Sunday August 20 'bout 2:30.
I found an internet cafe here in Skagway, so I paid 2.50 for 30 minutes, can't beat that.
It is actually supposed to be Skaguay -- based on a native word. Foreigners butchered it over the years, sigh.
Yesterday in Juneau I learned that there is apparently somewhat of a Filipino presence and has been, in Juneau. I passed a Filipino community center. Then later I located a Filipino market and restaurant. The market is one of those "ethnic" markets where the toiletries (one or two of an item) are next to 40 bags of egg crackers or "summat summat" noodles. Love it! Pretty much closet sized and I had the urge to buy one of every thing (didn't). Their restaurant was downstairs. The man was VERY nice, just had a sunny personality, a welcoming spirit. I was the only person there (it was about 3 p.m., not really lunch or supper). I had rice, pork adobo, a fried squid (whole fried -- didn't eat it all of course, just the outer body = calamari), and a vegetable mix with eggplant and a bitter melon. He warned me the melon was bitter and he was right, I could only eat a couple before I picked them out. But I had wanted to taste it. The flavors were okay, not anything better than I could do, but I had fun eating and watching Filipino tv on the big screen. I finished with Ube ice cream. Ube is purple yam. It was very purple and unutterably yummy.
Today I and some of my relatives walked the several blocks to the Latter-day Saint branch building to attend church. My desire to attend church was an ache and it was satisfied by being there. Needed to hear everything that was said.
Like the other places we've stopped, Skagway is full of cute colorful old fashioned western facades and tons of gift shops. But still fun to walk down. I found a shop with homeade cupcakes. There were five kinds. I asked her if I bought all five kinds, would I get a discount. And she said, Only four will fit in the box. I said, I will carry and eat one! He he. She did give me one cupcake for free. She said, "I am all about helping people's dreams come true." (The shop's name was Sugar Mamas.) But when I asked she said she had not made the cupcakes. But they were obviously homeade as the frosting presentation was that flat way that you get at home instead of fluffy at commercial places. But it was yummy buttercream. I have a maple buttercream one I haven't tried yet.
Ate a salmon sandwich and sweet potato fries at a pub.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Alaska Post 6
Thanks everyone who is leaving comments! :) I will upload pictures some time after I return. Right now it is 1:45 in the after noon Alaska time Saturday August whatever.
I'm actually at the Juneau public library. They have free internet but it is timed for 30 minutes. And I just ran into the library here in shopping downtown (cute shop area). So wierd.
Okay, last night at dinner, the waiters danced for us. Two were up on tables and the rest around. Our own waiter right in front of our table. They did the one, "She hit the floor! . . . Low, low, low." Hilarious and sexy.
Still doing karaoke. More people are coming in to both sing and listen. More people recognizing me and saying "Are you the girl in karaoke." But I swear last night, had a few others . . . one gal did some Ella Fitzgerald and another guy should be being paid 3 million dollars a year from the opera. And he was so shy.
In Sitka the air was wet although it didn't really rain. Here in Juneau it is raining. Raining, raining, raining. But it is still relatively warm (I have my coat and gloves and hat and such) and the water glistening off the vegetation is nice. We took a bus to a place called Mendenhall glacier, just a really nice nature area. Saw a few salmon trying to swim upstream. It wasn't crowded, but there were still quite a few, and they are definitely large fish. I also saw two bears, quite close, because of the way the trail is built on stilts above the water and forest. So they don't care if people are taking lots of pics and they don't bother us either. Just get to watch. We also took awesome pics of the glacier and a waterfall and the moutains. Saw an eagle flying. Hard to say every detail.
I figured out what is distinctive about Alaskan houses and what makes them so cute. Number one, wood siding. Number two, steep pitched roofs (triangles). Number three, a lot of windows and details about windows. Number four, color. Could be bright, neutral, pastel, a few whites -- but there is the house color then the trim color and sometimes a roof color. Number five. Favored toward two or more stories. Number six. Often a deck or wrap around porch -- like for enjoying the sea view. Number seven. Then with all these basics, otherwise no two houses are alike -- different shapes, layouts, sizes, colors. And number eight, they are all dotted along the shore and along the incline of the local mountain and among the trees -- each property is inclined also and so the two or more stories of the house are built into the hill of their plot. There are a decent number of apartment buildings too that follow the same basic idea.
