Destination: Anchorage, Part 4, Destination Achieved

“Eddie, Mimi, soon we will be in Anchorage.” Eddie watched through the windshield; Mimi acted like the feline she was, curled up in a ball sleeping.

My driving slowed when I felt the studded tires losing their grip on the icy road. Sapphire skies topped this icebox expedition. We slept nine nights in the Waggoneer, inside down sleeping bags; each night, I turned on the engine for short periods to stay warm throughout the subzero nights. Long distances between fuel stations and roadhouses were normal on the Alcan Highway.

Glorious and enormous, the Matanuska Glacier kindly displayed its blue ice. Eddie ran up the road at a viewpoint and relieved himself. I called him softly when the moose appeared. Hopping into the jeep, Eddie was right behind. Calmly, she ambled past the jeep, her shoulders as high as the roof.

Closer to Anchorage, I visited the Eklutna Historical Park with the spirit (grave) houses of the Dena’ina Athabascan indigenous people in the Knick Arm area.

“Okay, Eddie. Hey, Mimi, wake up!” Mimi opened her green eyes and chirped at me. Past Eagle River now, on the east side of Anchorage, the Air Force base was to our right, and the Chugach Range, encircling the city, on the left.

After countless blinding snow miles, the downtown brilliant yellow of the Sunshine Mall greeted us cheerily.

Massive ice chunks floated in Cook Inlet. We parked by the Captain Cook Hotel to see the view.

Destination Anchorage reached safely, filled with lifetime memories.