looked like it with the dim lighting. It gave us all a good laugh.

Toward the end of the evening, Cruise Director John Grantham (who, according to my daily edition of “Celebrity Today!” was a Hollywood stuntman) introduced the kitchen staff and all the waiters paraded around the dining room as the band piped a fanfare and the guests waived their white linen napkins in the air. Each waiter was holding a tray of Baked Alaska and a tin of fire. Then we all held hands and sang “Auld Lang Syne.” It was particularly moving given that many of the crew may not be transferring to other ships when the Galaxy ends its run in a couple of weeks.

Skip and Sue

Helmi and Enrique

Food of the Day: Frog Legs & Baked Alaska

Dominica

Dubbed the “Nature Island of the Caribbean,” Dominica did not disappoint. After a leisurely drive through Roseau and its neighboring fishing villages, we arrived at the Layou River for some seriously enjoyable tubing. Lazy pools periodically gave way to whitewater rapids that, at one point, flipped me off my tube. Fortunately, the excursion was designed in such a way that there was someone stationed nearby to jump in and help me get situated again. When I wasn’t gripping onto my tube’s handles in a mix of excitement and wonder (as in wondering, “Why do I always end up facing backwards when I get to the rapids?”), I was busy drinking in the expanse of lush tropical greenery and rocky peaks for which Dominica is famous. Legend has it that when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella asked Christopher Columbus to describe Dominica, he crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed it onto the table (not to insinuate that it was trash, but rather that it was very mountainous).

After tubing, we headed to Morne Trois Pitons National Park and embarked on a short hike to Emerald Pool. Our tour guide said that bathing in the Emerald Pool is reputed to make you feel 10 years younger. Although I didn’t feel 19 years old upon entering the pool, its crisp, cool water and briskly moving waterfall did give me a quick burst of energy. I could only stay under the waterfall for a few moments, as it came crashing down at an incredibly powerful rate…it was like someone was playing the drums on my skull. Awesome.

Morne Trois Pitons National Park

Emerald Pool

Beat Down

Repose

Food of the Day: Sesame Seared Yellow Fin Tuna with Stir Fried Asian Vegetables, Jasmine Rice, and Ginger Emulsion