Day 1 - 8/17

Like any self-respecting narcissist, I elected to stay home this evening and type away at my vanity blog.

I just finished up my AK trip last week. When I arrived back in Washington, current events had the town a twitter. Alberto Gonzalez resigned. A congressman, known for sitting on his throne and criticizing homosexuals, received his cumupance.

As an antidote for these trying times I offer everyone a blow by blow of my trip. I will chronicle each day of my trip over the next week and a half.

DAY 1, August 17, 2007

Thursday
I had a relatively uneventful first day. My plan didn't leave until 12:50, so I decided to lug my pack down to Columbia Heights Coffee and have a cup of coffee and blueberry muffin. On my way over, on of my backpack's straps broke of. Not exactly the most auspicious beginning, but not the most exciting either. I spent several hours in the Detroit airport and had the pleasure of eating a burrito that smelled like garbage. I also picked up a copy of Into the Wild, a book about a kid that ran away to live in the woods of Alaska. Turns out he died right along my proposed hiking route. Talk about serendipity.

I didn't actually make it to Anchorage until about 11PM (2AM EST) local time. Given my state of fatigue I couldn't really pay attention to the scenery. Luckily, the driver of the hotel van fancied himself a tour guide. He turned a 15 minute drive into a 40 minute jaunt around downtown Anchorage. I saw the street with all the bars, a transit center, the Nordstroms (if I needed to "do a little shopping before my camping trip"), the new federal building, Spinard Rd. (which incidently used to be the way one drove to and from downtown to the airport), and a ton of other neat sites. I was really glad to get the late night tour because my train left at 8am, and I didn't think I'd get a chance to see all that in the morning.