I'm actually at the Juneau public library. They have free internet but it is timed for 30 minutes. And I just ran into the library here in shopping downtown (cute shop area). So wierd.
Okay, last night at dinner, the waiters danced for us. Two were up on tables and the rest around. Our own waiter right in front of our table. They did the one, "She hit the floor! . . . Low, low, low." Hilarious and sexy.
Still doing karaoke. More people are coming in to both sing and listen. More people recognizing me and saying "Are you the girl in karaoke." But I swear last night, had a few others . . . one gal did some Ella Fitzgerald and another guy should be being paid 3 million dollars a year from the opera. And he was so shy.
In Sitka the air was wet although it didn't really rain. Here in Juneau it is raining. Raining, raining, raining. But it is still relatively warm (I have my coat and gloves and hat and such) and the water glistening off the vegetation is nice. We took a bus to a place called Mendenhall glacier, just a really nice nature area. Saw a few salmon trying to swim upstream. It wasn't crowded, but there were still quite a few, and they are definitely large fish. I also saw two bears, quite close, because of the way the trail is built on stilts above the water and forest. So they don't care if people are taking lots of pics and they don't bother us either. Just get to watch. We also took awesome pics of the glacier and a waterfall and the moutains. Saw an eagle flying. Hard to say every detail.
I figured out what is distinctive about Alaskan houses and what makes them so cute. Number one, wood siding. Number two, steep pitched roofs (triangles). Number three, a lot of windows and details about windows. Number four, color. Could be bright, neutral, pastel, a few whites -- but there is the house color then the trim color and sometimes a roof color. Number five. Favored toward two or more stories. Number six. Often a deck or wrap around porch -- like for enjoying the sea view. Number seven. Then with all these basics, otherwise no two houses are alike -- different shapes, layouts, sizes, colors. And number eight, they are all dotted along the shore and along the incline of the local mountain and among the trees -- each property is inclined also and so the two or more stories of the house are built into the hill of their plot. There are a decent number of apartment buildings too that follow the same basic idea.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Alaska Post 5
Friday late afternoon August 28, 2009
Alaska is divided into burroughs rather than counties. Most of Alaska is unpopulated and is not in need of county-like government. So the populated areas are divided by population into burroughs.
Worth a mention there is a free sushi bar. 'Course there are only 3 choices, but it was fun to try some on the first night.
I am now officially a karaoke fiend. Did half the show last night. No one else wanted to do it (earlier in the afternoon, my relatives had had fun doing some crazy numbers). So there were about 4 of us who traded around. My voice still cracked on stuff and didn't know melodies, but others I sounded awesome on. Two people in Sitka today as they passed by said, "Are you the girl from the Karaoke?" Nice.
Yesterday I did get in the pool and hot pool (indoor). Thought I'd be cold, but I really wasn't. And the rooms come with these robes that are cozy to get into afterwards, so I had that with me.
We had really rough sea weather, even so bad as to be unusual to a lot of crew and cruising veterans. A lot of people were sea sick including myself didn't feel so well a lot of the time. I was able to eat a little dinner which was good since I had the duck. The winds and swells were big enough to be half a day late getting to Sitka. It was simply not pleasant. The storm was big enough to be a "I-am-never-going-on-a-cruise-again" type storm. But as of this writing, all is forgotten. (We are anchored near Sitka.)
Sitka is not that small, bigger than I thought -- sprawled out along the shore among the trees, big houses. Just utterly lovely. It is kind of a tlingit slash Russian place. There is a cute church with a Russian dome. Got pictures of cute houses, bought a few things (blueberry honey and huckleberry bark, Alaskan made earrings, a little Russian box) -- they had a downtown area with lots of shops. Toured a museum -- they had a model of 1845 Sitka, very well done, tiny structures. Sitka is a tender port which means that smaller boats take us from the cruise ship to the shore and back -- the cruise ship can't get close enough. I ate halibut chowder, rose cardamom cheescake, and their homeade bread sticks at The Larkspur Cafe. This is one of those cafes that is made out of an older home, tables crowded together, locals and tourists, and the menu is unique and lots of TLC (I poured my own water at a buffet set up for that). Really yummy and I studied my Spanish textbook and was just thinking, I'm sitting in a cafe in Sitka, Alaska having cheesecake. He he.
