Flying into Anchorage to see the Aurora was a bucket list item. I’d had this trip on my list for as long as I could remember, but didn’t have a way to make it happen. All of the things fell into place. I’d arrived into Seattle right at sunset and it was great to see the skies light up with rich yellows all across the horizon and the northern lights were awesome to see. I appreciated the captain’s decided banking turn around the space needle before landing at Sea-Tac!

But this trip wasn’t just about the northern lights. My hosts were awesome and we explored some of the sights around Anchorage itself. Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska – by a pretty significant margin, but still relatively small by city standards – just under 300,000 people. What Anchorage might lack in sheer population, the city makes up for in scenery and the outdoor activities abound!

We made an attempt to hit up The Raven, the gay bar that holds the title of the furthest north gay bar in at least North America, as I’m not thinking there are many gay bars in Sibera (but who knows), lol. We wandered off to one of the local watering holes down the street. The bar was packed with nearly standing room only, but we were able to snag a few stools at the bar. It was an evening of good beverages and a lively crowd for a colder spring evening near the 61st parallel!

Additionally, we hit up one of the local city parks and walked down to the beach. We never really got out of the “seattle grey” walking around town, but the dominating Alaskan mountains were truly a sight to see.

Even the hike down to the beach was steep. I only had a pair of sneakers (which had no traction on them) so it was a bit of a gingerly hike as the hill really was that steep and a step in the wrong direction might have landed me in a more permanant stay in Alaska!!

We stumbled onto an exhibit inside of the park that I don’t have photos of: The Great Alaska Earthquake on March 27, 1964. It was a magnitude 9.2 quake, which makes the Loma Prieta quake of 1989 in San Francisco seem small. Loma Prieta did significanly more damage, only due to the fact that it was in a more populated area. The massive 9.2 quake was almost 200 times larger with 2800 times more energy released than Loma Prieta quake to the south.

As we got to exploring the local park, one of the findings that surprised me was the dirtbike park that was in development. Apparently, each year after the snowmelt, the city builds out a dirtbike park in town! Fantastic! I know down south we’ve got places like Metcalf, Carnegie, and Hollister – but somehow this one took me by surprise – and a welcome one at that. For a place that has such a short season, it’s great to see the commitment to places for motorsports.

While we were hiking around the coastline, others in the community were engaging in the April 5th presidential protests in downtown Anchorage. California rarely matters in elections as our political footprint almost never changes. Alaska, however, does matter. Lisa Murkowski, one of Alaska’s senators comes up regularly on contentious issues as she tends to lean more center than hard right on some issues. Being visible maters here.

We spent the afternoon hopping across a few breweries and distelleries in Anchorage. Alaskans know how to make and consume their spirits. King Street Brewing takes the cake for me with their blonde and Pilsner. What impressemed me even more was how quickly I’d fallen into the conversation around the table. My hosts really have an awesome community around them. I’ve come to know Roger and his partner as really great humans. They also have a great set of people around them. The afternoon flew by. Hanging with the Alaskans was a fun (even more fun) as being in Alaska -> and that’s not something you often get when traveling, the blessings of a good, organic community.

We rounded out the afternoon with a quick stop at Anchorage Distillery. I’m learning my spirits as I’ve typically been more of a beer and wine guy to date. Randy has introduced me a few scotches along the way, learning that craft. I smiled when I looked at the closeup of the photo with the barrel. I loved seeing Eel River in the same photo as Anchorage Distillery. The team at Eel River in Northern California is awesome and their hoodies are as good as their beer after a long day on the motorcycle.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the afternoon. Truly a wonderful day exploring Anchorage!

As the weekend wrapped up it was time to head out to the airport heading to catch my flight to Seattle. One of the big items to catch here is to see a moose. We’d been looking all weekend without success. As we were heading out to the airport – we saw one! Who would have thought we’d see one there! After more than a few miles in the backcountry, we see the moose in town. Ha!

Roger and his partner were mentioning how much cargo travels through Anchorage as well. Coming into the airport the back way, I began to notice lots of FedEx and some UPS planes dotting the airport’s landscape.

And alas, the trip to Anchorage wraps up and it’s time to head back to the States, oops!, the lower 48. I’d made that akward mistake once. As much as I travel north of Seattle to Canada, I’d made the assumption that I’m returning to the States. No sir, Alaska is as much US territory as California. No immigration to return home. I only needed to make that mistake once.

I’ve been coerced to fly United by my employer, but UA doesn’t fly direct to Anchorage from San Francisco (WHYYYYY NOOOOT?). Well they do, just during the summer. I’m not flying through Denver and doubling my flight time🤦🏻‍♂️. I’ll take Delta’s offer to fly via Seattle. So it’s nice to be back with the Delta team!