Our Last Day in Anchorage

Friday, June 05, 2009 – Day 36

A laid back kind of day.  We did a load of laundry and did some grocery shopping, more in anticipation of higher prices in the rural areas than a real need.

We drove downtown to visit one of the small museums along the waterfront, but unfortunately it was closed till later in the day, so we took a long walk along the waterfront trail. We went to an exhibit in the Fourth Street Market area, about the Good Friday, March 27, 1964 Earthquake. The earthquake seemed to tear up the middle of Fourth Street. Everything on the one side of the street is all new while the other side of the street is older architecture that was repairable.  What do the realtors say, "location, location, location" ! Surprisingly only 9 people in Anchorage lost their lives but there were some harrowing stories.  One woman who lived with her two children in the Turnagain Arm area of the city, where the devastation was particularly bad, clung on to a piece of land about 4 feet square as she surfed it towards the ocean.  Another young boy had been caught at the bottom of a crevice that had opened up beneath him.  The exhibit also featured a film about the earthquake in a "special" theatre.  It was supposed to be like a simulator; but Disney's Imagineers don't have anything to worry about. The floor shook from side to side a couple of times and that was about it. (I've never been in an earthquake but I don't think it would be quite that tame.)
We checked the pressures in the air bags, re-torqued the wheels and fuelled the truck for our departure to Seward, tomorrow.

This evening the Golden Nugget RV Park where we are staying had their annual Community Get Together where people in the Park and the surrounding neighbourhoods are invited to attend.  A Dixieland band from Elmendorf Air Force Base called the Dixie Express provided the music.  The park provided hotdogs, burgers, chilli and drinks to the attendees.  They also had a magician and a face painter for the kids.

Tomorrow we head south to the Kenai Peninsula.