24 - Golden Nugget RV Park, Anchorage Alaska
More to come but basically this has been Anchorage and seems to be continuing for the entire trip. 😒
The weather did not get any better the entire time we were in Anchorage except for about 2 hours on Monday 7/18. Mike and I had been there about 7 years and did a bunch of tourist things but felt bad for Jim & Anita who had not been there previously.
Friday 7/15 was an errand day. Mike and I went to Bass Pro Shops to replace a pocket light he always carries (thinks he lost his previous one on the ATV ride) and then to Walmart to replenish some groceries.
A couple of fun pictures from Bass Pro Shops.
Saturday 7/16 we went a walked around Anchorage even though it was raining. Even with the raincoats we got fairly wet. Tried to go to several places in downtown for a late lunch but with the rain everyone had the same idea. Finally got back in the car and drove about 8 blocks to a Mexican place. (Would have walked if it wasn't raining).
Rain continued on Sunday 7/17. After getting pretty war logged on Saturday we decided to stay in. Finished my paint by number for Diana.
Then in the evening Mike and I went to dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse. It was a very nice little date night. 😍
Monday 7/18 we switched campgrounds. The one we were staying at had a water main break which closed about 1/4 of their sites. So our initial reservation was cancelled and we could only get 4 nights.
Jim sponsored us to get on the Joint Air Force / Army base and we went to the Army campground. Jim is retired from the Navy. It was a really nice campground with full hookups. It was first come, first serve so didn't try when we first got to Anchorage but wish we had.
We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for an early dinner so I could watch the Home Run Derby (not enough internet to stream and no satellite). While it would have been nice for Pete Alonso to win 3 in a row, I was fine with the outcome.
After that we went to see the "Bore Tide" (see below). It was supposed to be massive with a 39ft difference between low and high tide with massive waves. There were even surfers to ride the wave. We, and a lot of other people, waited and saw a tiny ripple. I have to say the Bore Tide was "boring".
What is a Bore Tide?
The bore tide is a rush of seawater that returns to a shallow and narrowing inlet from a broad bay. Bore tides come in after extreme minus low tides created by the full or new moon. Bore tides occur all over the world—there are around 60 of them—but only a few are large enough to make a name for themselves.
Alaska’s most famous bore tide occurs in Turnagain Arm, just outside Anchorage. It builds up to 6 – 10 feet tall and can reach speeds of 10 to 15 miles per hour. It takes not just a low tide but also about a 27-foot tidal differential (between high and low tide) for a bore to form in Turnagain Arm.
The Turnagain Arm Bore Tide one of the biggest in the world. All other bore waves run up low-lying rivers in more southerly latitudes. The Turnagain Arm bore wave is the only one that occurs in the far north and the only one bordered by mountains, making it the most unique and most geologically dramatic bore tide in the world.
It’s also amazingly accessible: you can see it from the Seward Highway along its entire 40- to 50-mile length.
And it’s a wildlife-spotting opportunity: harbor seals often ride the tide into Turnagain Arm. Beluga whales may come in a half hour or so later once the water gets deeper.
Interesting Facts about Anchorage
Anchorage with a population of 291,247 in 2020, its Alaska's most populous city and contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 sq mi of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has 1,212 sq mi.
Anchorage is in Southcentral Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south.
Due to its location, almost equidistant from New York City, Tokyo, and Frankfurt, Germany (across the Arctic Ocean), Anchorage lies within 10 hours by air of nearly 90% of the industrialized world. For this reason, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a common refueling stop for international cargo flights and home to a major FedEx hub, which the company calls a "critical part" of its global network of services.
National attention focuses on Anchorage on the first Saturday of each March, when the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicks off with its ceremonial start downtown on Fourth Avenue.
Anchorage's largest economic sectors include transportation, military, municipal, state and federal government, tourism, corporate headquarters and resource extraction. Large portions of the local economy depend on Anchorage's geographical location and surrounding natural resources. Anchorage's economy traditionally has seen steady growth, though not quite as rapid as many places in the lower 48 states. With the notable exception of a real estate-related crash in the mid-to-late 1980s, which saw the failure of numerous financial institutions, it does not experience as much pain during economic downturns.
While Juneau is the official state capital of Alaska, more state employees reside in the Anchorage area. Approximately 6,800 state employees work in Anchorage compared to about 3,800 in Juneau.