Wasila to Alyeska (Girdwood)

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Wasila seem so long ago but it was only Monday. We enjoyed the state fair in Palmer. But the "fair" food is not as good as ours.
As for the rest of Wasila, as Cathy said "it's a highway with 3 strip malls". That's about it and WE couldn't see Russia!
We left Tuesday morning and headed for Anchorage, only a 40 mile drive. Anchorage is a big city "wannabe". We weren't impressed and most of the people in the North country (as the Alaskans like to call it) say you fly into Anchorage and then head North into Alaska. They don't have much use for the city apparently. Cathy and I both agreed we'd have to live in Fairbanks. We did see a film about the earthquake of Good Friday, 1964. Incredible damage, cliffs fell 20-30 feet into the ocean, whole towns were destroyed, some never rebuilt, some move further inland and then rebuilt.
From Anchorage we headed south, drove along the coast of Cooks Inlet into Turnagain Arm. If you looked at a map, Anchorage is on the coast but quite a distance in from the actual ocean. Captain Cook has quite a reputation around here for getting lost and having to turn around again, hence the name of the bay. This portion in not navigatable due to the many sand bars. We actually drove completely around it, thru the "arm pit" to the other side.
We stopped at a small town called Hope (about 50 people) and met Bill at the Museum. What a character, we actually thought he could be John in 30 years!!! He loved to talked and had great stories about the earthquake and moving buildings. Fascinating. Then we went into the cafe for lunch and instead of nutritious we opted for the most unbelievably delicious chocolate pie you have ever had with a pecan crust and whiped cream, homemade by a 17 year old (she looked 17 anyway!) We're still talking about it, YUM!
We arrvied at our hotel, The Alyeska Resort. Now we have come full circle, from Purdho Bay to here. This is a ski resort (open year round) with ALL the amenities and more. We felt a little out of our element, but we're adjusting. We even got mints on our pillow when they turned down the beds!
We went to dinner last night at a place called The Double Musky Inn. Apparently it's been written up and visited by all the Food Network people and is listed as one of the top 10 restuarants in the country. It's a cajun theme, mardi gras atmosphere. Stuff hanging everywhere, if you ever saw our old camp, well this was 100 times more stuff. Food was incredible, Cathy and I shared a crawfish dip, made with crawfish, jalapenos, cheese etc.. We loved it, the guys didn't dare try it, too hot. I got the receipe and think I can use crab or shrimp in place of the crawfish. Can't wait to try it at home.
We went to bed very full and satiated.
Today we visited and animal park, where they take in injured or abondoned animals and try to rehab them to release back to the wild. It was a great up close and personal look at the bears especially. I'll download some of those pictures for the next blog.
We took the tram to the top of the Alyeska mountain and had lunch. Then John and I clilmbed higher up another peak for an even better view. We'll see how those pictures come out.
Having a little down time now before we head to dinner. Tomorrow we head south again to Seward. We have a couple tours planned there and then on Sunday evening board our cruise ship for our final 7 days, boo hoo!
See you all too soon.

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Comments

[Anne Marie Darsney]

What a trip!!!!! I just saw the pics and seemed to have trouble leaving a comment. Just want to say how breathtaking they are. Thanks so much for sharing. This is truly an incredible adventure for y'all.