All About Day 3!

Mountains everywhere!

I made it home safe and sound! It is good to be home, but I am not liking the 90 degree weather here in Indy...would much rather be a bit chilly in the 50 degree weather of beautiful Alaska! I finally have my computer back and internet so I can finally blog and share about my adventure! I was disappointed because in Anchorage the reception was spotty at best and there was hardly any Wi-Fi.  I was counting on that so that I could update my blog while on the road, but I had to roll with the punches.  But you all will get to hear all about it now!! So I left off with Day 3--day 3 was awesome.  I spent the night at a pretty nice hotel after discovering my hostel was completely shut down for renovations and repairs.  I got a great night's rest, hot shower, and some killer waffles for breakfast and was ready for the day! I started off heading to Anchorage's Saturday farmer's market which was amazing! over 100 vendors were there selling their crafts and yummy foods! I saw everything from Native Alaskan knifes to Salmon Quesadillas! I talked with several of the vendors and each one had a different story to share.  Most of the people were not native Alaskans, they had come up to Alaska for one reason or another and ended up staying because they loved it so much (I can see why!) I found some great souvenirs and a couple of memorabilia for me! I even got some porcupine quill earrings! Yup you read right--porcupine! This lady takes the quills that fall off and makes earrings out of them! It is pretty cool!

Porcupine Earrings

Extra Large strawberries because of the extended daylight!

After the farmer's market, I headed out on the Seward Highway! This was definitely a highlight of the trip (who are we kidding, the whole trip was a highlight), there were great views of the mountains and all along the way were pullouts to stop and take pictures and just breathe in the mountain air.  Alaska has a different feel to it, there is something humbling, empowering, and scary all at the same time about standing at the base of a mountain with no one else around and no civilization except for 2 hours by car...

Along the way I saw Dall Sheep (mountain sheep), bald eagles, paragliders, waterfalls, variety of birds, and of course snow and mountains! One of the things I did along the Seward Highway was stop at a small town called Girdwood which is home to a ski resort with a mountain tram.  At this time, the avalanche risk was too high so there weren't any skiers, but the tram was up and running! It took you to the top of the mountain where you could walk around and there was even a restaurant where I grabbed some lunch.  It was snowing and very winter-esque at the top of the mountain...loved it.

View from the Tram

The next stop along the Seward Highway was the Alaska Conservation Center.  This was a really neat place that takes injured or abandoned animals and rehabilitates them until they can get back out to the wild or will give them a home if they aren't able to be released back into the wild.  This place was almost like a safari in the way it was set up, only Alaska style! You drove through with your car but could get out and take pictures or walk around.  They had all sorts of critters there! Bears, Musk Ox, Reindeer, and Lynx, just to name a few.  Plus, all of the proceeds go back directly to the Center.  It was a really neat place and a great way to get up close to real wildlife!

After that and a few other stops for pictures, I made it through the mountains to Seward.  This little town is something different. It is primarily a sea-fishing town, a lot of the locals make their money from harvesting the Salmon that flow into Seward.  Cruise ships dock here as well and that is about the only sign of modern life...it is such a tiny town that the only name I recognized was the Subway they had it town, and that was a big deal! It is a cute town though, and has a lot of character and remains part of a simpler time and way of life...they aren't all tied up with the latest technology or keeping up with the Jones'. They live there for other reasons.  It is literally in the middle of nowhere, with the Gulf of Alaska on the other side of the bay, and Anchorage, the closest city, 3 hours away.  You better fill up your gas tank before heading out of town because the next gas station is about 45 minutes outside of town and you're stuck with no cell reception in the middle of the mountains if you run out! There are only about 3500 people that live there, but there are a lot of tourists that make their way there during the summer and it comes to life, with tours, fishing excursions, kayaking trips, and shopping. :) It took some adjusting to get used to and I had a bit of homesickness this day after arriving in what seemed to me a foreign country...nothing about it at all was familiar to this city girl from corn-filled Indiana. But I survived, and enjoyed every minute! Stay tuned for stories from Day 4 tomorrow!