Monday, January 23, 2012

SNOW and Failed Flight

Monday     1/23     Juneau



Time to go!  All the gear is thrown in the airplane and we're ready.  Left to right: Dr. Bob, Bob, Haagu, Bill, Joey.

Note the absence of color or shade difference between the sky and the snow.  Trouble.



Joey writes:
"Donna's [restaurant], seven AM. Early. Usual diner fare. Weak coffee just what I don't need. Dr. Bob must be nervous, cleans all our plates. Hope we have enough food. Nine AM Harris Air. The plan is to be flown to the logging road, actually a few miles from Tenakee Springs. Weather looks promising, but this is Alaska in winter. We quickly load our gear, four pairs of skis, four sleds, too much gear and one dog. The dog looks nervous.
Once in the air the wind picks up. Rough ride. Dog starts to hyperventilate, Dr. Bob might be as well. Wind gets worse as we get closer. Clouds lower. We're stopped. For a split second we spot the nautical marker for Tenakee Inlet, but then loose it. One circle, ten minutes and it's back to Juneau. Try again later. Unload. Wait.
We realize we may be waiting for a few days, weather gods don't seem to agree with our schedule. In our confident push Bill sent his wallet off to Hoonah, along with all of our street wear. We head off to find lunch dressed in our finest ski gear. Awkward. We find a quiche place in the mall so we'll fit in. Back to the airport. Wait. No luck. Back to the hotel. Try again tomorrow. Dinner of mexican, good thing they can't see under the table. By this point the Bob's and Bill are dressed in tight fleece pants. Good thing tight pants are back in. From a distance they look hip, until you notice the ski boots. At the hotel I get my first introduction to spades. Odd game. Not sure if it would be fun with out Dr. Bob's obvious passion for the game. Combined with his Howard Cossel like narration and I'm thinking this could out compete televised poker."





Better days!  Haagu and Bob have not begun to panic yet as we haven't gotten our seat belts on yet.

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