“We’re going on a field trip!” I announced breathlessly to my mother. I was a fifth-grader with braces on my teeth, too-short bangs, and long brown braids. After attending school in a small Alaska village and on a Montana Indian reservation, I was now in Tulare, California, at Wilson Elementary. School. The field trip was to a lumber mill.

So, what is a field trip? A field trip is an outing by a group of people away from their normal environment. The purpose is usually observation or participation for education.

This is my 2015 calendar of field trips and what I learned, or anticipate learning:

California: Joshua Tree National Park (March)

A lizard can wear two different kinds of camo at once, and blend into both the sunny and the shady part of a rock. There really is a San Andreas Fault. Palm Springs can be 90 degrees and at the top of the tramway behind and above it, 50 degrees – with snow.

Alaska: Business trip with drive to/from Anchorage/Fairbanks (early May)

I’ve been to Fairbanks many times, but never to North Pole, only 20 miles away. Yes, there is Santa’s House. No, there is not much open outside tourist season.

Michigan to Colorado: Relocating family members from Canada (late May)

I can still drive a stick-shifting 4-Runner. I wanted to see more of Iowa, but it rained most of the way. I did notice white barns with large cupolas on top. I need to research the “why” of this repeated size and design.

Alaska: Dutch Harbor/Unalaska in the Aleutian Chain (August)

I have never explored this part of Alaska, located in “The Deadliest Catch” waters. I will prepare for 40 degrees with wind and rain. Besides Pearl Harbor, it was one of the few US locations to be bombed by the Japanese in WWII. I anticipate seeing military and Aleut sites and artifacts,

 

Kansas: Newton (Faith and Life Bookstore – September 17, Hillsboro – September 18)

People who live in this area may not consider this to be “field trip.” For me, it’s a step back in time to re-experience where my Mennonite parents’ people re-created home in America. At Tabor College, I will be presenting slides and reading from my book, “’A is for Anaktuvuk: Teacher to the Nunamiut Eskimos.” This teacher took a very big “field trip” – and changed Alaska history.

 

Washington: Bellingham to Alaska: Skagway (October)

On a no-frills Alaska Marine Highway ferry, I want to learn about the WWII Aleut Relocation camps near Juneau, where the US government sent people from Alaska’s Aleutian Chain; Sheldon Jackson’s establishment of an early Alaska educational system; and the Gold Rush at Skagway.

Colorado: Rocky Ford – Mennonite Relief Sale (October)

I love the excitement of the live and silent auctions, quilt sales, eating as much pie and ice cream as I can hold, buying German sausage, and stuffing myself with Mennonite New Year’s fritters; all with the good conscience that the proceeds go towards relief, development and peace work around the world. The “educational” part is seeing purchasable crafts that empower artisans in developing countries and hearing what the Mennonite Central Committee is doing to help people develop a sustainable lifestyle.

After my fifth-grade field trip, I returned home bubbling over about my first-time bus ride, the over-look platforms alongside the machines, and the smell of wood. Wood shavings and chips spilled out of my jacket pocket.

1. What field trips have you taken in 2015?
2. What did you experience? Return home chattering about? Gather in your pockets?
3. What field trips are you contemplating? What is holding you back?

(This article was first published in the Kansas “The Country Register,” Aug/Sept 2015 issue.)

If anyone is planning to fly to Alaska this summer, the time to make reservations …..was probably before now. I made reservations several weeks ago, for trips in April and in June.  Unfortunately, I did not have enough frequent flier miles on Alaska Airlines for both trips. That was my own doing because I refuse to fly the red-eye back, which is the least expensive. If you have not flown to Alaska in the summer, you might not know that Frontier flies up —for the summer months only— and all their return flights are red-eyes, as are United’s and Delta’s. I fly AK Airlines because they have daytime flights back, I can use my miles, and I just really like AK Airlines — and the AK Airlines people seem to like working for AK Airlines, too, which shows in their attitudes at all stages of the trip. But, a few words for any Cheechakos flying up.

If you do make your reservations early, and particularly for flights June – August, do not be surprised if you get alerts that your flights have been changed — 2-3 times–before your departure date – no matter which airlines you fly on. It is wise to have a grip on this before you leave for the airport, and in case you have connecting flights..

If you fly through Seattle, AK Airlines may book you for a 45-50 minute lay-over between flights – or, the really good deals may book you for 6-8 hour lay-overs. The short lay-overs are fine when your next plane departs from a gate in the same terminal; but, for your insider information, AK Airlines flies in and out of the main terminal and the satellite terminal. If your flights are in different terminals, you will run around wildly, find the escalator down, catch the train, de-train, leap onto the escalator up, and locate the gate on that other side.  This will give you an adrenalin rush, but really, there is no need to worry if  a)your plane does not arrive late, b) there are other AK flights departing for Anchorage, following the one you were booked on  —-that have seats available – and Anchorage is your destination and you don’t have to catch another flight — although ERA, out of Anchorage,  handles these situations matter-of-factly and you will get on the next available flight —- which, due to heavy tourist volume in the summer —  may be at 4:25 am the next morning.

AK Airlines knows that ANC is not everyone’s destination and that the last Frontier encompasses around 570,373.6 square miles. They recognize that some travelers plan to go to FBK, ENA, KOT, GAL, BE or elsewhere.  Other airlines can be baffled that there is life outside Anchorage. Where and how would a person fly anywhere else when you can see polar bear roaming the streets of Anchorage, catch salmon outside the Anchorage Hilton, and see Russia from the first story of their B&B?

Another problem with the delusion that Anchorage is the final destination is with baggage. A decade ago, 50% of the time, I discover that my bags had only been booked to Anchorage — where I’d have to find them and drag them to ERA, for my next leg – to Kenai. This process is complicated because unlike the olden days when ERA flew until 1 am, there are now no ERA flights to Kenai after 10:30 pm.

Again, there is no need to work up a sweat like a husky at the end of the Iditarod.  First, if you are there in the summer, the sun will be up much of the time and it won’t seem like you’re spending the night in the airport; second,  the Chili’s in the main terminal serves breakfast 24-hours a day; and third, you can be first in line for any 4:25 am flights.

Just making reservations is an adventure in itself, not to mention security requirements and lines, the anticipation of unknown flight connections, and the disequilibrium of time-change coupled with arriving in the Land of the Midnight Sun. And that’s just for starters! But, isn’t that why you want to go to Alaska in the first place? For an adventure? Absolutely!

Enjoy!