"Cold Freezing" Alaska

"This morning I stood groggily in line at the airport security in Anchorage, AK at 4:30am. Considering I went to bed at 2am after cramming Taco Bell 4th Meal down, I was NOT in a good mood at all - physically and mentally. That is until I spotted a very familiar face in the security line next to me.... YES SARAH PALIN WAS IN THE HOUSE. Forget hiking a glacier, flying in a propeller plane through the mountains, and seeing the Northern Lights.... SOMEHOW at 4:30am my trip WAS MADE. My week long joke of running into the infamous governor who could see “Russia from her backyard” became a reality and I am still laughing to myself that I got so excited for someone I really don’t even follow regularly."

This is the Facebook status I posted the morning I flew out of Anchorage, AK. Although comical, it brushed quickly over the time I spent in Alaska! Here are some things I learned.

Culture shock.... kinda. Alaska is a part of the USA, but verrrryyyy far away. Most of the cities and towns in Alaska are extremely remote as well. 82% of Alaskan villages are only accessible by plane. Our tiny propeller plane tour was even cut short because the pilot needed to take some citizens back to their remote homes from Anchorage while the weather was clear. They had been waiting 3 days! Can you imagine? Hope they didn't keep babysitters waiting 3 DAYS?!? In situations like this, yes the culture is very different. However, the city itself in terms of businesses was very monopolized because it's still America. So there was your typical Walmart, Walgreens, Target, Taco Bell, etc., but you didn't expect that type of normalcy given the location.

Expensive! Alaska has to import EVERYTHING, even oil. Oil is harvested in Alaska, yes, but they export it to be refined then import is back in.

Jacket. If you have a parka bring it, even if it seems like a hassle on the plane. Learned this one the hard way.

Northern Lights. The northern lights are breathtaking and worth bearing the single digit weather. They're great dancers.

Small Town. The Alaskans taught me the importance of gratitude. Every person you met was so excited to greet a tourist and offer suggestions on mountains to hike, places to eat, or trails to walk. They were grateful to be alive though it was frigid which leads me to my next point.

Appreciation. The reason I traveled to Alaska was to see my brother's opening night for the Broadway Tour of Cinderella (good excuse, right?) The citizens of Alaska traveled near and FAR to come to this performance. I talked to one woman and her daughter who had driven 7 hours, gotten a hotel and made a weekend of out it. She mentioned that Alaska doesn't get much out of town events because of the distance and when they do they are so grateful. Sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are to be surrounded by theaters with touring productions, accessible roads or even having the 4 for $4 at Wendy's (yes it was the 4 for $6 in Alaska!!). Being so far away from home made me realize this.

Nature. God has a really fun time making Alaska. His creativity was on fleek. His work is still being done as I learned that glaciers are changing daily (melting, freezing, etc.).

Well, that was my quick summary of my trip to Alaska. Thanks for reading my first real blog. Hope you enjoyed it!

CG