Day 81 – June 23
A slight error in setting our alarm resulted in a 5:00 a.m. wake up followed by a 6:00 alarm, when the plan was to get up at 7:00 and go fishing. It is amazingly bright at 5:00 in the morning, if it wasn’t for a sleeping blindfold I would be a sleep deprived basket case.
My fishing licence was set to start at 8:00 a.m. and I walked I to the stream on cue. Tolsona Creek is about 20 feet wide, slightly tannic in colour and for the most part easy to wade. I caught a small rainbow trout early on and then right behind the BRT site I caught another rainbow trout and two grayling before stepping out of the stream for a late breakfast.
It’s 8:00
Diane had spent some time writing postcards, yes in this age of FaceTime, email, and texting some friends at home had requested postcards. Taking advantage of the dump station on the way out (you remember the rules of the north, never pass a gas station or a dump station) we also stopped to use the wifi to answer some emails and FaceTime with Laurel to catch upon family news. By the time we were on the road to Anchorage it was just gone 12:00.
The road to Anchorage provides a great view of Mantanuska Glacier. At one point where road had steep banks Diane pulled over so I could take a picture. Watching out for roadside critters and oncoming cars I crossed the road for a better vantage point. As I framed my shot I looked down, straight into the dark brown eyes of a moose grazing at the base of the bank. Frankly I don’t know who was most startled, me or the moose, but the moose beat me to the draw as it bolted back into the bush, unphotographed. I’m just glad it wasn’t a grizzly bear.
As enthusiastic as I have been in describing the fabulous scenery along our journey so far, once again the bar is being raised in Alaska. The towering mountains, glaciers and roaring rivers are absolutely primal in their beauty. With the exception of the highway itself you can drive for miles and miles with no signs of the hand of civilization.
We found the rv park that Jane and Ike had stayed at, the Golden Nugget RV Park. It falls into the category of one of those places best viewed after dark, unfortunately with 22 hours of daylight daily in Anchorage right now that is pretty much impossible. The park does have some positive aspects however, the washrooms are clean and have free showers, it is very close to downtown and I’m pretty sure that the discharge of firearms is prohibited (OK I admit to making that last one up but I am grasping for good things to say). As Jane noted in her blog, the free wifi is non existent. With that policy I’m surprised they don’t offer free massages and free continental breakfast, because they don’t have that either. The jerk at the front desk tried to tell me it was my Ipad and that he had ‘personally’ just checked that morning with his very own cell phone all through the park and everything was fine – can you hear me now, can you hear me now? – you have no freaking wifi.
Before hooking up the BRT we opted to drive into Anchorage and check out the lay of the land. It was Sunday night and we wanted to scout out parking etc. in lower traffic conditions. My first impressions were that Anchorage is a big Whitehorse, lots of interesting buildings and shops and a river running through it. After our mini tour we returned to the Golden Nugget and had a delicious meal of Indian food, a frozen gift from Erin when we visited her and Alex in Vancouver.
Day 82 – June 24
We arose a little later than normal and after some small repairs to the RV we headed into Anchorage. Our first stop was the sod roofed Visitors Information Centre where we were directed to a parking lot with dedicated RV parking. At $1:00 an hour we weren’t going to break the bank as we explored.
Beautiful downtown Anchorage
We walked around town and stopped a the Muffin Man for some coffee and possibly, as you might imagine, a muffin. Of the five muffins for sale at the time the staff behind the counter offered a general description of what ‘might’ be in them. Keep in mind that as there were two pairs of muffins we are not talking about an memory feat that would stagger Reveen or Kreskin we’re talking three things to remember. For ten bonus points Bob, what’s your name. When I asked for a decaf cappuccino I was told that they couldn’t do that so I settled for a decaf anything, which I was also told they couldn’t do – no decaf for you. The coup de gras was when we asked about wifi. Turns out it was in the same place as the decaf coffee. Now is it me or is this the only coffee/muffin place in western civilization that doesn’t have wifi. Again, this is why I don’t by lottery tickets.
By the way unbeknownst to the guy behind the counter someone slipped big chunks of mango into my bran muffin and it was delicious.
We headed for the Anchorage Museum, a very modernist building right downtown. I could go on for pages about this museum, which has a partnership with the Smithsonian, but simply put it was fascinating. A spectacular collection of First Nations artifacts from the most utilitarian fish hooks to the most beautiful of ceremonial costumes. What struck me was the level of attention to detail in the construction of even the most functional of items, such as a hat or a basket – they were pieces of art. As Jane and Ike had mentioned there also was a display of pictures by a photographer who for three years made a photographic portrait of someone every day. Although most of them were taken in the natural environment of the subjects these were not snap shots, they were beautifully taken portraits that offered a brief glimpse into the soul of each subject, the true essence of a portrait, I could have spent hours just looking at that display alone. As it was we had to leave earlier than we wanted to avoid overstaying our 5 hour parking allocation.
Anchorage Museum
After loading a couple more hours on the meter we walked around downtown some more and then headed to the Glacier Brewhouse for a delicious supper of fresh halibut and craft beer (IPA and Oatmeal Porter). I had heard that the salmon were running in Ships Creek in downtown so we drove over to check it out. Clearly a poorly kept secret, sections of each side of the river were lined with fishermen shoulder to shoulder heaving lead weighted bags of roe into the middle of the river with 8 foot spinning rods. As I watched several large salmon were hooked and landed, and by large I mean 36″, 20 pound fish. However for me there is no relaxation in that kind of fishing so I decided to pass on joining the conga line the next morning.
Take a number
After a stop at Safeway for a few groceries and free wifi (who would have guessed that a grocery store would have wifi and a coffee shop wouldn’t) where we caught up on emails and I posted to the blog. Back at the beautiful wifi-less Golden Nugget RV park Diane did a laundry at 10:00 – this midnight sun thing makes it seem OK to do all sorts of stuff at an hour you would never consider at home.