Labor Day Weekend

Native American Proverb: A fir needle in the forest falls from a tree.
The Eagle Sees it, the Deer Hears it and the Bear Smells it.

Saturday September 4, 2010

Friday evening T was happy to catch a Silver (Coho) Salmon, which was beautifully red and we got about 15 steaks from this one fish. We certainly couldn’t eat all so shared with the Campground Host Chuck and his wife. Since Coho is the favored fish, they graciously accepted and shared the halibut he had caught the day before on his fishing outing. A very delicious meal, absolutely the best salmon every. We did cook the remainder to bring along with us on journey north.
Saturday morning we headed north from Kenai, with nothing particular in mind. A very rainy day, so decided it was a good day to go to the Museum in Anchorage. Good artwork and photography and an excellent exhibit of Native Alaskan Indians. More tribes than imagined, and really bought the book ‘Two Old Women’ (suggested by dear friend) to light. It is amazing how civilizations can survive and create perfectly magnificent art, clothing and tools with seemingly little resources. (I was amazed at the rain gear made out of walrus and seal intestines.) Guess as intelligent as we think we are, the primitive societies were far more advanced.
When T finally high-tailed it out of Anchorage (which looks like any other city we have seen in the US) we headed towards Palmer-the State Fair grounds open till Labor Day.
Good as any other state fair I have been to, but since rain dampened our day, we missed the awarded Largest Cabbage display, can’t do everything!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pretty amazing sights, even in the rain, they told us at fair it rained entire 10 days.
Still haven’t seen any bear!

Ciao for now



Trivia:

Anchorage (officially called the Municipality of Anchorage) is the northernmost major city in the United States, and largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 286,174 municipal residents in 2009 (374,553 residents within the Metropolitan Statistical Area),the city constitutes more than 40 percent of the state's total population; only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in the state's largest city.
Anchorage has been named All-America City four times, in 1956, 1965, 1984/85, and 2002, by the National Civic League. It has also been named by Kiplinger as the most tax friendly city in the United States.
Russian presence in south central Alaska was well-established in the 1800s. In 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from a debt-ridden Imperial Russia for $7.2 million (about two cents an acre). The deal was lampooned by fellow politicians and by the public as "Seward's folly", "Seward's icebox" and "Walrussia." By 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm.
In 1912, Alaska became a United States Territory. Anchorage, unlike every other large town in Alaska south of the Brooks Range, was neither a fishing nor mining camp. The area within tens of miles of Anchorage is barren of significant economic metal minerals; there is no fishing fleet operating out of Anchorage.
The city grew from its happenstance choice as the site, in 1914, of a railroad construction port for the Alaska Railroad. The railroad was built between 1915 and 1923. Ship Creek Landing, where the railroad headquarters was located, quickly became a tent city; Anchorage was incorporated on November 23, 1920.
The city's economy in the 1920s centered around the railroad. Between the 1930s and the 1950s, the city experienced massive growth as air transportation and the military became increasingly important. Merrill Field opened in 1930, and Anchorage International Airport opened in 1951. Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson were constructed in the 1940s.
On March 27, 1964, Anchorage was hit by the magnitude 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake, which killed 115 Alaskans and caused $1.8 billion in damage (2007 U.S. dollars). The earth-shaking event lasted nearly five minutes; most structures that failed remained intact the first few minutes, then failed with repeated flexing. It was the second largest earthquake in the recorded history of the world. Rebuilding dominated the city in the mid 1960s.
In 1968, oil was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, and the resulting oil boom spurred further growth in Anchorage. In 1975, the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough (which includes Eagle River, Girdwood, Glen Alps, and several other communities) merged into the geographically larger Municipality of Anchorage. The city continued to grow in the 1980s, and capital projects and an aggressive beautification campaign took place.
Geography
Anchorage and Cook Inlet with the Chugach Mountains to the east.

