a taste of Alaska

No, not Alaska pictures yet, but something I brought back from Alaska: beer! Alpine sampled (ok, drank) them all, and liked the Oatmeal Stout (green label) best, followed by the Amber (red lablel). Believe it or not, I actually drank a Summer Ale at the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway. More on that later...

What's that? How'd I get a six-pack of beer to Kentucky from Alaska? When I bought this beer in Skagway, I wasn't sure how I was going to get it home. I had considered shipping it, but I really didn't have the opportunity to ship it. So, I took it to the airport. Yeah, yeah... I hear you laughing from here. They wouldn't let me carry the beer on the plane, like they used to... so I had to either check it or chuck it (not chug it, as I would have liked to have done at that point). There wasn't enough room in my bag, so we put two bottles in each of our bags... mine and my parents. I just KNEW they were going to get broken, and all our crap would smell like beer! I was so sure that I made a bet with my dad... $10 that 3 would be broken: one in each bag. He said none would be broken, and this is one bet I gladly paid up! So, that $10 basically doubled the price of the beer. At least it made it home. =)

Let me just finish our airport story: We began our air trip home in Vancouver, so not only were we in an international airport, but we were also trying to get back into the US. Yeah, had never done that before. Customs really wasn't that bad, but getting on the plane took forever. After after we checked the beer, we had to call our airline so they could bring us FRAGILE stickers. So we waited, and waited. Finally, they came, we placed the stickers on our bags and sent them down the conveyor belt. Then we go through airport security. My parents bought some syrup for my grandmother... it was taken. We brought a jar of peanut butter with us from Virginia (it was still unopened), and they took that, too. So, no liquids (not even 2 expensive 1-liter bottles of unopened water), no certain types of food... oh yeah, no knives. You'd think that was an easy one, but, in the craziness that was Vanvouver International, it wasn't so easy. I'd bought an Alaskan Ulu Knive and Bowl set for a good friend. It was one of the few things NOT made in China, and I wasn't really interested in going to Alaska and buying a bunch of trinket crap made in freakin' China. I had it packed in my checked luggage, but with the beer emergency, I had to move it. Unfortunately, it went erroneously into my carry on bag. Yep - ooops! Luckily, they allowed me to complete a form, along with my credit card number, to ship the knife to myself. It just arrived this week, and along with the knife, I received a shipping bill that, coincidentally, also basically doubled the price of the knife. At least it made it home, right?

I really do love flying... but this experience was very trying!