Turnagain Arm

After arriving in Anchorage, we were picked up by a missionary couple who lives there. We stayed at their place for the duration of our visit, and they were lovely people. They open their home year-round and consider hospitality part of their calling, I think. Jerry, the husband, is a wise guy who is constantly cracking jokes. His wife, Jane, is sweetness personified. Jerry makes jokes and Jane laughs at them, and they both have hearts of gold. We had fun.

A couple of hours after our flight landed, we picked up our rental car so we would have freedom to explore. In retrospect, that was an awfully good choice. Our time in Anchorage was absolutely stuffed with both the planned and the spontaneous, and these posts will just barely scratch the surface. You'll get a feel for it, though, even if I leave a whole lot out.

One of the first things we did was the day we arrived was go to Aponi's place, where she gave us a tour of her college campus and made us dinner. It was so wonderful to be able to spend some time with her. It's a bit harder to come by than it used to be with her so far away.

After visiting Aponi we drove along Turnagain Arm. We were on our way to go hiking, but the drive itself was worth the time. The landscape keeps you in a constant state of holding your breath. I know actual Alaskans are accustomed to the sort of beauty we saw, but to us it was a novelty.

The pictures don't really do it justice.