Alaska Day 8 06/26/2011 Photo Album

Jane and I awoke on Sunday morning in our nice room at the Arctic Fox near downtown Anchorage. Our plan included spending the day in Anchorage. We enjoyed a tasty breakfast at the bed & breakfast which included a lot of fresh fruit and met Bob and Judy from southern California. Bob was a retired school teacher, and they were part of one of the cruise tours.

Dave and Jane Bike Coastal Trail in Anchorage

We’d read about biking in Anchorage, so we used the iPad to go online and found a bike shop in downtown Anchorage within walking distance. It was looking like a nice day by Alaska standards and for the first and only time in two weeks I wore shorts, but also took along a raincoat. Nice days in Alaska while I was there were partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid-60’s. Jane and I found the bicycle rental shop and watched the presentation by the clerk and rented two bikes. The store clerk gave us maps and a couple alternative routes and a suggested place for lunch, and we headed off. We decided to bike the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, allegedly the most scenic bike trail in the world. That label was debatable, but it was a nice ride along Cook Inlet for part of the way and then through some forests. The coastal trail ended at Kincaid Park, and then we chose an alternate route back that took us through the airport area with numerous float planes and bush planes everywhere.

We stopped at the organic supermarket and had a nice lunch and then returned to downtown. We had more time to bike so we did an out and back along Ship Creek and saw quite a few fishermen near the city. On the return we stopped at the Ulu Factory and purchased an ulu and cutting board.

A Couple Fishes in Ship Creek Near Downtown Anchorage

Jane Practices Mushing at Ulu Factory

After returning the bikes, we walked over to the farmers market we’d spotted and browsed the stands. We spotted a place called The Snow Goose and checked that out as a dinner destination. We went back to our rooms and cleaned up and then in fact drove to The Snow Goose for dinner. We liked the atmosphere of this place, another brew pub, better than the Glacier Brewhouse.

Snow Goose Walls Were Decorated with Quilts

We read about the wildlife viewing south of Anchorage along Turnagain Arm, so given the abundance of daylight we drove the Ford Escape south as far as Alyeska Ski Area and then returned. The scenery was breathtaking and we walked around the ski area a bit at the tramway base. We also stopped at the boardwalk by Potter Marsh on our return trip and walked as far as we could go, but didn’t really see any wildlife. By this time a light rain was falling.

A Returning Tram