June 11, 2015
Aye! The morning started very early! Our bodies were still on East Coast time, and in spite of being tired from the traveling and the late night, we were wide awake and ready to go! The hotel accommodates guest very well by starting to serve breakfast as early as 5AM! We found ourselves eating about 6:30. Then we checked out and raced off to start our grand adventure!
Our first stop was the local Walmart for a few last minute supplies, then we went over to Bass Pro shop to pick up some gear we had ordered ahead of time. While it all sounds quick and easy, it did take some time to complete these chores, and we found ourselves still in Anchorage for lunch.
Anchorage is pretty much &like home& in it's shopping and restaurant choices. There is a large military base there, and I am sure that helps fund those businesses in many ways. There are a number of tourist type things to do, however we were anxious to get on the road.
One of the most useful items we had purchased ahead of time was a guide book titled &The Milepost&. (http://www.themilepost.com/) It gives you things to look for as you travel each individual highway in the state. So we armed ourselves with our road map, the &The Milepost& and some advice from a friend and headed out of town on Highway 1, the Glenn Highway towards Palmer.
We had wanted to see some of the wild flowers the state is known for, so we followed a suggestion in the book, and found ourselves going down a side road for a few miles. We did not see an extraordinary amount of flowers, but did manage to see our first moose. She was a bit camera shy though and took off before we managed to get a shot of her.
Our next little side trip was &Reflection Lake&, a popular, recreation lake which included a nice 0.9 mile handicap accessible walk around a lake about 30 miles out of Anchorage. Along the walk we did see many wildflowers, a beaver hut, and and some nice wooded areas. Halfway around, there is an observation tower that faces away from the lake onto a marshy area that I am sure moose probably visit, though none were there at the time.
Continuing on we enjoyed the scenery, and the glimpses of life in Alaska we observed in the style of homes and the businesses along the way. Palmer while surrounded by peaks is home to some of the best farmland in Alaska, and the Alaska State Fair. I thought it was brilliant to have the railroad from Anchorage have a station stop right at one of the gates into the fair grounds!
Further up the highway we took a quick side trip part way up the Hatcher Pass Road. I was very impressed by a group &cross country sking& UP the road on wheeled road skies. There were also people on bikes, and hiking.
Back on to the highway, we proceeded up to our first destination, Glacier View, Alaska.
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