Anchorage

We arrived in Anchorage Friday night, June 19th. Had a couple of days to catch up on laundry, cleaning and a little sightseeing. Anchorage is Alaska's largest city so we made sure we stocked up on some items we could not get at other places.

The second night we had an evening out at "Wild Berry Park" We all had a great dinner there and then watched two movies about Alaska in a "Imax" style theater. Both movies were done in HD and the photography was amazing. The first picture dealt with Alaska history and geography. The second was about the annual salmon run. It is uncanny that the salmon, in order to spawn, must return to their birth site. They are capable of laying their eggs within three feet of where they were spawned.

The trip up the rivers is legendary. You have all seen movies of the salmon swimming upstream and the struggle they go through. What you have not seen is the underwater journey. There is a shark known as the "Salmon Shark" They migrate from Hawaii each year to intercept the fish. That along with bears, humans, eagles, seagulls, and competition from other salmon cause as many as 30 to 50% of the fish lost before they can spawn.

Once the young eggs are hatched more than a third never make it back to the ocean.

The eagle you see with the young lady has been rescued after tangling with a high tension electric line. He lost 1/3 of a wing, can never be returned to the wild. Alaska has a program to place the injured animals with caretakers, who have access to facilities that will care for them.

We are off to Seward.