Day 2 Anchorage

Day 2        Thursday          June 21, 2001          

Anchorage, Alaska

Sunrise              4:20 AM

Sunset             11:42 PM

Woke up at 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM and once again at 7:00 AM.  Woke up to a beautiful day.  A little cloudy, but that would be gone in a few hours, no rain in the forecast and the temperature in the mid 60’s.  It was a great day to be in Anchorage.  Our day in Anchorage would be without a car.  Between the Summer Solstice and the annual Midnight Marathon in two days, all the rental cars were already rented.  This was not a problem as we were simply thrilled to be in Alaska!

Our first adventure of the day was to rent a tandem bike (from Downtown Bicycle Rental on 4^th Avenue) and ride on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. 

The trail starts downtown and runs about 10-11 miles along the water.  It was 8:30 AM and only a few others were on the trail.  The scenery was beautiful.  Across the water were snow-capped mountains as far as the eye could see.  We rode for a few miles, stopping every now and again just to take it all in.  Again, we were just thrilled to be in Alaska.  On about mile six, a few other cyclists were heading back.  As they passed us, they said, “moose ahead”.  After hearing that, we really wanted to see that moose.  As it turned out, it was really a good thing that we were warned that there was wildlife ahead.  It was a mother moose and its baby.  They were around a bend and if we were not being cautious, we would have gone around the corner and headed right for the moose.  I don’t’ really know, but I suspect that would not have been a good thing.   :-)   We backed up a bit, got the camera, put on the telephoto lens, took my helmet off and quietly approached the moose and click, click, click.    

Since the moose was on the trail and we were getting a bit tired, we decided it was time to head back to the bicycle shop.  All in all I guess me went 12 – 13 miles.  The truth is that neither of us could remember the last time we rode that far.  It was fun.

Next we walked around downtown Anchorage.  As we walked from place to place, we noticed flowers everywhere.  Hanging baskets with the state flower Forget-me-not were on many of the streets.  Also, many of the local shops, businesses and restaurants had flowerbeds with a wide assortment of colorful flowers.  We found a place for lunch as our appetites were quite large by this time.  After lunch we walked around a bit more and headed back to the hotel for a break.

Later that afternoon we decided on a one-hour trolley tour around Anchorage.  It was quite reasonable at $10 per person.  Our guide was named Caleb.  He was born and raised in the Anchorage area and was somewhat of a comic.  He told us that he was born in a barn, which meant that he could say yes to that infamous question.  Some of the information he gave us regarding the Anchorage area was:

-       average house sale price last year was $201,000

-       last winter the coldest it got was eight degrees (F) above zero

-       when it gets too cold there, they just go to South Alaska, a.k.a. Maui

-       the Alaska state bird – the mosquito   :-)

-       largest rutabaga grown – 53 pounds (19 hours of sunlight per day in summer)

-       strongest ever recorded earthquake, 9.2 on the Richter scale, 3/27/1964

Next we continued exploring Anchorage, got in a little shopping in and it was dinnertime.  We decided to have dinner at the Alaska Salmon Chowder House.  I had the salmon and it was very good. 

After dinner, yes, more walking around downtown Anchorage.  Even at 10:30 PM it was so bright, here is a picture of Mary at 10:30 PM in Anchorage. 

Back to the room and to bed at about 11:00 PM (42 minutes before sunset – that was weird).

Day 3  -  Anchorage to Seward