Alaska is divided into burroughs rather than counties. Most of Alaska is unpopulated and is not in need of county-like government. So the populated areas are divided by population into burroughs.
Worth a mention there is a free sushi bar. 'Course there are only 3 choices, but it was fun to try some on the first night.
I am now officially a karaoke fiend. Did half the show last night. No one else wanted to do it (earlier in the afternoon, my relatives had had fun doing some crazy numbers). So there were about 4 of us who traded around. My voice still cracked on stuff and didn't know melodies, but others I sounded awesome on. Two people in Sitka today as they passed by said, "Are you the girl from the Karaoke?" Nice.
Yesterday I did get in the pool and hot pool (indoor). Thought I'd be cold, but I really wasn't. And the rooms come with these robes that are cozy to get into afterwards, so I had that with me.
We had really rough sea weather, even so bad as to be unusual to a lot of crew and cruising veterans. A lot of people were sea sick including myself didn't feel so well a lot of the time. I was able to eat a little dinner which was good since I had the duck. The winds and swells were big enough to be half a day late getting to Sitka. It was simply not pleasant. The storm was big enough to be a "I-am-never-going-on-a-cruise-again" type storm. But as of this writing, all is forgotten. (We are anchored near Sitka.)
Sitka is not that small, bigger than I thought -- sprawled out along the shore among the trees, big houses. Just utterly lovely. It is kind of a tlingit slash Russian place. There is a cute church with a Russian dome. Got pictures of cute houses, bought a few things (blueberry honey and huckleberry bark, Alaskan made earrings, a little Russian box) -- they had a downtown area with lots of shops. Toured a museum -- they had a model of 1845 Sitka, very well done, tiny structures. Sitka is a tender port which means that smaller boats take us from the cruise ship to the shore and back -- the cruise ship can't get close enough. I ate halibut chowder, rose cardamom cheescake, and their homeade bread sticks at The Larkspur Cafe. This is one of those cafes that is made out of an older home, tables crowded together, locals and tourists, and the menu is unique and lots of TLC (I poured my own water at a buffet set up for that). Really yummy and I studied my Spanish textbook and was just thinking, I'm sitting in a cafe in Sitka, Alaska having cheesecake. He he.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Alaska Post 4
Early a.m. on Thursday August 27
Over the course of my life, people have wondered why I am not happy, and one of the major reasons is that I don't live in Alaska. Seriously, being near green and wild is necessary to my being and it simply isn't something that I can access easily in my life (working on it) so there is always something painfully (literally) in my life. I also am nervous -- is this Alaskan trip a reward culmination of all I've been through in life? Or is it a preparation I need to hold on to for more trials coming up? Ha ha. It's probably a little of both -- life is such a tapestry.
There was something I remembered that I wanted to note about our river boat ride. The river was quite shallow -- deepest 15 feet, and about 8 feet usually. The guide said that it will get more shallow the more the glaciers in the mountains freeze (at night). Anyway the rivers change depth a lot -- melting in spring, then the water gets drawn out in freezes later.
Also wanted to mention that on Tuesday night we ate at an Anchorage place called Uncle Joe's Pizza or summat and we had the broccoli with white ranch garlic sauce pizza -- omg, yummy. Also at Alaskan Wildberry I wanted to say I saw a jar of birch caramel -- but I didn't buy it. The guy at the store said that people with pollen allergies should eat the honey of the area in which they live to receive a greater immunity from the allergies.
Yesterday afternoon it was an hour and a half drive from Anchorage to Whittier where the Carnival Spirit was docked. We drove along the Seward highway which was gorgeous -- sea on one side and cliff and mountain and green on the other. Our bus driver looked 12 (a girl), she said she was 23. She was hilarious and knowledgable so she talked most of the way. Her jokes were corny, like there were a lot of birch trees and she said, "See the little ones? Those are sons-of-birches." Think about it, lol. Anyway, she had more like that. She even sang the Alaskan Flag song and she had a lovely voice.
