Hello from Mendeltna, Alaska!

Start time: 0945

Start odometer: 13826

Weather: Mostly cloudy this morning, with quite a few breaks in the clouds, temperature 49 F.

Highlights:

Started day with call to friend Carla in Ohio...Birthday greetings...Happy 24th!?!?!?
Dove by ANC, Anchorage International Airport, to see if museum was open. It was closed, and I did not see a sign indicating the operational hours. Took some pictures of the aircraft in their field.

Drove around the airport, amazed at how many private aircraft seen. Remembered being told that Anchorage has more float planes registered per capita than anywhere in the world!
Said my final good-byes to Anchorage, headed north out of town on Alaska Route 1, the Glenn Highway.
Stopped at the Eagle River Nature Center, located thirty minutes outside of Anchorage, in the Chugach State Park. The original Iditarod Trail went through Crow pass and the area around this Center. Took nice trail to Eagle River, with views to a beaver dam and den.
Continued a short drive north to the town of Eklutna, the location of the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. The land of the church and graves is now part of a park in hopes of preservation. The graves are interesting in that after a person has been dead for forty days, a "Spirit House" is built over the grave and painted in the family colors.

Drove north through Palmer, than northeast towards Glennallen. The autumn colors are close to their peak, so the scenery with the trees, snow-capped mountains and glacier valleys was spectacular!
Stop at a roadside turnoff along the Glenn Highway to view the Matanuska Glacier
Stopped for the night at the Kamping Resorts of America in Mendeltna. I am in a basic cabin with propane heat and an electrical light. The washrooms are in the main building, so tonight I sleep with my flashlight and shoes by my bed! It is a nice spot, and very quiet tonight. Jerry, one of the owners, said there had been a good Aurora Borealis last night. I hoped to see something tonight, but it is cloudy. I will set the alarm for two or three and see if it clears up. By the way, this cabin has no phone, as expected, so I will upload the report as soon as possible.
Had a nice dinner tonight. Met Jean and Neal, a couple from Missouri given a gift of an Alaskan holiday by their children for their fortieth wedding anniversary. Had a nice talk about computers, programs, and the internet. It was a bit out of place in the beautiful rustic log restaurant, but none the less, very interesting
I should get to Valdez tomorrow, with a planned stop at Lake Louise in the morning. I am going out with my flashlight and toothbrush now. Thanks for visiting, and I will write again soon!

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