Disappointment and the Anchorage Museum

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First the disappointment. In Dawson City, when I got my oil change, the repair guy let me know that a couple of belts in the car needed changing as they were cracking. He told me to get it done as soon as was reasonable, but I wasn't in any particular danger. He also told me that it wouldn't be too expensive. Well, I went to a Midas place in Anchorage and inquired about getting it done and it's going to be about 300 dollars!! That's 25 percent of what I paid for the car. That's not really cheap, I'm afraid to say. Now I don't really know what to do about it. I know that in the end I will probably get it done, but, man, that's more than I really want to put into a car that I will probably drive into its grave. Oh well. I can think about it for a little longer. I hope. Maybe I can get lucky and it the belts will just keep lasting and lasting, like some kind of energizer belts. Hehe.



After that, I went and got registered for a cruise sightseeing trip through the Kenai Fjords. It, too, was a bit more than I was thinking I would be willing to pay, but there sounds like so much wildlife in the area, and the chance to see calving glaciers. I may do another one out of Skagway, but I shall have to see. The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau is supposed to be so spectacular...



In the meantime, I decided to go and see the Anchorage Museum. They had this deal to see the museum and go to a local native cultural centre/arts deal. I considered it strongly. The woman at the desk told me that I would need at least an hour and a half for each. The way I do museums lately, I doubled that. I wouldn't really have time for both this day, and I wasn't interested in hanging around another day. Plus, I had to be on the road early the next morning to get to Seward for the cruise tour, so I can't stick around for another day. Perhaps if I decide to bite the bullet and get these belts changed (300 dollars for two belts? That's outrageous! I suppose it's that more than anything else that gives me pause.)



I opted only to go through the museum, citing my having been to many native sites of late and feeling like I couldn't give it the proper appreciation. That's probably not true, but after a long time in a museum, I could well get to flagging a bit. If I come back and decide to go, it will be better.



The museum was really quite good. There was a whole history of Anchorage and Alaska section on one of the floors. It was quite well presented and showed that the earliest inhabitants known in the area were about 11000 years at the end of the last ice age, but before the land bridge closed up and disappeared under the sea. It then proceeded through the earliest arrivals from the Eurasian continent, who happened to be Russians. I knew that Alaska had been bought by the US from the Russians, but I didn't realize the extent of their influence before they departed. It was quite an interesting tale.



The hall presented the story of Alaska quite well, but the last image I had as I was leaving it was that of a justification of the Exxon Valdez oil spill that wreaked such environmental havoc. One almost off-handed comment in one of the panels suggested that it wasn't so bad because it brought lots of employment and lifted Alaska out of a recessionary period. That was amazing.



Hands down the best part of the museum though were the west part of the second floor and the fourth floor. The fourth floor was just a simple room with a bunch of photographs, in black and white, of Alaskan mountains. They were taken by a man of some repute, the guy who opened up the best used route to climb Mt. McKinley (or Denali as the First Nations call it), and whose name I can't remember. He took the photos while hanging out of an aircraft as it flew above them. They were amazing.



And on the second floor, there was an exhibit put together by the Smithsonian Institute. It was of the seven or eight First Nations that are located in Alaska. There were artefacts from each nation, and explanations and quotes. There were also seven viewing screens with little documentaries about each of the nations, with interviews of people from each. They were really cool. They went in a sequence with two showing at any given time. They just kept looping and could be watch until all had been seen. The artefacts had parallel explanations that included, but didn't necessarily talk about the artefacts. There were lists next to each display showing the artefacts and telling about them. It was so well done. And if it's indicative of how the Smithsonian does things, I will have a hard time getting through the whole set in Washington, D.C. once I get there. I highly recommend it if anyone ever gets up this way.



A further really cool part of the museum was the interactive science area. There were hands on displays about earthquakes and bubbles and tsunamis and sand moving through water. It was fun. That also is worth the admission itself. I didn't go to the planetarium, but I heard it also has some good shows about the night sky, the aurora, and other topics of interest to the far north.



It wasn't a really big day here in Anchorage, and I didn't really do anything of the history here, but it didn't really interest me. Maybe if I get stuck here for a day or two if I decide on the belts. We shall see.



I can't wait for the cruise tomorrow!

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