Anchorage is located in South Central Alaska. It lies slightly farther north than Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and St. Petersburg, but not as far north as Reykjavik or Murmansk. It is northeast of the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and Cook Inlet, due north of the Kenai Peninsula, northwest of Prince William Sound and Alaska Panhandle, and nearly due south of Mount McKinley/Denali.
The city is on a strip of coastal lowland and extends up the lower alpine slopes of the Chugach Mountains. To the south is Turnagain Arm, a fjord that has some of the world's highest tides. Knik Arm, another tidal inlet, lies to the west and north. The Chugach Mountains on the east form a boundary to development, but not to the city limits, which encompass part of the wild alpine territory of Chugach State Park.
The city's seacoast consists mostly of treacherous mudflats. Newcomers and tourists are warned not to walk in this area because of extreme tidal changes and the very fine glacial silt. Unwary victims have walked onto the solid seeming silt revealed when the tide is out and have become stuck in the mud. The two recorded instances of this occurred in 1961 and 1988.[5] Contrary to popular belief, these unfortunate people usually die of hypothermia due to the very cold water before they drown.
Climate
Anchorage has a subarctic climate (the Köppen climate classification is Dfc) but with strong maritime influences that moderate temperatures. Average daytime summer temperatures range from approximately 55–78 °F (13–26 °C); average daytime winter temperatures are about 5–30 °F (-15–-1.1 °C). Anchorage has a frost-free growing season that averages slightly over 100 days.
Average January low and high temperatures at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC) are 9–22 °F (-13–-6 °C) with an average winter snowfall of nearly 71 in (180 cm). The 1954–1955 winter had 132.8 in (337.3 cm), which made it the snowiest winter on record. The coldest temperature ever recorded at the original weather station located at Merrill Field on the East end of 5th Avenue was −38 °F (−38.9 °C) on February 3, 1947.
Summers are typically mild (although cool compared to the contiguous US and even interior Alaska), and it can rain frequently. Average July low and high temperatures are 52–66 °F (11–19 °C) and the hottest reading ever recorded was 92 °F (33.3 °C) on June 25, 1953. The average annual precipitation at the airport is around 16 in (406 mm). Anchorage's latitude causes summer days to be very long and winter daylight hours to be very short. The city is often cloudy during the winter, which decreases the amount of sunlight experienced by residents.[6]
Owing to its proximity to active volcanoes, ash hazards are a significant, though infrequent, occurrence. The most recent notable volcanic activiy centered around the multiple eruptions of Mt.Redoubt during March–April 2009, resulting in a 25,000-foot (7,600 m) high ash cloud as well as ash accumulation throughout the Cook Inlet region. Previously, the most active recent event was an August 1992 eruption of Mount Spurr, which is located 78 mi (126 km) west of the city.[7] The eruption deposited about 3 mm (0.1 in) of volcanic ash on the city. The clean-up of ash resulted in excessive demands for water and caused major problems for the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility.

Wildlife

A diverse wildlife population exists in urban Anchorage and the surrounding area. Approximately 250 black bears and 60 grizzly bears live in the area. Bears are regularly sighted within the city. Moose are a common sight. In the Anchorage Bowl, there is a summer population of approximately 250 moose, increasing to as many as 1000 during the winter. They are a hazard to drivers, with over 100 moose killed by cars each year. Two people have been stomped to death by moose in recent years in Anchorage. Cross-country skiers and dog mushers using city trails have been charged by moose on numerous occasions; the Alaska Dept of Fish and Game has to kill some individual aggressive moose in the city every year. Mountain goats can be commonly sighted along the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Girdwood, and dall sheep are often viewed quite close to the road at Windy Point. Approximately 30 wolves live in the Anchorage area, in 2007 several dogs were killed by wolves while on walks with their owners. There are also beaver dams in local creeks, and it is common to see fox and kits in parking lots close to wooded areas in the spring. Along the Seward Highway headed toward Kenai, there are common sightings of whales in the Turnagain Arm.

source:[1][15]
As of the 2005–2007 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 69.8% of Anchorage's population; of which 66.4% were non-Hispanic whites. Blacks or African Americans made up 6.3% of Anchorage's population; of which 6.1% were non-Hispanic blacks. American Indians and Alaska Natives made up 5.5% of the city's population; of which 5.3% were non-Hispanic.
Asian Americans made up 6.1% of the city's population; of which 6.0% were non-Hispanic. Pacific Islander Americans made up 1.0% of the city's population. Individuals from some other race made up 2.7% of the city's population; of which 0.1% were non-Hispanic. Individuals from two or more races made up 8.5% of the city's population; of which 7.4% were non-Hispanic. In addition, Hispanics and Latinos made up 7.7% of Anchorage's population.
As of the 2000 census, there were 260,283 people, 94,822 households and 64,099 families residing in the municipality. The population density was 59.2/km² (153.4/sq mi). There were 100,368 housing units at an average density of 59.1/sq mi (22.8/km²). The racial makeup of the municipality was 72.23% White, 5.84% African American, 7.28% Native American (a category that includes both Alaska Natives and American Indians not of Alaskan origin), 5.55% Asian, 0.93% Pacific Islander, 2.19% from other races, and 5.98% from two or more races. 5.69% were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. 4.00% reported speaking Spanish at home, while 1.49% speak Tagalog and 1.44% Korean.[18]
There were 94,822 households out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.19.
The age distribution was 29.1% under 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.5% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.
The median income for a household in the municipality was $55,546, and the median income for a family was $63,682. Males had a median income of $41,267 versus $31,747 for females. The per capita income for the municipality was $25,287. About 5.1% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under the age of 18 and 6.4% of those 65 and older.
As of September 7, 2006, 94 languages were spoken by students in the Anchorage School District.