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Ye will sink! Bothy camping in the Scottish Highlands

Don’t call it hiking. That was the first thing I learned about hiking in the Scottish Highlands. It’s hill walking. Don’t forget it.

“Hill walking! It makes more sense, love. It’s just walking in hills. Why do you Americans need another word for it?” a coffee barista in Edinburgh corrected me when I told her I planned to begin hiking the next day.

I’m not sure why my friend Glynnis agreed to come along when I told her my plans to hike through the Scottish Highlands a week shy of my 36th birthday. Hill walking in one of the least sparsely populated regions of Europe seemed to offer just the right amount of adventure for two girls looking to escape the busyness of work and city life for a little while. I’d just finished writing a book and had given it over to my editor. Glynnis was just starting one. We desperately needed to be somewhere without our computers, even for a few days.

“It will be like Little House on the Prairie meets Brigadoon,” I’d offered as a way of making it seem more appealing to my friend.

“Both of those stories eventually had a happy ending!” Glynnis replied cautiously. “Kind of.”

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Limitless: Alaska’s new ad campaign thanks customers, focuses on the benefits of Mileage Plan

Kent Brooten will never forget the moment he hit one million miles on an Alaska Airlines flight.

Two and a half years ago, as he was flying from Seattle to Los Angeles after a visit with his fiancé, the pilot came on the intercom with this message “We are 227 south of Seattle. The person sitting in seat 3d has just reached one million miles.”

Brooten made sure to document that moment.

“I recorded it on my iPhone of course,” he said. The model Alaska Boeing-737 aircraft that Booten received to commemorate the milestone still sits on his desk.

Brooten became a Mileage Plan member 33 years ago, and today has 1,331,597 miles in his account – hard earned by a job that took him across the United States and a passion for climbing mountains that took him across the globe.

He is one of eight Mileage Plan members featured in Alaska’s latest ad campaign – a thank you to loyal fliers – which focuses on the draws of Alaska’s frequent flier program.

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Seattle music scene: Macklemore’s local roots

By Albert Rodriguez for Alaska Beyond Magazine

On a cold, drizzly February evening outside Neumos, a small concert venue in Seattle’s buzzing Capitol Hill neighborhood, 500 fans stood in line for hours to see Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. It was a tiny crowd in comparison to the nearly 50,000 who attended the three sold-out concerts at Seattle Center’s KeyArena in 2013, when the hip-hop duo closed out an extensive world tour in their own backyard. But the Neumos show was an unexpected treat—a free bonus show for hometown fans that had been kept under wraps until just two days beforehand. The concert was streamed globally via Amazon Music to celebrate the release of the album “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made.” But for those who packed the floor of Neumos, it was a chance to share a few relatively intimate moments with one of the hottest acts in hip-hop.

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35 years after first flight, Horizon Air still known for service (and free drinks*)

This week, Horizon Air is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its inaugural flight on Sept. 1, 1981.

Although Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines remain separately managed to this day, the two companies have been closely linked for nearly 30 years.

Both are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, and all Horizon flights are marketed and sold by Alaska. Since 2011, Horizon’s Q400 aircraft have featured Alaska’s familiar livery with the Alaska Native on the tail.

“Horizon has a strong legacy in the Northwest and beyond because of our exceptional delivery of service and the great people who make it happen seamlessly and safely every day,” says Dave Campbell, Horizon president and CEO. “Our growth over the years is something all of our team members should be extremely proud of, and as a member of the Alaska Air Group family I’m greatly looking forward to the coming years at Horizon. To our customers, I’d like to say thank you for your continued loyalty. It truly is our privilege to serve you.”

A new way of doing things

Passengers board Horizon Air's first flight in 1981.
Passengers board Horizon Air’s first flight in 1981.

When it launched in 1981, Horizon was one of hundreds of new air carriers to pop up around this time in response to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Many large airlines discontinued shorter routes across the U.S. in response to the act, creating a gap in the market that many people were eager to fill. One of those people was entrepreneur Milt Kuolt.

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Weekend Wanderer: San Jose, California To Edmonton, Alberta

Based out of San Jose, California, Wayne Nguyen is a travel and landscape photographer who has an eye for capturing extraordinary moments through his lens. He just returned from an Instagram takeover in Edmonton, Alberta as part of Alaska Airlines’ Weekend Wanderer series. For more Weekend Wanderer posts, make sure you’re following Alaska Airlines on Instagram.
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Travel like a pro: Get kids through the airport quickly and happily

Flying can be a stressful experience. It’s even tougher when you’re responsible for other people, especially if those people are small children. To help ease the stress of your travel day, here are a few useful tips.

Before travel

Reserve seats early

For large families or parties with small children, getting everyone together can be a challenge, so make sure you reserve your seats as soon as you book your flight. If you book through a third party or online travel agency, double-check that your seat requests are confirmed by navigating to alaskaair.com, then clicking on the “Manage” tab on the homepage.

