{"id":2116,"date":"2013-07-06T21:04:22","date_gmt":"2013-07-06T21:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/?p=2116"},"modified":"2014-01-26T23:24:16","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T23:24:16","slug":"july-1-4-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/?p=2116","title":{"rendered":"July 1 – 4, 2013 Iditarod Headquarters\/Anchorage to Seward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iditarod<\/a><\/p>\n

Early rising for our trip into the local town of Wasilla to visit the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum.\u00a0 The sled dogs were hooked up and ready to run by the time John and I arrived.<\/p>\n

\"Ready<\/a>\u00a0\"Riding<\/a>\u00a0\"Equipment<\/a><\/p>\n

John wanted to ride with the musher, exclaimed it was exhilarating and I stayed behind swatting big mean mosquitoes and taking pictures.\u00a0 After John\u2019s ride, I held a 6 week old sled dog that was shivering fiercely so I tucked him inside my coat to keep him from turning into a pupcicle before passing him on to the next person.\u00a0 Stinky little fuzz balls but very sweet.<\/p>\n

\"Sled<\/a><\/p>\n

The museum featured Joe Redington, the driving force behind the creation of the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1973.\u00a0 The 1049 mile race from Anchorage to Nome is known throughout the world and the dogs are so well cared for it is hard to believe that some people think it is cruel to let them run.\u00a0 After visiting here, there is no doubt that these dogs love the run and are treated like true athletes in every way.\u00a0 From their body protection, to their foot protection, perfect fit padded harnesses, vet checks at each check point, the best quality of snacks, perfectly balanced meals and their general treatment is on a higher scale than that of their human musher.\u00a0 These dogs are spoiled beyond belief and their owners are totally nuts about their dogs, catering to them round the clock.<\/p>\n

\"Father<\/a>\u00a0\"Iditarod<\/a><\/p>\n

Our first stop, after deciding to visit Anchorage again, was at the Botanical Gardens.\u00a0 Sadly, the best and most colorful part of the entire garden was the entrance.\u00a0 To their credit, they had some unique art work dotted along the pathway and the late thaw was most likely the reason for the late and hectic planting.\u00a0 In my opinion, donation requests should have been waved until there was something to see. \u00a0The bugs were biting along the path but I forged on to catch a few \u00a0shots of the few flowers that were in bloom.\u00a0 The Gardens would be worth a return visit later in the year.<\/p>\n

\"Entrance<\/a>\u00a0\"More<\/a>\u00a0\"Foxglove\"<\/a>\u00a0\"Artist<\/a>\"Monkey<\/a>\u00a0\"Red<\/a>\u00a0\"John's<\/a>\"Pink<\/a>\u00a0\"Prairie<\/a>\u00a0\"Blue<\/a>\u00a0\"Artist<\/a><\/p>\n

Parked in town to take advantage of the 101 Dog Musher program that the Federal Building Information Center was hosting and to watch one of the films on Bears in the theater.\u00a0 Entering the Federal building, again stripping off all metal, walking through the metal detector and re-dressing before heading to the program.\u00a0 A very impressive female musher, Erin McLarnon, spoke about her dogs and her experiences as a female musher over the last 17 years.\u00a0 She spoke about her dogs, their care, the race, the dogs training, her training, her wardrobe during the race, the dogs wardrobe and introduced us to her 15 year old retired sled dog, Lilly.\u00a0 John asked about the vet inspections during the races, food given for snacks, ages of the dogs that run, then the kids took over with their list of questions. At the cost of food, vet care, mushing equipment for the dogs and mushers, it is a true labor of love as the cost is unapproachable for anyone who does not have a daytime job to fund the expense.\u00a0 Sweet looking Lilly is a rock eater and they have spent over 10K to have rocks removed from her bowels three separate times.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s love with a capital \u201cL\u201d!<\/p>\n

\"Presentation<\/a>\u00a0\"Lightweight<\/a>\u00a0\"Lilly\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The movie, A Gathering of Bears, was about the McNeil River Sanctuary.\u00a0 The trip, available only by lottery, allows just a few to enter each year.\u00a0 You fly in and out, packing your own food, tent, supplies and a naturalist guides you to the river for the close up and personal viewing of the bears.\u00a0 Some bears pass within yards of the human group who are settled for the day on the cleared pad for viewing and picture taking.\u00a0 Amazing adventure for those who don\u2019t mind roughing it in every sense of the word.<\/p>\n

As we left Anchorage, we drove past the area where we saw the Bull Moose on our trolley tour.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t spot anything wild but did get a striking picture of the city of Anchorage from across the lake.<\/p>\n

\"the<\/a><\/p>\n

Mirror Lake is on our list this morning and high tide, being late in the day, will take us back to Anchorage to view the salmon make their way up the river ladder to spawn upstream.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t pass up a quick stop at the Alaska Sausage and Seafood factory to stock up on those yummy Reindeer sausages.<\/p>\n

