A cold wet morning here in Anchorage – such a contrast to the bright warm sunshine of yesterday. Never ones to be discouraged by the weather we decided to head off into town. Anchorage is not what we expected; it is a modern city with a number of high rise buildings. We had visions of something more rustic but alas it is very much like many other small cities throughout the USA. Arriving at 11:00am on a Sunday morning is not necessarily the ideal time to see Anchorage at its best, as it is at this time only just coming to life (although the pulse is still weak!). Our plan for today was to visit a hands-on science discovery centre (the only one in Alaska!!) in downtown Anchorage called the Imaginarium. A great place for a cold, wet day! As we said Anchorage was slow to wake up on this Sunday morning, and this was true of the Imaginarium as well. So to kill some time before opening we headed into a number of the many gift shops in downtown.
As the clock struck noon we head to the Imaginarium. Inside the exhibits cover the range of sciences from biology, physics and cosmology; and they are very hands on. Jack and Emily particularly liked the bubble making, especially the giant bubbles you can stand inside. The older Hoblets headed inside the darkened room where there is a slide show running of photographs of nebula and other astronomical marvels shot by the Hubble Space Telescope. The effects of the darkened room, warm temperatures, stunning photographs and serene music were very soporific – and if we hadn’t had the grace to get up and look around some more the room would have resounded with the rasping tones of adults snoring. Luckily there was a presentation on some of the reptiles on exhibit in the Imaginarium, so when the lights came up we were rudely woken.We spent two hours in the Imaginarium, which the children enjoyed very much. By the time we left the weather had significantly improved, in fact it was turning out to be a very pleasant afternoon. When we returned to the Bed & Breakfast Jack and Emily were immediately drawn by the magnetic attraction of the lake. Chris our host kindly let them use the pedalo (paddle boat), so off they set complete with fishing rods, to try their luck further out. After several minutes they managed to work out how to steer the boat and guide it towards a spot where they
are told the fishing is good. Despite reaching a potentially more bountiful spot their efforts are not rewarded and somehow one of the rods is dropped into the water. In the ensuing melee Jack somehow manages to fall into the lake, luckily it is not very deep or infested with alligators or snakes, but it is very cold. After a rescue by Chris and his father-in-law, Larry, Jack makes it to shore his teeth chattering – nothing wounded except his pride. So after this escapade we get Jack and Emily to bed and join Chris, Larry and Mary (Caroline’s mum) for a quite chat on the end of the dock and to drink some of the local beer – Moose’s Tooth IPA (very delicious!!).
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