Anchorage Away

In the morning, we went to Tok's one fine dining establishment - Fast Eddy's Restaurant! They conveniently had wifi but didn't have any outlets, so we were unable to update anything there, though we did have an amazing breakfast. Our initial goal was to head for Delta Junction, thus completing the Alaskan Highway in its entirety! We got there without incident, positive or negative, though along the way the "check engine" light turned on for the third time on our trip. We took pictures at the mile marker and browsed around a farmers market which was right across the

street. After Katie made a few key purchases, we left the Alaska Highway and headed down the Richardson Highway towards Anchorage. For a good portion of the drive the road follows the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and at every turn the scenic views also include a giant pipeline edging over the hills. The first spot that the road crosses the pipeline, we stopped and got out for some pictures, unsure whether or not we would see it again. After we got back on the road about a mile away we

spotted our 4th moose! Obviously, this one was in full daylight and Katie finally got her much sought after pictures. Our next stop along the road would be at a salmon hatchery and

sanctuary. Unfortunately we were about a month late to see them all spawning in the area, but regardless we made the best of it by bringing a few beers down to the river and enjoying the mountain views and flowing river. We headed back down the road and stopped near the Sourdough river at a cafe where Katie could shower. I read outside on a picnic table for a while and she soon joined me later and we spent a few hours relaxing in the sun. We drove on, making our way slowly down

Alaska, passing gorgeous scenery reminiscent of the Ice Fields Parkway back in Banff with glaciers at each turn, beautiful lakes backed by towering mountains, and plenty of pullouts to enjoy the views. It rained on and off during

our drive, which seems to be the norm this time of year in Alaska, but the advantage to all this start and stop, is of course beautiful rainbows. Unfortunately all of this rain has taken a toll on the picture we have of Calamity Jane fixated to the grill of CJ. The rain along with the constant slamming of bugs has left her in less than favorable shape. Both Katie and I worry daily that it will soon be the end of her. This is especially concerning since we have both adopted the superstitious belief that the photo is somehow tied into the well being and life of our van. Needless to say the "check engine" light is an ominous reminder

of the vans peril as well. Another thing that we noticed more than ever on the Richardson highway is that Alaskans have guns. They also apparently don't have targets and have decided to shoot

every single street sign to make up for the lack. It's pretty fun to watch the shooting as you drive down the road and most of the time I am left believing that they have horrible aim since they seem to miss the drawings on the signs in favor of the big empty spaces... We stopped for dinner in Palmer, about 45 minutes outside of Anchorage. We pulled into a little Mexican restaurant about 20 minutes before closing (it was past 9 already) just as one of the chefs was walking out the door. He turned around and followed us back in, only to spit in our food I'm sure. Regardless we ordered and ate quickly and were out of the restaurant only 5 minutes after closing. We moved on to Anchorage where we had a little trouble finding a place to park the van for the night. It's completely my fault, but if I don't feel comfortable with the place, I just can't park there. Though I know that the worst thing that would happen is we get asked to leave and possibly a ticket for loitering, I still take extreme care in choosing a spot and thus far have not led us astray. Anyway, cities are much tougher to find suitable sleeping space since everyone in cities is much more preoccupied in claiming their parking areas, or charging you for them. Ultimately we ended up driving a few miles out of the city to the Eagle River suburb where we found a nice little spot behind a hotel. This morning we are going to explore Anchorage and hopefully some of its hiking trails. There is a lot to do here according to our books and the advice that Megan gave us. We are more or less killing time until tomorrow evening when Russ will be joining us for 10 days to explore Alaska with us! We are both really excited to see him and to have him be a part of our great adventure! He is definitely treating us to the finer things here: salmon and halibut fishing, kayaking and white water rafting, not to mention, perhaps Katie's favorite, hotels and cabins! Again, we are both extremely excited to be able to share our experience with Russ and can't wait for tomorrow evening.