Friday, July 01, 2011

Anchorage, Alaska

At the beginning of June I went up to Alaska for work and had a couple of extra days to look around. An Added bonus was that my cousin Erin lives up there and I got to visit with her, her son Jeremy, and her husband Matt. 

First let me say that the scenic beauty of Alaska is unmatched by anywhere that I have ever been. Lush, snow capped, green mountains that roll down to the sea were in abundance and there were all kinds of waterfalls fed by the spring snow melt. An added bonus was that even though it was the rainy season I had surprisingly good weather for almost the whole time. One thing that makes an impression is the sun being up well after midnight.

The first day of free time I went for a 1 hour cruise of the Portage glacier, which was very reasonable at $39.  I had a long chat with the Captain of the boat, who was also a Coast Guard vet. We talked about the Guard and the ships that we had served aboard as well as things to do in Alaska.

 Flying into Anchorage you can see many of the islands along the coast. 


 This is Beluga Point, on the highway from Anchorage to Seward.

 Small icebergs from the Portage Glacier. Keep in mind that this is 80% underwater.
 Portage Lake.



 This is the glacier. Bright blue ice.