Blogs from Anchorage, Alaska, United States, North America - page 34

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North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage February 26th 2007

I wanted to show you what little I've seen so far. The pictures are from the window of the airplane on the way into Anchorage. These were taken with my cell phone camera so the quality isn't the best. And yes...I know, I know. I cannot possibly be expected to believe "Cellular devices can interfere with the airplane's navigational system." Do they really think we're that dumb? If that were the case they would never be allowed on the plane. I can't even get a water bottle on an airplane, just ask Michael Vick. On the top left you will notice a route map. This map shows the entire trip from start to finish.... read more
Flight to Anchorage 2

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage October 21st 2006

Bird Creek Ridge trail is about a 40-minute ride south of Anchorage along the Seward Highway, which hugs the Turnagain Arm, which, at 10am when we drove out, was one giant reflecting mud flat with a few deep channels of gray water coursing through it. We climbed from just a few feet above sea level to 3,700+ feet in a very short distance. Awesome Chugach Mountain and Turnagain Arm panoramas all the way up, and piles of fresh bear scat. We saw the Tarmagin -Alaska's state bird- going up, and a bald eagle -the national bird- riding a jeddy on the way down. One of our party had recently returned from 3 years of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he found the steep incline no problem -"no Taliban or Al Queda, no problem." He filled ... read more
The lovely Chugach Mountains
Turnagain Arm
lunch time

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage September 14th 2006

Here are pics of Anchorage that wouldn't load the last time.... read more
Lake along a bike trail
Chester Creek Bike Trail
Anchorage from bike trail

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage September 12th 2006

While it takes many trips outside of Anchorage to get the true feel of Alaska, Anchorage has much to offer. Flowers and artwork are everywhere. During the short summer here, you can see workers constantly tending them. There are the usual museums, cultural centers, zoo, botanical gardens and parks. My neice and nephew's favorite was the polar bear at the zoo which played with its toys for hours. Dorothy, a good friend, loved the Alaska Native Heritage Center where they had storytelling, ulu knife demonstrations and native artwork. But for any of you that know me, I love the trails. Bike trails abound in the city, one I can ride to work and another goes along the coast. It is also the best place to see moose and up to now I have seen approximately 13 ... read more
Flowers Abound

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage August 17th 2006

Dear Family, friends, and other assorteds.... Many, many heartfelt thanks for all the messages, comments, emails, carrier pigeons, smoke signals, etc that we've received over the last few days, we've been overwhelmed by the response, so thank-you, thank-you! In an ideal world we'd get round to replying to everyone individually, but we are on our honeymoon after all! ;-) No, actually, we're in Anchorage now and don't have access to broadband where we're staying, so we'll be relying on internet cafes and the Comfort Suites car park for internet and emails. We will try to update the blog with the latest adventures over the next day or two, lots more to tell, Alaska is just amazing, and Anchorage looks like a pretty cool place (that's if we ever leave this coffee shop!) Well thank-you again, everyone, ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage August 1st 2006

Our 3 hour flight to Vancouver was pretty harmless (we are now more used to several days of travel, rather than merely hours, in similar conditions). As we approached downtown Vancouver by Granville Street, the skyline really hits you - full of modern, very trendy, high rise flats. Land is definitely at a premium here, and the city has taken the decision to concentrate things downtown even if that means building upwards. Works well so far, and it's all strangely popular with tramps. Maybe that's just the mild climate though. Once settled in our hostel we had a wander around to get the lay of the land - the route we took seemed to be following decorative bears (the two below are our favourites). ... read more
Darth Bear

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage July 30th 2006

A quiet couple of days spent enjoying the hostel with its beds and clean (and free) bathrooms. We've even been jogging a couple of times. So not a lot to report of interest... except one notable source of amusement. As everyone knows, North American cities all look the same from above, just lots of straight roads going up and down, and others going left to right. All junctions are crossroads. But not any more. Anchorage has a roundabout. The woeful ability of North Americans at navigating these things even got a slot on the Simpsons when they visited London and got stuck on one and spent the night going around and around the middle because Homer didn't know how to exit. If only he'd checked out this site before they set off: http://www.alaskaroundabouts.com/Dowling/index.htm There are ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage July 15th 2006

An early start and we're at the train station by 7am for the approximately 12 hour journey to Fairbanks, Alaska's second city. This is directly north from Anchorage and is a city that owes its existence firstly to the gold rush 100 years ago and more recently to the construction of the Trans-Alaskan pipeline. The guidebook says that noone who forks out for this train journey regrets it, even those on a budget, and that is certainly true. The line crosses yet more incredible scenery with a pretty detailed commentary over the PA system of the history passed along the way. One town has a huge wooden frame painted black and white like the finishing post in horse racing. The idea is that they place this on the frozen river in winter and place bets ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage July 14th 2006

The day starts off with a bit of admin. Our plan is to catch a train from Anchorage to Fairbanks tomorrow, a biggish town steeped in gold-rush history. From there we'll get to within the Arctic Circle, which has always been one of this trip's highlights. Then we plan to spend about 10 days in Denali National Park before returning to Anchorage. (Maggie - we should have some bear stories by then, and hopefully we'll live to tell the tale.) We hired mountain bikes and took them out for most of the day, timing it just slightly wrong as the heavens opened when we were about 20 minutes from home. At one stage we had to cycle on the extremely wide pavement. When we stopped for a sandwich shortly afterwards an angry man followed us in ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage July 11th 2006

After leaving Turnagain Arm, we stayed two nights in the Williwaw Campground in the Chugach National Forest. It is a beautiful campground at the foot of a glacier, and has nice level paved sites, but no water or electrical hookups. We had just set up when we heard someone nearby banging pans and blowing a car horn. Turns out there was a black bear in a campsite about 100 yards from us. He created a lot of excitement, and the camp host said he comes around often, but runs away at the sight of humans. A little later we decided we would take the bike trail through the woods to the Portage Lake Visitors Center, a little over a mile away. The camp host told us to be watchful because there had been reports of a ... read more
Pumping Iron
View of Portage Glacier from Our Campground
Portage Glacier Visitors Center




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