July 6, 2012                         Day 28/60                            Anchorage, AK

I didn’t get a chance to blog about yesterday so this will be a two-fer.

Yesterday was a non-tourist day. We did our shopping. Ok, it wasn’t exactly normal. We did our shopping at the BX/PX on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Usually, the base pricing is much better than what you would spend if you bought the same item “on the economy.” This was not the case here. Milk was actually cheaper at the local Fred Meyer or Walgreen’s.

After lunch in our separate trailers, we went to see “Brave” at the local theater. This was a very nice new stadium, deluxe-style theater. The seats slightly reclined and the balcony was much higher than in our local theaters. It was so comfy that, you guessed it, I fell asleep and missed a crucial part of the movie. See just like at home. What I saw of the movie, I enjoyed. Good film for the whole family – all 3 generations.

It was only about 4 when the movie got out so we decided to see a few sights. First, we drove to the Earthquake Park. In the 1960s, Alaska had a huge (9+) earthquake. Mike was stationed here but left right before the quake. Earthquake Park shows how the earthquake impacted the local area. The ground is 30 feet higher on one side of the fault line. The trees have grown up now so it is harder to see the dramatic cliff but the area was beautiful. We could see the mud flats on the Cook’s Inlet. The mosquitos were out and biting so we didn’t linger.

After several wrong turns, we found our way to the Ships Creek Salmon viewing area. One problem, there weren’t any fish. We ducked into the Ulu factory gift shop and bought a few things. Not a single ulu though. Ulus are special curved-blade knives.

Today we went back to tourist mode. Rick and I took the boys to Thunderbird Falls in an area called Eagle River just out of town (technically it is still in the municipality of Anchorage). We took a 2 mile round trip hike to see Thunderbird Falls. It was not a strenuous hike but not completely flat either. There were also the mosquitos to deal with. It was a pretty waterfall but we decided not to take the creek trail.

We stopped at the Wal-Mart for some quick shopping. We didn’t find what we were looking for. Costco for lunch (ATM and gelato were so convenient).

Dominic and I went to look for a native art gift shop at the local hospital. All we found was a typical hospital gift shop. We later found out we were at the wrong hospital. We will have to go when we pass back through Anchorage.

The highlight of the day was the H2Oasis Water Park. It is an all indoor water park with slides, fountains, a wave pool, and a lazy river. It was not cheap so Rick and I had decided not to join the boys but watch them from the viewing deck.  We didn’t have to sign a waiver or anything. Just pay your money, stay on premises for any kid under 12, and you’re good to go. It looked like so much fun. I quickly regretted not bringing my suit along. The boys swam for over 4 hours! The water and air were a balmy 84 degrees. They both really liked the Body Slide and at least they tried the Master Blaster (way too intense). They made a few friends in the way that kids do - someone to talk to and slide with but never really sure of their names. We certainly got our money’s worth. We will try to go here again when we swing through town.

Mike’s sister, Aviva, flew in from Florida to join us for few days. I hadn’t seen her since before Luca was born. Tomorrow we are off to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula.