Blogs from Anchorage, Alaska, United States, North America - page 14

No better way to start the day than with a great breakfast, soft music, a fire in the fireplace and a great view. That was this morning at Copper Whale Inn, and lots of interesting conversation with other guests from different parts of the US. Of course, I got up early and had lots of time for all of the above. Cool, rainy weather didn't hold us back. After a leisurely start of the day, we spent time at the Anchorage Museum. There was an exhibit from the Smithsonian on Native Cultures in the Arctic Circle that was amazing. We all loved it. We left there in time to see the 4th of July parade...a true highlight of local warmth....from the Welcome Home Mommy sign on one of the military 'floats' to the midwives marching, and ... read more

We made the plane reservations for this trip almost 8 months ago. Who's 'we'? Barry and I are traveling with Marcy, Steve, Beth and Ira. Marcy, Beth, and I have been friends since high school (OK, I'll be honest, that means more than 45 years!). Barry, Ira and Steve became friends after dating and then marrying one of us...more than 30 years ago. We've been friends for that time but never traveled together. So this trip will be the true test of our very long friendship! Marcy and I worked on figuring out the itinerary back in January, with the help of Tripadvisor, Mr. Frommer, and other travel experts (and reading other people's blogs, of course). After a few after-work diner meetings, and lots of e-mails with Ira, we came up with the route and booked ... read more

It is the beginning of March and 30 days ago my life was very different. Today I am completed moved out of my home of 5 years. I am temporarily living with my dad while my house is being sold. I don't have a job. I won't have a car shortly. In 12 days I am flying to meet one of my closest friends in New York with no return ticket to Anchorage, AK. Instead, I will be flying to Reykjavik, Iceland and onto London, England without any definite plan of what to do or where to go. This is by far the most unplanned my life has ever been and I feel great. Of course new beginnings are exciting, sometimes scary, but mostly full of hope. Travelers spend all of their time looking forward, that ... read more

Dec. 16, 2012 Hello, All, I am just setting up a blog to use during my adventure in Namibia. I am still in Anchorage at the moment. I will leave here Christmas night to fly to New York City, where I'll meet my sister Nicki. We'll spend a couple of days, then on the 28th I will meet my WorldTeach group, and on the morning of the 29th, we will head to Windhoek. We will have Orientation there for about three weeks, then we will all disperse to our various teaching assignments. I will be going to a little town called Divundu. I haven't found it on a map, but it is about 200 km east of Rundu, which I have found in my atlas and on googlemaps. I'll be teaching in a brand new school, ... read more

Here's just six photo highlights of Alaska. Anchorage was a great base of operations for weekend adventures. "The closest city to Alaska" as they say. I don't think I could live there but it was an incredible summer for hiking. To over winter you'd have to love snow sports. The snow, or termination dust as they call it, had nearly descended all the way down from the front range to the city when I left two days ago! The most challenging aspect of the weather was that we only received 5 sunny days all summer. As a result, many people take Vitamin D yearround. I saw about one bear a week but only had a couple of bear encounters - once while speeding downhill on my bike did a black bear poke his head out of ... read more