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Published: September 22nd 2007
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Country and Western
We've got both flights here son - In, AND Out. Just not today and not for you. So, the saga continues....
This leg of the trip has turned out to be more challenging than the others. After the fiasco that finally got us here earlier this week, we are indeed still stuck in Barrow.
We finished up our work early this morning and went to the airport to see if we could catch the morning flight (there are only 2 flights a day here). We were on standby and had checked our bags in. Once all the passengers had boarded the plane they realized that they only had one seat available. We discussed it a bit and decided that our team lead should take the seat as he had more pressing family matters than either Steve or I did. He gave us the keys to the rental car and headed to security to get on the plane.
It's important to note the infinitesimal size of the airport. It has one room which serves as check-in, baggage claim, and a seating area (far too small for the number of people) and security. Security is especially interesting as it occurs before you walk outside (yes, you have to walk outside in Barrow to get on a plane)
and as you begin boarding. There's no waiting area on the other side of security as in most airports, it only has room for one person on the other side.
Back to the story...as he got to the front of the security line they asked him to wait a minute. It turns out that the next stop, Prudhoe Bay, was overbooked so the empty seat was only good to Purdhoe Bay. Prudhoe Bay is a city entirely owned and operated by British Petroleum (now called "Beyond Petroleum"). There is nowhere to stay and you can't even leave their airport unless you work for BP. As such, they would not allow him to board so we were right back where we started. We headed to lunch and then back to our hotel where we waited in the lobby for the next 7 hours. In the lobby, we tracked the flight and realized that it was running behind. As a matter of fact, it hadn't left Anchorage (which meant it was 2 hours behind). After continuous checking online and at the airport we realized it was futile. After all, if it hadn't left Anchorage it wouldn't be here for at least
Baggage Claim
This is the baggage claim "area" and I use the term area loosely 3 hours. Out of sheer boredom we decided to go to dinner.
We ate at Pepe's North of the Border Mexican restaurant, the northernmost Mexican place in the US, despite my considerable protests. There I was treated to an anguishing meal, one of the worst since my 10-year old military MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) I ate in Uganda. It was downright despicable. Despite my complaints, I had no choice but to pay the bill ($26) for a terrible meal and a Coke. By the way, everything is ridiculously priced here...Gasoline is $4.55 per gallon and Milk is $8.00 per gallon. After that treat, we went to the airport to get an update and found out that the flight had just been cancelled due to an "Extreme Mechanical" problem. So we spent from 6:30 to 10:30 tonight at Barrow's dilapidated airport. We all got hosed with our new itineraries and shared a general malaise about the Alaska Airlines experience. Since there are only 3 hotels in all of Barrow and so many of us were staying there was a shortage of rooms. In anticipation, I had already secured rooms just in case, so we were good to go. There were 4 BP employees stuck here without a room and were going to have to sleep in the airport. Steve and I offered to share a room and give our other room up to the 4 BP guys. I could empathize with their situation and hoped that others would do the same for me had I been stranded here without a hotel.
So, that being said, here's the result of today's ordeal. Originally I was going to fly in to Anchorage tonight, spend the night and fly to Seattle and then San Diego on Friday to be home around 8:00 PM. Now, I've got a slightly less convenient itinerary. Friday morning I will fly from Barrow to Fairbanks, Fairbanks to Anchorage, and Anchorage to Seattle. Because of the connection requirements, I will have to stay Friday night in a hotel in Seattle and will fly to San Diego on Saturday morning, arriving around noon. I am less than thrilled, to say the least but that's the reality of dealing with an airline that has a veritable monopoly on flights up here (Alaska Airlines). They are, of course, paying for my room tonight in Barrow and my room in Seattle. I have tried to use the phones here a couple of times today but was told that "they aren't very reliable." My cell phone doesn't work either so I'm stuck with sending e-mail until I get back to the real world. Wish me luck...I need it.
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