Valenes 1962 Los Angeles Geographical Society tour to Alaska prepares to board a Pacific Northern Airlines Boeing 720 at Im near the top of the boarding stairs. Alaska066
The Los Angeles Geographical Societys 1962 trip to Alaska began with a Western Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Seattle. A day was spent in Settle to visit the 1962 Worlds Fair. The main things I recall about it were the Seattle Monorail and a visit to the USA pavilion. There, librarians were demonstrating nascent library automation by producing printed KWIC (keyword in context) bibliographies in response to research questions. (Perhaps I knew that library automation would be my career.)
Pacific Northern Airlines flew the group to Ketchikan. In those days, Ketchikan did not have an airport. Instead, flights landed at the airfield an Annette Island. Ellis Airlines flew passengers for Ketchikan onward in Grumman Goose amphibians that landed in Ketchikan harbor. (A Pan Am flight landed at Annette shortly after ours. Ellis Airlines was there to all Ketchikan passengers.) In Ketchikan we visited a fish processing factory and the Saxman Totem Park. I really liked the colorful Tlingit totem poles on display.
A group dinner was held at the Ingersoll Hotel where we stayed. A culinary experience I had here was my discovery of salad dressing. At home, Miracle Whip was always used for salad. Here in
To continue from Ketchikan we boarded the catamaran yacht Maana II under Captain Eldon Coon for a voyage along the Inside Passage to Juneau.
