Rachel and I had done the Seattle half-marathon and had fun. So we looked around for the next marathon, and found the Mayor’s Midnight Sun. Rachel said “if we are going to travel to Alaska, we are going to do a full marathon.”
Rachel also got a job for the summer in Alaska so she drove up. We put our plan together.
Pre-Marathon
We stayed at “Al’s Alaskan Inn”
It was surprisingly quiet and clean.
When I got a taxi from the airport, I asked the driver if he knew where Al’s Alaskan Inn was. He said, “Sure, I know! Um … how did you hear about it?”
That was pretty much the reaction from locals — EVERYONE knows Al’s. Except tourists. (Internet-savvy sisters also know Al’s.)
Rachel, Mary, and Heidi drove from Seattle to Anchorage. The went through a couple of construction sites, and it got a little dusty. At least it was always easy to find in a parking lot.
On Friday, we went into downtown Anchorage to pick up our marathon registration. There were Scottish highland games & bagpipes everywhere. Why not?
Later on Friday, we went to Eagle Creek Nature Reserve. Just missed seeing a bear, we were told.
Marathon
Okay, next time, we will carry a camera with us. We met up with Mary and Heidi (and the camera) at Mile 25.
The woman walking next to us (Elaine) joined us for most of the race. We were a little slow for her, but she appreciated the companionship.
Post Marathon
Sunday, we drove 2 hours south to Seward and got on a 4 hour boat tour of Resurrection Bay. Didn’t see any whales, and the pictures (from the disposable camera) didn’t come out great, but we saw some cool stuff:
Two minutes out, we saw a Bald Eagle sitting on a piling (or something). Note the cruise ship in the background. Seward is a major destination for them.
The weather was not as good as it had been yesterday.
Near the end, a pod of Harbor Porpoises swam alongside our boat.
On the way out of Seward, we stopped by a nearby glacier. Just missed seeing a bear, we were told.
On Monday, we had time to visit a nearby bird sanctuary (there were Tree Swallows and Arctic Terns flying around).
We drove as far up Flathead mountain, which is in Anchorage, to get a beautiful view of the city. That picture didn’t turn out very good, but this is a view the other way.
I then flew home. Rachel got to stay the summer.