Vacation8.html

June 24 Juneau to Anchorage to.....(101/2hrs later) to Fairbanks
Or, the day our travel agent (Roy) goofed (not that I would EVER say I-told-ya-so)

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The flight from Juneau to Anchorage. In Anchorage we got stuck. Telly and Ry read an X-File while endlessly waiting. Roy was overjoyed.

Roy made all the arrangments for this trip. Most everything was booked in Februrary of this year. Unfortunately he failed to reserve the flight between Anchorage and Fairbanks, assuming that this is such a common route that it could easily be booked on the spot. After waiting in line for over 2 hours, we finally got to buy our ticket from the harrassed, inundated Alaskan Air ticket agent. However, the earliest she could get us a flight was 7:30 in the evening,, and, she did not win any friends when she informed us that we would not be able to check our bags until late in the afternoon. After considerable debate, discussion and indecision, we decided to take a cab into the downtown area to do our own walking tour of Anchorage.

The Comfort Inn, with Hollie and Richard, the Hungarian shuttle driver, WERE a comfort. They stored our bags and provided us transportation back to the airport even though we are not staying there until later in our trip. We found salvation by pizza in the Mall at Anchorage, then explored downtown Anchorage. Thanks Comfort Inn!

We were met at the Fairbanks airport by friends Dave and Randi Jandt. I knew Randi from vet school. Both Randi and her husband Dave work for the Bureau of Land Managment fighting fires. Randi serves as Chief Logistical officer and Dave is in charge of scouting and managing fires over much of Central Alaska. They both are often called on to fight fires in the lower 48 states too. They expect to be called to Arizona very soon to fight fires there once the situation here in Alaska is under control.
During the off season (winter), Randy works as a wildlife veterinarian, as well as a relief veterinarian in central Alaska. Though she has done alot of work with moose, she is currently working on a project to track Wolverines in Western Alaska by surgically implanting radio telemetry devices.
We were fortunate that Randy*s current fire, which has already burned over 100,000 acres near Minot, Alaska, was only 125 miles from their home in Fairbanks, thus she was able to catch a helicopter ride home for one night so we could see her. Dave*s work, scouting from the air, allowed him to work from home for the time being. We really enjoyed getting to know him.

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