Day 2. Seattle to Fairbanks, via Anchorage.

04:16. I awoke for no apparent reason at 04:14. After laying there for a minute I heard, "Knock knock." KNOCK KNOCK! Awww heck, I thought the bellman would just open the door himself, but I had to get up and let him in. Since we had 90 minutes before our flight, decided to eat at the airport. As we walked into the food court, we notice that it has two huge fish restaurants flanking it like sentrys. They seem to be very proud of their fish in Seattle. Amy and I settled for croissants and coffee.

On our first leg, I thumbed through the Alaskan Air magazine. The first full-page ad was for major construction equipment, and I thought, "Now that's something you don't generally see in an in-flight magazine." I realized that Alaska is a workin' state, with big things to be done, so that ad (and the several others on later pages) were probably spot-on for a large percentage of flyers.

First advertisement in the Alaska Air in-flight magazine.

As we descended into Anchorage airport, I was able to see several glaciers pass under our wings, one of them huge. It was a beautiful sight, seeing them morph from their beginnings as creamy white snow, to a blackened highway of ice.

During our layover, I went to Quiznos for a sandwich. The menu was very limited, and didn't have what I wanted. I asked the older lady (who appeared to be a native) at the first station for a "sandwich with wheat bread, two cheeses, onions, and vinaigrette dressing." She nodded knowingly and said, "Ahhh, veg-e-tar-i-an." I felt like I was some kind of exotic life-form that was only rarely seen in Alaska. When I told the lady at station two, after the toasting oven, that I only wanted lettuce, I think she felt sorry for me. She put some on the sandwich, shook her head and put another layer on it, and finally a third towering level. She gave a satisfied smile, as if to say, "Now that poor young man won't starve too quickly, even if he doesn't eat any meat."

I ate my sandwich sitting in the breezeway of the airport. The makeup of people here is interesting. Lots of typical tourists-types. Lots of Asian folks.

A few granola back-packers, B.O. and all. And a goodly number of what appear to be "bush-types." I don't mean Republican voters, but people who look like they spend most of their time in an unforgiving environment. They have well-worn, rugged clothing, generally not freshly-laundered. Their faces are weathered, and they all have a similar look. It seems to say, "I've seen what nature can dish out, and I can take care of myself." The range in age from 30's to 60's. (Note: Don said they were mostly pipeline workers.)

View of the tidal flats while descending into Anchorage: