"Will we... or won't we leave?"  That is the question.....

 Wednesday, May 30th did not start like any other day.  It was our last day in Silver Lake.  We needed to finish packing the RV.  We were not sure where it would stay for the summer yet, and we needed to get to Manhattan, KS for the night.  Well, things went much slower than we thought, as we still had to disperse many of the final few items that we could not fit on the RV or would not go to Alaska (thanks Mike and Kathy...  their sale will be on June 15th & 16th on North Topeka Blvd.) Our kind neighbors forced us to take a break for a lunch at Gambino's and then washed a couple loads of laundry so we would not have to do that once we got to Manhattan that evening.

Thankfully, we were able to get the Tiffin RV parked at some other friends who have a large yard, and were willing to babysit it for the summer.

We then packed our final few items and headed for Manhattan, KS. After traveling a block and a half we turned around in a drenching storm with hail.  About 30 minutes later and with no power we tried a second time to head to Manhattan, through downed trees, single lane construction with no control lights but made it to Gabe's house by 9:30pm safe and sound!

On Thursday May 31, we headed to Kansas City International Airport at 8:30am for our 1:05pm flight.  All was going well till we arrived at what we thought was going to be a tricky check-in, with six checked bags.  After waiting for over 20 minutes we found out we were in the wrong terminal.  Yes, it was an Alaskan Airways flight but it was actually on an American Eagle flight.  By this time it was about 12:15.  Once we were checked in and had boarding passes we were told to run to the gate.  We made it there with five minutes to spare, quick hugged the boys goodbye and rushed through the security checkpoint.  Then we heard the announcement,  "Due to severe weather at Chicago O'Hare we were on an 1 hour delay..." We would not take off till after 2:30pm.  Our flight in Chicago for Seattle took off at 3:35pm and we arrived at 3:50pm.  We now had 6 hours to kill before we could leave on the next and last flight of the night to Seattle.  So we took a walking tour of O'Hare airport and saw the "Tunnel of Lights" (thanks Gabe)

and the Hydroponic Gardens (thanks Chicago Police Officer / Tour Guide).

So, we waited for the 7:40pm flight that took off at 10:10pm for Seattle.  We arrived in Seattle at 1am local time and 4:00am our time.  We re-booked our Ketchikan flight AGAIN, collected a few RON kits.  (I told them that I was not Ron and needed a "Rick and Gwen kit", but they still gave us the RON kits) and we used them....nothing like a toothbrush and deodorant when you have nothing else!

It is also amazing what a little sleep and a shower can do for you.  On June 1st we got up at 8:00am (11am our time) and made it  to the airport to leave for Ketchikan at 10:00am.

Arrived in Ketchikan on time at 12:00pm local time, but about 18 hours later than our original itinerary.  We saw over four cruise ships in port when we arrived.  That did not matter to us, we had made it....we ferried over from the landing area to the main island and waited for a cab.  The first one that drove up was pirate.  He had a patch on one eye and wore suspenders, but got a call before we could get to his cab.  I think that may have  been a good thing as we look back over the events of the past two days.  We did get a cab and arrived in our room at the Gilmore Hotel at about 1:30pm.  We were settled in Alaska....

Then the Norwegian Pearl decided to notify us that she was leaving at 2:00pm and was blowing her horn right outside our window....this was the view.  We were told that there were about 8,000 tourists in town that day.

That is fine.....
We have made it with ALL six of our bags a well.....

We are off to breakfast and take a few pictures with my real camera, instead of Gwen's iPhone.

Till next time...