Yesterday was a catch up day to do domestic chores and rest up for a bit. So, we did and went to the post office, drove around to get familiar with the city and went to a Wally World. Anchorage has a population of around 300,000--about the size of Norfolk, Va Beach and Chesapeake combined. There are (were) two military bases here, Army's Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base but they were combined into one joint command now called JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson,(-another stupid decision by the Defense Review and Realignment Board). The Air Force has an F-16 Fighter Squadron, a C-141 Cargo Squadron and an EC-135 Electronic Intelligence Squadron. The Army is primarily a support activity for the paratroopers stationed at Fort Wainwright but also trains in mountain/glacier warfare. Jointly, they like Eielson AFB F-16's, respond to any Russian intrusion attempts.
Today, Saturday, we took a Trolley Tour of the city to get familiar with what we might like to see. The tour guide and trolley driver was Jamie Fairbanks, extremely knowledgeable and friendly. She gave us her background that included college, teaching and said her father was a well known judge in Anchorage. We spent about an hour going through the city that included a tour through the Lake Hood Airport, largest seaplane airport in the world. She said that one in twenty people will learn to fly. Many start at age 14 and get their license at age 16. Flying is necessity here for a lot of people. So many live in isolated places and fly in and out to get supplies, some have cabins or favorite lakes where they fish, some fly supplies out to needy people, some are "bush" pilots who will go almost anywhere, anytime and fly rescue missions, some just fly for the fun. Many reasons for flying. I forgot the ratio of people who own a plane or share ownership with others but it is quite high. There was one aircraft that had larger and softer wheels mounted that was used to land on the tundra. The tundra being softer than dirt was more inclined not to hold up the weight of the aircraft without sinking. Much like the balloon tires we used to put on our beach buggies.
Balloon tires for Tundra landings
Take off
Welcome
Unusual limb growth
Vsitors Center with the grass roofs for insulation
Jamie Fairbanks-our tour guide/trolley driver
The airport had a runway (as all do), it runs around the lake, but also had a lake for all the planes that had pontoons attached. Most could remove the pontoons and add skis for take off and landing on the frozen lake in winter. Some had guns mounted on the carriage (wings) in the event of an emergency. Should they go down (crash) it most likely would be in the forest and the wings will shear off and the guns will be there for them for survival reasons in the event the engine burns. Neat, really neat. Now I know how Don Sheldon mounted guns on his airplane. We watched a few of them taxi to the end of the lake and take off.
She talked about the earthquake that occurred on March 27, Good Friday, 1964. It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America and showed us areas that were effected with the ground sinking 14-20 feet in the downtown area. We also went to Earthquake Park, where the drop was 22 ft. and it has been left undisturbed to show the effects of the earthquake. She also went by the high school that was damaged and other effected areas. There is a huge park in the middle of the city called Delaney Park. It was originally designed as a fire break but was later used as an airstrip and later as a golf course. today it's just a beautiful park.
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Some photos of the earthquake
Downtown on Fourth Ave.
In 1964, the quake measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale because that was as high as the scale went at that time. New technology had revealed that the actual measure was 9.2, the second highest ever recorded in the world.
For lunch, we went to the new Hard Rock Hotel and Bar. I say new because it just opened a few days ago and already it was packed, virtually standing room only with a 30 minute waiting for a table. Fortunately, we sat at the bar and had one of the largest club sandwiches I've ever had. Along with fries, we had to share it. As usual, I got my pins and Jr a shot glass
On Sunday, we decided to go to the Anchorage Market & Festival. It is a huge parking lot that, on Saturday and Sunday is converted into an Alaskan arts and craft show with virtually every type of souvenir or expensive walrus, moose, reindeer, bear carving, scrimshaw, furs, leathers, linens, etc that you would want. We happened to stop and watch Charles Oakley, a descendant of Annie Oakley, paint a beautiful rendition of the mountains using spray paints that you would buy at any hardware store. He hails from a town called "Hope" on the Kenai Penninsula. He gave us some good pointers on where to go and what to see as we go down there. He offered to paint our bus with one of his creations but I turned him down. below is a sample of his work on his van.
Charles Oakley's van
There was some entertainment being performed as we went in. A small, I'd venture to say maybe three year old, playing the violin on a stage, totally oblivious to the crowd. When he finished, his brother, maybe 6 years old, went on stage and also played the violin. he was playing "Amazing Grace" and was doing quite well. We then watched a couple of jugglers, Secret Circus, go through their routine that included a small boy and a tall man from the audience They juggled batons and he juggled some knives while riding a tall unicycle, they were entertaining. As we were leaving, an attractive girl who said she was from Anchorage, and going to music school in Vermont, was on stage playing a guitar and singing along with a friend. She sang "House of the Rising Sun" and "Mama Rock Me" and was very good.
The three/four old
The 6? year old
The Secret Circus
Vermont Music Student
One of the tents had Alaska's most popular insect painted on the wall
No, it's not the state bird!
Roast Corn for Lunch
While talking to a National Park Ranger about the area, a fellow park ranger, Ms. Teri Anderson, (dressed as a 1700's lad) and tour guide gave us a walking tour about Captain Cook and his connections to Alaska. She was excellent. We were really amazed at her knowledge of Captain Cook, Captain Clark, and Captain Bligh (yes, the Captain Bligh of the Bounty) and the details of their voyages. Her dress accented the era and added to the imagination of her tale. There are a few mementos i.e. ship figurines, totem poles, and statues acknowledging him and Cook Inlet was named for him.
Ms Teri Anderson
Represents two Polynesians Capt Cook had on his ship. There were two totem poles
The three ships
Captain Cook overlooks the port below.
Nita trying on a Sea Otter Fur. It has from 600,000 to 1,000,000 hairs per square inch. So soft. Amazing!
The City of Anchorage is a misnomer, it is not an anchorage, there is a hugh (second in the world) variance with high and low tide and there is no deep water port. Some cruise ships come in on high tide and only stay until the next high tide.
The grey gravel/sand is silt brought down from the mountains and from the earthquake. It is real fine grit and is like quick sand. It's extremely dangerous to try to walk on.
There was a movie being shown at the Franklin Theater at the Alaska Center of the Performing Arts, about the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) that was just great. It was forty minutes of northern lights and just gorgeous. I tried video taping with my camera but it wouldn't do it . Guess I need a different chip in it.
Aurora Borealis
After such a busy day and being a bit famished, we had a pizza at "Uncle Joe's". An Uncle Joe special that was delicious.
Uncle Joe's Pizzeria
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