Anchorage, Trail Day

Day 10--Sunday, July 28, 2002, rest day

Slept in in our wonderfully comfy bed. John & Danette got off for their Seward fishing jaunt around 7 a.m.

It's a gorgeous sunny day with temps in the 70s. Showered, had coffee & toast for breakfast, and then labeled all the photos. Found we had taken many too many of trees, rivers, and mountains and too few candids of our travels.

Housing development, each house with its own float plane dock

Will mail the photos to Scott tomorrow (Mon.), and he will have them posted as soon as he can. There are a LOT of them.

Lalle and another daughter, Diane, and granddaughter, Amy, dropped off our bikes and trailers around 10. They had been stored at Dan's Palmer Fire Station since our arrival. Dan & Lalle have rallied their considerable family to see to our every need. We have been so spoiled that it will be a wake up call to return to the tent.

Soon after the bikes arrived, we rode into the city proper via the Coastal Bike Trail, a beautiful, paved trail along the bluffs of the Cook Inlet with plenty of climbs and descents.

Here's a new one"Bike on a Cheese."

When we got to the center of the city, we dropped off a roll of film at the one-hour developer, and then ate lunch at the Bear Tooth Theater Pub. After this we shopped in a couple of the many sports and outfitters stores and ended up at REI where I bought some waterproofing for the tent fly and a great little compressible Thermarest pillow. Jess bought a water bottle cage for a second bottle and a front fender for her bike. Without a fender, she gets thoroughly soaked and caked with grime when it rains.

Jess had a long talk with the guy who waited on her as he was planning a bike tour down the Alaska Hwy. He was smitten—installed the fender and cage for free and gave Jess two water bottles that open automatically when squeezed. She also bought a case of lemon Luna bars. Sports bars in roadside stores (when you can find one) can run over $2 a piece.

We returned to the Schloeder's, did a wash and waterproofed the fly and Jessica's raincoat. I took a short nap and after that we took the three blonde gals: Willow, Kasper, and Malibu for a walk through an upscale area around a lake where many of the homes have pontoon planes tied up at lakeside. Walking three large dogs—two of them on one lead—is no small undertaking. I was hot and panting louder than the dogs when we returned.

 

Packed up for tomorrow's getaway—Anchorage to Portage—and then weighed my gear for the first time: 54 pounds. That a lot of stookey. I have picked up a green-eyed yellow-haired troll doll with a gem in its navel and a plastic dinosaur. BOB's carrying both. Jess has slapped interesting rocks and sticks out of my hands before I could tuck them onto BOB, and I know I will have a hard time when I get to Homer. The Homer Spit is covered with black stones rounded to perfection.