Friday; August 10 (Alaska Trip Day #2)

We had a day to burn before we had to be in the town of Kenai, and since the time change had us both up and wide awake by 4:00 AM, Aaron and I toured Anchorage like the normal tourists who come in from the lower 48:

posing with the stuffed grizzly bear

eating reindeer sausage for breakfast

and visiting the statue of Balto, the world famous sled dog.

Balto, of course, was the lead dog on the dog sled team that took diphtheria serum from Anchorage to Nome in 1927 to stop a fatal outbreak of the disease. Each year, this run is relived as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Ride. (On a side note, if you want to read a spectacular book about the event, I highly recommend The Cruelest Miles, by Gay & Laney Salisbury). You can read more about this historic event here:

Late in the day, we hopped a short flight down to Kenai, where we met up with five more members of our team. We'd fly out to Hooper Bay on Saturday morning.