Flying is something else you need to get used to when traveling to bush Alaska. Most of the villages are only accessible by plane or boat. I had never flown before my trip, so the whole experience was quite exciting (and nerve wracking) for me.
My first flight took me from my small hometown airport to Chicago. This plane was pretty small, one row of seats on the left side, two on the right. Takeoff wasn't too bad, and that feeling I had once we were in the air was just magical. It still is amazing to me. I couldn't believe how fast we moved, 3 minutes in and we were flying over the wind turbines in a town that was 30 minutes away by car. The land looks so different from the air.
When I landed in Chicago, I had a bit of a layover, so that gave me some time to explore and see the sights of O'Hare airport. That place really is huge! I couldn't believe how many stores it had! I think it'd be much smaller if there weren't so many! I didn't get any souvenirs except for my $15 turkey sandwich and fruit cup ;)
Finally, it was time for my next flight that would take me to Anchorage. This plane was a 747 and much larger. Thankfully, that meant I had a lot more leg room. This plane also had Wi-Fi and Direct TV, though you had to pay for both services. I'm too cheap for that, so I spend the 6 hour flight sleeping and reading A Fault in Our Stars. Even so, 6 hours is a loooong time. United has a flight tracker though, so you can see where your flight is. It was neat to see which state we were in, though it didn't update once we entered Canada.
After 2 days in Anchorage, we took a small plane to the District Office in King Salmon. This plane was about the same as the first one, and the flight wasn't too bad, though landing was a bit rough. Thankfully, it was a short flight, so I wasn't bothered too much.
The most interesting flight was the one I took from King Salmon to Port Heiden. I'm not sure how they thought 5 people and their copious amounts of luggage would fit in the tiny bush plane, but only 3 of us ended up going, and a few bags had to be left for the second trip. This plane was TINY! I couldn't fathom how it was going to get off of the ground with us, our suitcases, and 4 totes of frozen food, but somehow we made it. It was a pretty rough ascent, and I felt motion sick a few times. Thankfully, the view helped to distract me until we had to land on the dirt runway at Port Heiden.
Overall though, flying isn't as bad as I thought it would be!
My first flight took me from my small hometown airport to Chicago. This plane was pretty small, one row of seats on the left side, two on the right. Takeoff wasn't too bad, and that feeling I had once we were in the air was just magical. It still is amazing to me. I couldn't believe how fast we moved, 3 minutes in and we were flying over the wind turbines in a town that was 30 minutes away by car. The land looks so different from the air.
When I landed in Chicago, I had a bit of a layover, so that gave me some time to explore and see the sights of O'Hare airport. That place really is huge! I couldn't believe how many stores it had! I think it'd be much smaller if there weren't so many! I didn't get any souvenirs except for my $15 turkey sandwich and fruit cup ;)
Finally, it was time for my next flight that would take me to Anchorage. This plane was a 747 and much larger. Thankfully, that meant I had a lot more leg room. This plane also had Wi-Fi and Direct TV, though you had to pay for both services. I'm too cheap for that, so I spend the 6 hour flight sleeping and reading A Fault in Our Stars. Even so, 6 hours is a loooong time. United has a flight tracker though, so you can see where your flight is. It was neat to see which state we were in, though it didn't update once we entered Canada.
After 2 days in Anchorage, we took a small plane to the District Office in King Salmon. This plane was about the same as the first one, and the flight wasn't too bad, though landing was a bit rough. Thankfully, it was a short flight, so I wasn't bothered too much.
The most interesting flight was the one I took from King Salmon to Port Heiden. I'm not sure how they thought 5 people and their copious amounts of luggage would fit in the tiny bush plane, but only 3 of us ended up going, and a few bags had to be left for the second trip. This plane was TINY! I couldn't fathom how it was going to get off of the ground with us, our suitcases, and 4 totes of frozen food, but somehow we made it. It was a pretty rough ascent, and I felt motion sick a few times. Thankfully, the view helped to distract me until we had to land on the dirt runway at Port Heiden.
Overall though, flying isn't as bad as I thought it would be!
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