The small plane airport is a fun place to visit. Hood lake is used exclusively for these small planes. The lake is encircled with these "docks" for seaplanes.
This is one area of the airport that is row upon row of small planes. Alaska has over 25% of the small planes in the USA. On a typical Friday, people try to leave work early to get their planes in line to take off. A real traffic jam!
Most planes have three types of interchangeable landing gear: the typical wheels, hydroplane and snow skis.
The small planes have their own runway which intersects the road in a couple places
We had breakfast at a well known local restaurant with friends of our Hawaiian friends, Chris and K.C. Tom and Heather drove in from a nearby town and we hit it off immediately. We will try to stop by their home when we come through in another week or so.
Heather is a local author and she graciously gave us a copy of her book "Colony Kids". She interviewed several of the Kids (now in their 80's) and tells their story. The book is available on Amazon.
Here is the Amazon book summary:
It's 1935, during the Great Depression, and Paul s family is out of work and out of money. They have nothing but a little ramshackle farm in Minnesota. Now that's gone, too. Suddenly, an incredible opportunity opens up for 202 families, including Paul's, but it means moving far away, to a land few people know anything about. Will his family go? Will Paul have to leave his friends, family, and beloved dog, Rascal? Then Paul meets tomboyish Maggie and adventurous Erik, also kids of new colonists, and together they face the unique realities of living in the far north. Based on true stories, follow the trials and adventures of Paul, Maggie, and Erik as their families start over in hopes of building a new life in a strange land so far away. Will they make it?
We spent part of the afternoon going to the Open Market in downtown Anchorage. Quite a variety of foods and locally made items. The most unusual (to me) were these gun holsters. You don't see them at our local markets.......
There are many wooded areas around town and we were told that the moose frequent these areas. It is also an ideal time because moose give birth almost always in a 10 day period which starts tomorrow. This is nature's way of protecting the calves from predators. With the calves born at the same time, the survival rate is much higher overall. One of the spots we visited was by the regular airport.
Who can visit Anchorage and not stop at the Ulu Factory? Not us!
Some types of salmon are starting to run, so the fishermen are out there trying their luck. Apparently they all ran out of luck, we saw no one catching anything. We did find a great place for salmon chowder, though!
I remember the sign saying Yield to Aircraft - don't think I've seen it any where else in America.
ReplyDeleteNo visit to the Ulu factory? Sigh. I use my Ulu almost every day to chop and prep veggies in it's little curved bowl. It was one of the few things I took from the house.