January 13, 2012
Alaska Airlines Fairbanks – Anchorage 800a – 915a 737-900 Economy Class
Alaska Airlines Anchorage – Portland 1215p – 434p 737-400 Economy Class



Winter Departure from Fairbanks at -42°F

It’s been a cold winter in Fairbanks. The January temperature average has been -26°F. This weekend it’s supposed to get down to the -40° to -50° range for a few days. As much as I miss my home in Alaska any time of year, I certainly won’t miss it quite as much this winter, especially since there are reports that the coldest weather is yet to come.

As my 737 climbed away from Fairbanks, I took a moment to reflect upon the journey ahead. This is a fairly ambitious undertaking – even for me. It took thirty-three separate tickets to book this trip. As presently booked and paid for, I’m looking at flying 82 flights covering 87830 miles over the next five weeks. Twenty-seven of those flights will be aboard propeller driven DeHavilland Canada DHC-8-400 aircraft. Twenty-four of the flights will be over 2000 miles in length. Eight more will be over 1000 miles in length. I anticipate quite a few upgrades along the way. Over the course of this trip I’ll also be flying through at least twenty different cities. Twenty-eight nights will be spent in airports. Three train trips will be taken, two of them along previously unexplored trackage. Strange though it may sound, I’m looking forward to all of it!



Denali’s 20,320’ Summit Rises Above The Cloud Cover between Fairbanks and Anchorage

In a sense, this trip will be like going off to work. In exchange for planting my butt in all those airplane seats, I’ll be able to deposit a nice chunk of mileage to my account by the time I get back home. Some of those miles will go to immediate use transporting me to Queensland, Australia for a wedding. I won’t be staying long though – just three days – because work awaits me back home in Alaska.

Sorry gang, there will be no trip report on the Australia trip. I tried to get a seat in Business Class but there simply wasn’t availability, especially into Brisbane. After years of writing about wonderful trips abroad whilst being wined and dined in First or Business Class suites, I just can’t bring myself to write about sitting in Economy Class on such a long journey. It would be too depressing.

On Alaska’s three hour and fourteen minute flight from Anchorage down to Portland, I purchased a delicious bowl of Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo from Alaska’s Northern Bites Buy On Board menu. This dish featured fettuccine pasta with sliced chicken, alfredo sauce, parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley. It was served with warm garlic bread and cost just $6.00.



Alaska’s $6.00 bowl of Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Upon landing in Portland, I picked up a rental car and sped off down the highway towards Bandon, Oregon where a weekend filled with fellow Denali drivers, football, good food and maybe a beer or two awaited. Unfortunately, a huge winter storm bearing down on the Pacific Northwest caused me to have to head back up to Portland a day early. It’s a good thing I did, too. By the time I got up to the Tillamook/Seaside area, it was snowing heavily and all of the highways heading across the coastal range to Portland were requiring chains or snow tires. My rental car, a Ford Taurus, was equipped with standard highway tires. Not wanting to have an experience similar to eightblack’s on his epic journey out to New York last winter, I pressed northward into Washington where I was able to ever so carefully guide the Taurus through fog and over icy roads into Kelso for the night. Now just fifty miles from Portland on the I-5 corridor, I was virtually assured of getting into Portland without incident. As such, I splurged and got a room at the local Econo Lodge.

Here are some pictures from my drive up some of the less wintry portions of the Oregon coast…



Storm clouds gather off the Oregon Coast as seen along US 101



Looking north along the tracks of the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad



Not a good day for going to Oregon’s beaches


January 16, 2012
Amtrak Portland – Tukwila 515p – 816p The Cascade Business Class
Horizon Airlines Seattle – Portland 1100p – 1147p DHC-8-400 Economy Class

As originally planned, I would have started this day with a leisurely drive over the Coastal Range from Seaside into Portland. Well it’s a good thing I continued on last night because by this morning, US 26, the straight shot from Seaside into Portland, was closed. US 30 was chains or snow tires only and Washington State Highway 4, the road I took last night, was now also under chain law.

