On Thursday, the top-ranked Kentucky rifle team departed for Fairbanks, Ala., where the Wildcats will compete in two No. 1 vs. No. 2 matches with Alaska-Fairbanks on Saturday and Sunday. To help the Big Blue Nation keep up with their trip, student-athletes from the team will take turns blogging about their voyage. First up is junior Cody Manning.By Cody ManningThe day started early; it seems like any time we fly somewhere we always leave at the earliest of hours. I set three alarms to make sure I got up on time, got up at 4 a.m. ET, was able to take a quick shower, get a banana and race out the door. Some of my teammates picked me up, we got to the range and from there we loaded up on the bus and headed to the airport. That’s where our journey began. Probably the most extreme trek I’ve done since I’ve been on the team.This is my first time to Alaska and to take part in any of kind of travel is always great because we have such a fun team. The trips are great opportunities for us to bond and come together as a team.Flying out of Lexington is pretty typical for us so we’ve got that whole process down. Of course I managed to complicate it by leaving my duffle bag at security. Everyone made sure I didn’t live that one down. The flight to Atlanta was pretty simple. Afterwards we had just enough time to grab a snack and board our first long flight from Atlanta to Seattle. That second flight was long and we had to find stuff to do to keep occupied. I spent a majority of my time watching a movie with Connor (Davis). We watched “World War Z” with Brad Pitt. It was my first time in the Seattle airport. Most airports tend to get meshed together in your memory but I’ll definitely remember the task of getting to our next gate today in Seattle. We had to change terminal trains four or five times before finally getting to our terminal and I know I wouldn’t have ever figured it out if I wasn’t with the team.Finally getting on that last plane for that last four-hour plane trip to Fairbanks, at that point it became a little more real that I was actually going to Alaska. It’s pretty neat to look out your window and see the window starting to freeze up on the outside and see snow-covered ground below.The last stint was probably the toughest because I had already watched my movie, I had already done the homework that I wanted to accomplish and then those last two hours on the trip were brutal. I had already slept and I was excited and just wanted to land.In Alaska, we got down into the baggage claim, I added another layer, putting an extra sweater thinking that was going to be it, I’m not going to be cold. It’s going to be negative-23 degrees but I’m going to warm. Then me and Connor step outside and it hits my face and It’s just brutal. That weather just doesn’t exist in Kentucky. To illustrate how cold it is, the cars need to be plugged in to stay warm when parked, something I have never heard of.Dinner, like any other team meal, was an experience; it’s always a good time. Everyone was real tired after dinner because we’ve been up since 4 a.m., and now as I’m writing this it’s around midnight back home. We’re trying to stay awake to avoid jet lag. We’re going to get ready for tomorrow which is going to be some time for us to just unwind and get acclimated to Alaska before we head into what we’re really here for: our matches Saturday and Sunday.  In regards to tomorrow, we don’t know exactly what’s on the schedule but I’m looking forward to it. There have been talks of curling, going to see the trans-Alaska pipeline or maybe go dog sledding. All the typical Alaskan adventures that you would hear of, typical Alaskan things that are atypical to Kentuckians. I look forward to it, I’m excited. Being in Alaska is awesome, it’s something that I would have never gotten to do if I wasn’t on the rifle team and I think that’s just one more benefit of being a student-athlete at Kentucky.