GETTING FROM "HERE" TO "THERE"

Departed from Anchorage for Juneau Monday morning for the legislative Special Session. The weather and visibility was too poor to land in Juneau, so we over-flew Juneau and landed in Sitka, Alaska. After several false starts for Juneau from Sitka, we gave it up – and spent the night at a Sitka Hotel. Tuesday morning, we left Sitka for Juneau, but after takeoff the weather in Juneau deteriorated and so – guess what – we landed back in Anchorage (The governor had tried to send a boat to pick us up in Sitka, but the seas were too rough). Went home, took a nap and went back to the Anchorage Airport in the afternoon. After several more weather delays emanating from Juneau, we took off and finally landed OK in Juneau this Tuesday after dark – barely making it in because of the weather. By the end of the week, snowfall exceeded 44 inches.

It’s stuff like this that makes one wonder why the legislature meets off-the-road-system in Juneau. Consider the fact that fifty-five legislators out of sixty must travel through Anchorage to get to Juneau. Also, consider the fact that the airport weather in Anchorage only rarely causes flight delays - in contrast to Juneau, where weather too poor to land is commonplace.