Day 6 Adiós Alaska

• Visited Alaska Public Lands Information Center in a historical federal building
• Lunch at Cake Studio. Soup and croissant for me, and soup and cookie for Mom. I had dessert twice: coconut bon-bon.
• Stopped by airport to check on our flights. (When we checked in on-line earlier in the day, we were told the flight was oversold.) Our seats were confirmed, despite the overbooking. Even waiting in line at the Delta counter was enjoyable. We met:

1. Verizon manager who was flying home to Seattle. He had been in Anchorage for Verizon's initial launch and store openings in Alaska!
2. Cook from McKinley Princess Lodge - who was flying home for the winter. He said he'd be returning to AK in January to start year-round work.
3. Retired military woman (from Florida) who used to sponsor other military families arriving to Anchorage. She was head-over-heels in love with Alaska! She answered my question about where and when Alaska has 24 hours of darkness. She said:
• 24 hours of darkness occurs in Fairbanks and north of Fairbanks - for 80 days each winter.  
• That covers a HUGE part of the state.  
• Interestingly enough it is an area that few residents have ever visited. I asked quite a few.)
• I am recalling that 40% of the state's population lives south in Anchorage.

80 days of 24 hour darkness in the winter

• Drove north of Anchorage - part way towards Wasilla. Turned around at Eagle River
• Visited the HUGE Anchorage Museum - with send off by magpies

Photo by Helen Mae Boudreau

• Bid adieu to Anchorage - Alaska's most populous city. This photo articulates how perfectly sandwiched it is between the water and mountains.

Photo from: http://www.alaska.org/destination/anchorage/restaurants

• Returned rental car. Cost was less than quoted! ($204 for 6 days)
• 4pm: dinner at airport

Last photo taken in Alaska - through window at Anchorage airport
7:30pm Monday 9/29/2014

• 9:30pm flight (Anchorage to Minneapolis/5.5 hours). I sat beside yet another hunter from North Dakota. He showed me cell phone photos of the caribou he had hunted for the last two weeks - north of Nome
• In Minneapolis, Mom caught a flight to Boston, and I went to New York City (LaGuardia) and then to Norfolk for a 4pm arrival. (three flights and layovers totaled 14.5 hours)

Landing in Norfolk - passing my office downtown

• Believe it or not... I, of all people, slept 10.5 hours and then returned to work in the morning!

Day 5 Downtown, Flattop and Lake Spenard

This morning we set off for the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  Unfortunately it was closed for the season.  The Center's website explains:

'Alaska's native people are divided into 11 distinct cultures, speaking 11 different languages and 22 different dialects.'  

'Alaska natives represent many languages, creeds and philosophies, but we share common goals, values and the challenge to embrace modern changes in such a way that we can be full participants in this new era.  We build upon the traditional cycle of knowledge that has helped to perpetuate native societies for hundreds of generations.' 

Ten Universal Alaska Native Values

SHOW RESPECT TO OTHERS
Each Person Has a Special Gift

SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE
Giving Makes You Richer

KNOW WHO YOU ARE
You are a Reflection on Your Family

ACCEPT WHAT LIFE BRINGS
You Cannot Control Many Things

HAVE PATIENCE
Some Things Cannot Be Rushed

LIVE CAREFULLY
What You Do Will Come Back to You

TAKE CARE OF OTHERS
You Cannot Live Without Them

HONOR YOUR ELDERS
They Show You the Way in Life

PRAY FOR GUIDANCE
Many Things Are Not Known

SEE CONNECTIONS
All Things Are Related

From there we headed downtown, parked the car and stopped in at the log cabin Visitors Center.

We had a lovely chat with two gracious and engaging golden girls.  With their directions we found restrooms at a nearby cafe, had coffee and brunch.  We shopped (for Ashley and the boys) at the Polar Bear Gifts, where I met a very tame magpie who came into the store.

We also walked along the beginning of the Ted Knowles Coastal Trail.

A quick stop at the hotel enabled us to grab a few more layers of clothing, water bottles and backpacks, and then we were off to Flattop Mountain.  Mom was apprehensive about the narrow winding road up to the trail head; but she was a trooper!  Both the parking lot and additional parking were FULL!  This provided encouragement about how worthwhile the place was.  The hike was invigorating and empowering.  We met many dogs and even talked with a few of their humans.

No rails on edge of trail 

View to the east - Anchorage & Cook Inlet

Parasail!

Spent the sunny September afternoon on Lake Spenard.  The lake is said to be the largest floatplane harbor in the world.  The Fancy Moose lounge at the Millennium Hotel had outside seating.  We had drinks and an early dinner while watching many float planes take off and land.  Mom had "The Local" (of course!) aka steak sandwich, and I had fish/shrimp/crab tacos.

Day 4 Seward to Anchorage

Shortly after a rainy (7:56 a.m.) sunrise, we bid adieu to Seward. <pouting...> A few miles out of town, we made the turn towards Exit Glacier.

 We saw very few cars and quickly lost cell service; but we found the glacier - and some eagles.

Exit Glacier

Bald Eagle, Juvenile

Bald Eagle, Juvenile

Bald Eagle, Juvenile

We then made the 125-mile trek north back to Anchorage.  The bright foliage was particularly colorful against the overcast weather.

