Arriving in Alaska

Welcome to my Alaska blog: Living on the Edge.  At this time everyone should jump over to http://grooveshark.com  and listen to "Living on the Edge" by Aerosmith .... Now, back to Alaska.

My flight was schedule to leave Denver at 6:20 p.m. last Thursday and arrive in Anchorage about 10 p.m. local time.  Weather--hail storms dinging planes from the previous day and lightning delays from the same day--caused  a change of plans.  In true form to the ridiculous of the aviation industry, the truth was nowhere to be found.  At 6 p.m., I chatted briefly with my pilot--chilling out near the gate--and learned that he was still being told that our plan would take off in 20 minutes!  Somehow 20 minutes turned into 3 hours and we left about 9:15 p.m.

A direct flight from Denver to Anchorage is just under 5 hours.  As we moved further north, the sky got lighter and I began to transition to Alaska light.  Incidentally, for some reason we lost the free direct TV while over Canadian air space.

This was my ride to Alaska.  Check out the amount of light a midnight local time on Friday July 15.

This pictures was taken looking to the south.  Notice that it shows less light than ....

 this picture taken looking toward the North.












I arrived at my apt early in the morning and then slept.  On Friday, I made the obligatory trip to Walmart for all apartment necessities, stopped by my work and then went to the mall to pick up a wireless router. 

 To compare some prices, I decided to look into the cost of a pair of running shoes and I was directed from a specialty store to Nordstroms.  The actually had a good sale and competitive normal price, but that was not what I found so interesting.  There was such a mad rush in women's shoes that the store set up a microphone system and handed out numbers.  You know, like the next-in-line numbers for the post office.  The guy in purple is calling out the number of the next woman to receive customer service in women's shoes.  I am not sure why, but I found this hilarious enough to take a picture of it.

 This shot is taken from the walkway between Nordstrom's and the 5th Avenue mall.  It hardly matters where you turn to look in Anchorage, you will find mountains, mountains, mountains.  (Read joy, thrill and excitement.)








After some exploration and the accumulation of a bicycle map, I drove to the airport and returned my rental car.  I got a Ford Escape even though I had reserved a compact car.  It was nice to have an SUV, but I would NEVER purchase one.  The middle seats only fold down IF the driver's and passenger's seats are pushed fully forward; huge loss of and SUV advantage.  I dropped the car off, and then biked about 5 miles from the airport back to my apartment.

I followed the Tony Knowles Coastal trail and caught some fantastic views.  This is a shot of Mt. Foraker about 8:30 p.m. as the sun is drooping.  The summit is 17,400--a bit higher than the wonderful 14ers of Colorado, and 3 miles higher than either PA or FL.  

Here we have my new home.  The city of Anchorage with the mountains of Chugach State Park in the background.  Notice that there are two groups of three towers and focus on the left.  The rightmost tower in that group of three is the Hilton; I live just across the street from the Hilton.

 Here it is!  My first official wildlife sighting.  Can't see it?  That brown spec, nearly dead center in the picture is a moose.  That was the only non-civlized life I saw on the Tony Knowles trail.  Other mammals, though, could be described as wild.

My new favorite photo and the background for my blog.  In the foreground is Westchester Lagoon.  I don't yet know anything about the buildings in the center.  The mountains of Chugach State Park are in the background.  I love the reflection of the scenery in the lagoon.







That covers my arrival to Anchorage, Alaska.  I will probably post 1-2 times per week.  Next, I will share about my apartment, my job and impending foray into Bear Country.