The Last Frontier

(I had this post written for a while, but lost the memory card with the pictures! I finally found it, so here you go!)

So I went on vacation. Yes, another vacation. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.  In fact, while traveling on this vacation I did vacation planning for another vacation. What a life. Anybody want to fund my vacation hobby? It gets expensive…

This time we didn’t go anywhere exotic or even anywhere in Asia. For the first time in 20 months, Dereck and I made a trip to see our family in Minnesota together (see previous blog post!).  I went once back in the fall of 2010 but Dereck couldn’t come with, so we were very excited to travel together. The reason was for his best friend’s wedding where he would be the Best Man.  So a trip to our “homeland” and going to a wedding- easy as pie, right?

Well not really, because August is the most expensive month of the year to fly in/out of Japan. Japanese children are on their summer school break and it seems to just raise ticket prices about double the normal cost… and when the normal cost of a round trip from Narita to Minneapolis is between $1200-1500, well the raise is significant. So just buying tickets and flying home wasn’t an option for us, after all, I’m not working full time and my husband isn’t an investment banker or something! Luckily we had a solution.

The Military has a program called Space-Available travel, or just Space-A for short. In a nutshell this is a “standby” style flying program where passengers are put on military aircraft that have room in addition to whatever other cargo they are carrying. The trouble is, the flights usually have about 24 hours of notice, and it feels like trying to win in Vegas to get a seat, so pre planning is just about impossible. IF you know me well, you can imagine just how terrible this is to me!  Dereck went on leave on a Wednesday and we finally were able to get a flight out of Japan on a Sunday. That’s 5 days of “stay-cation” around our house here hoping for a flight to leave. But it ended up working out because we were able to attend a few fun events on base (including a 80s themed birthday party and a birthday party at a mountaintop beergarden! Check it out!).

View of Tokyo from Mt Takao

80s Style!

Our flight was on a C-17 and brought us to Anchorage Alaska. We were excited for this because Dereck really likes Alaska and I had never been. Plus being that it’s a possibility for a future duty base, I’d like to check it out. We even have family (Dereck’s mother’s cousin) in the area so we had a place to stay while waiting for a domestic flight to Minnesota.  We booked a flight for 3 days later, when the price was cheaper, and so that allowed us a few days to site see in Alaska! 

The flight was fun and a new experience for me. Not the most comfortable seats but we had tons of leg room and I even got to stretch out on the floor of the plane and take a nap (we were up EARLY for this flight). The seats are positioned around the outside walls facing in, and then in the middle facing out. It basically creates a big circle around the inner seats which all the kids found and decided to run laps halfway through the flight. It was pretty entertaining and the plane was so loud that it didn’t even bother me. I’m just thankful for the earplugs they gave us! 

View of the passengers relaxing on the flight

We landed in Alaska after about a 7 hour flight. The jet lag was pretty bad, we landed at 2:30am but we felt like it was 7:30pm, but we survived. The weather in Alaska was rainy and cold, but the beauty of the place still showed its face once the sun came up. We decided to find a 24hr diner to eat at since we were starving and then get a hold of Dereck’s family in the morning. The diner we went to was called Leroy’s Family Restaurant and we loved it. They let us sit there for hours, order a GIANT American style breakfast, and relax and watch their TV until morning. Then Dereck’s cousin Dede came to get us and we went to her house to meet her husband and two boys, Elliot and Gus. 

After quick nap, Dereck decided to show me downtown Anchorage. We went to a cute market that sold handmade gifts and food, then did some other window shopping. We ate dinner at a great place that overlooked the water and had its own beer brewed on site. It was really good, and I’m sad I don’t remember the name of it. I was surprised by the city because there are no skyscrapers, no loud trains, and no traffic.

Me and my bear friend in Anchorage

Pretty much the opposite of Tokyo! We made it an early night since we were so tired but were looking forward to the next day. We planned to go walk along a lake near their mountainside home, then take a boat tour to see a glacier.  

Sadly, the next day brought rain, rain, and more rain. Our lake walk was canceled in the morning, so instead we made a yummy breakfast and just relaxed around the house. Around lunchtime we went to the best pizza place in the world, called Moose’s Tooth, with Dede, the boys, and Dede’s mother. I was able to order a cheeseless pizza and it was soooooooo good. (Darn you lactose intolerance!) After lunch we made the drive down to the glacier. It was the most beautiful drive and I was staring out the windows the whole time. Sadly, it wasn’t time for the whales to be seen but I could only imagine how awesome it would be to see them.  By the time we got to Portage Glacier the rain had stopped. I was still freezing in the 50 degree weather, since I stupidly didn’t pack for Alaska at all and only had a sweatshirt and a small summer jacket with me, but the cool air matched the scenery.  The boat ride was on the lake the glacier had carved out over the past 100 years and then we got to see the glacier. It was awesome and something I had never thought I would see.

Portage Glacier

Us on the boat ride

That night we went to a kid-free dinner with Dede and her husband Richard at their favorite steakhouse downtown. It was delicious and a lot of fun to joke around and meet new family.  Though it was a short visit, I feel like I know them well and really enjoyed my time with them. Thanks Dede and Richard!

The next morning we got on a flight to Minnesota to start the rest of our vacation. I wish we had more time in Alaska but I’m sure we’ll go back again someday, or even get a chance to live there (hopefully!)