RVGR8escape

Alaska - Anchorage days 3 & 4

July 11 Wednesday Decided to check out the Anchorage Museum today which is in downtown Anchorage. This is a huge museum and much more formal than others we have visited. A guided tour was just starting has we got there so we went along for the tour. So glad we did! Our tour guide was wonderful and very informative. We went through the Alaska History Gallery with her and enjoyed it so much we decided to join her next tour of the Art of the North Gallery and the Changing Exhibitions. Very interesting.

Outside of the museum..talking with Brooklyn on the phone

Huge painting of Mt. McKinley by Sydney Laurence 1929

We took Mr. Skunk with us and went to the children's area of the museum. There were some things here that were very similar to the Ithaca Science Center. Brooklyn would have really enjoyed this. Mr. Skunk tried a few things.

Mr. Skunk at the ocean wave which is made by pulling a rope

Mr. Skunk at the hands on sea life exhibit

Mr. Skunk in a play with Alaskan animals

I got a phone call from Brooklyn as we were leaving the museum. She is glad to have Gage & Reid home. They are going to play Minecraft with her which is her favorite video game. She said there was an upgrade coming in August and Reid promised to download it for her. So nice talking to her!

We still do not have our RV but we heard from the mechanic tonight and it should be ready tomorrow! So, we will plan to leave Anchorage and head for Soldotna in the morning. Sure will be nice to move back into our home on wheels!

July 10 Tuesday Looking for something to do to occupy our time while we wait to hear that the boys arrive home. They should be in Ithaca by midnight NY time and 8 pm Alaska time. We decide to head for the Alaska Native Heritage Center. It was a good choice. This is a beautiful place that takes you through 10,000 years of Alaska Native history and culture through art, dance and Native Games demonstrations, exhibits, traditional Native dwellings and movies. It was informative and entertaining. Most of the activities were presented by teen Native Alaskans. The Native Games that were demonstrated were ways to improve hunting skills. Such as the walking in a push up position on the ice to hunt seals. And, the one leg ball kicking was for improved skill in the whale hunts. If I remember correctly, when the men were hunting shark they would signal to the village with either one kick or two...one kick meaning that they did not get the whale and two kicks meaning there is a whale and everyone should come down to the shore to help bring the whale in. All of these games are done today and there is an olympic version of Native Games in the North.

The dancing was very interesting. Each song/dance told a story. One story I recall is about a man who traveled to his in-laws to join them on a hunt for seal. The morning of the hunt they forgot to awaken him, so he dreamed of hunting seals. In the picture the hunter is in the middle and the dancers on the side represent the seals.