On the Seward highway there is a place called the Tunnel. The Tunnel is one way traffic only. In fact, cars and trains take the same "road" -- cars have to drive over the train tracks. There is not a lot of train traffic, but when they come, obviously the car traffic is stopped. They have it all set up pretty efficiently. They have 30 minute switches. You wait 30 minutes in certain lanes for the opposite traffic to go through, then they release and it is your turn for 30 minutes. They always have real people checking it, and they have interior cameras to make sure there are no stragglers. So if you drive that highway that far, you have to take into account the wait at the Tunnel for your drive time, because the release is only every hour or so.
Apparently within the recent decades (didn't play close attention) there was a 9.2 earthquake in the area. It was interesting to pass a spot where the earthquake caused the sea to come up farther into the land and destroyed property and vegetation. But the salt water petrified the trees, but didn't knock them over. So all these grey stone leafless trees are sticking up all over in an area. Chain saws can't even saw them down, break the chain saw.
We started stopping to look at glaciers and still are here on the ship. Huge dirt and ice. Learning a lot about them. They are always moving -- just too slow to see.
I really have been wearing my jacket and winter hat (just to be super comfy). We got up at 6 a.m. on the ship today since we were going to the end of a harbor or inlet where there was a mile and a half across glacier off the mountain and into the water. We got very close. So I took pictures and drank some hot chocolate and there was a guy in a polar bear suit taking pictures with people. I told him he was my new date and he laughed.
The ship has these glass elevators you can see through as you go up and down. Cool.
We aren't going to dock any where today, so I am going to try to get some homework done and just eat on the ship. Jeff (brother in law) joked last night, "Let's not kid ourselves. This trip is about one thing. It's not about Alaska, it's not about family, it's about the food!" He he.
I didn't really miss my kids until starting about last night. Miss my baby and I am missing everyone else and wondering how they are doing.
Over the course of my life, people have wondered why I am not happy, and one of the major reasons is that I don't live in Alaska. Seriously, being near green and wild is necessary to my being and it simply isn't something that I can access easily in my life (working on it) so there is always something painfully (literally) in my life. I also am nervous -- is this Alaskan trip a reward culmination of all I've been through in life? Or is it a preparation I need to hold on to for more trials coming up? Ha ha. It's probably a little of both -- life is such a tapestry.
There was something I remembered that I wanted to note about our river boat ride. The river was quite shallow -- deepest 15 feet, and about 8 feet usually. The guide said that it will get more shallow the more the glaciers in the mountains freeze (at night). Anyway the rivers change depth a lot -- melting in spring, then the water gets drawn out in freezes later.
Also wanted to mention that on Tuesday night we ate at an Anchorage place called Uncle Joe's Pizza or summat and we had the broccoli with white ranch garlic sauce pizza -- omg, yummy. Also at Alaskan Wildberry I wanted to say I saw a jar of birch caramel -- but I didn't buy it. The guy at the store said that people with pollen allergies should eat the honey of the area in which they live to receive a greater immunity from the allergies.
Yesterday afternoon it was an hour and a half drive from Anchorage to Whittier where the Carnival Spirit was docked. We drove along the Seward highway which was gorgeous -- sea on one side and cliff and mountain and green on the other. Our bus driver looked 12 (a girl), she said she was 23. She was hilarious and knowledgable so she talked most of the way. Her jokes were corny, like there were a lot of birch trees and she said, "See the little ones? Those are sons-of-birches." Think about it, lol. Anyway, she had more like that. She even sang the Alaskan Flag song and she had a lovely voice.
On the Seward highway there is a place called the Tunnel. The Tunnel is one way traffic only. In fact, cars and trains take the same "road" -- cars have to drive over the train tracks. There is not a lot of train traffic, but when they come, obviously the car traffic is stopped. They have it all set up pretty efficiently. They have 30 minute switches. You wait 30 minutes in certain lanes for the opposite traffic to go through, then they release and it is your turn for 30 minutes. They always have real people checking it, and they have interior cameras to make sure there are no stragglers. So if you drive that highway that far, you have to take into account the wait at the Tunnel for your drive time, because the release is only every hour or so.
Apparently within the recent decades (didn't play close attention) there was a 9.2 earthquake in the area. It was interesting to pass a spot where the earthquake caused the sea to come up farther into the land and destroyed property and vegetation. But the salt water petrified the trees, but didn't knock them over. So all these grey stone leafless trees are sticking up all over in an area. Chain saws can't even saw them down, break the chain saw.