Mirror Lake was not cooperating as the wind was kicking up ripples on the lake so we continued on to Anchorage.\u00a0 The salmon ladder was not as intricate as the one Whitehorse.\u00a0 It was just a four foot cement \u201cstep\u201d and the salmon were so tired that none were jumping even a little.\u00a0 We saw them swim around in the pool below in slow circles.<\/p>\n

\"Salmon<\/a>\u00a0\"Anchorage<\/a><\/p>\n

Quick stop at the friendly corner sausage stand, where we ate lunch the previous day, to chat with the owner while waiting for our lunch.\u00a0\u00a0She followed her hubby here from Texas a few years back and says she loves Anchorage.<\/p>\n

\"Reindeer<\/a><\/p>\n

In town we stopped for coffee and then strolled through the gardens with their impressively huge flowers before making our way to the Anchorage Performing Arts Building to see a showing of time lapse photographs set to music by artist Dave Parkhurst, The Aurora Collection.<\/p>\n

\"Anchorage<\/a>\u00a0\"Garden<\/a>\u00a0\"Garden<\/a>\"Garden<\/a>\u00a0\"Garden<\/a><\/p>\n

Absolutely amazing photography and you could see the flowing, snaking across the sky hues of blues, greens and reds that make up the Aurora Borealis (no pictures, please).\u00a0 I spoke with Mr. Parkhurst before the show about my camera and the snooty little hissy fits mine seems to have on occasions.\u00a0 He explained that it is very precise, so even a small dust spot on the lens will cause the camera to refuse to shoot until the picture is in focus.\u00a0\u00a0 He gave me a few pointers and told me to play with every setting until I know how each works.\u00a0 Been doing a lot of that over the past few days.<\/p>\n

Bedtime amidst the crackling and popping of illegally set off fire crackers all around the lake.\u00a0 We got a few hours sleep before waking and pulling up camp for our rainy ride to Seward.\u00a0 Less than an hour out, the windshield wiper snapped off and hung precariously over the side view mirror.\u00a0 I pulled over quickly and John got out, removing it and replacing it with the passenger wiper.\u00a0 I\u2019ve grown accustomed to things falling down, hitting the window or breaking off when I\u2019m in the driver\u2019s seat.\"Wiper<\/a>\u00a0\"So<\/a><\/p>\n

The drive to Seward winds through the mountains and Fjords alongside lakes and inlets and ends when it reaches Resurrection Bay before feeding into the ocean. \u00a0\u00a0Pausing to look out over Beluga Point, we were disappointed to find that the tide was out so no Beluga\u2019s were anywhere to be seen. \u00a0We will pass by this way again with amended timing.<\/p>\n

\"Beluga<\/a><\/p>\n

The sights turned spectacular once the rain cleared.\u00a0 Just past Moose Pass we paused to oooo and ahhh over Lower Trail Lake with its striking green patterned mountains and clear reflections in the water.<\/p>\n

\"Near<\/a>\u00a0\"Lower<\/a><\/p>\n

When we found our RV stop for the next three nights, Stoney Creek RV Park, we set up and decided to scout out the town of Seward.<\/p>\n

\"Stoney<\/a><\/p>\n

TripAdvisor reviewers gave Alaska Sea Life Center high marks so we entered, played children\u2019s boat and fishing games on a giant screen, petted sea urchins, sea stars and sea anemones, watched harbor seals sail through the water upside-down and Steller sea lions lazing in their outside enclosure.\u00a0 In the bird sanctuary we saw Puffins fly through the water leaving trails of tiny air bubbles escaping from their feathers and watched them at feeding time as they dove into the water darting around snatching bits of food. \u00a0At one of the areas, we listened to facts about the damage that was done to wildlife by the Valdez oil spill and how statistics are showing some of the wildlife has not yet recovered after almost 20 years.\u00a0 We watched opaque white moon jellyfish gracefully float through the water before poking around in the gift shop.\u00a0 Before we left, we read about the marine research and rehabilitation that is being done at the facility.\u00a0 It is one of Alaska\u2019s premier marine visitor attractions, built with funds from the Valdez oil spill fines and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.\u00a0 Thanks again TripAdvisor!<\/p>\n

\"Alaska<\/a>\u00a0\"Whale<\/a>\u00a0\"Resurrection\"Salmon<\/a>\u00a0\"Shrimp\"<\/a>\u00a0\"Upside-down<\/a>\"Sun<\/a>\u00a0\"Sea<\/a>\u00a0\"Sea<\/a>\"Pigeon<\/a>\u00a0\"Puffin\"<\/a>\u00a0\"King<\/a><\/p>\n

A quick drive through town before\u00a0returning to the RV park and, being the 4th<\/sup> of July, listening to continual snaps, crackles and pops far into the night.<\/p>\n

Happy Fourth of July dear friends and family…we sure are missing your company, eating bar-b-q\u00a0with friends and family and those excellent\u00a0front row seats to the spectacular fireworks show going on without us in the Woodlands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early rising for our trip into the local town of Wasilla to visit the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum.\u00a0 The sled dogs were hooked up and ready to run by the time John and I arrived. \u00a0\u00a0 John wanted to ride … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lilypad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2116"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2118,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}