Anchorage - a return to the past for Marv. He has owned several houses, a quadriplex, and a condo in this interesting city. He has worked for both the army and the air force here. Now it is a joint base: Elmendorf -Richardson. I've been able to see places where he lived, worked, shopped and visit some of his favorite places.
We have visited the Anchorage museum, which showed the many different cultures and tribes indigenous to Alaska. It was overwhelming the number of different peoples that lived in Alaska for so many years. So much information - mind boggling. The adventure of Discoverer Cook and how different places in Alaska got their names. For example, Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arms. The names of many towns and rivers are derived from names and language of the first peoples.
On another rainy windy day we drove along Turnagain Arms to Portage Glacier. On the way we saw a grouping of six bald eagles and a golden eagle, all waiting for the salmon to arrive. It was too nasty out to hike or bike, but a good way to spend a day on a driving tour. We searched for beluga whale which are in the area at this time, but we weren't able to spot any. Sure look forward to returning to the area on a better day. But even on a dreary day, the mountains, avalanche chutes and water falls from the melting snow - just breathtaking in beauty.
The fish hatchery where they propogate salmon, rainbow trout, artic char, etc, was very interesting. Another sector of government control that seems to be quite positive. The salmon runs are just beginning and fisherman are everywhere along the creeks. They call it "combat fishing", as they claim a spot to catch the salmon. I would have found better weather for fishing as it was rainy, cool, and windy that day. If it weren't for the propogation efforts, their would be no salmon left in these nearby waters.
We made a trip to see Anchorage Wild Berry, a company that ships chocolate wonders everywhere in the US and overseas. They have a huge chocolate waterfall and their chocolate was delicious. I can remember when Marv got me a chocolate heart filled with goodies for our first Valentine's together. He had ordered it from this fantastic candy factory. Great chocolate and a very nice gift shop. We will return there.
The weather finally cleared today so that we could take a nice hike at Eklutnah Lake. It was a beautiful lake at the base of Eklutnah Glacier. Not a huge glacier compared to some, but then any glacier is pretty massive when considering the depth as well. On our way out of the area, we encountered Momma Moose just a few yards off the road and she posed so I could get great pictures. Would not have wanted to be that close if we weren't in a car!
And, a side trip on the way, we stopped at a Greek orthodox church in the countryside. Marv remembered having visited this interesting cemetery which is at the church. The first church built at the site was made of logs in 1830-1850 times and survived the 1964 earthquake intact. I caught a picture of it and we toured the inside of the present day church which was about the same size - very small. The cemetery was most interesting, as they build a house atop the grave and put some of the deceased's favorite things in the house. One grave had a wooden moose on it, because the man had been such a moose hunter. Different color schemes represented different clans - it was a mixture of folklore, religion, culture... definitely something different for me.
So our time thus far in Anchorage has been quite interesting - except for doing laundry, RV maintenance, and all that regular life "stuff".
