One of Alaska Airlines' specially painted planes sitting at a gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The airline also has anniversary- and Disney-themed paint jobs on some airliners.

I'm safely home from the unexpected trip back to Michigan.

On the return trip, I stopped at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle. Most flights to and from Alaska go through Seattle, the home base of Alaska Airlines. While waiting for flights is never much fun, I did get to see the biggest salmon I've ever laid eyes on -- Alaska Air's "Salmon-Thirty-Salmon" passenger jet.

Back in 2005, Alaska Airlines painted one of its Boeing 737-400 jets to look like an Alaska king salmon. The paint job was designed to promote Alaska's seafood and the airlines' role in carrying plenty of that salmon, halibut, crab and other items out of the state every year.

It took a team of 30 painters and airbrush artists 24 days to give the plane a fishy paint job.

Here's a closer look at the salmon on the side of an Alaska Airlines 737.

While I didn't get to fly back to Alaska aboard the salmon jet (apparently, it was headed to San Diego), I did get to see it. It was pretty cool and helped me feel just a wee bit closer to home after a long journey.

-- Steve