Long House Alaskan Hotel Anchorage

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 ...

... the return trip home, we swung by the airport to see where we go tomorrow.<br><br>We are now much farther south from the Arctic Circle, and the calendar has advanced into August. It actually gets dark here in Anchorage after 11:30 pm, but gets light by 4 am. Because it stays light so late, you do not feel that it is bedtime. We have become "night" owls, often finding ourselves still working on trip things (like this blog) as late as 11 or 11:30 pm.

... out, "just for the halibut." The halibut was wonderful by the way. We took a walk along the dock at the bay where we were accompanied by an unexpected friend I will call Otis (second reference in the Alaska blog series to Otis Redding. I can't help it), a frisky, acrobatic sea otter. Otis followed us all along the way and posed for photo ops. He dined on something from a shell throughout the walk. It was so unique to be ...

... kind of clearly view supposed to be very unusual and rare. For hours I could enjoy that clear weather to see the Denali National Park also from Denali View Point South and almost untill I arrived to Anchorage, where it got cloudy again. It was one of the most beautiful drive so far between Fairbanks and Anchorage. In Anchorage I expect to stay for a couple of days because I have to visit again the BMW Workshop due to the leaking cylinder head suspected cause of a blown headgasket!!

... I'm getting pretty good at this. After all this driving and running around I was tired. We cooked some leftovers for dinner - that yummy Salmon and I went to the office area to blog a little - not service out at the RV. This place was a little expensive (being in the city) but there was not internet on site and no cable TV. I just like the TV to watch a little news and keep up with the weather. After a long day it was time for a little shut-eye.

... hotel (Sheraton) was fine. It wasn't as nice as I remembered Sheratons but we got a good price on Priceline so no complaints. It was comfortable and had a hot tub in the gym. That night we went to bed a few hours after sunset which was 4:30pm). We were just getting over a cold we had caught and needed the sleep. The next day we went to the Anchorage Zoo. We've seen a lot of zoos and this one was really good. It wasn't ...

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

... and we started chatting. It turns her friend was also an accountant for Alaskan Railways, quicker than you could save priv pass, she had organized my fellow accountant to take me hiking 50 miles outside Anchorage.The mountains were stunning, there was still snow on them, the lakes were full of glacier ice water which is too cold for fish to live in and there was abundant wildlife and not many mozzies :-). So the following day I took a tour with the railway down to Spencer glacier ...

Now I tell the story of how I got a step-mom... I was 4 and Nicolas was 5. My Dad still had no wife. But since it was Christmas, my Dad felt like he found God's angel wanting to help, and now that angel is my mom. Her name is now Mrs. Barren-Peterson. She is only a year younger than my dad, but she was still good then ...