Democratic Convention Travel Log – Anchorage to Sitka
No matter how well prepared I swear I’ll be, I always end up leaving things until the last minute. I don’t mean to. I start early. But the length of time it takes me to be ready to go is always exactly proportionate to the amount of time I actually have. To the minute.
So, last night I found myself doing this and that, and the clock which didn’t have the decency to stop and wait for me to be finished showed 3:17am when I got to bed. The alarm went off at 5:30. I did manage to get to the airport in time, where I waited on a very long line with a lot of other sleepy Democrats. Many of us were catching this early flight to Sitka for the Democratic convention. There was Keli Booher, who I voted for for the South Anchorage Assembly seat. And there was Kay Brown, and Rep. Berta Gardner, Rod McCoy, and Mara Kimmel, Ethan Berkowitz’s wife. She, however, was not going to Sitka but to China! In my pre-coffee dry-eyed haze, I remember her saying something about students, and blogging the trip and I’ll hopefully be getting some updates to share here.
As we boarded, I realized that I was assigned to the row immediately behind the “Elite Class” section. I figure since I’m a blogger on a plane full of Democrats, this makes me part of the almost elite liberal media. So close….
The day was beautiful and clear leaving Anchorage, and I got some nice shots of the mudflats, and the Chugach Mountains.
As we head south, the sky is a patchwork of cottonballs, showing tantalizing glimpses of jagged peaks and winding rivers through the gaps. I just got a lovely view of the shoreline and took a minute to watch the huge rollers breaking on the shore thousands of feet below.
I finally managed to get about 3 and a half ounces of coffee in a weensy little cup, and it hasn’t seemed to have much of an effect. The flight is packed, and a small child is pushing against my seat. It actually feels kind of nice. It’s like a lumbar rub. The flight is short, an hour and 24 minutes to Juneau and then a quick hop to Sitka from there. Mmmmmm. They ought to rent this kid out.
The clouds have parted a bit, and I’m looking down on incredible jagged peaks, river fallys, and glaciers. Coming from somewhere where every valley and hill and mountain has a name, it still amazes me that there is so much bigness, that rivers and lakes, and even mountains exist here that don’t have names. Try to name over a million lakes. At some point you’d run out of “Rabbit Lake” and “Bear Lake” and “Caribou Lake” and you’d end up with Lake G4783(a) or some such thing. Anonymity is better.
The descent into Juneau is lovely. Interesting clouds, beautiful complex shorelines, little islands everywhere.
Upon landing in Juneau, I discovered that our next Lt. Governor Diane Benson was sitting right behind me and I didn’t even realize it – right next to my little lumbar masseur. And gubernatorial candidate Bob Poe boarded for the hop to Sitka.
No time to get off the plane, which is sad… But I did get a good laugh at the baggage loader who was wearing a pair of Xtra Tuffs. Only in Alaska.
The flight to Sitka was amazingly quick, and absolutely breathtaking. I was in love with Sitka before the wheels even touched the ground. Mt. Edgecomb, a dormant volcano had its head shrouded in clouds, and the characteristic emerald green Alaskan water lapped the shores of hundreds of little islands, some with trees, some without.
At the airport, were lots of politicos there to greet the plane – Party Chair Deborah Williams, honored guest and keynote speaker Raymond Buckley (Vice Chair of the DNC and President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs), and the other two Democratic gubernatorial candidates Ethan Berkowitz and Senator Hollis French. I ran into congressional candidate Harry Crawford as well.
There’s lots more to tell, but I’m off to a “Meet the Candidates” event, and then hopefully on a two hour cruise. I’m wait-listed, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I do love being out on a boat, and I’ll share pictures if I manage to score a place on the boat.
I’ll try to catch up a bit later, but that two hours of sleep will catch up with me at some point!
One thing I will tell you though, spring has sprung here in the banana belt. Everything is green and flowers are blooming everywhere. What a treat for my color deprived eyes, coming from Anchorage where it’s all still brown….
A two hour cruise? I hope there are no uncharted desert islands near Sitka?
I remember taking several trips to Ireland from Alaska in March or April, and getting off the plane in London or Dublin and being absolutely gobsmacked by the green grass and yellow daffodils.
Enjoy the colors!
very cool!
try to get some sleep tonight.
Beautiful pictures! Have fun, and here’s hoping you can get enough sleep to get you through…
Mostly, enjoy yourself! You’ve earned it.
great journaling & pictures…thx for sharing. Have fun!
Enjoy Sitka by the Sea…. It is such a great town with the greatest people!! I miss my time in Sitka….
I’m so jealous!
Thank you for the ‘pictures’ (I love the photos, too!)
