It has been a GREAT day!

Well, today has turned out magnificently!  The weather has been perfect today, allowing us to spend a wonderful afternoon at the Anchorage Weekend Market...a conglomeration of crafters, artisans and food vendors that gather each Saturday and Sunday in downtown Anchorage and display their wares to a variety of citizens from far and near.  The weather can be dicey at this time of year, as evidenced last weekend when it snowed, and many of the vendors didn't come out because of the weather.  But this weekend there was no such problem, and we had an Alaskan Gyro (made from elk meat) and a Sausage made from Reindeer meat.  Later we had fried Halibut and a variety of fun sodas and coffee.  Here is Natalie sipping away on a frozen strawberry lemonade.

We did a lot of window shopping today...Natalie has her eye on some fur wraps and fur mittens, but we are having to pinch our pennies, so we will see how much shopping we can really get done.  This is an expensive place to live...an extra value meal at McDonald's will cost you about $10...and at one place along the way we paid almost that just for a grilled cheese sandwich. We also priced the tour Natalie wants to go on today, which takes you whale watching and puffin seeking (about $100 / person) so we are just trying to be careful.  However, once I saw Natalie in one of these fur wraps, it would be hard not to get one for her!

It is certainly interesting to see the variety of people here in Alaska.  We passed a husband and wife who were both wearing San Antonio Spurs jerseys, and stopped to talk with them.  They were from Texas, but he was stationed up here with the military...they love the summers, but can't stand the winters!  Then there are the native people...first nation is the term used here...they are very interesting, and we spoke to one of the vendors who is a Native America storyteller.  She has some unique insights about life in Alaska, and it was well worth my time to listen. Natalie and I have really enjoyed getting to interact with the locals, there is just no end of colorful characters here in Alaska.

In addition, everywhere you look there is something beautiful to see...just like these yellow roses (Natalie's favorite) which were planted right there in the heart of the downtown area...every day you wake you up you see the mountains sitting right next to you, and it is impossible to deny the beauty of God that is everywhere around you.