ANCHORAGE AND THE END OF THE ROAD

Denali to Anchorage Wednesday, July 8, 2009 7:00am to 11:00am, Alaska time 257 miles We were up at 6am and went to grab some breakfast before heading to Anchorage. The road to Anchorage had beautiful scenery; a view of the mountains. Just a few miles before we reached Anchorage, we saw a moose by the road. Wonderful! A rather large female. We arrived in Anchorage about 11am and went immediately to The Motorcycle Shop to retreive Joyce's Gerbing jacket. They had it and confirmed that the fork leak on our bike would not prevent us from getting home. Joyce was elated to have her jacket back. We then checked into our room and checked out the downtown area. After walking around a bit we stopped into Rumrunners for lunch. Anchorage reminded us a bit of Key West, especially at Rumrunners. The décor and atmosphere was almost the same. We wandered for quite a while in and out of the many, many shops. It was everything a tourist could want, and then some. In fact, it was like we were finally back in civilization. After lunch we took a free trolley ride around the shopping areas and then walked some more around the enclosed mall and went into even more stores; lots of shops, local art, souvenirs. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the La Cabana just a few steps away from our hotel. Seafood enchilada--yumm! Anchorage to Homer Spit and back Thursday, July 9, 2009 6:00am to 4:00pm, Alaska time 473 miles Today we rode to the end of the road on Homer Spit (Interesting name). Homer is a small town on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula that lies literally at the end of the U.S. highway system where U.S. 1 stops at Kachemak Bay. The spit is a jetty built a couple of miles out into the bay to provide a docking area for ships. It was very touristy. There were lots of campers and motor homes. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. We saw some mountain goats just off the road enjoying their breakfast. Stopped in Sterling for a break and breakfast on the way there. We saw an eagle and water birds, gulls, heron, birds that look like loons, and ducks. We stopped to find a geocaches hidden under the huge boulders that lined the spit. Back at the hotel Jeff logged the cache we found and I went off to do laundry before dinner. We ate again at the La Cabana, checked out the news and called it a night. (even though it was still light out).

Intricate carved moose antler Another carved moose antler Modern art in the plaza

	Another grass roof	Anchorage was at full bloom
	A sign post in downtown Anchorage	Whale baleens
	Walrus tusks	Another carved moose antler
	Big stuffed animals	Another stuffed animal
	Wood carving	Stuffed animal
	Stuffed animal	Scale from an old gold assay office
	Wood carving	Wood carvings
	Another wood carving	Stuffed (real) grizzly bear
	Sculpture at a firehouse	The end of the road on Homer Spit

Follow the links below for more pictures and narrative of our trip Intro page for our Alaskan trip Berwyn to the Alcan Highway The Alcan Highway to Alaska Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle Denali Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula Homeward Bound Route Map Ride Planner's Notes   Click here to return to the ORAVECS.COM website.