Anchorage, Day 2 - July 10

 We're stuck in the rather uninspiring city of Anchorage eagerly anticipating our flight to Katmai National Park on Wednesday, there to see tons of brown bear plucking spawning salmon from the Brooks River.  Til then, we're cooling our heels here in Anchorage trying quite unsuccessfully to stay warm and dry.  Yesterday was gloriously sunny ad warm, but of course this one day of balmy summer weather occured on the Sabbath, so we simply enjoyed the glorious afternoon following church from the windows of Bambi the trailer.

                                                

Today dawned (Ha! Now there's a misnomer...the sun doesn't set here until 11:30, barely skimming below the horizon so that it stays light for hours later, then rises again at 04:30 making for a very short false night.) overcast, cold, wet, and miserable.  Unable to muster the desire to hike up 1300-ft Flattop Mountain (which would have been completely ensconced in cloud anyway), we instead waited for a break in the weather (or so we thought) and headed out to bicycle along the absolutely stupendous Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.  The trail follows an old railroad bed along the Knik Arm of the Gulf of Alaska, and it couldn't be more lovely.  With the sea on one side and thick forest of birch and spruce on the other, the trail passes through several parks including Earthquake Park with placards detailing the tragically monstrous 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake of March 26, 1964.  The trail also passed through numerous wetlands where we ran into a couple of moose, one female cow and another male bull, as well as directly under the end of the runway for Anchorage International Airport, which was a super cool place to be when the big UPS planes took off over us.  Fully a 5-hr, 30-mile bicycle to and from Bambi, it couldn't have been more beautifully scenic and completely traffic free.  We were soaked through and through by the end and chilled to the bone, but full hookups in our campground meant hot showers, hot cocoa, and a warm dinner.  I think we'll choose indoor activities for tomorrow!













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