Alaska, June 21, 2025

I've been thinking about writing the next post for two days now, and I seem to be suffering from perfectionist procrastination. Thoughts bounce around like: How much background information do I want to include? How much personal information should I write about? Should I combine the next two days? Did Ward take any pictures for this day? And the list goes on. In the meantime, I've done all the laundry, cleaned three bathrooms, and weeded 3 large flower beds. I guess there are some benefits to overthinking things and the procrastination it brings. 

So if you know me, and I think you do, it's time for some speed blogging. Here it goes.

The first burst of wildflowers in Anchorage is the dandelions.
In most places, they had finished blooming.

The morning was cool and drizzly, so we decided it was a good day to visit the Alaska State Museum in downtown Anchorage. On our way, we did a driving tour through the city, especially looking for fishermen along Ship Creek. When the fishermen start showing up in numbers, it means the salmon have started to run. Numbers indicated that it was still a bit early.

Before the museum, we had brunch at Humpy's, a favorite of Bo and B's. The other three had blackened flounder Eggs Benedict. Turns out flounder is more expensive than salmon. Who knew? I won't tell you what I had, but it was not very adventurous. (Okay, I had sausage gravy and biscuits.)

On the grounds in front of the museum, we stumbled upon a band concert composed of representatives from various local bands. We listened for a few minutes. I always enjoy hearing a band, and this was no exception.

I was curious about the two percussionists in the back who were dressed alike. 

I try to take a picture of a sign of where I am to help identify photographs later on.
 I learned that this was a good idea the hard way.

Inside the museum, we saw four different exhibits. The first was about the Indigenous people of Alaska. The exhibit was curated by the Smithsonian, and groups were arranged geographically. B worked with many of the tribes in her job and brought interesting insights to the displays. We also viewed exhibits about Alaskan humor, Alaska and the Cold War, and Alaskan dogs. Most exhibits were too dark for pictures, but here are a few photos. 

Ward is a sign reader at an exhibit. He reads, I skim.
That's probably why he remembers more than I do about things. :)

This was part of the humor exhibit. I think these represented the three bears.

Alaska played an important part in the Cold War due to its close proximity to the Soviet Union. I was surprised to learn that the Soviet Union had an official art style called Soviet Realism. The US government funded artists during this time, promoting the exact opposite art style. Think Jackson Pollock.

Ward never met a map he didn't like.

We enjoyed dinner that night that B fixed, and were surprised when we looked at the clock and it was already 11 pm. We still hadn't adjusted to the daylight that seemed to go on forever. Off to bed, because we had another 0-dark-thirty rising time in the morning.

It took me more than one 12-minute timer to do this, but I did it.

Until next time...