Anchorage Summer Ends

.

.

The Alaska State Fair is a sure sign that summer has come to an end. This summer has been memorable in some ways, namely, with the amount of rain that has fallen. That is most unusual for Anchorage, but the sun showed it's face a few times, and we were able to squeeze in outdoor activies, namely, the baseball season was a success, and the many golf tournaments, foot races, bike relays, hiking, and berry picking. The fishing season was spotty, and some lodges notified their regulars not to come this year. So the tourists are waning. Of course, the hunting season is just starting, and no way to predict how that will go.

In Anchorage, the public schools starts in the middle of August, which hasn't helped the mid-week attendence at the state fair, but the fair did start on time, with their usual big veggies, and minimal number of livestock. It's always fun, nevertheless, and opening day drew truant students, and lovers of all ages.

Another developing activity is an increasing number of Saturday Farmer's Markets. The original one downtown has become more of a flea market, with the farmer's produce for sale at four or more locations around town.

As autumn approaches, the calendar is out for the winter offerings. This always starts with the Champagne Pops concert, which the Symphony sells out regularly. Then comes the Concert Association programs, the Anchorage Community Theatre, and other groups. The Petroleum Club is starting their Football Sunday Brunches, with the Peanut Farm, Arctic Roadrunner, Moose's Tooth not far behind.

As the days get shorter, we also look forward to watching the Northern Lights play. I think they're out in the summer, but it's too light to see them. This is a good time to visit Anchorage, as it's not too cold yet, but there's still plenty to do . . . or not do.

Anchorage Sets Record

Anchorage has set the dubious record of the most consecutive days of (measurable) rainfall in its history. This does not mean that we haven't seen the sunshine, and somedays, it appears that it will be a nice, sunny day. Wrong! Perhaps the skies are crying for all the sadness this month in the wake of several plane crashes. The most noted crash is one near Dillingham, where our long-time Senator - Ted Stevens - was killed, together with some fishing buddies and an experience pilot.

I'm sure you've all heard about this already, so I won't go into details. This is supposed to be a travel blog, of sorts, and encourage visits to Alaska. I will say that we've been able to do so many things thru this bad weather. The baseball teams did not have to cancel any games, as our new drain and dry ball field has enabled the games to continue.

Also golfing is going great, and we have a most successful cancer tournament in the rain, and just last week a Wacky Women tournament that I was lucky enough to draw a great team to play with. Other activities include a wonderful fish fry on a most sunny day, and a miracle that I had friends from Massachusetts visiting at the time that may have thought that it was sunny all the time here. I lied.

So closing out this blog a little early, as it's time for another funeral service. Please come back and check my blog for a happier one next time, I promise.

The Dog Days of Summer 2010

Oh, my gosh. . . it's August already. As the summer is slipping away, I'm still waiting for some sunny weather. This would hardly be an 'inspirational travel blog' if we can't produce some sunshine, but on the plus side, it is cool, and pleasant most of the time. The sun appears just enough to tell you to hustle out and play 9 holes, because that's what I've been doing everytime I see the yellow ball up there.

I'm not playing much golf due to my new knees, but they seem to be working fine, and I will give a cheer for the local medical teams. The physical therapists help too. I am also close to West High School, where there's a super swimming pool.

The USAF hosted "Arctic Thunder" airshow this weekend, and we had both the USA team of Blue Devils and the Canadian team of Snow Devils. This was put on with a sad note, as earlier in the week, a C-19 with 4 men on board came down, but they went ahead and had the show, which is always quite thrilling.

The political scene is jumping with a fund raiser nightly for governor, lieutenant governor, and some propositions. Being non-political, I won't elaborate on this, but I will tell you that Anchorage keeps up with the lower states in such events as Socrates Cafe, which is facilitated weekly by a great guy, who draws more in each week.

The fish are biting, too . . . I have a freezer full, but all were given to me. I just found out the difference between flounder and halibut, as we had a big debate over this. They are both flatfish, but similarities end there, as flounder are smaller. They both have eyes on one side of their head, too.

So we're keeping plenty busy here, and note that I haven't mentional the too-many funerals, but that's part of life, too.