I'm in alaska! :)

I’m in Alaska! Now I have only 4 states that I haven’t been to. I LOVE my country and it’s so awesome to be here!

As I stepped out of the airport, the skies opened up. This is highly unusual for Alaska. Normally it drizzles on and off, typical Pacific NW weather, like Seattle. I didn’t care, as I just wanted to get to sleep. I’m staying at the Historic Anchorage Hotel for 6 nights. It’s right in downtown and old in a pretty kind of way. I have a nice room and can see the mountains from my window. The people are very friendly and the hotel has a very good continental breakfast, which provides me with good nutrition to get through my day.

It was raining when I woke up yesterday, which I believe was God’s way of making me take it a little easy. : ) I visited an outdoor market right around the corner from my hotel. Then I wandered around downtown Anchorage. The city is all dressed up. They take advantage of the warmer weather to plant a profusion of flowers. So it’s very cheerful. Another lovely treat are the decorated salmon that dot the town. NYC has had artists create designs on cows and lately apples. Here, replicas of salmon are uniquely decorated and placed around downtown. They’re so pretty!

After a long walk around the coastal trail and lunch, I took a cruise to the Portage Glacier. What a spectacular site. Alaska is known for its glaciers. This one is quite big, and has a blue hue. It was a bit nippy on the water but well worth standing on the outside top of the boat to see it clearly. All this gorgeous nature is a far cry from my usual environment in NYC. The air feels so fresh! I’m loving it!

The sun goes down close to midnight. Not sure when it comes up as I’m sleeping and there are blackout curtains. But it’s crazy for it to be light so late. Gets so confusing when I try to go to bed early.

Today I decided to chill. I was running around so much before leaving that I left very tired. Travel day was exhausting. And yesterday was long and full, and being outside in the chilly temps also wore me out. So I relaxed and then went for a long run around the coastal trail. It’s so pretty along the water. And it’s easier to run in this air. My week is very full so I needed this day. Tomorrow I go canoeing. Stay tuned!