Anchorage - Back in town

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It's warm in Anchorage...

... and by 'warm', I mean it hit the lower 30's yesterday afternoon!

Before departing Fairbanks, we stopped at the University of Alaska campus to check out the Museum of the North . We were told about a room called "The Place Where You Go to Listen" that was absolutely fascinating. Here's what the web site says:

"... a unique sound and light environment created by composer John Luther Adams. This ever-changing musical ecosystem gives voice to the rhythms of daylight and darkness, the phases of the moon, the seismic vibrations of the earth and the dance of the aurora borealis, in real time."

It was a 6 hour trip back in the car from Fairbanks. The weather was fairly co-operative -- sunny & smooth driving until we hit an hour out of Cantwell plains area. We pulled over and did a quick lunch in Nenana in a very ecclectic resturant. Fried chicken never tasted so good!! Irene made a call back to Anchorage to check the 'real forecast' and we were told that there was plenty of snow falling. Just after dark (around 6pm) it hit. BAMM!!! Snow started falling at an alarming rate. High beam lights were not an option, so we kept it on low with flood lights, creeping back at 15 mph. Must have been 40 minutes or so of inching along inside of what looked like a Star Wars light-speed jump scene! Nicole kept the vehicle moving as close to the middle of the road as possible while I watched the sides of the road for snow banks. (If I find my point-n-shoot camera again, I can post a few pix... yeah, not sure what happened to it??)

When the snow subsided, there was a faint glow of reds & yellows on the horizon. Was it the Aurora lights??? We did take a few moments to pull over & view the THOUSANDS of stars in the vast night sky before heading into Houston, AK and beyond. It really puts into perspective how BIG God truly is to have made such a wonderful palette of universe ;-) Well, the lights turned out to be the faint glow of Anchorage in the distance... bummer.

Quiet day in Anchorage

Thankfully we were able to take in a quiet day with not much on the agenda on Friday. Kathy & I were starting to deal with running noses... pass the kleenex, please. We popped downtown (perhaps this is where the point-n-shoot went MIA??) to check out the Native Arts & Crafts Fair as well as a couple tourists shops to possibly sell my Wanna-B-RockStar Wine Charms. Later, Irene & Kathy had dinner with Glen & Diana, while Nicole & I met up with Laura - a former roomie from the Kirkland days. We had a great dinner at Romano's and a wonderful chat at Borders. (Alaska isn't exactly known for culinary delights... but there are a few places that rise to the top of the pack!!)

more later.............

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Photos

Alaska Outhouse
notice the electrical cord - helps warm it up!!

Moving blocks of ice
creating the Ice sculptures