South to Alaska

Well, we are past the northernmost point in our trek. When Judy and I were here before we had really liked Fairbanks, and this trip gave us no reason to change our mind. Fairbanks is a lovely town -- small, but with all of the necessary resources. We are seriously talking about coming up to Fairbanks in the spring to see the dog races, ice sculptures and Northern Lights.

Now we head south. You have to realize something. In our 5000+ miles of travel so far we have not seen an ocean. All the scenery and animals we have seen have been inland varieties. Now as we travel down toward Anchorage we expect things to change.

The permafrost should pretty much disappear so we should see bigger trees. The economy will be based a great deal on fishing and other sea-related industries. The native population will be made up of different tribes. It will be much like going to a different country.

In a couple of days we will be in Anchorage which is a relatively big city. (In a state where the entire population numbers 600,000 how big a city can it be?) Our feeling last time was that Anchorage was just another city. We'll see how we feel now. It's hard to get to know a city in just a couple of days.

When we leave Anchorage we head for the Kenai peninsula where some of the most beautiful areas in Alaska abound. As always we'll keep you up to date.