Anchorage Downtown B&B at Raspberry Meadows

We will post trip information here as soon as it starts. For 2010, we will continue planning the project and look for Sponsors that are willing to invest and support the Project. All indications in that regard is ...

I was absently-mindedly gassing up my old Ford 150 the other day when I looked up and froze. In front of me, I mean right there, was a drop dead stunning full-fall gorgeous mountain. Not off- in-the-distance Mt. Rainier, but right there. Green swarth rising to cirlets of golden poplar branches,ruddy blueberry bushes,smoky purple rock, topped by fresh white snow, and finally fresh blue sky.Sky and air so clear. A view from a Tesoro gas station.Only in Alaska. Anywhere else ...

... back slowly, never look at him in the face and never run; if you did, you would become a potential prey! I was never confronted with such a situation even though I saw a great number of grizzlies fishing in the lakes and in Brooks River.

You need to take the local bus and travel along the 37-kilometre dirt road to reach the Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes. The landscape is gorgeous. In September ...

... front desk. I tried the broiled Alaskan Halibut and it was very good.

I walked around town a little bit, but am exhausted from the travel and the time change will have me messed up.

Here are a couple pictures of my hotel and a couple views of Anchorage and the surroundings.

... Seminar.












These photos are not in any specific order . . . The proximate fireworks were positioned in all four corners of the stage.

... out. No animal sightings however. We stopped at the Fred Myers Grocery store for some "provisions" and again headed home for a "chill out" prior to turning in. Well the Olympics are on... it's 1:45 a.m. in Cincinnati and I'm very, very tired. Hope you all have a great Monday. Oh, BTW, Ft. Myers is on a hurricane watch OH MY! Hopefully it will bypass it. Do I have any volunteers wanting to check it out if it heads that way?????

... to the train where we boarded at the first available opportunity. At 6 pm we began our journey back to Anchorage, being left with vivid memories of this secluded place out in the world; Seward. Visiting Seward has helped cement in my mind why travelling to such far and distant places is so beneficial. While we spent some of our time holding desperately to the back of a bench on the open seas, and even more time stuck hiding in a motel room, we touched a part of the world I hadn't imagined ...

... interesting and dangerous road ways here. Hope you enjoy the pictures. As you can see they are taken from the plane and the 4WD rental but it was just too spectacular not to share. When I entered the airport I stopped dead in my tracks to take in the panorama of these spectacular mountains. The man behind me was not so enthralled and ran right into me. I guess I should have signaled. I'm off to find something to eat before I crash.

On our last day, back in Anchorage, we took a tour around the city,
rented a car and drove along the seward scenic hwy, visiting the Alaska
Wildlife Conservation Center. This is a wildlife refuge for the animals
native to alaska that for one reason or another cannot be returned to
the wild, so they make this their home. I have to say this ...

Niether of us were morning people at the time and the sound of the alarm only reminded us of work until a few split-seconds later when I realized we would be on a plane headed for one of my ultimate destinations in just a few hours - Alaska. Our eight-day trip from Phoenix, AZ to the last great frontier was finally here and that was enough to get me to jump out of ...