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| Waiting in Vancouver Airport to Fly to Anchorage. |
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| Flight Path on Airplane Monitor |
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| Out the Window Coming Into Anchorage. |
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| Our Impromtu Airbnb. We love how close to the car it is!! |
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| We have Arrived to Anchorage. |
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| Putting Away Groceris. |
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| Homemade Egg Drop Soup with Napa Cabbage. |
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| Enjoying the Snowy Mountain Views All Around Anchorage. |
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| Burgers for Lunch on Sunday. Mine is a Salmon Filet! |
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| Eric, Owen and Esther getting their first watermelon of the season. |
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| Two Appliances that we bought and some Goodwill items too. |
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| Saw our first moose at Kincade Park |
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| More Snowy Mountains. |
Saturday. 9. 3 ½ hour Flight from Vancouver, BC to Anchorage, AK. Get rental car, grocery shop, check into airbnb. Cook egg drop soup for dinner.
Sunday. 10. Start morning exercises after a few days off. Laundry. Cook breakfast. Go to morning Bible class and worship. Visit before and afterwards as I wrote down everyone’s names, and let them know that we were here until June 16th and available to help out with anything. There were less than 30 people total including 7 children. There was a visiting preacher, Ken Craig, from Birmingham, Alabama. We discovered that we have sat in his lectures many years ago, and we share many friends in common. Go for burgers for lunch. I have a salmon filet sandwich. Ate all my fries! More shopping. Home to rest.
Monday. 11. Darrell makes pancakes for breakfast. We were so missing these that it felt like more than a week since we last had pancakes for breakfast! Lol. Go to Target for Darrell to connect with CVS for one of his prescriptions. Called Eric, Owen and Esther.
Tuesday. 12. I slept through for a full 7 hours!! Feeling much better today. Call my sister Linda after breakfast. Attend online Bible class with Tunbridge Wells, Kent church. We began a study in Genesis today. After lunch we drove out to the water. It’s much colder there. We take a couple pictures and leave. On our way out of the park, we see a moose! We drove to Fred Meyer grocery for a few items. Called my sister Linda.
Wednesday. 13. Much warmer today. We drove back out to the coastal path at the municipal park. We walked around there for about an hour. We saw a bear! And another moose. Later while driving to Bible class we saw more moose in the road slowing the many cars. At Bible class, I went to the kids class to see how and what their Mom and teacher was doing. I enjoyed being with the kids and they enjoyed having me there. Thad, the 8 year old, asked me if I could come to their class all the time. I told him thanks for his invitation. I probably will keep coming to their class. I also talked more with Diane, who let me know that her summer work schedule takes her to Seward and Soldatna. She and her husband run a fish camp there, and she sews traditional garments which she sells through her booth at various fairs. I got her contact through Facebook and was able to have some communication with her about a friend we had 40 years ago who lived here and in Soldatna. When we got home we watched two tv shows and had popcorn. We were in bed before 10pm. I slept all night in one position! It’s been about a week since I’ve slept this well. Called friend Laura for an EPT trade.
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| Saw a Bear at Kincade Park. |
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| Walking a trail at Kincade Park |
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| Trees work to survive here. |
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| Water view at Kincade Park. |
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| Downtown Anchorage looks like this in every direction imo |
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| Having Lunch at Pel Meni |
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| Lunch in Downtown Anchorage. |
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| Pel Meni Dumplings with rye bread. Really delicious. |
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| At Goodwill |
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| At Goodwill |
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| Me and Darrell Cruising! |
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| Views in Anchorage |
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| Views in Anchorage |
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| Enjoying the Views. |
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| Loving the Views. |
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| Trading Rental Cars. |
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| Haddock For My Lunch |
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| Drive to Girdwood |
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| View from Our Girdwood townhome |
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| Inside Our Girdwood Townhome |
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| View from Our living room |
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| Living room in our Girdwood townhome. |
Thursday. 14. Darrell made pancakes today that will last 3-4 mornings. We had our easy workout and the weather is due to be in the 50’s today with sunshine. We are both working on our computers today. I am working on some lesson ideas called, “God is Pleased…” I was sparked by the sermon on Sunday and it makes me want to keep going with the topic of what sacrifices please the God who made the heavens and the earth. Darrell’s mom called.
