She's Rounding Third Base. . .

Dateline Minneapolis:

Yes, I'm almost home! When our nearly full 747 lifted off from Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage at 8:00 p.m. Alaska time, there was cheering and applause for Northwest Airlines. They chartered this hulk of a plane with a flight attendant crew that flew up to AK and back to MN in the same day. Way to go guys and dolls! We arrived @ 4:00 a.m. and I now sit waiting for the 7:00 a.m. flight.

Good things do come to those of us that are patient and this flight was a prime example of "going with the flow" the last few days. My flight was due to leave at 7:30 so I arrived at the airport at 5:30 and stood in line while not 1, but 2 ticketing agents closed down their stations just as I was the next person in line. I get all the luck, right? Fear not, readers! When I walked on the plane @ 7:15 and started to head to row 28G, the flight attendant said to me, "Find an open seat. It's OPEN SEATING."

As I had looked at the seating arrangements of this aircraft online while spending my days in Anchorage, I headed right to Business Class. Snow boots, fleece and all! Sure enough, there was one seat left and it was right behind my Anchorage friend that was heading to Washington for a conference. We had lunch 2 days previously and I had told her about the 747 that they were bringing in for us. As her flight had also been cancelled, she pulled out her iPhone and immediately got booked on my flight. Then we ordered lunch. Priorities DO prevail, you know!

So "patient Peggy" got a full meal on the plane (I ate it ALL!,) a seat that practically became a Sleep Number bed, and a personal Video monitor to watch movies. Yeah, I tried to sleep on that comfortable seat but I just never got there. I think it was the chocolate I ate! The first chocolate I'd had in 3 days! Kurt, my seat mate, told me that he'd been hanging out in Anchorage for 4 days. A fellow Milwaukeean had gone to Alaska for her college Spring Break and got stuck there. And there's a whole gaggle of U.S. downhill and nordic skiers who have just completed their U.S. Championships hanging out in Anchorage.

Just for laughs, I just pulled up the Alaska Volcano Observatory website and Mt. Redoubt has been spewing small amounts of ash up to 25,000 ft through the night and it's slowly drifting towards Anchorage. You guessed it, it started just before we took off!

I LOVE adventures! Here's the OTHER plane I flew into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.