Read more: How to snag a better seat on the airplane.

If you don’t reserve your seats in advance, they will be assigned by a computer program, taking into account the many rules surrounding where children and infants are allowed to sit. On full flights, this can result in families being split up if they haven’t reserved their seats in advance.

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The art of an artisan cheese plate

Ever wonder about the white cheese featured in Alaska Airlines’ Signature Fruit and Cheese Platter, and where you can get it? This is how a Seattle shop began selling 100,000 pounds of locally-made cheese to Alaska every year.

What was Seattle missing before 2002? According to Beecher’s Handmade Cheese founder Kurt Beecher Dammeier, a hometown artisan cheese shop. Which was the void Dammeier aimed to fill when he acquired a space at Pike Place Market in 2002.

“I didn’t even know if it was legal to make cheese there when I bought the place,” Dammeier said.

About a year later, he opened Beecher’s and nearly every day since, the corner store has been full of locals and tourists enjoying everything from cheese curds to rich and comforting mac and cheese.

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Alaska flight attendant takes a swing at childhood cancer, with help from MLB

When Gail Lopez’s daughter was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a rare aggressive bone cancer) in 2011, the flight attendant’s life changed forever. In nine short days, her 12-year-old Kate went from being an exuberant athlete sprinting down the soccer field to a helpless child in a hospital bed having the first of many rounds of chemotherapy injected into her little body.

“I wanted to do everything I could for Kate, but at the same time realized that there weren’t that many treatments available for childhood cancers,” said Lopez. For example, the chemotherapy treatment (with harmful side effects) was developed 30 years ago.

As Lopez learned during her daughter’s courageous battle, people were just not aware of the need for research and development of therapies to fight childhood cancers. The funding simply wasn’t there.

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5 must-do’s on Maui, Hawaii’s Valley Isle

I’m an island girl. I love the sun, sea, and sand. And I’m lucky—because I work for an airline, I can run off to Hawaii for the weekend, which I’ve done more than 20 times.

Maui is my favorite getaway. There are so many beautiful beaches within easy reach. And if I get the urge to leave the water, there’s a lot to explore. I’ve been to Maui at least six times, and I’ve done something new each time. Here are some of my favorites.

More Hawaii: 5 must-do’s on Hawaii’s Big Island | 5 must-do’s on Kauai, Hawaii’s Garden Island

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Pokémon no go: A trainer’s tips to avoid arrest or injury at the airport

By now you’ve all heard the stories (and seen the YouTube videos!). People falling into canals, driving into trees and trespassing on private property in their quest to catch that elusive Vaporeon or Porygon.

Yes, we’re talking about Pokémon Go. Sure, you’re pretty unlikely to encounter an open body of water during an airport travel day (maybe a big puddle on an extra rainy Seattle morning). And, catching a few Pokémon or stocking up at the plethora of airport PokéStops is actually a pretty brilliant way to spend a layover. But beware: overly focused Pokémon trainers are likely to cause traffic jams and annoy their fellow fliers.

Here are four tips for staying safe, keeping yourself out of trouble and scoring maximum Pokéballs the next time you travel, from Alaska Airlines’ top Pokémon trainers:

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Weekend Wanderer: Vancouver, British Columbia to Bend, Oregon

No trail is too tough to master for professional mountain biker, Geoff Gulevich. Residing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Geoff is an outdoors enthusiast who always has his fiancé, Brianna, and Go-Pro traveling by his side. He just returned from an Instagram takeover in Bend, Oregon as part of Alaska Airlines’ Weekend Wanderer series. For more Weekend Wanderer posts, make sure you’re following Alaska Airlines on Instagram.

When Alaska Airlines reached out about a weekend adventure to Bend, Oregon, my fiancée Brianna and I leapt at the opportunity to explore. I have many friends in town who tell me constantly that I have to visit and see what Central Oregon has to offer.

We wanted to make the most of our weekend, and caught the first flight out of Vancouver, British Columbia at 6 a.m., arriving in Bend at about 9:30 a.m.

On our way to Bend, Oregon. Ready to see everything there is to offer in and outside of town!
On our way to Bend, Oregon. Ready to see everything there is to offer in and outside of town!

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25 students experience a once-in-a-century flight

Twenty-five fourth and fifth graders recently had the flight of their lives. They were part of a select group of people invited to be on the very first passenger flight of a brand new Alaska Airlines 737-900ER with a special paint job celebrating Boeing’s 100th birthday.

The students were part of a summer camp at the Museum of Flight that encourages youth to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (S.T.E.M.). Joining them on the flight were four former governors of Washington along with the CEOs of Alaska Airlines and Boeing Commercial Airplanes to experience a flight of a lifetime.

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