Awoke early to finish packing for the flight at 8a. Michelle and I got a little bite to eat at Holiday Inn Express’ free breakfast and let the kids sleep in a bit. Finally checked out around 11a, headed to downtown so Michelle could do a little shopping, first at the Anchorage Museum. Would have been neat to tour it but we didn’t have the time to do anything other than check out the gift shop. Next walked a few blocks to another store or two and saw Town Square Park and their performing arts center and convention center. Headed to Gwennie’s to eat for the last time.
Anchorage Museum in downtown Anchorage
Anchorage's Town Square Park
Nifty moose mural in downtown Anchorage
Convention center in Anchorage
Start of the Planet Walk, we saw the end -- Pluto -- in Kincaid Park when we arrived on July 12th
Mural of sea life in Anchorage
About 1p we turned in our rental car at the airport. While we were doing that we saw the Alaska train was parked at the airport taking on visitors. Should we ever get back to Alaska we’ll definitely have to ride that! Checked in and proceeded through TSA and waited for our flight. Saw many 747s parked and taking on cargo. Flight to San Francisco took off without a hitch around 4p. Unfortunately I was on the right side of the plane so other than a nice view of Kenai peninsula shortly after takeoff and a brief view of Point Reyes, California just before landing I saw nothing but water. A pretty long flight at four hours, I mainly read a book on Michelle’s Kindle.
Alaska railroad at the Anchorage airport
Cargo planes being loaded at Anchorage's airport
Harding Ice Field and beyond the Chiswell Islands, Kenai peninsula
Chiswell Islands, where we did our boat trip on Tuesday, July 21st
We had very little time in SFO with our next flight departing less than an hour later for Washington Dulles. They did have cool models of Spitfires flying in the concourse, however. The four and a half hour flight to IAD was a red eye, arriving at about 6:30a. Unfortunately are flight to Raleigh was delayed over an hour (for a flight that is only an hour that stinks). Took the time to get some breakfast — a bacon egg and cheese croissant and a coffee frappucino. Michelle wasn’t feeling great, however. Finally got on the plane at about 9:30a and slept the entire way, awakening just before landing and the official end of our trip.
Spitfire models in San Francisco airport (SFO)
Alaska was amazing! Natural wonders at every turn and abundant wildlife. The thing that stands out the most is just how empty it was. Other than a few times on the Kenai peninsula there was hardly any traffic. The highways outside of Anchorage are all two lane roads. No interstates (the only state without one) at all. Unlike almost every other place we’ve been all of the scenic turnouts had tons of parking and it was normal that they were completely empty. Very little litter either, outside of some in Anchorage. Be prepared for a bit of sticker shock, however — other than movies (oddly) almost everything is more expensive. I don’t know whether it is just the remoteness or that merchants only have four or so months to make their money for the year, but it’s about a 20% to 30% markup from the prices we’re used to. Very friendly people, a very mid-western vibe (in terms of accent as well). Alaska has also managed to successfully blend the multiple cultures — Eskimo-Indian, Russian, and European. It is amazing how little is accessible by road and how much the state relies on boats and small aircraft — often float planes and smaller cargo planes were crossing the sky heading to otherwise inaccessible towns and locations. Some airports were just gravel or grass strips tucked in the woods and most had an accompanying float plane lagoon. All-in-all it has a very frontier feel, even in 2015. Remarkable.
Route for the Alaska trip, July 2015