A Room With a View

Our hotel in Fairbanks overlooks the Chena River. My room is on the fifth floor and I have definitely enjoyed the view the last few days. We stayed in this same hotel last year and I had the same view, but it was a different room so the perspective was slightly different.

I was in Fairbanks last year April 19-22 and the river was just beginning to thaw. It was interesting to watch it break up during the time I was here. This year, we are definitely farther into spring as you can see from the two different river shots.

 For an even older perspective, I noticed this picture (from 1955) hanging on the wall in the restaurant at Chena Hot Springs the other day. It's the same part of town but from the other side of the river, behind the church instead of facing it. Obviously, our hotel did not exist at that time.

 Here are a few other shots I took through the window.

 The sun was beginning to set at 10 o'clock...

...and was still lingering on the horizon by 11 o'clock. It's not quite the Midnight Sun, but close enough!

Today was our final day of conventions here in Alaska. Tomorrow we drive back to Anchorage, and then fly home on Thursday.

Fairbanks Convention

The Fairbanks IDEA curriculum fair started today. We have a nice booth location just inside the door. We weren't able to use our new gray tablecloths because they are designed for eight-foot tables, and the tables at this event are six-foot. The blue ones are some we had from last year. It was just serendipity that they match the draping at this event so well.

 This event is held at the Carlson Center, which, it turns out, is the arena for the Alaska Nanooks ice hockey team. Late in the afternoon, when traffic in the vendor hall had slowed down, I went out and hunted the stairs up to the mezzanine to take a "bird's eye view" picture.

 You can see our booth in the left corner, against the wall. Our "sister company," BookShark, is on the right. That's why there are five on our "team"-- three for Sonlight, and two for BookShark.

After work, our team went to the Silver Gulch Brewery for dinner. I'm not sure why most of the restaurants in Alaska seem to be breweries. I had seafood fettuccine and a "Shirley Temple" (which turned out to be a cherry Sprite). Both were delicious!

Outside of Fairbanks

For our day off today, we drove out into the country. Our first stop was the Alaska Pipeline. I learned that the reason it is above ground is because the oil is warm (about 100 degrees F) as it flows through the pipe. The ground, however, is frozen permafrost. If the pipeline were buried it would thaw the ground and  make it unstable. I hadn't thought of that before. I guess I figured it was the other way around-- that the ground would make the oil too cold. But no.

A stream ran parallel to the Pipeline. It was still frozen along the edges. We were fascinated with the ice crystals. So delicate and beautiful.

 Then we drove up to the Chena Hot Springs Resort, about an hour outside of Fairbanks. We ate lunch there and enjoyed walking around. There were several old vehicles of various kinds, just rusting away... lots of log buildings with moose racks galore... and pen of reindeer sleeping under trees... another pen of chickens and goats hanging out together. Just random, interesting stuff.

We didn't get into the hot springs, but we dipped our hands in to see if it really was "hot." It was. It also smelled like sulphur. The middle picture is the "ice skating pond." I decided my ice skates probably wouldn't work on it in that condition.

It was a fun, relaxing day. Tomorrow we'll be back to work at the Fairbanks IDEA convention.

Denali Viewpoint South

The second "sight-seeing" stop of yesterday's road trip was at the Denali Viewpoint South. It involved a short uphill hike for the best view. I wasn't too sure where it would take us, so I asked some ladies coming down if the hike was worth the view. They assured me that it definitely was, and that I was almost there. So I kept going.

The strip of photos in the collage above shows the trail, starting from the bottom picture and going up. I could just barely see the top of the mountain as I started up. The background picture was taken from the viewpoint at the top of the trail. As were these...

The view of the mountain from this vantage point was breathtaking. At over 20,000 feet, Denali is the tallest mountain on the North American continent. Apparently, Mount McKinley is the official name, but the "real" name of the mountain is Denali. If you're like me, you've heard all this before but may not remember it at the moment.

As with most major mountains, seeing it on a sunny day is rare. We were thrilled that the weather cooperated for a stunning view just for us.

Talkeetna, Alaska

On our road trip today we enjoyed a detour to the little town of Talkeetna.

Tourists that we are, we decided that it was a quintessential Alaskan town.

 We walked down the street lined with authentic log cabins...

...whimsical buildings...

...and even a yurt!

I would have liked to try this coffee shop, but it didn't seem to be open when we were there.

We followed the signs to the "river view trail"... past the Mexican Moose where this little girl was selling cinnamon roasted nuts, along with random Mexican-y style gifts under the awning behind her. We never did understand why Mexican. In Alaska. Just to be different maybe. I have no idea.

The river view was well worth the hike.

A photographer was rafting down the river with his collapsible bicycle in the raft with him. In case you didn't recognize it, yes, that is indeed Mount McKinley way off in the distance.

Here. Let me zoom in on it for you.

You know what? I think it just needs its own post. But it's getting late. So I'll post those pictures tomorrow.

Out and About in Anchorage

Last night we had dinner at the Glacier Brewhouse in downtown Anchorage. This restaurant is just down the street from the convention center, so we walked over. Obviously, brewed drinks are their specialty, but they had some unique beverage choices in the non-alcoholic section of the menu. I chose Blackberry Basil Lemonade. It was delicious! I would have never thought to add the basil, but it was a lovely variation on mint.

