ANCHORAGE

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LYN CHRYSTAL:
I arrived back in Alaska on July 27th having spent three weeks in Austin, Texas welcoming a new grandson. Quite a change, we went from low 60’s to 100+ degrees and back again.
The rest of our group had spent a week in Fairbanks while I was gone, and had enjoyed that; they were all in Anchorage by the time I got there. The first morning while I was getting my email Anchorage experienced a 6.5 earthquake, nobody seemed fazed so I figured it was no big deal!
Betty, Gary and I decided to take a walk around downtown Anchorage and have lunch. Each weekday lunch hour there is free music in the Town Square, which is a grasses area in central Anchorage where folks bring their lunches and a blanket and enjoy a free concert. The day we were there the entertainment was provided by four guys from the Anchorage Air Force base; who were extremely good. Allan and Ted were staying at the American Legion and invited us to join them there for Happy Hour. We were so impressed that we moved over to stay in the campgrounds there too. We stayed in Anchorage for three more days enjoying a trip down the Turn Again Arm, a visit to the Alaska Native Indian Heritage Center, and the Farmer’s Market.
We had enjoyed three really nice days of weather in Anchorage and were hoping for it to continue as we journeyed northward to Denali. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. We hit rain around Wasilla and a drizzle accompanied us the remainder of the day so Happy Hour was in my rig in Denali North State Park.
Sybil had left Alaska while I was in Austin and as we were planning to leave Anchorage Ted decided that he was going to start making his way back to the Gillette Escapade and not join us on the next leg of our Alaska trip.

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Photos

City of Flowers
Anchorage is known as the City of Flowers. A great deal of effort is taken to have wonderful displays everywhere.

Hanging Baskets
These beautiful baskets are brimming to overflow with beautiful blossoms

More Flowers
The holly-hocks, begonias and delphiniums are breath taking

Anchorage Visitor Center
Right on the main street and quite unusual with the thatched roof. The flowers again are just lovely

Concert
The four guys were members of the U.S. Airforce stationed in Anchorage. Boy, they were good.

Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight Eisenhower was president when Alaska became joined the United States.

Turnagain Arm
Capitain James Cook was the first to explore Alaksa's coastline. The Turnagain Arm was named because he had to "turn again."

Anchorage Tides
Anchorage experiences one of the world's most extreme tidal patterns. The difference can be 32' between low tide and high tide. Waking on the "beach" is discouraged because the sand is like a quick-sand.

Turnagain Arm
The scenery is really lovely.

Windsurfing
This young man was just getting set up on the Turnagain Arm when we pulled into a view point.

Windsurfing
There he goes

Alaska Native Heritage Center
We were extremely lucky the day we visited the center. John Baker who is the current Iditerod champion and has won the award several times was there to make a presentation on the race

Old Sled
The sled was the only means of transportation in earlier days -- and is still in some areas. This was used to ferry mail and supplies north of Fairbanks

Dress
We center is located in a spacious area on the outskirts of Anchorage. Homes of the various native Alaskan tribes have been built there. The exhibits inside the museum are very interesting. This is a dress made of porcupine quills.

Huskies today
The dogs that are used today to pull the sleds are not the huskies I imagined. (I had the huge Malamute breed in mind.) The ones the use today are a mixed hibred breed. The replacement keeps the size of the dogs down and certainly the cost of feeding them down.

Tribal Dances
Young people from a variety of tribes were on hand to demostrate some of the tribal dances and sing some of their songs. They were all very enthusiastic and a pleasure to watch.

Comments

[Marty]

Thanks, Lyn...
Blog/'s been quiet...y'all be careful...how 'bout those long summer day veggies at the Farmers' Market...tell me about those!