Anchorage Alaska

I really wanted to like Anchorage, and i mean litke it a lot, but alas that is not the case.  As of February 2016 parking is in paid lots or as a courtesy to customers.  Not really a bad idea but to park in a pay lot in town near the Anchorage Museum is $5 hr with a 2 hr minimum – no RVs permitted!  All municipal lots are closed, even on the weekends.  OUCH!


But this was always a B’n’B trip for us (Boots and Bikes), we were able to find a spot  for te RV outside of town in a residential area.  But it’s boots not bikes in the rain, we came prepared to hike in the rain, but not bike.

Try the Moose’s Tooth, long lines for some great pizza.  We called in our order rather than wait the 1+ hr for a table and ate in the RV.  Two specilalty pies (small) in less than 30 minutes $12.50 ea, both different and awesome!



Anchorage has an extensive trail system, some 120 miles of paved multi-use trails and a couple hundred more of single track trails.  The plan was to spend a day biking along the Turnagain Arm, but in the rain we’ll walk instead.  Fortunately we are parked close to access to the trail system.




The trail system is heavily used by the locals, a good sign that they were done right, with the community in mind. 

Our trail is the Tony Knowles Coatal Trail a walk along the 11 mile Coastal Trail for a couple hours as it follows the Cook Inlet.  There are a lot of water fowl to be seen, but we missed the occasional moose or bear that has been reported.




The Potter Marsh just south of town is also a great stop for water fowl and territorial ravens.  This pair certainly asked me to leave, and I did after the picture! 



Salmon spawn in this estuary, however we’re here for the wood frogs!  This is one of the few places where the ‘frozen alive’ frogs live.  In winter these frogs are completely frozen solid, but do not ‘croak’, in the spring they will thaw and live to ‘croak’ again.  The frogs are studied by NASA, as suspended animation would be useful in long duration space travel.



If passing thru Anchorage and looking for a quick overnight I’ll offer Cabela’s south of town.  It is near Costco at Diamond and C streets.  Outside of the citly limits ….  If you park overnight at Walmart, which is within the city limits, expect a ticket!


We have this little thing we do with fortune cookies, we suffix the saying with ‘between the sheets.’  IE “You’ll have good luck … between the sheets”.

Now with all the rain we’ve been having, we suffix the Milepost bullets with ‘in the rain.’  IE “The rest stop offers good views of the glaciers … in the rain.” 

On the Kenai … in the rain!!!