Back To Kodiak - At Last!!!!

Hey Gang, we're finally ... make that FINALLY!!!!! ... back on the road.  We're headed West again for another trip to beautiful Alaska and yet another High School graduation.  Yep, our Great-Nephew Morgan is finishing his high school career at Kodiak High and we promised him we would be there for the big event.  For those of you who have been traveling with us for a while, you will recall our posts from Kodiak when our great-niece Madison graduated.  Well - this promises to be an equally momentous event.  I promise we will give you some breathtaking photos of our 49th state and some from the trip out and back - but - we'll start with a short warm-up post.

This trip began in a rather unusual (for us) place - Atlanta.  Our niece in Kodiak figured out how we could use some of her "trip credits" and the best deal was from the "Big A."  It also gave us a chance to go through Anderson, S.C. on the way and take care of some of our responsibilities up there.  It was a (thankfully) uneventful trip and we made it to Atlanta smack in the middle of rush hour.  Our home for the night was the La Quinta Inn on Massachusetts Blvd. because it gave us the opportunity to leave our car during our trip and to have a place to sleep on our return.  (Best laid plans ... etc.  more to come!!)  Those of you who have been along on our journeys for a long time might remember that during my working life I traveled to Atlanta very frequently - several times a month - for many years.  Well - I've gotta tell you, the changes in the skyline and the different parts of the city were simply stunning!!  After joining a few hundred thousand of our nearest and dearest friends on the way to our hotel we settled in to a really beautiful room and had a leisurely - and great - meal at "Ruby Tuesday's" just around the corner.

This will be a short post because we want to get right into the beauty of Alaska and the hospitality of the folks in America's "Last Frontier."  But - a couple of notes before we start - including some info about a truly fantastic airline - Alaska Airways.  We have flown on Alaska a number of times but this trip highlighted just how superior the airline is to others we have flown countless times in the past.  I won't go into a lot of details (unless you ask) but we had a good bit of interaction with Delta (one of our past favorites), American (yes, we are AAdvantage members!!), United and others and Alaska Airlines simply smoked them all when it came to responsiveness, customer relations and technology.  Beginning with the web site and the app, Alaska Airlines introduced us to a bunch of new conveniences.  We booked our flight, downloaded our boarding passes (to both our iPhones and our printer) and - even printed off our baggage tags that would ultimately be housed in a really neat bag tag provided by the airline.  It was a really great way to start the trip - particularly since the TSA has made air travel about as difficult as it can be and these steps gave us a great head-start on the lines.  The photo to the left shows one of the lines into the security check-point but, believe me, it was not the longest line.  Fortunately for us, we had expedited screening in Atlanta so we were able to get through the check-point in less than thirty minutes.  It didn't start out that way, however.  When we first got there we checked in at the Delta counter.  (That was where we had been told to drop off our bags.  WRONG!!!)  The Delta folks did not have a clue about the pre-printed bag tags and were totally befuddled when we tried to talk to them about it.  Fortunately, Linda suggested that we check with an 'actual' Alaska Airways desk and they got us on the right track immediately.  The entire journey to Alaska was highlighted by extraordinary customer services by the Alaska Air folks and it was a true pleasure flying with them.  We got into the air on time and were soon winging our way westward.  It seemed like no time before we were in Seattle and, then, on to Anchorage.  I know I'm skipping over thousands of miles and hours of travel time but I don't want to bore you with a bunch of details - even though it is absolutely fascinating to us!!!!  The Seattle airport is truly mesmerizing in terms of activity, architectural detail and shopping opportunities.  We took the time to get a bite to eat before heading for the flight to Anchorage and, as always, the "people-watching" was extraordinary.  Arriving in Alaska was - as always - exciting and after a brief stopover we were back in the air and heading for Kodiak.  Thanks to the miracle of instant communications brought about by the smart-phone phenomenon our niece was fully aware of our travel status.  (That was another of the amazing things about Alaska Airways we came to enjoy and rely on - the phenomenal "App" that gave us instant access to every aspect of our travel plan.)  Consequently, she - and her sister - were waiting for us when the plane touched down and in minutes we were jumping off of Airport Way onto West Rezanof Drive and headed into Kodiak.  After a short drive we were approaching our niece's home and were overwhelmed by the feelings of "homecoming" we had on looking at their beautiful house and the exquisite scenery surrounding it.  Although it was quite cool (to our deep-south skins) the weather was absolutely delightful and the flowers that were out in abundance made it clear that spring/summer had arrived - even in the far north.  Our welcome to Kodiak was just great but we were quickly reminded that there was a lot of work to do in preparation for the graduation activities and that this was going to be a busy few days!!!  I can hardly wait to introduce (or re-introduce some of you) to the amazing and personable people who live on this remarkable island.  The days promised to be absolutely chock-full of new and exciting adventures as well as long awaited visits with our beautiful family.  It was so fantastic to be here folks.  We will be back with the opening days of our visit and I think you will enjoy them as we did.  See ya.