RVing to Alaska: Day 16 Anchorage

These are pictures taken on Friday. The Alaskan railway is one continuous track. Tracks have been welded in quarter miles section so there would be no clickety-clack, a much quieter ride for passengers. Maybe the State of Washington can follow suit. Having rode the trains from Seattle to Birmingham, AL, Seattle to California and Seattle to Portland, OR a more quieter ride would have been welcomed.

Alaska Railroad Monument


Eisenhower Alaska Statehood Monument

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a Bill that made Alaska the 49th State of the Union. This monument commemorates that history.

This is how Anchorage rolls with their Saturday Market.

Burl wood carvings (knots from the burl tree are a wood carver's heaven)

Bowhead whale baleen(filter system inside a whales mouth)

Carved image on baleen

Carvings made from Moose antler

And YES, they have musicians, but take a look at the group. Makes you feel right at home, no tuks and ties here, but lots of fun.

You have to admire the young people in Alaska. They'll do whatever they can to help family with money. Here a young man is crocheting hats for the coming winter months. I should have bought a hat just to help support his initiative and his cause. I guess I was too busy just taking pictures. I won't let that opportunity pass again. We just have to give our kids all the encouragement while they are making an effort.

You probably saw the ULU Factory that we visited. Well, here are the products. The handles have been crafted in varies shapes to represent animals.

Our final stop for the day was the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

Inscription on sculpture at entrance to Heritage Center

Alaskan Native Children Games

Once a year, children compete in games similar to our Olympic games. They don't have to be Alaskan Natives. It is open to all children. Although they are called games, the skills they must perform are actually life survival techniques. Tribes come from Alaska, Canada, Siberia and more. Of the three youths demonstrating their games, one started at age 7, one at age 11 and another at age 14. So there is no set age. With long winter nights, parents encouraged these games. In the lower 48, parents could take lessons. I was amazed at the strength and accuracy each youth performed. They used simple equipment, large rubber bands, a scaffold shaped thing-a-ma-jig and their bodies. SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE stuff. And we pay $1,000 of $$$$ for our equipment that usually end up being a clothes rack or a place to store boxes.

Native Olympic game - kick the ball with two feet and they must land and be in balance. No stubbling or falling or else you are marked down. They get three chances to achieve their chances of winning with the highest score or height.

Here is a young lady trying the same two feet kick the ball. Girls compete with girls and boys compete with boys.

Here the boys are trying to pull the other one up as they hold onto a dowel. Similar to our tug of war except notice their feet, they are matched up against one another. Usually the one who has the grip in the middle of the dowel has the advantage because of the science of the fulcrum. Once again, I would like to remind you that their games are really survival techniques, strength building, endurance, survive.

A Native Tlingit narrator explains areas in Alaska where the different tribes live, the area's conditions such as frozen tundra, area so small you can't find it on a map and over 200 dialects.