Once our flight took off, I put in my ear buds.  It's amazing how many different "channels" Jet Blue offers. So many choices - I couldn't figure out what to watch! What a great way to drown out the small humans. 

Normally, I end up talking to the person next to me, but I was sitting on the aisle seat. It was the perfect time to work on writing about our trip. I took out a notebook and started from the beginning. After an hour or so, I was in the groove when I noticed something peculiar.

Matt was talking to the woman next to him!!! What??? He never starts conversations with strangers. That's my job! Matt normally avoids talking to people he doesn't know. Heck, he normally avoids talking to the people he DOES know. Of course, I had to take out my ear buds and find out what was going on.

It turns out the woman sitting next to Matt had lived in Alaska 20 years and later moved to Florida. She was coming back to visit her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Over the course of the next two hours, we got to know Marie better. Her personal stories are not mine to tell, but she shared some gruesome stories of bear attacks.

One of the stories she told us about was a newly married couple visiting a remote part of Alaska. After a black bear got into their cabin, they went upstairs and climbed outside on to the roof. The husband climbed down the exterior of the house and went to get help in a small boat. When he returned, he found his wife's remains on the roof. The bear had climbed out the window, killed and ate the woman. 

Marie told us that black bears are the ones that eat people and if you see a grizzly the best thing to do is play dead. Apparently, the grizzly bears don't attack humans unless they feel threatened. From the sound of things, black bears were everywhere looking for food - even in the city of Anchorage! Matt was so excited because he really wanted to see some bears.

She also told us that Alaska is well know for serial killers.  Of course, the Butcher Baker was the first to come to mind for me because I remembered seeing a movie about him - The Frozen Ground. With so much wilderness, Alaska seems to be a prime spot for serial killers.

As we got closer to Anchorage, our new traveling companion offered Matt the window seat so he'd be able to see the glaciers from above. The view from the plane was spectacular!

When we landed in Anchorage, I realized we didn't have coats. After I said something to Matt, Marie took a coat out of her carry-on bag and gave it to me.  She insisted that I take it because we were after all in Alaska. ALASKA!!!!