Friday. 15. Today didn’t go as we had planned but it ended so much better than we expected! We checked-out of our weeklong airbnb at the 10 am check-out. We went over to Kincade park where we have been two other times, and we saw the bear and some moose there too! We parked and took a trail up and around the soccer stadium with a clear view of the water and mountains below. We filled the next hour with enjoying the fresh air, views and quiet of this landscape. We passed a couple of people walking their dogs. We could hear runners having a conversation on a ridge away from where we were. We had airplanes soaring above us as they were cued for the morning takeoffs. After our walk, we went to the Avis office to turn in our truck and trade for a Rav for our next 4 months. They didn’t have our Rav ready yet, so we sat in the office waiting area with our luggage and food box. I was hungry and found a hamburger place a block away. I made a deal with Darrell to let me go eat then I would come back and let him go eat. I walked to the restaurant and placed my order. The cashier said it’s cash only. Oops. She directed me to the atm next to the first booth. As I went to get started on getting cash, someone tapped my shoulder and said, I paid for your lunch, and handed me my lunch ticket. I was surprised! I said thanks! My name is Sherry. I really appreciate that. You’re welcome. I had my lunch and as I was finishing up, Darrell texted that our car was ready. I’ll be there in 6 minutes. I got over there quickly and we loaded up our RAV. We went back over to the restaurant for Darrell to have lunch. We went from there to a coffee shop near our airbnb. I texted the host a couple of times for the door code because we weren’t getting any response from our contract. I think it was doomed from the start, but I had never experienced this type of problem. Darrell said that he could have died and left a bunch of unfinished business that is going on without him. Okay. We shopped for groceries still hoping that we would get into our condo for the next month. Next, I called the airbnb help line. It took about another hour and 3-4 helpers to get my case resolved by cancelling the contract and refunding our money. We were already looking for another place to stay. While waiting on airbnb, we went over to Walmart and bought a cooler and ice to save our meats that we had bought for the week. We went through a few options with how long we would stay, how far we were willing to drive from Anchorage tonight, and how does this affect what we will do for the next month. We settled on a townhouse in Girdwood about 40 miles south of Anchorage. It’s between seasons in this ski town. The ski lift is not running during the month for maintenence. There are 3-4 restaurants open and a gas station. It’s situated at the base of snowy mountains. It’s gorgeous. It’s extremely quiet and we have two and a half bathrooms! We also have a dining table. This house is set up for a family. So we are here for a week and thinking about our next month. Darrell found a housesit in Anchorage to apply for.
Any life thoughts or contemplations to add: I looked forward to shopping each day. We shopped at several stores including: Wal-mart, Target, Carr’s, Fred Meyer, Cosco, Goodwill and another thrift store. We have been able to get an overview of what is available where as well as the difference in prices between the stores. At Goodwill and the other thrift store, we were able to get good quality used items: a french press, travel coffee cups, a roller bag for our kitchen items and spices, a silicon spatula, a whisk, a bowl, forks, spoons, a hot pad holder and towel. From Walmart we bought an electric skillet and a hot water kettle. Sometimes our biggest challenge is buying what we will eat and not too much more than that. There are times we want to buy something but we don’t ever empty the package. So we tend to discuss our desired purchases before confirming. We often delay gratification so we aren’t hauling so much stuff around!
What a strange week and a half we have had! Denied boarding on the cruise. Arriving in Anchorage a week ahead of our original plan. Booking our first week long airbnb the day before. Seeing a bear and several moose! Checking out and waiting all day for our month long airbnb that we booked months ago, and then it canceling and leaving us to find a place for the same night. Coming on a beautiful drive south of Anchorage to this slow tourist town close to the snowy mountains. Letting go for what is and moving forward with the opportunities we are presented. The amount of properties in Alaska is beyond plenty. Because this is May, there seems to be a whole lot to choose from. It’s not a chore and we are finding nice places to stay. Our first airbnb and this airbnb offered a discounted price since they hadn’t been booked and we were last minute shoppers. The prices are anywhere from $ 130-200 per night for what we are looking for. Gas is over $5 per gallon. Groceries are a bit higher (10-20%) on some things and some are about the same.
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