Iditarod: Day 1
Iditarod: Day 1
3/4/26
Denver - Seattle - Anchorage
Sled Doggos Pet: 0
A crazy early morning, earlier than originally planned due to Jake’s suggestion to get to the airport earlier than planned (longer than normal TSA lines). He may or may not have been right…but we’ll just keep that to ourselves, yes? En route I also noticed that my precheck was not on my boarding pass. I debated the rest of the drive whether to stop at the check in desk for a new boarding pass so I didn’t have to do pauper security but in the end elected to just deal. I am nothing if not flexible. Hehe. Naturally, my mukluks needed to come off and that is not a quick slip on and off with the lacings.
During the flight I started re-binging Bridgerton season 2 since I just finished reading the book for that particular season and I landed at SeaTac just in time for an overpriced brunch biscuit and overly dramatic bloody.
Dramatic, no? Not pictured: the $20+ brek biscuit that looked like it came from a gas station.
The plane to Anchorage sat on the tarmac so long I finished the rest of the Bridgerton season before we even took off due to some delay. Thankfully, the over-priced brunch set me up nicely for naptime once the flight took off. I woke up just before we were about to land in Anchorage and got some really cool pictures of the landscape.
Contrary to just about everywhere online recommending getting a rental car, I had decided to wing it once I got to Anchorage. I was planning on staying in the city, how hard can it possibly be to navigate? Spoiler: not at all, the bus system could rival CyRide.
I got smaller bills from an airport restaurant and went to the airport bus stop. Since moving out of Minnesota, frigid cold has never failed to feel like a punch to the gut, despite any number of layers. Thankfully Alaskans have common sense and have the bus stop just outside the building so everyone can wait in the heated entryway.
The bus was very quiet, and I enjoyed the wild scenery during the ride. Alaska gives you the immediate impression that you are insignificant. The wildlife and landscape do not for one minute owe you anything. It truly feels like the frontier, I could get dysentery and die. Hindsight, that’s really funny due to the sheer amount of sled dog poo.
Thankfully, modern technology allows me to look up the bus routes and navigate the city with ease, complete with buzzing notifications that my stop is the next one. Stepping out into downtown Anchorage I was dropped off at the main transit hub and saw that Anchorage is like any other downtown, distinctly displaying the wealth gap. Despite the bitter 9 degree weather, unhoused individuals were napping under benches.
My hotel was a quick walk on snow packed sidewalks that I may or may have almost slipped and died on. the quaint hotel had a very north shore feel to it with its dated decor and kitchenette. It was blessedly warm too.
My surgeon who convinced me to volunteer for the Iditarod also sent me here with a list of restaurants to try. After dumping my luggage and readjusting my layers, I looked up the bus route to Midtown and made my precarious way to the bus stop. Paying my $2 fare (seriously, that cheap), I found a seat and then witnessed a near domestic as the couple getting on after me couldn’t find his bus pass. That was apparently her responsibility. He was shouting, she was crying. The bus driver promptly kicked them off and I quietly wondered if this was not that uncommon since no one else on the bus seemed bothered.
The remainder of the bus ride was quiet and I enjoyed watching the town change between neighborhoods. It did not miss my notice that almost all of the unhoused I saw, the vast majority of the adults riding the public transport, and the disputing couple were all native. I’ll keep that soapbox tucked away for now.
My phone buzzed to alert me to the stop ahead and I got off and made my way to Dirsko’s first recommendation, Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria. I promptly sat at an open seat at the bar and ordered a house brew pale ale followed by their amber. The couple next to me were locals who ate there weekly and when inquired about what to order, replied that everything was good. Mmmmkay, not very helpful. I did what I have recently taken up when in Rome, or wherever that isn’t home, get the special of the day/week/insert time duration. Shishmaref Cannonball pizza, you’re the winner. Don’t ask, some reference to some old timer Iditarod racer. All I know is it had reindeer sausage that I was looking try.
My other neighbor, also a local, was picking up a to go pizza but also super friendly. We were talking about the race, and the various places I have lived. Prior to leaving with his pizza he made a comment about seeing me next year when Jake and I moved up to Alaska. Hah! But also he could be right…
The beer was delicious. The service as a bit slow, albeit polite. The pizza was solidly mediocre. Would I come back, of course, but mostly for their house beer and bar company.
I got my take out box and looked up my next bus route. I needed to check in as a volunteer for the race. So I walked to a different bus stop and found myself looking at even more of the city. The headquarters was at a newer hotel that was undergoing renovations. A elevator trip followed by the longest hallway to ever exist and I checked in and got my very official volunteer hat.
I walked back to my hotel and made my way up to the third floor. Getting off the elevator, I was met by a disheveled man wrapped in a ratty comforter and seemingly pantless. He asked for change for the bus in which I said sorry, I don’t have any cash on me and walked into my room. Don’t ask me why it didn’t register in my brain that a very likely unhoused person was in my hotel until I was in my room, but all of a sudden it did register. I bolted the door lock and went to the room phone to call the desk. Only the phone wasn’t working. So I dig out my cell, look up the hotel online and call the desk to report the individual. Now, I have stayed in a fair number of what I fondly call “slasher motels” (motels that seem straight out of slasher horror film) and while I risk bedbugs more than the average person, this was a new experience. To the hotel’s credit, the desk personnel seemed appropriately shocked at the report and promptly sent security up to the floor. I did not have any untoward encounter after that either, so my guess is that he somehow snuck in looking for warmth.
It was already sunset (small amount of daylight up in Alaska) and Denver is two hours ahead, I retired for an “early” night at 6pm.
Coastal view from my room.
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Our hero and heroine make their way through Sultanahmet neighborhood en route to the airport for one final flight back home to an awaiting Leinie Trail Dog.