Alive in Alaska (2 page)

Betsy and Bill decided to go through the scanners at Pulliam and try to avoid a pat down. They both were in good shape and not very concerned their 60 something images would be interesting to anyone else except each other. As experienced travelers, they had mastered getting through security without delays and this morning at Pullman was no different.

The two hours in Phoenix allowed Betsy to begin a new journal she had brought for the Alaskan adventure. Bill perused the ms Maasdam documents to find out how he would set up the wedding anniversary dinner in the Pinnacle Grill gourmet restaurant. Since their anniversary was on the day that they would be cruising in Glacier Bay eating in the Grill would make the dinner fantastic. He was oblivious to the airport bustle as he sorted through his mental library of the best of Betsy moments.

“Bill.” Betsy’s voice broke through, “They called our seats for boarding.”

Tickets in hand, they joined the line at their gate.

When they had settled in their seats, Bill asked, “How did your meeting with your column editor go, I hadn’t had a chance to ask?”

“Very well, she asked if I would do a separate article about the Gates to the Arctic trip.
 
And because it will play in directly with their Native Alaska series, she will pay $2,000 for it.”

“Okay! That is very nice.”

They looked up to pay attention to the steward as he went through the standard flight speech.
 
Then sat quietly enjoying the take off.
 

The flight to Vancouver was uneventful.
 
In between Betsy journaling and Bill’s looking for interesting gadgets in the SkyMart catalog, they chatted about what they were going to do during the next 15 days. Of course, the cherry on the top of this wonderful trip, second only to their anniversary, was the plus day trip to the Gates of the Arctic and the Eskimo village at Anaktuvak Pass.

“Well, I’m excited about our anniversary day at sea my dear and then that great train ride to Fairbanks.
 
Just think in seven days we’ll be boarding the Denali Star.”

“Yes dear, I know how much you like trains.”

“Honey, it’s the Colorado Railcar Ultra Dome car number 1050, see here on the boarding pass.
 
Seats 12A and 12B. It’s famous.”

“I see Will, I see.”

Betsy looked up and out the small window at the bright sunny day and carpet of clouds below and thought briefly about the US Direct feature. When they landed in Vancouver, they would be escorted to the bus that would take them with no stops directly through Vancouver to the dock and on board the cruise ship.
 
The term for the sealed vehicle was a "Sterile Bus." Customs was not an experience that added to the trip, and since they would be flying back home from a U.S. city, Fairbanks, Customs would not come into play at all.

“Ladies and gentlemen would you please fasten your seatbelt for our dissent into Vancouver.
 
The local time is…”

Bill and Betsy looked at each other with a big smile as their adventure was about to begin for real. Soon they heard the typical bumping noises as the landing gear was lowered and locked.

Danielle looked up from her Kindle as she noticed that the train was turning and that they were now leaving the city.
 
The Chugach mountains were above them on the right side, and the snow was in the shadow of the peaks.
 
She turned to look out the other side and saw the older gentleman and his wife, Bill and Betsy if she remembered correctly.
 
Betsy turned to look her direction and nodded with a smile.
 
Bill realized that Danielle was looking their direction.

“Small world.”

"Yes, it is." She said.

"We have incredible scenery in Arizona, but this has a very different beauty,”
 
He said.

"I've lived here all my life, and it still is beautiful."

“If I may ask, what are you reading?”

“Sure, it is a text by one of my Professors this semester on the geology of St. Lawrence Island.
 
I will be on a project team going there this year, so I thought I would get started with the prep.”

“What year are you at the university?”
 
Bill said.

“Sophomore.”

"Sounds like a pretty aggressive program you're in; that kind of field work usually does’nt start until the Junior or Senior year at NAU."

“I’m an honors student and pretty pleased to be able to get on the project.
 
What is NAU?”

“Northern Arizona University, it’s in Flagstaff.
 
I am teaching there.
 
Betsy teaches there also… journalism.”

“That’s very interesting.”

"We're the Bigelows by the way. We'll have plenty of time to talk; I should let you get back to you reading.
 
Is that the new Kindle?

“Yep, the new Voyage.”

“You like it.”

“What I like best is that I charged it before I came and that charge should last the whole week.”

“I’ll have to look into it,” Danielle smiled, and they all returned to their reading.

“Ladies and Gentleman we’re now heading a bit to the west on our way to the Denali National Park.
 
As you know Denali is the native Alaskan name for the mountain we also called Mt. McKinley for the 25
th
President of the United States.
 
We will be coming, in a few more minutes, to Wasilla Alaska.
 
Of course, anyone who spots Sarah will get a free meal.
 
Speaking of meals, in a few moments we will be taking your orders for the noon seating in the dining area on the lower level of this car. After that, we will come around for the one o'clock seating.
 
Your boarding passes should have the seating on them so let us know if you have reason to need to change the time.
 
In a few minutes, I will start a short presentation on the scenes you will be viewing on this part of our journey."

Danielle was interested, but the noon meal sounded good whatever it might be.
 
While she waited, she read.
 
She noticed that the Bigelows had their order taken.
 
It was now eleven a.m., and Danielle was already hungry.
 
She remembered her mother asking her if she didn't want more than toast and coffee, but her mother had been nicely motherly about it.
 
Now she needed to divert her attention away from food.

“Are you going clear to Fairbanks?”
 
She said across the isle.

"Yes, in fact, we have added the additional day to go to the Gates of the Arctic National Park,”
 
Said Betsy.

“So am I.
 
I am looking forward to it.
 
I have been all over the Brooks Range to the west, but never to Anaktuvak Pass.
 
