Anchorage

Anchorage from the air.
26th Street Hostel bakyard

Today has been one of the most beatuiful days I have ever seen! It is in the mid 60's here, the sun, which has been shining since 4am is gorgeous and the air quality is amazing. I went for a six mile walk around the neighborhood surrounding the hostel. Anchorage is absolutely beatiful.

Yesterday was one of those rare completely overcast days in the city of Denver. So I left a day without sunshine to a place where the sunlight never really fades out. The journey itself was nothing spectacular. In fact, the plane ride was terrible. I'm talking the first hour and a half I was clinging to the barf bag and ready to hurl. I have no idea how we hit so much turbulence but I have never felt a plane bounce like that. After that it was fine, minus the third-rate Morgan Freeman/Jack Nicholson feel-good movie and the guy in front of me who hit me with the back of his chair at least six times.

Uncomfortable plane ride aside, my stay in Anchorage so far has been fantastic. I am staying at the 26th Street International Hostel. It is cozy, and as is usually the case in any hostel there are plenty of interesting people to meet. From middle-aged German women on soul-seeking journeys to gorgeous British pre-med students taking a gap year to backpack around the US, there is always someone to talk to. The owners, who are Nepali, have been amazingly friendly and helpful as well.

In two hours camp staff will pick me up in front of the hostel and I will be on my way to Wasilla, AK. Camp is still a ways from there, but that is the nearest civilization. While I still have the luxury of uninterrupted free Internet I took the liberty of looking up some facts about Wasilla. It has a population of just over 6,000 and a total area of approximately 8,500 acres. There is also an internet cafe, which will be the staging site for writing most of the rest of this blog.

Well, I think I'd like to read a little before I hit the road. I am currently making my way through Doris Kearn Goodwin's mammoth Team of Rivals. Thought I would just brush up on Abraham Lincoln...you know, just to keep summer interesting.