We had gone on an Alaskan cruise on 09/09, and had arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska on 09/11. We were in an elevator on Holland America's MS Statendam and heard people talking about something awful that was happening and we went back to our cabin and turned on CNN and were just horrified.
It was like being on the moon, we were so far from home and kids - who were with their grandparents - and couldn't get home, not even when our cruise was over.
When all the planes stopped flying, there was an eerie silence, because in Alaska so many small private planes are everywhere there is a sort of buzzing all the time and there was...nothing. A remote hunting party that was dropped off by bush pilot couldn't be picked up, no cell service, had no idea why they weren't picked up, shot a moose and ate it to survive.
When we had internet service, I finally got in touch with a friend who lived near the Pentagon and found out if she was okay, physically she was. We also had friends/acquaintences/relatives of friends that worked in the Pentagon. One, whose office was right next to one that was completely destroyed, did not happen to be at work that day.
We ended up staying on the ship an extra week - the cruise line could not get any passengers in and offered us a 'deal' to go back to Vancouver on the ship rather than try to get out of Anchorage, where no planes were flying anyway, there were no hotel rooms, no rental cars, no transportation of any kind available, so we stayed. When we made final arrangements with our travel agent to reroute/delay our return trip and my husband hung up the phone, I remember he broke down and cried.
By the end of the next week, planes were flying, but of course, we were aliens in Vancouver and had to go through immigration. I just remember still feeling that shock/exhaustion feeling and just really wanting to get home, and how very good it was to finally get there and hug my kids.
It was like being on the moon, we were so far from home and kids - who were with their grandparents - and couldn't get home, not even when our cruise was over.
When all the planes stopped flying, there was an eerie silence, because in Alaska so many small private planes are everywhere there is a sort of buzzing all the time and there was...nothing. A remote hunting party that was dropped off by bush pilot couldn't be picked up, no cell service, had no idea why they weren't picked up, shot a moose and ate it to survive.
When we had internet service, I finally got in touch with a friend who lived near the Pentagon and found out if she was okay, physically she was. We also had friends/acquaintences/relatives of friends that worked in the Pentagon. One, whose office was right next to one that was completely destroyed, did not happen to be at work that day.
We ended up staying on the ship an extra week - the cruise line could not get any passengers in and offered us a 'deal' to go back to Vancouver on the ship rather than try to get out of Anchorage, where no planes were flying anyway, there were no hotel rooms, no rental cars, no transportation of any kind available, so we stayed. When we made final arrangements with our travel agent to reroute/delay our return trip and my husband hung up the phone, I remember he broke down and cried.
By the end of the next week, planes were flying, but of course, we were aliens in Vancouver and had to go through immigration. I just remember still feeling that shock/exhaustion feeling and just really wanting to get home, and how very good it was to finally get there and hug my kids.
