Alaska - Day 1

Saturday, August 16, 2008:

Dad and I arrived in Anchorage with minimal problems. We had a scare for a bit when Dad thought he might have lost his driver's license, but after tearing apart his wallet, we found it. He has a military ID as well, so he could have flown home, but renting the car would have been all me if we hadn't found it.

Oh, the arrival was interesting, as we were met by someone from our tour line. I've never traveled like that before, where someone is basically waiting for you and helps with the luggage, etc. She put us on a bus and off we went to the hotel. Also in somewhat strange news, It seems like I'm one of the youngest tourists in all of Anchorage! It's sort of weird. I was probably the youngest on the tour bus by 20 years, easy. Not bad, just different. The median age in AK is young though - I think it's 32. Just not the tourists I guess; maybe in Denali.

After we got set up at the hotel, we decided to walk to the rental car place. Found that, rented the car, drove back to the hotel, and then set off to walk into Anchorage. Anchorage is cute - small, lots of little shops and tour places, and lots of restaurants. You can see the ocean from town too. It reminds me of Duluth a bit. We ate a late lunch at Glacier Brewhouse, and that was pretty good - Salmon BLTs! We caught part of the Twins game on TV too, as they are playing the Mariners, and AK gets FSN Northwest. Cool.

After that, we walked around a bit more. We found a cool outdoor market and walked around that a bit. I found a Christmas ornament and we watched a bit of a talent show. Checked out the local wares, but didn't buy anything else. After that, we went back to the hotel to get the car so we could drive around some. We wound up driving to Elmendorf Air Force Base, and we could get on base because Dad is retired Air Force. We drove around the base, which was neat to see. It's basically it's own little town - houses, schools, fire departments, and a BX/PX and commissary. The BX/PX (base exchange and post exchange) is basically a Walmart, but tends to be cheaper for service members. We tried to find Dad an elbow brace there, but had no luck. We bought a bunch of junk food instead. The commissary is basically like Cub Foods, and we bought soda there. Cool stuff. Oh, we saw a plane land pretty close to us too. Nice!

After the base, we decided to try to find a Walmart (no Targets here) for Dad's elbow brace. The GPS first brought us to a Sam's Club, which was a bummer, but after our second try, we managed to find a Walmart. Every single Walmart is basically the same - crappy. Filled with too much stuff, crappy looking, dirty, crazy busy, you name it. We found the brace and got out of there.

Back to the hotel, and then we worked on our plans for tomorrow. We are going to take a cruise in Prince William Sound to see glaciers. It sounds absolutely amazing, and I'm very excited. We have to drive to a little town called Whittier to get there (about 70 mins south), and on the way, we have to go through a tunnel that is shared with trains. That means we have to show up at a certain time to get through - crazy! I hope that all goes smoothly.

After getting that booked, we decided to walk back into Anchorage to find Dad a rain poncho and to find something small for dinner. After about 1 million stores, we managed to find him a poncho. We were then going to eat dinner at a deli listed in my Lonely Planet guide, but after not being served even water after 5-10 minutes, we decided to bail. Instead, we bought a reindeer sausage for me on the street, another recommendation from the Lonely Planet. It was absolutely fantastic! Dad passed, as it was spicy and he wasn't that hungry. I think he should definitely try one though. I hope it doesn't give me heart burn, but really, it was delicious. B would have loved it.

Now we are back in the hotel. It is only 8:45 pm here (AK is three hours earlier than central time), but we are both tired from the traveling/walking. We found Dad a Catholic church so he can go to mass tomorrow, and I'm sleeping in a bit. We will be on the road by 9 am, after free breakfast at the hotel (well, free is a stretch, but you know what I mean). All in all, a very good first day! Stay tuned for more updates. :)

Oh, weather for the day: cool, mostly sunny, but as we neared the Chugach Mountains, it started drizzling. When I say cool, I mean I walked around in jeans, a t-shirt, and later on, a fleece. It was quite nice, as I hate the heat. Tomorrow we might get rained on, as that area is rainy and the forecast calls for rain, but that's just AK for you.

PS: I forgot my camera cord, and the old laptop I brought doesn't allow me to insert the memory card directly. Thus, no pics until I get home. :( Sorry!

PPS: It's now almost 10:00 PM here, and it's still really light out. Awesome!

PPPS: No wildlife spottings yet.