We enjoyed the Alaskan ambiance, not the least of which was the wonderful smell of woodsmoke when we stepped in the door. The large fireplace in the center of the dining room had a gas fire, so it was just for looks. The food was cooked over a wood fire.

 I had the salmon. It just seemed like the thing to order when in Alaska. And yes, it was quite as tasty as it looks.

Then we decided we needed dessert. But not much. So we ordered one slice of "crustless chocolate torte" with 5 forks. The waitress laughed at us, but she brought 5 forks. We passed the plate around and around the table savoring the torte one bite at a time. I have to admit I only had a bite about the first 3 times the plate went past me before "crying uncle." I can only handle so much of uber-rich chocolate desserts.

The convention center where we were working featured this stunning artwork in the lobby. I immediately recognized that it was inspired by the northern lights.

I was amazed to read about the hand-work involved and the method the artist used to create this piece.

It was hung to drape down into the lower level and then over into the hall.

When the convention was over this evening, we took a few minutes to walk around downtown and visit some shops.

We encountered a bear. He wasn't real. But he was large.

And thus ends our sojourn in Anchorage. Tomorrow we will be driving to Fairbanks. We are hoping for some great adventures along the way.

Kenai Convention

 Today was our first convention day here in Alaska. We even put together a special little display featuring books we carry that are set in Alaska and of course we had to add a cute moose mascot. He will be going home to live with Judy's little grandson, but for this week he's helping out in the booth.

Our booth space went around a corner and had a very large world map mounted on the wall behind it, which made for an interesting yet attractive set-up. Don't you think?

The convention ended at 5:00. We packed and loaded up for the 3-hour drive back to Anchorage.

We have been avidly watching for "Moose on Road" but saw nary a one this evening. (Road sign photo courtesy of Stan.)

We would also not have objected to seeing bears, caribou, or whales along the way, but no such luck. In fact, the only wildlife we've seen at all has been ginormous mosquitoes, various birds... and a very strange character at WalMart who was insistent on helping us load our groceries in hopes that we would give him a dollar for his efforts. Never mind that there were four of us who were perfectly capable of loading our own groceries. That was kinda scary.

We have seen more blue sky this year than last year... which make the snowcapped peaks much more spectacular.

 The late daylight hours made the drive back from Kenai very pleasant, in spite of all the animals apparently hiding from us.

It's been a long day, and tomorrow will be an early one, with set-up for the Anchorage convention first thing in the morning. 

No scenic drive on tomorrow's itinerary... but on a trip like this, you never know what might happen. It's always an adventure.

Driving to Kenai

Today's travels took us from Anchorage to Kenai. The drive was described by the convention sponsors thusly: 

The 3-hour (145-mile) ride from Anchorage to Soldotna on the Seward and Stering Highways is nothing less than magnificent, traveling first along breath-taking Turnagain Arm with wonderful views of glacier-capped mountains across the inlet, and then through a mountain pass before you drop down into the forest to drive alongside the glacier-fed, aqua-marine Kenai River.

And indeed, it is a beautiful drive. Last year I was driving, which is not conducive to much picture-taking. Today I was a back-seat passenger, so my view was somewhat limited.

I was able to get a few pictures through the side windows of the minivan.

I didn't realize until we got there that the back windows of this particular minivan will actually roll down, so I wouldn't have had to deal with reflections on the glass if I had known. Oh, well.

We checked into our hotel, then went and set up our booth at the convention venue.

Sheila (one of my co-workers) had discovered an interesting-looking pizza place in Soldota: St. Elias Brewing Company, so we decided to eat there for supper.

The pizza was delicious... as was the root beer which they make there on-sight (in addition to beers and ales and whatever else breweries make).

Sheila is good at taking group selfies. (Or do you call group selfies "ussies" or "weesies"?) She took this one at the restaurant before our food came.

After supper we drove out to the beach on the Kenai River. The breeze was cool but not frigid. We enjoyed picking up pebbles.

And we marveled at how high the sun still was at 8:30 p.m.

On a Jet Plane

Day 1 of my Alaska trip was mostly spent in the air. Our flight out of Denver was at 6:10 a.m. It usually takes about 40 minutes to get to the airport, so allowing time to get through security and such, we left home at 3:45 a.m. Ugh!

The first leg of our trip took us to Salt Lake City. Our layover there was relatively short, and of course you can't tell much about an area just from the airport, but we did enjoy seeing the mountains.

 As we flew out from there, I was interested to see what appeared to be bright purple water below. I don't know if that was the Great Salt Lake and the purple was minerals in the water, or if it was something else entirely.

 Our next stop was at SeaTac. In a switch-around of typical weather, it was raining when we left Denver, and sunny in Seattle. And so the "mountain was out." (Mount Rainier is often hidden by cloud cover.)

 I enjoyed the clear view of Puget Sound as we headed north from there.

When we arrived in Anchorage, Judy and I decided we should snap a picture of the stuffed moose in the airport lobby in case it was the only one we would see.

Tomorrow we will be driving to Kenai. I am hopeful the weather will be nice so we can get some good pictures of the scenery.