Day1!!

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Today we got up early to pick up our race kits for tomorrow - crappy schwag, no free stuff but tons of really nice people and a neat guy from LDI on the Jersey shore who swears we have a double in his bar every week....walked around downtown Anchorage which for a town of 277 000 is really kind of strange. The camera battery was dead so no photos of that right now but we'll have some after the race tomorrow.

There were nine fires burning in the mountains when we woke this morning (two south of us and seven north) so the mountains we can see from our balcony were covered with clouds and smoke but it smelled fantastic! That cleared up mid-morning and we headed south down the Seward highway between enormous snowcaps, stopped at Beluga point to see if the salmon were running but they weren't and no salmon = no belugas so we ate our sushi lunch and kept on going. We drove to the Kenai peninsula which was much greener and wound up in Hope, Alaska, population 165. Had the best fish and chips I think I've ever had but I surely won't be eating anything fried again while we're here! Jon also saw the first two moose he'd ever seen - calves that walked right in front of us on our way into the SeaView Cafe.

No trip into the mountains is complete without a burning vehicle -- on our way back we ran into (not literally) a Chevy that caught fire coming up one of the hills. The dude driving it had no idea, nor did his wife or kid in the back until someone passed him on the road and saw the flaming underside of his truck. Three other trucks stopped, grabbed his kayak and unhitched his trailer and wheeled it off while the fire department blocked the road and let his truck burn to the ground. On our way home through Turnagain arm the tide was out - it's the first half of a bore tide that can see water rise 10 feet in an extremely short time. The differential between tides in this area can be up to 27ft, when it was out this evening there were only mud flats where the water had been on the drive out. The mudflats are apparently pretty dangerous, people drown when they walk out and get stuck in them and swallowed up when the tide comes in - yikes!

Well, tomorrow's race day so we'll have more then!

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Photos

Seward Highway
About 5 miles down the Seward Highway

Jon at Beluga Point
Jono, sitting on a rock at Beluga Point where we didn't see belugas.

Furino at Beluga Point
Furino on a different rock at Beluga Point. No whales.

furino & jono @ Beluga Point
Still no whales to be seen, we decided to just take photos of ourselves...

furino on the Alaska Railroad
me, sitting on the tracks in an extreme amount of wind.

On the Road Again
Heading south on the 127 mile Seward highway, towards the Kenai Peninsula

Pit Stop
Almost at the Peninsula

furino in Hope, AK
Here's me near the mouth of Ressurection Creek in Hope, AK - the first gold rush boom town on the Kenai Peninsula. Population today: 165.

Hope 2
a view of the mountains above one of the 77 homes in the town

Seaview Cafe, Hope AK
Best fish & chips EVER! One of the original buildings bilt by the Alaska Commercial Company in 1896

Mmmmmmm
can't eat 'em without beer...

Social Hall, 1902
I don't know if this building is even used anymore, the bar next to our restaurant seemed waaaay more social :)

Hope Liquor Store
At first I thought this was a joke. It's not. When they're there it's open. They weren't there today.

Liquor Store, Next Door
Judging by the rusted out Texaco truck the liquor store moonlighted as a gas station.

Flaming Truck
We were the third car to show up, suprised it wasn't an accident. The truck burned like mad for a good ten minutes before the fire dept showed up to douse it. Worst thing I've ever smelled, and I worked at a sewage treatment plant.

Flaming Truck 2
Ahhh, nothing makes you feel more like a jerk than filming the smoldering wreck of a vehicle belonging to the person standing directly in front of you.

1964 Earthquake
A 9.2 quake caused massive amounts of damage to the state as well as BC. Tsunamis caused by this quake had wave heights of 67m in Valdez, and the town of Portage fell 10 ft into the ground. It's kind of hard to tell from the pic but there's a cliff and a river at the back of this cabin.

Bore Tide
Everything that is brown in this photo was under about eight feet of water on our way out in the morning. Now it's just scary mud flats full of sticky glacial silt that you can drown in very quickly when the water comes rushing back in (at 15mph!!)
shudder.

Comments

[Jason]

The best fish and chips ever, two young moose, and a trip to the mountains with a burning chevy on the road side, that's one hell of a first day.

[Kerri]

Hey hey
Hi Guys, sounds like you're having a great time. I checked on the place today. The Mortatron is still kickin'. The fort is still standing. Except the civic is missing. but don't worry, i think it was the cook, in the library, with the candle stick. (Clue) hahaha. Just jokin Jono. Everything looks great. The neighbours were out so i said hi, the one on the left of you guys. I forget his name. The one we drank with at the garage sale. oh and I gave the rat some of his treat thingys. Anyway, good luck at the race tomorrow. Talk to you soon. :)

[Karen]

pics
OH MY GOD! Fun experiences and amazing scenery. I love your pics. I can just smell the fresh air and feel the cool breeze.