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.