We are planning to leave Anchorage tomorrow and start heading north towards Denali, with lots of stops along the way. An accounting of what we have done here:

• 1 museum visited. The Anchorage Museum was very impressive and I especially appreciated the exhibit on Extra Tough Women of the North and large bubble makers.
• 4 grocery store trips made (including two different Fred Meyers). Grocery shopping and couponing was one of my primary quarantine hobbies, and I still haven’t let it go. I haven’t relearned the limits of the fridge so we run out of vegetables on a near daily basis. We’ll need to make some adjustments to our habits as we leave such a dense grocery store region of the state.
• 2 breweries visited. The Panty Peeler at Midnight Sun Brewing was my favorite. Luckily I consulted with David before making my order or I would have asked for the Pantry Peeler.
• 1 shower taken (each), in the van. On a scale of 1-10 the need for this shower ranked at about an 8.
• 2 summits summitted. We lucked out with a clear day for our hike of Wolverine Peak.
• 0 moose or bears encountered. Many noisy seagulls seen and heard.
• Many airplanes seen at what has to be the best spot for plane viewing anywhere. Potentially David’s favorite activity?
• 1 old friend visited, 2 new friends made. We stopped by a Kittelson coworker’s house and caught him just before he moves away. Our neighbors in Portland introduced us to some family up here we enjoyed dinner with. David ate his first fish and chips in Alaska. We’ll see if he beats his record setting chips and fish consumption from eastern Canada.
• 100s of peonies viewed and photographed at the botanical gardens. An excellent Harvest Hosts spot.
• Very few mosquito bites obtained, thanks to liberal use of bug spray and the zapper.