On my way home, I stop in Fairbanks to watch the Barrow Whalers play football; a man paints lines at MacDonald's
Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 4:35PM 
On my way home from the Arctic Slope, I stopped in Fairbanks to catch the Barrow Whalers football game against Monroe Catholic School. The date, September 11, kind of added a little impact to the traditional playing of the National Anthem that proceeds football games.
The Whalers won, 26-14. I have not yet had time to edit any of my photos from this trip and I have a huge edit to do, but I remembered seeing quarterback Eddie Benson blasting his way with a cast on his arm through the Monroe defense on the Whaler's final touchdown drive, so, for this blog, I went straight to that photo and this is it.
The touchdown came on the very next play, when Benson hit Trace Hudson with a 10 yard pass. Readers can find a more complete account in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, right here.
The end of the game came dangerously close to my departure time out of Fairbanks International Airport and I should have left maybe 10 minutes before I did, but I pushed my luck and stayed put just to capture this scene.
I then rushed to the airport, checked in before it was too late and then returned the rental to Budget. There was one woman ahead of me and it took the guy behind the desk about 15 minutes to serve her. Finally, with little time to spare, he handed her the keys to her rental car and she left.
I stepped to the counter, anxious to complete the transaction so that I could go through security and board my plane, but before he could help me, the phone rang.
It kind of felt like someone had cut in line ahead of me. The guy then spent several minutes with this person as I grew ever more anxious, as departure was now less than 20 minutes away.
After he took my keys, I headed for security and as I was finishing up, I heard the final boarding call for my flight. "All passengers must now board." I put my belt back on, cinched it, then slipped my feet half-way into my shoes, grabbed my stuff and ran toward the gate.
All passengers but me had boarded. There was one ticket scanner, sitting by the gate waiting for me.
I handed her my ticket. She scanned it. I boarded the plane. They shut the door behind me, fired up the engines, we were giving the pre-flight speech and then we left.
Margie picked me up at Ted Stevens International in Anchorage. I had not eaten since lunch, so we stopped at MacDonald's, nearing midnight. As we sat in the car eating our hamburgers and drinking our fruit smoothies (see... MacDonald's can too be healthy - FRUIT smoothies) this guy drove up and started to paint fresh parking lines.
Now, I will see if I can get a little rest and then try to make a small account of what was a big and interesting trip.
I might add that when I was on Cross Island, I heard no national or international news at all, very little when I was in Nuiqsut, but began to learn of what has been going on in my nation during my few hours in Barrow. Now I am home, awash in the flood of news. All I can say is - my country has been going nuts.
Reader Comments (8)
Do you suppose our country has always had more than it's share of "nutjobs?" In fact, I've never lived in a neighborhood without one or two in the near vicinity. We just didn't know how many more were out there because we didn't have access to 24 hour "news" channels to give them a voice or the internet that spreads their nuttiness around the world with the speed of light (or faster maybe). Because of the internet and "twittering" and social networks like "facebook" now they can band together quicker and easier as well, spreading half-truths, misstatements, and out-and-out lies and down-right stupidity instantaneously.
Glad to have you back sharing your sanity and serenity.....
I would have been very glad to have a respite from the insanity that is the USA for the last couple of days. Welcome home.
yes, Bill...our country is going nutz and we sane people need to step up.
Love the Whalers end of game celebration photo!
Now I am home, awash in the flood of news. All I can say is - my country has been going nuts.
Yes it is, but welcome to our long lost Alaskan summer!
Congrats Whalers!
good to see you back
Glad to see the Whalers win another one.
Yes, our country is going crazy. One thing we can each do is get out and vote in just under 2 months and vote for reasonable people, not these crazy teaparty loons.
Thanks, everybody! Now it is time for me to leave to go to Nikiski for the next Whaler game. Nikiski is very tough. It should be a battle.