We started stopping to look at glaciers and still are here on the ship. Huge dirt and ice. Learning a lot about them. They are always moving -- just too slow to see.
I really have been wearing my jacket and winter hat (just to be super comfy). We got up at 6 a.m. on the ship today since we were going to the end of a harbor or inlet where there was a mile and a half across glacier off the mountain and into the water. We got very close. So I took pictures and drank some hot chocolate and there was a guy in a polar bear suit taking pictures with people. I told him he was my new date and he laughed.
The ship has these glass elevators you can see through as you go up and down. Cool.
We aren't going to dock any where today, so I am going to try to get some homework done and just eat on the ship. Jeff (brother in law) joked last night, "Let's not kid ourselves. This trip is about one thing. It's not about Alaska, it's not about family, it's about the food!" He he.
I didn't really miss my kids until starting about last night. Miss my baby and I am missing everyone else and wondering how they are doing.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Alaska Post 3
Wednesday mid morning August 26
This morning early was mostly grooming and re-packing. We had to drop off our suitcases early although we were free to still go about.
Big group (not all) of the fam went to a place called Downtown Deli -- don't let the name scare you, it was high class. Had blueberry sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage (and eggs).
Monday and Tuesday had been sunny (but still in the glorious 60s). Today is rainy, only it is this misty rain, not pouring. So still very nice to be out and about in. We walked the down town area streets again, I ended up alone as we all wanted different shops. But there is a sense of openness and safety -- again, lots of walkers and tourists. I knew from looking at a visitors map two places I wanted to go and found them. Alaskan Wildberry -- I bought birch syrup, fireweed honey, and some lingonberry and other jelly chocolates-- little Alaskan gourmet treats at this place (food always gets me). Then I went to a whale bone (scrimshaw) outlet and their real carvings were any were from 200 to 2000 dollars, I found some tiny pieces I wanted to give to the kids for 3 for 10.00. So that satisfied me. I wasn't able to go far enough to the residential blocks with the really, really cute houses; I'll have to google them later. I want to remember them for house designing in real life and Second Life.
We are about to get on the bus. The dock is more than an hour away from Anchorage; but we will be embarking as our next activity for the afternoon.
This morning early was mostly grooming and re-packing. We had to drop off our suitcases early although we were free to still go about.
Big group (not all) of the fam went to a place called Downtown Deli -- don't let the name scare you, it was high class. Had blueberry sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage (and eggs).
Monday and Tuesday had been sunny (but still in the glorious 60s). Today is rainy, only it is this misty rain, not pouring. So still very nice to be out and about in. We walked the down town area streets again, I ended up alone as we all wanted different shops. But there is a sense of openness and safety -- again, lots of walkers and tourists. I knew from looking at a visitors map two places I wanted to go and found them. Alaskan Wildberry -- I bought birch syrup, fireweed honey, and some lingonberry and other jelly chocolates-- little Alaskan gourmet treats at this place (food always gets me). Then I went to a whale bone (scrimshaw) outlet and their real carvings were any were from 200 to 2000 dollars, I found some tiny pieces I wanted to give to the kids for 3 for 10.00. So that satisfied me. I wasn't able to go far enough to the residential blocks with the really, really cute houses; I'll have to google them later. I want to remember them for house designing in real life and Second Life.
We are about to get on the bus. The dock is more than an hour away from Anchorage; but we will be embarking as our next activity for the afternoon.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Alaska Post 2
Evening, Tuesday, August 25.
Alaska is reminding me of the reason and purpose of why I came to earth -- just to be here.
There are plenty of evergreens, but really this is a deciduous forest near where we are -- every space is a riot of alder, birch, cottonwood, aspens, etc. I found out there is such a thing as birch syrup like there is maple syrup. Haven't tasted it yet.
