Anchorage Interlude

15 February 2012
5:57 PM

Sunrise at	8:51 AM	in direction	119°	East-southeast
Sunset at	5:21 PM	in direction	241°	West-southwest

Duration of day: 8 hours, 29 minutes (6 minutes, 49 seconds longer than yesterday)

Writing from Anchorage, Alaska

When I grabbed the daylight report for Fairbanks, I noticed that the sun was predicted for the next seven days.  Here in Anchorage, it has been overcast with light snow most of the day.  The roads are a mess.  Gary said a cabbie told him the city cut back on snow removal in response to reduced revenue.  Have you noticed that rental cars, no matter where you rent them, are not equipped with snow tires?  It seems that many Anchorage drivers also don't have tires appropriate for the conditions.  I know this because many, many, many cars joined me in the slid-to-slide slip, the spin tire roll, and the crawl as we tried to make our way across intersections and down iced avenues without traction.

I saw no accidents, so maybe Anchorage folks are more skilled and tolerant about the lack of preparation for winter travel than those of us in the Interior.  Our region spreads out into rural lots, has limited bus service within the borough near town, and we face severe cold - not something any of us would like to be out in because our cars were unreliable.  So, I rarely see anyone on the road who can not get traction out of a stop light.

I visited the Anchorage Pioneer Home yesterday.  My mother is moving here within the next two months.  I wished I had moved her when we first had the opportunity.  The residence is very much like what she had in Boulder and she thrived there.  She would have missed us, true, but the home is wonderfully set up for  residents not not needing anything beyond meals.  Mom is very solidly in Level III care now.

Her future home, although not set up for complete independence as is Level 1, provides private and semi-private rooms, common areas, and communal dining.  But there is an interesting addition.  In the TV area, there are nothing but recliner chairs all the way around the room.  Many folks dosed in their chairs, many watched TV, and many simply sat and watched others.   That is also the area where they play Bingo, word games, and have other activities.  I am adjusting mentally to the change this means for her and us.  She needs more than what we can provide and the State will not provide 24 hour care in a private residence, like her apartment.

I did not take photos today.  Getting Gary out of the hospital, fed, and then comfortable here in the hotel room took most of my day.  He stayed at the hospital over night because of symptoms after his surgery and his urologist advised us to stay in Anchorage another day so he could continue to rest before flying home.  We leave for home tomorrow.

I will take photos of Anchorage tomorrow and post them.  This is not the only time we will be down here, but it is a beautiful location and worth lots of photos during different times of the year.  The mountains are closer in with views of volanoes to south west, Denali and the Alaska Range to the North, the Chugach Range behind town, and of course, Cook Inlet.   The region is very different from the Interior in terms of rainfall and some plant growth as well.