day 53 - move to Anchorage

Tuesday July 25 – day 53 – move Anchorage

Woke early this morning for one last run at the salmon before heading to Anchorage and was rewarded with an early pink salmon.  I hooked one more, but lost it bringing it to shoreline. 

We packed and moved to Anchorage today. We had planned to "boondock" at Cabelas for a night, but the AirBnB place we're staying at was available a day early, so we moved directly there to start sorting out all the stuff we packed.

I called the Puffin Charter owner today and talked about the experience we'd had on Sunday. He was very apologetic and said he'd "make it right as possible". He's worked hard for nearly 30 years to build the business, and just a few unfavorable employees have compromised his business.  Again, a good lesson to learn and apply myself.  We all have customers.  

Road was beautiful, but bittersweet. Deanna saw the sadness in my eyes and asked what was up.  I replied “you know that feeling you got when a boyfriend broke up with you?  Well, that’s how I feel with this vacation ending.  I loved it, and had it, but I can’t keep it.  It’s moving on without me.”  To be fair, I guess if you don’t feel kinda like that at the end of every vacation, then you may have picked your destination poorly.  After 8 weeks of doing this, the camper feels like home, and the road feels like my front yard. The truck - my barkalounger… The 7' Ugly Stick and Abu Garcia 6500 my remote control....

The Seward highway (goes from Anchorage to Seward) is really, really nice. Road is in good shape, and you are continuously driving a valley floor, with timbered/snow covered mountains on either side. Mild hill climbs for the pickup.  River crossings are frequent, and there’s a “wild animal rehab” center about 45 minutes south of Anchorage, near the end of Cook Inlet. 

I was very happy to find the AirBnB place amply accommodating. Lots of space, and friendly owners. This is our first AirBnB renting experience, but won't be our last.