Day One

Greetings From Alaska!!!

Our Holiday Vacations Travel Group arrived in "The Land of the Midnight Sun" early Wednesday morning. But it wasn't without some challenges. We flew out of Omaha to Minneapolis with no problem, but take off wasn't so easy after that. While we were waiting to board our plane - it was struck by lightening!!! So, relieved we weren't on the plane at the time, we gladly switched gates to board another plane. You'll never believe this - but THAT plane got struck by lightening, too!!! (What are the chances?)

So two lightening strikes, two pilots, three planes and more than four hours later - we boarded the plane for Anchorage, Alaska. The time at the airport wasn't all bad. We have a group of 50 people so it gave us time to chat and get to know each other. And the airlines felt so bad, they handed out food vouchers. So most of us got fruit smoothies, a latte or some fresh fruit and just did just what Nebraskans do in a situation like that - we took everything in stride.

But it was funny, even though we were no longer in Nebraska. Ken Siemek still got blamed for the bad weather. Sorry Ken!

So after leaving Lincoln at 12:00 Tuesday afternoon and a 3:00 pm flight out of Omaha, - we arrived at our hotel in Anchorage, Alaska at 5:30 Wednesday morning central standard time. It was a long day!! But we're thankful we made it safe and sound.

Day Two

Needless to say we all got some much needed rest. Many of us met for breakfast and quickly jumped at the chance to dine "Alaska-style." So we tried the sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage. ( I loved the pancakes - wasn't a fan of the reindeer sausage).

Our hotel is the in heart of Anchorage and we have great views of all the the stores and the Alaska Mountain Range. Some of us did some sightseeing on our own that morning and then met for our first adventure.

Today we took a guided tour of Anchorage. We hopped on the Motor coach and got a first-hand look at the downtown shopping district, stopped by Ship Creek to search for King Salmon (unfortunately - there were no sightings) and visited the Lake Hood Float Plane Base. It's the largest sea plane base in the world - and we got the chance to watch planes land and take off on the water. (That was pretty amazing to see). We also got a wonderful glimpse of Mt. Chugach - which seems to wrap around the city.

After our tour, we shopped, walked around and got to know the city better.
Dinner tonight was at the Sea Galley Restaurant. It's a favorite of the locals and has now become a favorite of mine. The food was fantastic! I had the salmon, but there was so much to choose from...cod, red snapper, shrimp, crab and prime rib and much more!

It was a good day and tomorrow should be even better - we take a 26 glacier cruise! I can't wait to tell you about it!

Serese