In Portland I stopped for a quick breakfast at my favorite New York Deli in the Pacific Northwest, after which I started in on a long list of errands. Thankfully the roads around Portland were in good shape but there was a chill in the air and a big storm on the way. By the time I returned the rental car it was 3:00pm and the first flakes of snow were starting to fall. The light rail got me from the airport to within a block of Portland’s Union Station and soon I was relaxing with hot coffee and an internet connection in Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge. This lounge is actually reserved for sleeping car passengers on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight and Empire Builder trains, not Business Class passengers on Amtrak’s Cascades, but I flashed my Presidents Club card and the receptionist allowed me in anyway.



Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge at Portland

It was close to 5:00pm when the lounge receptionist informed me that the train was boarding. As I stepped out of the lounge’s special trackside door, an Amtrak employee quickly showed up with a golf cart and whisked me off to my train car. This was totally unexpected and I noticed that I got some odd looks from all the Coach and Business Class passengers who had apparently not yet been called to board. While Amtrak’s golf cart is no Porsche, I couldn’t help but feel just a little bit like one of Lufthansa’s First Class passengers.

My rail journey today takes me 160 miles north to Tukwila. The station is located just a few blocks from the junction of Interstates 5 and 405, making it the closest stop to SeaTac Airport. There is infrequent Metro bus service to SeaTac or you can walk about four blocks up to a busier road where there’s direct bus service to the airport every 20 minutes. Given the inclement weather, I’d called in advance and arranged to have a taxi meet my train upon arrival.

Amtrak’s Cascades utilize a unique consist known as the Talgo. This train was built in Spain and incorporates enhancements to the suspension system that result in the ability to travel more smoothly at higher speeds. The train usually consists of, in order, two Business Class cars, the Bistro car and six or seven coaches. The cars and the engine are painted in an attractive green, brown and white color scheme.



Amtrak’s Cascades ready for the northbound journey to Seattle

Business Class cars offer 1 x 2 seating in comfortable leather upholstered recliners. The large windows are curtained and a single 110-volt outlet is located beside each row of seats. Mounted on the ceiling of each car are TV monitors that display our route and location. Toward the rear of the car is a magazine rack filled with fresh copies of both Portland and Seattle newspapers. With Business Class fares normally running just $15.00 more than Economy for the 3.5 hour service to Seattle, I think it’s money well spent for a decent product.



Cascades Business Class

About an hour into the trip I paid a visit to the Bistro or café car. The menu offered three different sandwiches for $6.75 each, Ivar’s clam chowder or the soup of the day for $4.55 and two different pasta bowls or a rice and chicken bowl for $6.75. One of the perks of traveling in Business Class is that you get a coupon good for $3.00 off anything in the Bistro. Hot and filling, the Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl turned out to be an excellent choice for a cold, wintry day like today.

The Bistro car offers seats at the counter or buffet style seating in the dining area, which also serves as the train lounge. I headed back to my seat where there was plenty of room to spread out with my meal and laptop both close at hand.



Amtrak’s Cascade Bistro Car



Amtrak’s Cascade Bistro Car

My taxi was waiting for me when I alighted from the train in Tukwila, right on time. Ten minutes later I presented myself at the Alaska counter to ask if, given the current poor weather and a forecast calling for even worse weather tomorrow, might I fly down to Portland tonight instead of waiting for my scheduled flight tomorrow morning. As scheduled, I had a tight connection in Portland and if the weather was bad in Seattle, there was a good chance my flight down to Portland would be delayed. If I missed my flight out of Portland to Boston, there would be no more that day, nor online connections. Normally to do this would be considered a stopover in Portland and the overall fare would be much higher. Thankfully however, the agent listened patiently, concurred with my logic and moments later handed me a boarding pass for the 11:00pm departure.