Friday, September 5, 2008

Getting There: AK2008 Day 1

We flew to Anchorage by way of Seattle, flying on one of my favorite airlines, Alaska Airlines, and its smaller cousin, Horizon. Horizon Air is now transitioning to a fleet comprised entirely of Bombardier Q400s, phasing out their Q200s and CRJ-700s for better fuel efficiency. This is the first time I've flown on Horizon rather than Alaska between Reno and Seattle in a very long time - the views aren't quite as good except, perhaps, way in the front or back. (And the plane can be a little louder!) Beer is free on Horizon, though, somewhat making up for the view, and the plane seats two on each side of the aisle, so there isn't that uncomfortable middle seat.

Upon arriving in Anchorage, MOH and I, along with my parents, immediately proceeded to the famed Moose's Tooth, where some people had beer with lunch, and others had beer for lunch. The beer in question was their Fairweather IPA. There has been some recent interest in beer in the geoblogosphere - Alaska is a great place to check out different kinds of beers for anyone if you get a chance.

Below - a couple photos from inside the Moose's Tooth.


After reaching satiation at The Tooth, we made the one (and only one this time) obligatory stroll through downtown Anchorage, where we conducted some business and did a bit of window shopping.

Above, the "yellow mall" with an example of the ever-present Alaskan-summer, hanging baskets of flowers.

T-shirt shops and cocktail lounges...


Bookstores, more flowers, and gold nugget shops...


Street scenes (the yellow mall, again, next to some blue building)...


Reflections of window shoppers in an artistic, Alaskan window...


And finally, we make our way eastward, past mid-town to our not-so-final destination, under cloudy skies, with fog or sprinkles hanging over the Chugach Range.

The question is, is it summer or fall? The answer is barely visible in that last picture: some barely blooming fireweed stalks on the side of the road.

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