| Date | Airline | Flight | Type | Regn | Routing | Time | Miles | Remarks | ||
| Back | 08 Oct 16 | AS | 50 | 737-4Q8 Combi | N765AS | BRW-ANC | 01:42 | 724 mi | Next |
During my flight to Barrow I befriended a young couple travelling to Barrow for the day from Portland, OR just to see what the place was like. The fella works for Horizon Air so he was using his pass priveleges for a free ride up and back. They didn't have any wheels in Barrow so I offered to show them some of the more noteable sights around town (and further out) they'd never be able to see without transportation.
The weather in Barrow was overcast cold and windy with a light snow falling. We all hoofed it over to the rental car place where I was able to pursuade them to rent me the vehicle several hours earlier than planned. After getting the truck situated we all headed out for my "guided tour" of Barrow.
Eventually we ended up back at the Top of the World hotel for lunch. While there I met a couple of lady birders who were also up for Ross's Gull and after conversing with them we agreed to meet up at their B&B so we could head out for the birds. After lunch the couple I was with accompanied me to the B&B where we met up with the ladies and the couple went off on their own to await the evening flight back to Anchorage.
The lady birders and I agreed to head out along Stevenson Street (along the coast) in search of Ross's Gulls. Not surprisingly Cathy in the backseat was on several of the gulls with her binoculars within moments of us driving northbound along the coast. We got ahead of the birds so we could attempt some photos of them flying past and I was rewarded with some reasonably acceptable photos of this amazing bird.
The Barrow 'Gals' Cathy/Lynn/Joanna. Birder/Author Lynn Barber in the car.
The quick success with finding the Ross's Gulls prompted me to shorten my Barrow trip by a day. Instead of spending the night and flying out Sunday I checked on availability with Alaska Airlines for the evening flight to Anchorage...success...they had one seat left. So I turned the rental truck in and went to the King Eider Inn and asked if I could stay in their lobby a couple hours until my flight...no problem there. Or so I thought. The place was so cozy that I almost overslept and missed my flight. In fact when I got to the terminal they were calling my name over the intercom for immediate departure! I got through TSA no problem and had to wait at the door with one other fella until we were allowed out on the ramp to board. Once aboard I took my seat in the last row and was delighted to see the young couple from earlier in the day seated in the row ahead of me. I told them of my quick success with the gulls and my desire to get back to Anchorage instead of spending the night in Barrow.
Below is my photo of N765AS at Barrow prior to boarding for the nonstop flight to Anchorage. Below that is the FlightAware screenshot of the flight.
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