I am, as you might guess, part Athabaskan and I am interested in the native cultures of Alaska outside my Tanana heritage.”

"I am so very glad to have met you, and if you don't mind, I would like to ask you about the cultures here,” Said Betsy.

"She is going to be writing a magazine article while she is on our trip.
 
She's good,” Bill said.

Danielle could see the pride in Bill’s eyes and then thought that she might be able to help Betsy during the trip up.

“We are ready to seat you now, please just go to back stairway to the dining area.
 
Your table will be 12 the same as your seats,” Said the attendant.

"I am starved,” Said Danielle as she followed the Bigelows.

“I am looking forward to the salmon steaks and vegetable medley.” Said Betsy over her shoulder.

The server brought the plates and beverages and asked if all was correct, then getting yeses all around, turned to the next table.

They ate quietly for a while then Danielle spoke.

“Hopefully, I can be of some help with your project, but remember I’m just a sophomore in collage.”

"Thank you, Danielle, I am sure you will be a great help especially in planning where I want to take the story."

"I think you need to know that I am not just of mixed parentage, but I am also a twenty-first century person.
 
What I mean by that is I am less interested in my Athabaskan heritage and customs, although I honor that, than going forward with modern science and technology."

“That’s interesting, why do you think that is so?”

"Dad and I have spent a lot of time in the backcountry, in the foothills of the Brooks Range, but he is a Masters level petroleum engineer, and he influenced me immensely in pursuing science and engineering."

"So your dad is the primary influence?"

"Well, not the only influence.
 
Mom is full Russian, so her background does not include native Alaskan inculturation.
 
She and dad met at the University of Alaska Anchorage where she was getting a Masters in Anthropology.
 
Science and engineering all the way."

The attendant came to take away plates and to see if they were ready for dessert.

"I'd like my Baked Alaska now.
 
When in Rome you know,”
 
Said Bill.

“Cute,” Said Betsy.

Soon the three were finished with lunch and making their way back to row 12 above.
 
Danielle thought, ‘This may be a more interesting trip than I had realized.’

~~~

“Didn’t you come from the Holland American cruise line? What was the cruise like?” Danielle asked

“Yes, we were on the, ms Maasdam.
 
This is our 40
th
-anniversary celebration cruise," said Betsy.

“That’s wonderful, my mom and dad have been married 25 years.”

"We booked the Maasdam because we knew it would be in Glacier Bay on our fortieth anniversary and we could have dinner in the Pinnacle Grill aboard ship.
 
We were seated right by a large window looking out on the glaciers.
 
It was beautiful, and Betsy was striking in her semi formal dress with perfect hair and makeup.
 
You are beautiful Betsy Bigelow.
 
Thank you for 40 wonderful years."

"You're going to embarrass Danielle Bill,” She reached and tenderly took his hand.

 
"But, it's 43 for me, dear."

“It took me three years to work up the nerve to ask you to marry me.”

“I wondered why it took you so long.”

Danielle was amused and happy for this couple so obviously still in love.

“We have only one regret.
 
We have no living children,” Betsy said.

Bill lowered his head a bit.
 
“We lost William, Jr. in childbirth and couldn’t have anymore.”

Danielle showed sorrow, but did not say anything.

“It is probably why we both teach.
 
Most of our students are about the age our children would have been,”
 
He said deflecting the memories a bit.

"Anyway, we sailed up from Vancouver and dropped into Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway before we got off at Seward," Betsy said as she looked up at Danielle with a masking smile on her face.

Danielle tried to turn the topic.

"We've been seeing people from the ships boarding the Denali Star all summer, so my Dad and Mom decided to give me this trip back up to Fairbanks with the Gates of the Arctic add on because I've never been there before."

"I understand.
 
It's kind of like Betsy and I living in Flagstaff and not having been to the Grand Canyon,"
 
Said Bill.

There was a
 
slight jostle on the train, and it felt as though they were going faster but as they looked out they saw they were not on a curve.

"Ladies and gentlemen,” Watermaker broke in, "You may have noticed our speed has increased. We have been in contact with the lead engineer of this train and he indicated that he is having problems with the speed control system. He has assured us that they will get the situation under control in the next few minutes. He also indicated that the train will be within safe limits, and there is nothing to worry about."

Danielle and the Bigelows looked at each other and wondered why this announcement.

"From what I know about these trains, if the engine becomes uncontrollable they can uncouple from the train, and the cars will automatically go into a slow down and stop mode," Said Bill.

“You must know quite a bit about trains,” Said Danielle.

“I’ve been interested in these trains and a particularly the dome cars for years now since I witnessed some of the trains going through the Southwest,” Said Bigelow.

"Yes, Bill has become quite a devoted student of these trains and, in particular, this same car number; it's one of the reasons that were on it," Said Betsy.

“Well, it’s good to know that these fallback capabilities exist.”

Looking out the window, they noticed the rate the things were passing seemed to be getting faster. The last turn produced some sway that they had not been accustomed to earlier in the trip.
 
It was now obvious that the train was increasing speed more rapidly. Passengers in front of them were swaying back and forth as the train gained speed.

"Ladies and gentlemen we apparently do have a problem with the lead engine. The engineer will disengage the locomotive from this train. There will be a small jolt when that happens, but then our individual cars will slowly apply their brakes automatically until we stop. When the cars of the train have stopped the engineer will then disable the locomotive with an emergency manual override. That engine will be put off on a siding, and the Denali Star will be re-coupled with a new locomotive now on its way to complete the trip. We apologize for the inconvenience.
 
It will take approximately 2 hours to complete this process before we can be on our way."