Valdez, AK to Anchorage, AK

Anchorage in July. I know that many of my family and friends back on the east coast have been suffering through a heat-wave. The weather here has been wonderful up here, upper 60’s during the day and down to 50 at night. Note the snow capped mountains around Anchorage.

Travel Day 1 of 2 from Valdez to Anchorage began backtracking out of Valdez along the Richardson Highway to Glennallen, where we turned off onto the Glen Highway to Mendeltna, AK. On the way we stopped in Copper Center and the Wrangell-St Elias National Park. In Mendeltna, we were served at the Lodge home-made pizza (which was to die for), along with a salad bar for dinner. We then enjoyed a sing-along and some games…I played Mexican Train.

Travel Day 2, Independence Day, took us to Anchorage. Took a brief stop at the Matanuska Glacier and stopped short of Anchorage in Eagle River to fuel up with gas and propane. The caravan host provided grilled chicken and garlic bread for dinner and all brought side-dishes and desserts to share. We retired to the rig after dinner where we watched the fireworks from DC, NY (Macy’s) and Boston.

Our first full day in Anchorage was spent being bussed around, starting out with a tour of downtown Anchorage. We were then dropped off at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art for two hours. The primary exhibit was the Alaska History Gallery covering the history of Alaska’s people from pre-contact times to present, including artifacts from the many distinct Alaska Native cultures (10 indigenous communities that occupied the land for 12,000 years). This displays from each of the 10 communities were divided into three parts; Community & Family, Ceremonial, and Sea, Land & River. Another level housed changing exhibitions, currently showing art, photography, sculptures, quilts, etc. from a recent competition. There was also an Art Gallery and an Imaginarium Discovery Gallery with many hands-on exhibits. After a wonderful lunch at ORSO’s, Caesar Salad and Chicken Parm on a bed of spinach and pasta plus yummy desserts, we were taken to Alaska Wild Berry Products, the centerpiece there being a 22 foot tall waterfall of chocolate. Beside the candy factory and gift shop, they also had live reindeer, tame enough that you could pet them and feel their furry antlers.

Today, our second day in Anchorage, was a free day. We headed downtown where we did some gift shopping. We found a wonderful quilt shop, The Quilt Tree, where I purchased a pattern and fabrics to make an Alaska quilt. In the afternoon we did some grocery shopping at a Fred Meyers store…a Wal-Mart Superstore on steroids. Finding an Applebee’s nearby the campground, our favorite restaurant (none in or near our current hometown), we did dinner there.