That's one of my favorite "aging" quotes. Jim and I are typical Baby
Boomers, I guess. We haven't come to grips with the concept of "middle
age," let alone "senior citizens."
Unfortunately Jim got a rainy day for his 64th birthday. We
didn’t get all that much rain, but it was damp and gloomy all
day. I don’t think the temp got over 58 F. today in Anchorage. We're
looking at another week of mostly rain in Southcentral Alaska, not the
most promising forecast as we head north to Denali National Park this
weekend.
Three
"older" adventurers on the way up Flattop Mtn. on June 22;
even Cody
still lets loose like a pup for a little while each day!
Jim got some nice e-greetings from friends and relatives. We’ll have to
wait for our next batch of mail to see if any birthday cards were sent.
Not many people mail real cards any more. I don’t send out nearly as
many as I used to, either.
We usually celebrate
each other's birthday in a very low-key way. Ditto with other events
like our anniversary and Christmas. We pretty much get what we want
(within our financial means) when we want it and then say, "OK, that's
my birthday gift." Consequently, we normally don't buy each other a
bunch of gifts on those occasions.
FLY GUY
We joke that this
Alaska trip is our gift to ourselves for about every event we can think
of in 2012 -- and maybe 2013, too! One of our major purchases is
going to be plane tickets for a flight over Denali National Park in a
few days.
Since it will be
close to Jim's birthday, he said that's his "birthday present."
View of Mts.
Foraker (L) and McKinley AKA Denali from the Coastal Trail on July 26
Today is also our last full day in Anchorage. We
have reservations at two campgrounds in Denali National Park from August
5-16 and plan to spend a few days on the way up there at a campground in
Denali State Park.
While I was doing some research this afternoon about various things to
do and see between here and there I found these links on the Alaska
Dispatch website to some very dramatic photos of the Alaska Range
and the territory between Anchorage and Denali National Park.
The first
link is for photos taken on July 19
during a plane flight to see Mt. Stevens, named in honor of former U.S.
Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska. Although clouds obscured the peak that
day, photographer Loren Holmes took some spectacular photos of glaciers
in the Alaska Range and aerial views of the lush Mat-Su Valley.
Here are two of them:
Ruth Glacier
by Alaska Dispatch photographer Loren Holmes
Tokositna Glacier by Alaska Dispatch photographer
Loren Holmes
Check out the other great photos, too, and be sure to read
the text written by Katie Medred below the slide show.
The second
link is to photos taken a week later on
July 26, when Holmes was able to photograph Mt. Stevens. There are other
dramatic pictures in the Alaska Range and Mat-Su Valley that day, too,
and more interesting text by Laurel Andrews below the slide show.
Now we're even more psyched up about the plane flight we'll take from
Talkeetna or Healy over the Alaska Range next week!
HONEY-DO LIST
Despite Jim's birthday we had a long list of things to do today. It's
our last of seventeen days in Anchorage.
Since we'll
be away from a town of any size for at least two weeks we wanted to do some last-minute shopping
to stock up on food and supplies before we head to Denali state and
national parks. We also had laundry to do and
maintenance/prep work on the truck and camper.
Even little mobile houses require some maintenance.
Jim rinsed off the camper and truck,
including the camper roof. He cleaned and lubed the hydraulic jacks,
topped off one of the propane tanks, checked tire pressures, put the
tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) back on the camper tires, replaced the damaged tailgate on the
truck, got
gasoline and diesel fuel, and did some other camper/truck chores.
We drove to the JBER library to return some movies, got new brakes for
Jim’s bike at REI, went to WalMart and Sam’s Club, and ate lunch at House of
Bread:
Jim got half of the day’s special sandwich and a cup of Manhattan
clam chowder; I got a bowl of spicy chicken tortilla soup and
three small slices of jalapeno cheddar bread. We took home two half
loaves of fresh-baked bread (14-grain and raspberry swirl). Yum!
Wish we’d known about that place the first time we visited Anchorage
because we would have eaten lunch there more frequently.
When we got home I did two loads of laundry. Usually Jim does that when
we’re traveling but I wanted to do something to make his birthday
special. <wink>
Next entry: road trip from JBER in northern
Anchorage to Byers Lake Campground at Denali State Park on the Parks
Hwy., with a side trip to Talkeetna
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
and Cody the ultra Lab
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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil
