Just hanging out in Anchorage

---

DAY 26: MONDAY, JULY 23: Another typical cool, drizzly day in Alaska. We packed up and headed on to Anchorage this morning. I had to guide Aaron backwards out of our camp site at Lake Lucille. That was fun...good thing I chose good strong coffee today. By the way on mornings like these, when we have no services, Aaron and I still brew our coffee by generator just like we did on that first morning in Iowa. The Parks Highway we traveled on yesterday soon became The Glenn Highway today and after we travel down to Kenai, Homer and Seward during the next couple weeks,we will be driving back up to this intersection and heading off towards Palmer, Glennallen and Tok. There really is only one major road in this state that just changes its name depending on it's location. We arrived in Anchorage around 1:30 and are staying at The Golden Nugget RV Park and again the website makes this place sound spectacular but we are finding when we pull in it is never what it claims to be. The park that the kids were so excited to play at across the street was overcome with a bunch of older, local kids from the junky trailer park nearby. However, once we were settled all was great again. As I cleaned and did laundry the kids watched National Lampoons Vacation and Aaron went into town and got all the parts he needed to fix all the issues with the camper. Wow, sounds like a thpical day in Whitehall. Later we went out to eat at Pizza Hut and then went to the movies to see Ice Age Continental Drift. When I walked out of the theater I really felt like I was at home. It actually gets a little dark here...we only have 19 hours of daylight here in Anchorage...so at 11:00 pm it seemed like evening time.

Total Mileage: 60 or so

No States Plates

No Wildlife Report

Crazy Large Populations: Eagle River: pop. 22 000. Chugiak: pop. 10,000. Anchorage: pop. 284,994, that is 42% of Alaska's total population of 686,293.

Funny: I told you that the campground was full of local kids, well, these kids were boxing...like with real gloves and all. Some kids were teenagers and then they would have the little kids box. I wouldn't let my kids go over there but Brett wanted to watch SO BAD so he stood across the street behind the fence at the campground and watched these kids beat each other up. Welcome to Anchorage!

Bad Restaurant Experiences: Now at one time or another we all have had a bad experience at a restaurant. Well we found out why this Pizza Hut had only 3 guests...the waitress. She was so awful. We all hated her. She was older and loud and in the HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES we were there we heard about her husbands death, how she spilled 7 full glasses of water on herself, about an illness that caused her to go deaf for a month and she was slower than slow. But the kicker...when I had to go up to get my bill and a boxbecause ahe didnt bring us either, in the 20 seconds she had my credit card she lost it. SERIOUSLY! I thought I was was going to go over the counter and choke her. A couple had came in and wanted silverware, so ignored me and she grabbed a handful of silverware for them and put it iin their bag and dropped my card in the process. She was searching everywhere and I was sure it went out the door in the bag. Well, she found it on the silverware shelf and then proceeded to tell me how " one day at work my car got broken into and my wallet got stolen and I would just feel terrible if I lost your card.". Shut Up Lady!!!

ALaskan Trivia: What is an "oomingmak?"

Mechanics Corner: Aaron fixed the motor on the landing gear and one of two broken shades in the camper. Now mind you, that is no easy feat. These stupid blinds have a string that is strung through at least 40 tiny holes in 4 different places and you have to restring it like puzzle. Every time Aaron does it himself he saves us $80. Good Job!!!

DAY 27: TUESDAY, JULY 24: We were only going to spend two nights here, but I woke up today and decided we are going to add one more because today is a zoo day for the kids and I and, and I hate to say it, but a mechanics day for poor Aaron...the Dad's work is never done! So, on Wednesday we will do all the cool site seeing stuff I want to do. Aaron dropped the kids and I off at The Alaska Zoo around 10:30 and then headed back to the camper to work. The zoo was great. It was about the size of John Ball Park and had all your usual animals...bears, tigers, wolves, eagle and owls, but then it had a lot of animals you'd never see in Michigan. Moose, musk ox, artic fox, polar bears, mountain goats and caribou. The kids all had a really hard time seeing these animals in cages, especially after seeing most of them in the wild. My little activists wanted to set them all free. I had to keep reminding them they were all there for a reason and zoo was actually doing them a favor because most of them would never survive in the wild. I loved it because on each cage there was a sign that told how the animal came to be at the zoo. Ahpun, one of the polar bears was there because his mother was killed by someone in self defense, all 3 grizzlies were orphans, the bald eagle had a wing injury and couldn't fly right. Your typical stuff. I was also happy because I can say I saw 2 polar bears....I only wish it was because I had crossed the Artic Circle and was in Barrow, Alaska. Aaron picked us up and we hit the Fred Myer...love that store and then grilled dinner and watched Big Miracle, the true story about the 3 whales stuck under the ice in Barrow. How appropriate to watch that here in Alaska.

Total Mileage: only a few traveled around town

Funny: Brett and his constant opera signing...I tried to attach a video that would have said it all, but couldn't get it on the blog. SORRY!

Mechanics Corner: Aaron spent most of the day under the camper fixing the suspension springs. He also fixed the other broken blind in the living room. At bedtime he said the camper is officially as good as new...now he can relax and have some fun.

Alaskan Trivia: What does the term " Bearfooting" mean?

Answers to past trivia questions: 1) The Savage River was only 40 degrees and freezes in the winter. 2) "Denali" is an Athabascan Indian word meaning "the high one". 3) Kodiak bears are the only other sub-species of brown bear and the California brown bear became extinct in 1928. How did you do?

---