I love the way airlines paint planes–and how they dress up the inside. Here are a couple of shots I like. One reader, T.S., took a couple of shots of Era Aviation’s refurbished Dash 8. Note the red leather seats!
And check out the new exterior paint job here:
Alaska Airlines’ representatives Steve Carlisle (left), Scott Habberstadt (center) and Amanda Tobin Bielawski (right) help me ham in up inside a retrofitted 737-400 combi aircraft (below). Again–nice leather seats and big fat overhead bins. B-i-g improvement over the old 737-200 planes. These new planes feature a fixed bulkhead mid-cabin with cargo in front and about 77 passenger seats in the rear.
As part of the airline’s 75th birthday party, Alaska Airlines painted one of their 737s in “retro” colors. Cool.
Below is the interior of Alaska’s retro “Starliner” 737-800. There’s a timeline of the airline on the outside of the storage bin. But here’s what I like: the folding headrests. Look closely: you can fold the edges of the headrests up to sort of cup your head. Great anti-drool mechanism. Your neighbor in the center seat will appreciate it. HA. 
Gray Line has a good deal if you’re flying into Alaska before or after a cruise. The “Alaska by car and McKinley Explorer” gives you the flexibility to enjoy Alaska at your own pace–including a ride on the Alaska Railroad.
Your overnight accommodations are included–and there’s a car reserved for you to tool around the state.
Plus, you’ll see Portage Glacier up close with a cruise, in addition to a wilderness cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park. See the historic “Gold Dredge #8″ in Fairbanks. On your return trip back to Anchorage, you can take the McKinley Explorer full-dome private rail car to Denali National Park. While you’re there, take an optional tour into the park–by bus or air!
You can save $200 per couple when you book by Apr. 18. Mention PROMO8OAE to reserve your Alaska vacation today!
In all, seven nights accommodations are included, plus rail fare, car rental–and more.
Call our Alaska experts today at (800)544-2206 or check out more multi-day Alaska vacations online.Here’s a picture of the fancy full-dome rail cars. Nice!
I flew nonstop from Anchorage to Kenai this morning on Era Aviation. My friend Mike LeNorman at Era says pretty soon all the flights will be on the Dash 8. More room than the Beechcraft 1900Ds.
The flight took all of 20 minutes. Pretty quick. Beautiful day for flying. Here’s a shot of Mt. Redoubt taken from the bluff overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River in Old Town Kenai.
While in Kenai, I had lunch at Veronica’s with my friend Mya Renken. She had the Borscht. I had the Chicken quiche. On the salad, I opted for the “Chipotle Ranch”. Yum. I topped it off with some carrot cake slathered in frosting. Ah…the perfect touch. The restaurant is near the Kenai Visitors Center. Stop in and ask for directions!
Era’s web specials make it easy to scoot out of town for the weekend. Check out these prices from Anchorage:
Anchorage-Kenai: $99rt
Anchorage-Cordova $159rt
Anchorage-Fairbanks $169rt
Anchorage-Homer $149rt
Anchorage-Kodiak $169rt
Anchorage-Valdez $149rt
Anchorage-Bethel $199rt
Naturally, I’m driving a car from Avis. With a jillion flights a day between Anchorage and Kenai, I’ll be back in town for dinner!
Oh, did I mention the free wireless connection at Kaladi Brothers Coffee in Soldotna? I’m pretty sure it’s the best coffee around. And with a wireless connection, I can tell the world. What a country!
What a glorious evening here in Anchorage. I ran down to the Crow’s Nest at the top of the Hotel Captain Cook to take some pictures. This is one of my favorite spots. You can look out over Cook Inlet and see Sleeping Lady and Mt. McKinley in the distance. Or, sit on the other side and watch the setting sun paint the mountains in shades of yellow, orange and pink.
I never get tired of seeing the glorious Chugach Mountains each morning when I wake up. And in the long evenings of spring and summer–it’s all the more enchanting.
It was just 5:00 p.m. when I stopped in this afternoon. The crew was getting ready for dinner. It smelled really good–and there were several other folks upstairs taking in the view!
I look forward to going back for dinner. This evening I had to cut and run to share pizza with the kids. Not kidding. 
Hey–I stopped in at GCI’s store in the Dimond Center to get a free phone. I picked the “KRZR” phone by Motorola. It’s free with a two-year contract.
GCI has great plans for nationwide calling, as well as in-Alaska calling. Lately, on my trips to the Lower 48, I’ve gotten great reception. And I love it that I can by-pass those expensive hotel phones!
The ROKR? It’s a different phone. “Slide your way into music and stay on the cutting edge of style with the MOTOROKR Z6,” says the brochure.
“Beneath the surface the MOTOROKR Z6 is a music masterpiece, complete with high performance music experience and extraordinary picture and video capture capabilities,” it continued.
Whoa. I lifted that verbage from Motorola. Check ‘em out at the nearest GCI store in Anchorage today.
My wife has a “RAZR” phone by Motorola. Those are the three free phones from GCI: the RAZR, the KRZR and the music-friendly ROKR.
It’s all about Wireless. It’s all about GCI. Use your GCI wireless in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau and a host of other Alaska communities. 
