The logistics of shutting down the little mobile food lab, tying up the loose ends and getting ourselves to Houston was pretty much a shoe in with the help of our family. Family of course, are all of you who've cheered us on and been loyal to our crazy alchemy.
Our children who've always indulged our eccentric Hick-Finn lives (and who've consequently prospered in spite of it) as usual banded together and made sure we got to Houston. And beyond.
Boarding an airplane and flying after so many years of not doing so was not as bad an experience as we had feared. We made all of our connections and our massive pile of luggage, including a guitar made it safely and without issue.
Arriving at Anchorage was a surreal experience. It was a bit overcast and cool. We looked out the big windows at the Chugach Mountains and for me, I felt a single tear. 38 years had separated me from this sight. I often wondered if I would ever see it again.
We waited for our shuttle to the hotel out in front of the terminal. The smells here are absolutely intoxicating and although weary to the bone, we were ready to explore, After we checked in and stowed a few things it was about 1030 local time (1;30 Texas). We hadn't eaten much all day, so we walked in the broad daylight to find something. Most every restaurant was closed, so we found a Tesoro convenience store and bought a six pack of Alaskan beer and a couple of microwave Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and strolled back. Pure ambrosia. It wasn't several minutes and we were dead asleep......
Yesterday, after we rose from the dead, we headed to the Anchorage People Mover, the mass transit system. I've always remembered it as a premier system, and was ecstatic to find it remains so. The drivers and the passengers are all beyond friendly and it feels like living in an old episode of Northern Exposure. We caught a bus eastbound toward the Chugach, and the driver told us about the Anchorage botanical garden, saying we could ride with him, he'd be returning to downtown (where we wanted to go) in an hour, or explore the gardens and catch him on the return for a direct ride. It was an excellent suggestion and we spent the next 45 minutes in the woods.
Downtown Anchorage is a wonderful experience. Anchorage is a town of 400,000, but the small town feel remains. It is clean and friendly and we spent the next several hours wandering around, visiting with people. Alaska may be cold, but the people are quite the opposite.
We stopped for lunch at a small outdoor eatery, made of converted shipping containers outside downtown called Ak Alchemist (https://www.facebook.com/pg/alaskaalchemist) advertising Halibut Tacos and Salmon Quesadillas. I chose the tacos and Dee had a reindeer burger. We both quaffed giant flagons of Bear Tooth IPA, another Alaskan product. The sun came out for awhile as we chatted with the locals.
The food was outstanding.
After the late lunch we found the bus again and boarded it back to the hotel (with an intermediate stop to get some groceries). We're still adjusting to the time change and jetlag.
Today we're off to bicycle the city park trails and back for a bit of rest before being picked up for Sterling tomorrow morning. Then the fun begins.
I apologize for the rambling, imperfect prose here but I wanted to fill y'all in on the last several days. we'll have a better update this afternoon.
Que lo vaya bien mis amigos y amigas....
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