I lived in Sitka for a year. I met some great people but couldn’t handle the rain. It was beautiful when the sun was out (maybe 2-3 days of the entire year that I was there). A boat was a must. And I do miss the whales and the dolphins and the sea otters which one could see so easily (just a few bays away–about an hour by boat). I also miss the raptor rehabilitation center where I used to do volunteer work (PT). Don’t miss that rain one little bit though…
I shouldn’t laugh but I am … the rain… we get a lot more in my part of Southeast and going to Sitka is like going to Palm Springs or one of those dry places people head for …:-)
Sitka is Southeast’s jewel … in many, many ways.
Hoping convention and Sitka surroundings make for a wonderful trip AKM!
Sitka is wonderful. And to be there surrounded by other great D’s can only make it better. Hope you have a great time. And maybe we can get a picture of Brian and a whale.
on HuffPo now:
“Walter J. Hickel, twice Alaska’s governor and an Interior secretary fired by President Richard Nixon after objecting to the treatment of Vietnam War protesters, died Friday. He was 90.
Hickel died of natural causes at Horizon House, an assisted living facility in Anchorage, according to longtime Hickel assistant Malcolm Roberts.
Hickel was dismissed from his Interior post in late 1970, several months after he wrote Nixon a letter critical of the president’s handling of student protests following the National Guard shootings at Kent State and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.
“I believe this administration finds itself today embracing a philosophy which appears to lack appropriate concern for the attitude of a great mass of Americans – our young people,” began the letter, which helped stir the national debate about the growing generational rift over the Vietnam War.
When Hickel was fired in November 1970, Nixon spokesman Ron Ziegler said Nixon took the action because his relationship with Hickel lacked “essential elements of mutual confidence.”
Hickel had never held elected office when he upset two-term Democrat Gov. William Egan in 1966.
Hickel resigned in 1969 to become Interior secretary with the Nixon administration where he quickly made national headlines as the environmental movement began to take root in America.”
more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100508/us-obit-walter-hickel/
And also at the ADN:
http://www.adn.com/2010/05/07/1268751/hickel-dead-at-age-90.html
also at Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/08/AR2010050800486.html
I’ve been out of touch the last two days and hadn’t heard about Hickel’s death. It’s nice to know that someone told Nixon he wasn’t handling the student protests well. I’m not surprised that he was fired for it, though. I remember the Kansas governor getting a less than friendly welcome at the KU commencement in 1971. Knowing that the University of Kansas was fairly liberal, they should have seen that coming. I think I was on one of the few mid-America campuses that handled the anti-war protests as well as they could. Hickel should have come to talk to us – we would have listened.
story also at ADN:
http://www.adn.com/2010/05/07/1268751/hickel-dead-at-age-90.html
JINX!
yep!
the pictures are breathtaking..have a good time
Thanks for the breathtaking pictures, which I would never have been able to appreciate while in flight. Come to think of it I haven’t fown anywhere in nearly a decade. When I HAVE to fly I bury my nose in a book to moderate my fear – none of this looking out the window thing! Good of you to always share the sights with us when you travel. Enjoy every moment, ‘working’ or otherwise, remembering of course to squeeze in some sleep.
‘haven’t flown anywhere’ – and I did read it over before posting!
As always, AKM, the photos are gorgeous. I hope you & your fellow Alaska Dems are having a terrific time!
I’m Sitka bound in two weeks, my favorite place…
jealous!
Our AKM shares the most beautiful moments of zen…what a treasure, Our AKM.
I miss SE. It is so green and beautiful there. And the mudflats in Juneau have a wonderful, salty smell at low tide.
they do!
and the slough near Lemon Creek is turning green along the banks, the ducks are back…
and soon we’ll have wildflowers as far as the eye can see…
Wow! I want to go too!
Don’t forget to give me a “hollar” Welcome. So funny to see “Bob Pole” standing in line, and then I had to say, “I recognize” from the mudflats blog site? He was probably thinking….oh, that’s right, I am in Southeast Alaska, and women here tend to get right up in your face and say, “so what are you about”? It’s a beautiful nite here, yes, the flowers are blooming and the brown bears are a roaming in our back yards. Give me a shout.
AKM, have a wonderful time. Your flight to Sitka looks incredibly beautiful. No wonder you stayed awake. I thought that I was the only person who did all those last minute things before a trip and ended up with two hours or less sleep. No matter what lists I make or how many things I do ahead of time, there is always something. And I just don’t sleep well before any trip – keep thinking through all the things I might have forgotten.
You’re lucky with the kid behind you. I always get the ones that just want to kick. That’s gets annoying really fast.