Friday, June 29, 2007
Katie Does Anchorage
1) Though I have absolutely no problem taking pictures of yarn and finished objects in my yard or on jungle gyms, I am afraid of looking like a tourist when I am touring. I therefore miss out on a lot of good pictures because I don't want to join the group of people who have their cameras out. Go figure.
2) I forgot to turn my camera off after a couple of shots taken during my sea kayaking trip, and ran my battery way, way low before realizing it. And of course, I did not pack my battery charger in the interest of saving weight in my backpack. Note to self for next backpacking trip: instead of carrying three heavy books, take the damn camera charger.
I arrived in Anchorage on Sunday, after a grueling fifteen hours of flying and layovers. I'm usually a big fan of booking the cheapest flight possible (cheap is how I travel), but this was ridiculous. My flight took me to Atlanta, Georgia before heading to Anchorage. My flight to Anchorage passed over Kansas six hours after I began traveling Sunday morning. Sheesh!
So I was pretty tired upon my arrival. I snapped this picture of my hostel (26th Street International Hostel), checked in, and went to bed. Are y'all familiar with hostels? I know some people aren't, like my cute mom, who thought when I said hostel that I meant hostile, and asked me if it was really safe to stay at a place called a hoss-tile? My definition of a hostel is: a place where you can stay in a bunk bed in a room with several other travelers for cheap, usually has a communal kitchen, and if you are in an interesting location, many foreigners drinking beer until all hours. Did I mention that hostels are cheap, and so am I?
When I woke from my hostel early, early, early Monday morning (it is so hard to sleep when the sun doesn't set), I set out for downtown Anchorage. It's really a pretty little city. From downtown you can see the ocean and the mountains. Sounds nice, huh? Want to see the only picture I took of downtown Anchorage (see Disclaimer #1):
There are lots of salmon sculptures downtown, and this one perched in front of the start of the Planet Walk (I love Planet Walks)...was my favorite. What can I say? You know how the Yarn Harlot took a picture of the glacial ice? Well, I saw that same glacial ice, and yet I TOOK A PICTURE OF A FISH SCULPTURE. 
Later that day, I discovered that Anchorage, like any self-respecting city (ahem, OKC?), has an REI! An REI in front of mountains! I spent a nice hour here drooling over backpacks and canoes. And in the same shopping center as REI was Tidal Wave Books, where I saw the Yarn Harlot! It's always so wonderful to meet up with knitters and listen to Stephanie talk shop! The bookstore was amazed at how many of us came to the event. One of the staff told me they had a Nobel Prize winner and he didn't draw nearly as many attendees. I met a fellow blogger named Glenda, who lives in Girdwood, Alaska, the lucky girl! Glenda designed her own yoga mat bag, how awesome is that! Do you think I got a picture of her? If you answered No, you would be right.
I just hope Stephanie wasn't too weirded out by this sweaty, traveling knitter, who made jokes about stalking her all the way to Alaska and then practically stabbed her in the throat with her own knitting needles while taking a photo op.
To be continued tomorrow....with better, more ALASKAN pictures, I promise!
Glenda
(ps my super secret word verification word is 'cabled' - the most word-like secret word I've ever seen. I must use it! All the time now! "What's wrong with her?" "Pfft. Cabled.")
<< Home
