Anchorage, Alaska

We wake up to mostly clear skies...Yes! Love the sunshine!!! Our friend Zach had given us "Pancakes in a Can", organic pancake batter you squirt out from a can like whipped cream, and we cook those up for breakfast. Interesting. The added blueberries helped. Cleanup was quick and easy, got the trailer ready to go and we said goodbye to the Copper River Campground. Took pictures of all the fish traps in the river as we drove by...very interesting. We did a lot of backtracking to get back to the road we needed to take to get to Anchorage. Lots of driving today but it is very slow going because of all stops we are making to take pictures. We finally have a nice day and we can see what is around us!!! WooHoo!! We need more days like this one. It took us 5 hours to get 100 miles!! :)

We run into more traffic the closer we get to Anchorage. And we get onto a freeway! We haven't been on a freeway since leaving Seattle!! Using my iPad google maps app and Don's GPS we find the place where we will be staying while we are in Anchorage. It is the only inexpensive RV place here. Ghetto RV Park is what Don calls it. I don't feel real good about this, but we decide to stay. The restrooms are old but are locked and clean. We unhook and go run errands! We hit an Apple store with questions about my iPad (they were not very helpful), REI (we are in here for a while), and Wal-Mart. The kid at REI gave us a suggestion for a place to eat that was right across from REI. Turns out that this place is listed in Frommers (a travel handbook) and it seemed like the whole city was there to eat. But it was worth the wait, excellent! The Bear Tooth Grill...definitely a winner!

We find our way back to the Casita and were very happy to find it still there and in good shape! While we were in Wal-Mart, I had contacted an acquaintance of ours who used to live in Paso, and now lives in Anchorage, Annelyse. We made arrangements to go to church with her on Sunday. I told her that if we didn't show up in the morning, to call the police...I still was not sure about this place we were staying in.

Sunday, July 18

We wake to the sound of rain...and relief that the night was quiet and non-eventful. Get showers (this was actually cleaner than the shower in the laundromat
at Sitka), and get ready for church! Annelyse and her husband, Edward, attend Abbott Road Community Church. We drive up to the church at the same time as Annelyse (Edward is a nurse and he had to work today). The church service was a huge blessing. Worship was really good and the pastor, Josh Tanner, gave a very good sermon. He served as their youth pastor before being the senior pastor and he was really funny. We liked him.

After church, Annelyse took us to a really neat cafe in downtown Anchorage. This too was really busy, and we had to wait for a long time to get seated which gave us lots of time for fellowship. The food was terrific and well worth the wait! I think we were in there for a good 3 hours enjoying the fellowship!! We spent the rest of the afternoon doing more errands.

At around 8:00, we went over to Annelyse and Edward's house. We had a sweet evening of fellowship...Annelyse and Edward are great people, wonderful hosts, and we enjoyed our fellowship with them very much!! We feel bad because we stayed probably too late...it is so easy to loose track of the time when it doesn't get dark until almost midnight!! Thank you Annelyse and Edward for such a great day and evening of fellowship. You are a blessing to us!

We got back to the trailer, still in good shape and unmolested (thank you, Jesus!) and crashed for the night... We had had a very good day!

Monday, July 19
We made it through another night at the Ghetto RV Park!!! I think I am ok with this place now, but not unhappy to be leaving. We get breakfast, do showers, hook up the trailer and we are out of here!
Today we are heading into the Kenai Peninsula...not sure exactly where at this point, but we are going in that direction. It is raining on and off. I had looked up the 10-day weather report before going to the San Martine's last night. Rain every day...I am fighting depression. We are going into an extremely beautiful part of Alaska and we aren't going to be able to see it or get any pictures. I think we should just start for home. What's the point of being here if you can't see anything? This rain is getting to me! Don says we should go and see what we can since we are here. He is right, but I am still bummed.

We don't actually get out of Anchorage for a couple of hours. Don wanted to wash the trailer down...it had gotten oil splashed on it or something, and he wanted to wash it off. So, using my iPad Google Maps app, we drive to a car wash. But this is not one that you do, but an automatic type...not what we are looking for. Go to another one and find the same thing. Car wash can mean many things. So Don asks a guy working at this nice automated car wash and he sends us to what he thinks is what we are looking for...but not so. We did this for over an hour. Driving up and down and around the same streets. Finally found one! How hard could this be? So, the trailer got it's bath and ...oh wait. One more thing. Go get the propane tank filled. Haven't we been by this place before? Ok, we are now ready to head out to the Kenai...it is almost noon, and I am still depressed...missing home maybe?