Virtual Alaska With Mr. Hollinger
Journal Entry for Friday, April 27, 2001
I left Columbus airport this morning at 7:15. Flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. After a three hour layover there I boarded a flight bound for Anchorage, Alaska. After 5 and a half hours we arrived in Anchorage. It was 2:30p.m. Alaska time; 6:30p.m. Ohio time. At a little after 6:00 p.m. I boarded a Convair 580, an airplane that was built around 1950 (but rebuilt several times since) for the 45 minute flight from Anchorage to Valdez. The sun was shining when we left Anchorage. Valdez was very overcast upon our arrival, but the mountains that surround this town of 4,000 people were quite impressive.
I was met at the Valdez airport by Karen Long, the teacher here that I am collaborating with, and her six year old son Justin. They showed me around town, then I checked into my hotel. It was about 8:00 p.m. local time when I got settled; midnight back in Delaware, Ohio. I started this day at 5:00 a.m., so I am ready to call it a day. Unfortunately it is still daylight. By 10:00 (2:00) I am still awake and there is still light in the sky. That's the way it is this time of year in "the land of the midnight sun.
Photos
Anchorage, Alaska is a city of over 250,000 people. It's much like any American city of the same size. It's home to about half of Alaska's population. The airport is quite modern, but like most in the U.S. is being up-graded.
1950's vintage Convair 580. A workhorse around the Prince William Sound. It hauls freight and passengers to towns and villages all around this part of Alaska.
A view of Valdez. The orginal town was destroyed by a tidal wave that hit the town in the aftermath of the 1964 Alaska earthquake. This "new" Valdez was built several miles west of the original town site at a location that is thought to be safer.
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