I knew there was a formal tour today but I hadn't paid attention to what was planned, so it was a surprise to me that we went on what was called a jet boat safari (Mahay's). We all got in a rather large motorized boat with big windows to see out. There was more than one river involved -- Susitna? Knik? Dunno. Beeyootiful though. Saw two eagles (bald) and I even saw a little bear (black with a tan snout) bounding away from the bank. We stopped for a while and went on a very short nature hike and saw some old trapper cabins and a recreation of an indigeonous home site. The nature guide told lots of neat things, like that bald eagle females are bigger than the males, and when we went on the walk she carried a shotgun across her back in case of bears I think. But she looked about 12, although she was probably early 20s.
We went to a place called Talkeetna Lodge (Talkeetna was a village) -- very elegant and the food was a sight better. I ordered vegetable chips (getting addicted to them) which had 2 dips, and some crab and avocado cakes with corn relish. The view out the back deck of the lodge was awesome. Looked at a carved beluga the size of my finger (in ivory) -- 260 bucks, so no. Carved ones the size of my pinky fingernail were 65. Maybe I'll find cheaper somewhere. Going to go looking. It is called scrimshaw (whale ivory art).
The bus driver, kinda by accident, we found out knew a lot about Alaska and especially about the Ititerod which was our next stop. She told us interesting facts like if you are a year round Alaskan you are called a sourdough. Also that in Wasilla Alaska they have a duct tape ball annually. Outfits -- creative, intricate, beautiful -- are made from duct tape. Wasilla Walmart sells duct tape in tartan, baby blue, whatnot. You can google and see some of those outfits, she said.
We went to the Iditerod headquarters. This is NOT the starting of the race. But the Iditerod was begun in 1973. We met the founders son, now an older man himself. He had his race dogs that were giving cart rides (no snow, so no sled). Even got to hold some puppies.
Alaska is reminding me of the reason and purpose of why I came to earth -- just to be here.
There are plenty of evergreens, but really this is a deciduous forest near where we are -- every space is a riot of alder, birch, cottonwood, aspens, etc. I found out there is such a thing as birch syrup like there is maple syrup. Haven't tasted it yet.
I knew there was a formal tour today but I hadn't paid attention to what was planned, so it was a surprise to me that we went on what was called a jet boat safari (Mahay's). We all got in a rather large motorized boat with big windows to see out. There was more than one river involved -- Susitna? Knik? Dunno. Beeyootiful though. Saw two eagles (bald) and I even saw a little bear (black with a tan snout) bounding away from the bank. We stopped for a while and went on a very short nature hike and saw some old trapper cabins and a recreation of an indigeonous home site. The nature guide told lots of neat things, like that bald eagle females are bigger than the males, and when we went on the walk she carried a shotgun across her back in case of bears I think. But she looked about 12, although she was probably early 20s.
We went to a place called Talkeetna Lodge (Talkeetna was a village) -- very elegant and the food was a sight better. I ordered vegetable chips (getting addicted to them) which had 2 dips, and some crab and avocado cakes with corn relish. The view out the back deck of the lodge was awesome. Looked at a carved beluga the size of my finger (in ivory) -- 260 bucks, so no. Carved ones the size of my pinky fingernail were 65. Maybe I'll find cheaper somewhere. Going to go looking. It is called scrimshaw (whale ivory art).
The bus driver, kinda by accident, we found out knew a lot about Alaska and especially about the Ititerod which was our next stop. She told us interesting facts like if you are a year round Alaskan you are called a sourdough. Also that in Wasilla Alaska they have a duct tape ball annually. Outfits -- creative, intricate, beautiful -- are made from duct tape. Wasilla Walmart sells duct tape in tartan, baby blue, whatnot. You can google and see some of those outfits, she said.
We went to the Iditerod headquarters. This is NOT the starting of the race. But the Iditerod was begun in 1973. We met the founders son, now an older man himself. He had his race dogs that were giving cart rides (no snow, so no sled). Even got to hold some puppies.
Alaska Post 1
Early Tuesday morning. August 25, 2009
Just going to record random memories and observations.
The evenings here really are long and light. Love it. Went to bed about 10 p.m. and it still wasn't dark, more like an early evening feel. That means that from about 6 to 9 when we walked around town and found a restaurant and gift shops it was still really lovely.
Our shuttle bus driver -- from the airport to the Howard Johnson -- was full of town trivia -- places to go -- and she said things like, "You know how Minnesota is the state of 10,000 lakes? Well, Alaska is the state of 3 million lakes."
