We had great weather again today – about 70 F. in the afternoon and totally sunny. We’re lovin’ it and staying outside as much as possible while it's not raining. 

ARCTIC THUNDER PREVIEW

Jim left the campground on his bike after lunch and spent three hours watching the Arctic Thunder preview show (today was for a limited audience).

He rode west on Richardson and stopped in the shade before Vandenburg, very close to the airstrips. He had a great view of the aircraft for three hours and had a lot of fun watching them and talking to other people.

These are some of the pictures of aircraft that he took:

 

 
P-51 WWII fighter

F-22 Raptor

 

Above and below:  F-22 Raptors

I was also able to see some of the F-22s downtown from the large grassy fields in Delaney Park and the C Street hill going down to the Ulu Factory. Other folks were enjoying the aircraft, too:

Tomorrow or Sunday we plan to go watch the Arctic Thunder air show. We’re not sure how the parking and shuttle buses work. Jim talked to some security guards today and apparently we’ll have to drive farther away from the campground to park, then catch a shuttle to the air strip. It seems like there would be enough folks in the campground to warrant a bus picking us up here instead of adding those vehicles to the various parking areas.

Over 100,000 people are expected for the air show this weekend. It's very popular.

SEEKING BOTANICAL DISPLAYS

It would have been a great day for me to hike in the Chugach Mountains again or go up the Glenn Hwy. far enough to see Denali closer, but I was too tired to do either. So I did a sort of “tour de town,” seeing things in downtown Anchorage that I didn’t think Jim would enjoy as much as I would. 

My first stop was the Alaska Botanical Garden on the Campbell Airstrip Road. It was much nicer than the location sounds like! I took dozens of photos of colorful flowers and other plants while walking the wood-chip trails through the woods and open areas.

I'll have a photo essay showing lots of photos from the gardens in the third part of this series.

HANDSOME LOUSSAC LIBRARY  

My next stop was the Z.J. Loussac Library at Denali St. and 36th Ave. I was drawn to it by descriptions of its unique architecture. I loved the flowing design, flowers and fountains outside, and bright spaces inside.

Let's start with some exterior shots:

 

 

 

There are at least two public entrances to the library. After circling the fountain outside, I went up these steps to a patio area:

 

 

Statue of William H. Seward, who negotiated the Alaska Purchase with Russia in 1867

Now let's go inside. I really like the atrium area from both levels:

 

On the stairs to the second atrium level

 

Above and below:  The second floor of the atrium wing houses
the Alaskan Collection and the Anna Stephens Room.

 

Another view from the second level of the atrium

Dome geometrics from the second floor

Doesn't this library look like a really cool place to hang out?? Check out the official city website for all the features of this beautiful library.

Tour continued on the next page . . .

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