A stop at Girdwood was full of surprises.  At a rustic grocery/video store we inquired about a place for lunch, and a nice man sent us to The Bake Shop.  From the outside, it was easy to miss; but inside it was a bustling neighborhood hangout of college students on laptops, young parents with babies, middle aged couples and seniors.  When the tables filled up, multiple parties filled in the empty seats by sharing tables with other parties. Mom had soup, and I had a BLT club.  Next door was an art gallery co-op featuring work of 38 artists.  We met September's artist: Monica and her dog "Bea."

The Bake Shop & Art Gallery (Girdwood, AK)

Aleyska's resort, ski lift and aerial tram added to the diversity we found in Girdwood.

Aleska Aerial Tram

We then backtracked out of Girdwood and back onto the Seward highway to finish our drive back to Anchorage.  But first we stopped at Potters Marsh Bird Sanctuary.  It was a pair of wooden boardwalks erected over a broad marsh.  There were few birds though... which might have (hopefully had) to do with a rather large rifle range being located directly across the street.  Gun shots (from hunters) and sanctuary (for the hunters) hardly seemed to go together!

The spot I picked for dinner (Jen's Restaurant) was not open yet.  (We seemed to have remained on east coast time all week...)  We met the owner, who invited us in.  We chatted, accepted a menu and instead ended up at a place called Kinley's.  Mom had pasta with vegeys in pesto, and I had scallops in a corn sauce with broccoli/potato croquettes and fancy vegetable garnishment.

Our hotel (Marriott Residence Inn) provided two bedrooms, two (!) full baths, a full kitchen, dining room table and den with a sleeper sofa (for the men we picked up at the bar... )

The hotel was a block south of Benson Boulevard - named for the kid who's 1926 design was used for the state flag!  At the time, Benny was thirteen-year old seventh grader! His design was submitted in a Territory-wide contest for school children sponsored by the American Legion in 1926.  On his submission, Benny wrote, "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower.  The North Star is for the future of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union.  The dipper is for the Great Bear - symbolizing strength.

Photo from: http://www.micktravels.com/alaska2006/whittier/06-whittier-alaska-flag.html

Day 3 Glacier Boat Tour

This fine morning and in preparation for our Kenai Fjords Glacier Boat tour, we wore jeans over our pajamas, plus 6 layers of shirts and coats.  In addition to our gloves and scarfs, we also purchased hats with ear flaps.  The land... temperature was 34 degrees!

Our 6-hour (100 miles) tour included seeing three glaciers: Aialik, Holgate and Bear.

Aialik Glacier - actively calving

Aialik Glacier - actively calving

Captain Tim showed us a variety of wildlife:

Sea Otter

Cormorants

Sea Lions

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale

Sea Lion

Sea Lions

Bald Eagle

Sea Lions

Mountain Goat

Bald Eagle

Sea Otter

The weather morphed during our six hours and different locations

Seward (population of 2.700) is a quaint place - a favorite.  Our hotel, pair of pier-side restaurants, boat tour, gift shops, bakery and all purpose two-story hardware/grocery store were all within the same city block.   We parked our rental car and never touched it again until we left Seward.

Seward's harbor hosts harbor seals, sea otters, huge colorful jellyfish and last summer I saw Arctic terns here.

We returned to Ray's for dinner.  Perpendicular to us, from across the harbor and quite low... flew a bald eagle: directly over our table!

Day 2 Anchorage to Seward

• Moments before the 7:50 a.m. sunrise, we began our drive south
• Seward Highway 
• 127 miles / 3 +/- hours with stops
• First 50 miles skirted the base of the Chugach Mountains and shore of Turnagain Arm where it's common to see beluga whales, dall sheep, waterfalls and eagles.
• National Geographic's Drives of a Lifetime
• 9:51 a.m.: 6.2 magnitude earthquake with more than a dozen aftershocks 80 miles northwest of Anchorage

 

This 6 day trip covers such a TINY section of the south central part of the state.
(Denali National Park is larger than the entire state of Massachusetts!)

Tundra Swan and ducks
south of Anchorage adjacent to Potters Marsh Bird Sanctuary

just south of Turnagain Arm

just south of Turnagain Arm

• Lunch at Gold Rush Alaskan Bistro (Seafood chowder, salad and sweet potato fries)
• Alaska Sea Life Center, Seward - purchased 3 animal encounters
• 1) Fed crab to "Dot" a Giant Pacific Octopus.  She suctioned herself to our hands!  Oh, and her mate is "Thumbs!" They grow 9-16 feet long and live 3-6 years.  These were both 6 years old.

• 2) Fed Horned and Tufted Puffins, Murres and others - phenomenal! 

My favorite photo of the day!

 

One of these Tufted Puffins was named... "Fabio!"

• 3) Behind the scenes tour with sea lions and seals.  The male sea lion ("Woody") is 2,500 lbs!  Watched the keepers feed three seals.  One seal kissed our toes.

• Tonight's hotel room has a balcony on the harbor.

• Dinner at Ray's - on the harbor.  (Scallops appetizer, cedar planked salmon, crab cakes) Complete with harbor seals and sea otters outside our window!  Also saw the boat we will take tomorrow.
• 7:48pm sunset (midnight EST)