We ate at Phyllis Seafood Cafe and Fish Market for Friday night supper which sounded promising, but I was rather disappointed. My salmon was half raw and I could have come up with better seasoning. They had outdoor tables, but we ended up inside. Meh, it was still fun.
At breakfast this morning in the hotel, I sat by the window. While the sea is not within easy walking distance, it is within easy sight distance. There are a lot of industrial things going on down by the shore. I asked the waitress what the sea out there was called, and she said Turnigen (sp?) Arm. She also pointed out a mountain in view called Sleeping Woman. It did look like that with a bump for the head and a longer bump for the body. There are so many pine trees around. And the air here at least for someone from Arizona is magical. I recommend that people come here just to breath. The temperature has been low 60s, very nice.
Anchorage is a city of 250,000 which is bigger by far than, say, Idaho Falls where I grew up. The Howard Johnson is near the (old) down town area though. Very cute. The feel here so far is old and homey yet there is a lively energy and still a calm energy. Hard to describe, but I love it. A Monday night walking around downtown and shopping in gift shops -- lots of people walking about, locals and tourists.
There is a town reindeer. If I remember what the shuttle bus driver said, her name is Star. Apparently there was some sort of rescue story for her a few years back, but then she never wanted to be re-acclimated to wild reindeers and is perfectly happy being the princess in town. There was a big kennel we drove by and saw her in. The other reindeer I met was on my plate. Snicker. Lots of reindeer edibles. Actually Amy got the reindeer sausage at Phyllis' Cafe. I had a bite to say I did, didn't taste any different that much from other sausage. There were reindeer burgers on the menu, and I saw reindeer jerky in the gift shops.
Headlines in the Anchorage newspaper today: "No Russian River bears killed this year." "Stranded Beluga Free Themselves." "Acidity will affect Alaskan Fisheries." Love it. Oh yea, and an article about the Micheal Jackson homicide. Wink.
Just going to record random memories and observations.
The evenings here really are long and light. Love it. Went to bed about 10 p.m. and it still wasn't dark, more like an early evening feel. That means that from about 6 to 9 when we walked around town and found a restaurant and gift shops it was still really lovely.
Our shuttle bus driver -- from the airport to the Howard Johnson -- was full of town trivia -- places to go -- and she said things like, "You know how Minnesota is the state of 10,000 lakes? Well, Alaska is the state of 3 million lakes."
We ate at Phyllis Seafood Cafe and Fish Market for Friday night supper which sounded promising, but I was rather disappointed. My salmon was half raw and I could have come up with better seasoning. They had outdoor tables, but we ended up inside. Meh, it was still fun.
At breakfast this morning in the hotel, I sat by the window. While the sea is not within easy walking distance, it is within easy sight distance. There are a lot of industrial things going on down by the shore. I asked the waitress what the sea out there was called, and she said Turnigen (sp?) Arm. She also pointed out a mountain in view called Sleeping Woman. It did look like that with a bump for the head and a longer bump for the body. There are so many pine trees around. And the air here at least for someone from Arizona is magical. I recommend that people come here just to breath. The temperature has been low 60s, very nice.
Anchorage is a city of 250,000 which is bigger by far than, say, Idaho Falls where I grew up. The Howard Johnson is near the (old) down town area though. Very cute. The feel here so far is old and homey yet there is a lively energy and still a calm energy. Hard to describe, but I love it. A Monday night walking around downtown and shopping in gift shops -- lots of people walking about, locals and tourists.
There is a town reindeer. If I remember what the shuttle bus driver said, her name is Star. Apparently there was some sort of rescue story for her a few years back, but then she never wanted to be re-acclimated to wild reindeers and is perfectly happy being the princess in town. There was a big kennel we drove by and saw her in. The other reindeer I met was on my plate. Snicker. Lots of reindeer edibles. Actually Amy got the reindeer sausage at Phyllis' Cafe. I had a bite to say I did, didn't taste any different that much from other sausage. There were reindeer burgers on the menu, and I saw reindeer jerky in the gift shops.
Headlines in the Anchorage newspaper today: "No Russian River bears killed this year." "Stranded Beluga Free Themselves." "Acidity will affect Alaskan Fisheries." Love it. Oh yea, and an article about the Micheal Jackson homicide. Wink.
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