Wait! Why aren’t I flying from Anchorage to Chicago right now?

The Adak/Anchorage flight got cancelled. That’s why!

So I arrived a day late and am leaving a day late…

Temp in the high 40s, overcast, rain, rain, rain, wind N 25-35 mph, gusting to 50 (hence the flight cancellation).

I tried to go birding in the rain, with little success. Everything was hunkered down, although I did see the Sanderling flock huddled against piles of seaweed at Clam Lagoon. Also, a flock of a dozen or so Rock Sandpipers were feeding there as well.

No sign of the plover or stint, but they may have been out of view around the bend of the peninsula.

The overnight winds were from the SE and E, bringing in shearwaters to Kuluk Bay again this morning. But not in the numbers from a few days ago.

A travel note: Once I got the notification that the flight was cancelled, I went to the airport and they told me a makeup flight was scheduled for tomorrow and I was already re-booked on it.

For reasons I won’t go into, all three legs of my trip were booked separately, so I had to call Alaska Airlines and American Airlines to reschedule those flights.

The Alaska representative, re-booked me on the same Anchorage/Chicago flight one day later – and even the same seat!

When I called American, the recording said there was a long wait and they could call me back. I opted for that and an hour-or-so later, they called.

When I gave the rep my situation, he was ready to help, but then saw that I already had checked-in for the Chicago?Philadelphia flight (ever prompt I am!). Well, that caused a problem because he didn’t know how to un-checkin a passenger! He had to consult with a supervisor. After holding for about 20 minutes, he finally got it resolved, started to book me on the same flight the next day, AND THEN THE POWER WENT OUT!

On Adak, when the power goes out, everything goes out – phone and internet.

The power returned about a half-hour later. I waited to see if he would try to call me back, but didn’t get any calls for 15 minutes, so I called American again, left my number and waited.

After 45 minutes, they called back and a new rep quickly resolved my situation and got me booked.

So what should have taken less than half-hour to rebook, took two-plus hours.

I went back out birding in mid-afternoon, but it was still blowing and raining. By the time I got around to the Seawall, the rain stopped and I had hope of walking the peninsula when I got back around.

Not to be. By the time I got back to the peninsula, the rain started again.

So, no new birds today. Tomorrow is supposed to be much less windy and no rain, so I should be able to get a few hours of birding in before getting my luggage to the airport, etc.