Day 26: Around Anchorage

Finally a Three Lane Highway
Three Lane Highway in Anchorage-- The First One We've Seen in Alaska

 Today was our day in Anchorage.  The day itself turned out to be lovely-- sunny and almost 70 degrees-- but really Anchorage is just another working town and other than the spectacular views one gets from the tall buildings in it, does not possess the splendor of the rest of Alaska.

 It did have a real highway-- three lanes each way.  That's the largest road we've seen so far in the state.  Unfortunately the drivers on it would have been right at home in Pittsburgh, or on 6th Avenue back home in Denver.  For every one driving 10 miles below the speed limit there was one exceeding it by 25. We just joined the flow and hoped for the best.

 We began the day driving a bit over an hour from Palmer to Anchorage.  Here's a shot of the road again, this time with only a few picturesque clouds.
Road out of Palmer, on a clear day

 We headed to downtown Anchorage first, as we had scoped out several very promising looking galleries.  Unfortunately most of them were unexpectedly closed (meaning that they were supposed to be open, but just stuck a closed sign up on the door-- we never did figure out why.)

 We did find one real gallery (as opposed to the myriad kitch stores lining the streets), and purchased this little painting by a local artist.  It is very small (in fact we had to go to the post office to get a small pre-paid Priority Mail box so they could ship it to us once the current show closed), but it kinda reminded me of the glacier next to the river we walked around on yesterday.
Our new tiny painting
After that we wandered around a bit more, and Bob grabbed himself an eclair at a local French Patisserie.
Bob couldn't pass up a Patisserie in Anchorage
He thought it was delicious, though it really wasn't authentic. It was an eclair shell filled with a dense chocolate mousse.  But, I guess any French pastry in Anchorage is a good thing, authenticity notwithstanding.

 We also wandered into the quilt shop next to the pastry shop-- as we seem to be finding them everywhere.  We picked up another local row pattern for Barbie, along with several "Fat Quarters" of locally designed fabric patterns. (Yes, we are learning the very basics of Quilt lingo.)  Bob again showed off the prize winning quilt, and the shop owner remarked on Barbie's talent and claimed to be "inspired."  (Barb-- look for a box coming your way this weekend.)

 Our final stop of the day was the Alaska Aviation Museum.  It was right in the middle of an active airfield.  We even had to stop at the stop sign to let the planes go by us (they had right-of-way) before we could cross the taxiway into the museum parking lot.
Active Taxiway That Needed to Be Traversed to Enter the Alaska Aviation Museum Parking Lot

 The museum was located right on Lake Hood, and right next to the airport.  So, from the museum tower you could hear actual air traffic control for both the main airport and the water landing strip. Bob took this video from the tower:

Here is a picture of one of the float planes (very common for Alaska) parked at the museum.
A Float Plane-- Very Common in Alaska--This One Happens to Have Red Wings

 The museum itself was interesting too.  We watched a film on the history of the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands during WWII, and the US attempts to (eventually successfully) vanquish them.

 OK-- the film was a Bob thing.  I enjoyed playing with the flight simulator, and even though I had no idea at all what I was doing I managed not to crash my plane but semi-gracefully land it on a golf course.

I also hopped into the play helicopter, and after not being able to sit up straight realized that it was probably meant for kids.
Even Lisa is Too Tall for this Helicopter Model

 There were aircraft of all kinds in the museum from antiques to modern fighter jets. We were able to climb aboard a decommissioned Alaska Air 737 that had been somewhat remodeled.  Just look at all that legroom!
Look at That Legroom-- Definitely Not United!

 After the museum we headed back to our house in Palmer.  Tonight is our last night, and we're packing everything up and getting ready to hit the road tomorrow for our cottage in Homer, AK.

 The next update will come to you from the beach!

 --Lisa

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