Anchorage -August 1/09

We got to Wasilla AK (just outside of Anchorage) Thursday morning, after another flat tire (rim). That's three now that have gone on the RV, so I've changed it out, and decided to put the last rim away. We now have four steel rims on the trailer. The aluminum rims just don't hold up worth a damn.  We  to decided to stay on the outskirts of Anchorage and found Big Bear RV Park, as it allowed us to roam the area without being right in town.  On Thursday we stayed close to the trailer and explored around the area of Wasilla. Not to big of a day, as I was not in a very good mood, after all the trailer problems.  I said to myself, quite your whining, and enjoy the scenery, Alaska is a beautiful State.   Friday, we spent the day in Anchorage, filled up the food locker and did some site seeing. The town is quite nice, as it is the largest city in Alaska and, therefor the "hub" of everything. We spent the early part of the afternoon at the "Reindeer" Park. Everyday you learn something new. What is the difference between a "Reindeer" and a "Caribou." The answer is nothing, all Reindeer came from Russia, brought over to N. America by the Russians, when they came here in the 1700's. The Eskimo translated the word to Caribou, now known as North American Caribou. Today we have Caribou, that live in the wild and Reindeer that are domesticated, and are farm animals. (mostly for their meat) 

Caribou Reindeer

In the afternoon, I went to the "Gold Exhibit, the History Of", at the Anchorage Museum. It is an Exhibit that is in Anchorage this year and it all about the history of gold, from 750 BC to present day.  I found it very interesting.  Later we both went to the Sydney Lawrence Theater and saw "The AurorA Collection" - Alaska's Great Northern Lights, by Dave Parkhurst. It was a photographic presentation of his works. Dave Parkhurst is a world re-known photographer on Aurora Borealis. You view some of his pictures at www.TheAlaskaCollection.com

 

We finished the evening off with a great meal at the Club Paris Restaurant.

Today we went for a Bike ride out through the "National Scenic Byway" section of the Glenn Highway, out to Palmer, Sutton and Chickaloon. Very scenic and a great bike riding area. We then went up a secondary road to the old Mine site of Independence and Hatcher Pass area. What a way to spend your day.