Anchorage - June 6 - 10, 2011

Monday, June 6, 2011 – Off we go to Anchorage! We stopped at the Mt. McKinley view point. It was a clear, beautiful day to see the mountain. Fact:  Only about 30% of people that visit Alaska ever really get to see the mountain because its usually covered in clouds. Spike said in all the trips he has made up here, this was truly one of the best days he’s seen it. We pulled out at a few more stops to see the mountain and take pictures. Then we stopped at Sheep Creek Lodge to have lunch. Its an old log cabin, decorated with many large mounts, very nicely done. It was the kind of place you imagined to find in Alaska. From there, we stopped at the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum in Wasilla. We saw two videos on the Iditarod…very interesting to learn all this stuff about the “big” race from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. Its really a big deal up here. While we were still in Wasilla, we went by Lake Lucille. You could see Sarah Palin’s house across the lake and that was pretty cool. We arrived in Anchorage around 7:00ish. We sat outside because it was so nice out and had some snacks and a glass of wine and chatted with some of our fellow travelers.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011 – Day of Tours! City orientation, tour of Old Town Anchorage. Stopped at Alaska Fur Traders, a small, cramped store with a bunch of really cool pelts, moose hides, ivory, mounts, antlers and anything else you could think of that had to do with Alaska were in this store. We bought a piece of a “Wooly Mammoth” tusk to show Noah. From there, we went to Black Elk Crafts, another cool Alaska store (not your typical tourist place). Then off to the Ulu Factory where they make the “authentic” Ulu knives. And, right by the Ulu Factory we stopped by Ship Creek where they fish for salmon right in town. We stopped for lunch, then later in the afternoon, we drove out to Turnagain Arm. It got its name when Captain Cook got lost here and had to turn his ship – again – to get back out to sea. We stopped at Indian Valley Meats and sampled smoke salmon and reindeer sausage. From there, we went to Portage Glacier and watched a video about the glacier that was excellently done. We had driven our jeep there, so before we left, we went down to the water and gathered some glacier ice for drinks later. Then, we went to the “Wild Animal Park.” This is a refuge for injured and orphaned animals and a drive through park (kind of like what Wild Animal Park use to be). We drove our jeep and so glad we did because we could get out whenever we wanted to and take up close pictures of the animals.  So far, this was one of the best things we’ve done so far on the trip. Just to be able to be so close to these animals was amazing!. We saw grizzlies, moose, musk ox, caribou and two grizzly cubs that were rescued from Kodiak Island as orphans. GREAT DAY IN ALASKA!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 – Free Day! Good day to catch up on housecleaning, writing out postcards, do some laundry. We got our mail and went through it and paid some bills, then went to Costco (yep! There’s a Costco in Anchorage…in fact, there’s 2). The sound on our DVD stopped working, and after trying everything possible Kenny could think of, we had to call a repair guy out to the RV park. He began checking things out when I mentioned we had switches for the speakers. Kenny didn’t remember turning them off, but apparently somehow, they got turned off. Once he turned the switches back on Walla! The sound was back on…yippy!  We got a recommendation from Spike and Lindy to eat at the Glacier Brewhouse Restaurant in downtown Anchorage, so we went there for dinner. As we were walking in the door, I immediately realized that we had been there before on our trip 10 years ago in 2001. Food was excellent…like we remembered.

Thursday, June 9, 2011 – Another free day and leisure morning…catching up on journaling. Kula started getting a rash the last few days, same side of his mouth that he had his surgery on. Worried, we called our Vet in So. Cal and she phoned in a prescription for antibiotics for him for 10 days and told us to keep an eye out on it. After picking up Kula’s prescription, we went to Petco to get some things for him, then to downtown Anchorage to do some shopping. While we were walking down the street, Kenny was attacked by seagulls as they swooped down over him and one of them, maybe two pooped on his head and it got in his hair. I was laughing so hard just as I am typing this and reliving it. It was an awful sight…I wish I had a picture hehehe! Kenny was laughing too, but wanted to get back to the motorhome and shower and wash his hair. Came back to the RV park and we all went to the pavilion to hear Kelly Griffin speak. She is another Yukon Quest and Iditarod musher. She brought puppies with that we all got to hold…they were so cute. Then, we all went to Sourdough Mining Co.for dinner and a show with Dusty Sourdough where he talked about his adventures,sang songs and told jokes. From there, we walked across the street to the Wild Berry Park and watched a great video on Alaska. They also had a reindeer outside so we got to visit him. Fun time again tonight!

Spike introducing Kelly Griffin, Alaskan Musher

Kelly sharing her adventures with us.

Kenny holding one of the future Iditarod Lead Dogs

Friday June 10, 2011 – Off at 9:30am to go on a glacier boat tour. We drove along Turnagain Arm and past Portage Glacier and through the Whittier Tunnel (a 3-mile long tunnel, only wide enough for one vehicle). Once we were through the tunnel, it opened up to the small town of Whittier. We boarded the boat and went for a relaxing 5-hour glacier and wildlife tour on Prince William Sound. We saw a lot of eagles perched up on the trees and flying around, seals and rafts of sea otters floating by. On the way to the glaciers they served us a wonderful lunch, buffet style of salmon and prime rib. It was delicious. The captain stopped at a couple of Glaciers and we watched them calving. It was truly amazing to be able to be there for such an event. It sounded like canons going off when they would break away. The size of the waves generated from the falling ice was awesome. This really was one of the highlights of our trip.