Alaska/Canada 2022-14-: Anchorage

July 13-15, 18-19, 2022

    On our 2017 trip we had just driven through Anchorage, so we wanted to spend time there this time. In an attempt to get to know the city we took a bus tour from the visitors center in downtown Anchorage. It wasn't terribly informative, but it gave us the lay of the land.

Alaska's growing season is short, but the days are so long, the plants are huge and the colors intense.

    Anchorage is large, bigger than the state of Rhode Island, not surprising as Alaska is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined. Less than 1% of Alaska is inhabited, with about 50% of 737,000 Alaskans living in the Anchorage metropolitan area. Another 33,000 (5%) each live in Fairbanks and Juneau. 

About 1,600 moose, about 300 black bears, and around 6o grizzly bears also live in Anchorage. 

    After our bus tour, we nixed the popular cafe with a line down the street, then stumbled on Cafe 817, at 817 6th Avenue. It was so good--and came with such entertaining chefs--that we had to have breakfast there again the next day.

Watering the lawn, Alaska Style.

    Our wanderings took us to Kincaid Park Outdoor Center, which offers lessons in Nordic Ski, paddleboard, and archery, and has hosted national-level Nordic ski competitions.

Kincaid Park "chalet" also serves as an event center.

Near the chalet, we saw a sign for Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, so off we went. Soon we encountered many other walkers as well as bicyclists. And then we looked to the left of the trail and saw....

...a pair of moose near the trail.

At the end of the trail we found ourself above the beach at Turnagain Arm.

 Along Turnagain Arm, looking south toward the Kenai Peninsula.

We walked and slid down to the rocky beach, where a group of children who'd biked there played and explored.

Looking North.

The rocky beach, just up from the famous tidal bore. 

    Turnagain Arm is famous for its tidal bore. Since surfers can ride it for miles, it can be viewed all along Turnagain Arm.

Turnagain Arm's bore tide can be viewed all along Hwy 1 to Seward, as well as from Hope, although the latter is a bit of a drive.

All the grays of the sky, water, sand, and rocks fascinated Marilyn.

Not Ansel Adams, but I do love this photo.

When not sneaking pictures of Marilyn, Doug relaxed. We found there was a lot more cell coverage this year than on previous trips.

    If there's an REI around you must need something from it. The Anchorage REI is the IKEA of REIs.

The Anchorage REI is gigantic!

    Air museums and boat harbors are also required visits on our trips. The Alaska Aviation Museum is located on Lake Hood next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, advertised to be the busiest seaplane base in the world. 

It was rather enjoyable seeing all of the float planes that were used in the Alaska Frontier. Yes, I was a bit envious. 

In the restoration hanger was this amazing bird. 

For those who remember the TV series Sky King, here is a similar bird on floats. 

Only in aviation: a sign over the toilet in the men's restroom.

Not all birds are flyable. Above a 1943 PBY 5A Catalina. Sign near said it was on the schedule to be restored. We can only hope. 

The engine from the first airplane to circumnavigate earth. In 1924, 4 Douglas World Cruisers and 8 pilots left Seattle. 174 days later, 2 returned.

Helo used for search and rescue in the '50s.

Curious what this is? I was. Finally asked and was told that for birds that do not have wheels on their floats, the long boom in front of the truck goes under the floats of the bird and picks it up. 

    From the museum, we headed around Lake Hood to check out the plethora of private planes. In Alaska, you get the harbor and planes all in one, since so many planes are adapted with pontoons for takes-offs and landings on water. Some are changed out to skis when winter comes. 

So many small birds we saw looked like this: no pontoons but really large wheels so they could land on gravel bars. 

The harbor is circled with boats at their dock. Was told there is a 7 year wait to get a dock. Imagine the joy: park your car on the grass, get in your bird, and fly to another lake. 

Each time I've seen a float plane on our trips to Alaska, I've asked myself why I did not move to Alaska when I got home from SE Asia in '72. Guess the lure of living on the beach in San Diego was just too strong. 

    On both trips to Alaska, we've stayed at the family camp just north of Anchorage at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Doug's 20 years in the Navy allows us access to these military campgrounds.

Jet at Elmendorf AFB.

This old helo, also seen at the Air Museum, was used for Search And Rescue in the 50's. 

The Family Camp is comfortable, quiet, and comes with showers and laundry facilities. As we do not require hookups, we were able to camp in a tent site--same size as the others and about a third of the price. 

Previously we'd seen bears wander through the campground. Doug caught sight of a moose down the street on this trip.

    From Anchorage, we headed south to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. We'd visited in 2017, and wanted to experience it again.

Heading from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula, with the Chugach Mountains as backdrop.

The tide was in on Turnagain Arm as we were off to Seward and another experience.