June 5, 2026 Anchorage, Alaska Day #1

June 05, 2026

Our taxi arrived five minutes early for the 4:30 a.m. pickup. With very little traffic on the route, we were at the airport in less than 11 minutes. Checkin went well. We were the only ones using the Nexus line for airport security and were in line for Tim Hortons coffee and a muffin before 5 a.m. Our flight left on time arriving at Vancouver International Airport a few minutes before 8 a.m. (10 a.m at home). After leaving the plane, it was a half hour walk, passing through an almost deserted U.S. security area and U.S. Customs & Immigration area to get to our gate giving us about 2.5 hours before the flight to Anchorage departed.

There were a few displays in Vancouver airport shops for FIFA souvenirs. Vancouver is hosting some of the FIFA World Cup games beginning on June 13th.

Vancouver is two time zones west from home and Anchorage (and all of Alaska) is three time zones away.

The flight to Anchorage was just over three hours, covering 2,135 km. The flight distance travelled on our first leg was 1,870 km.

Our plane was 15 minutes early arriving in Anchorage. There was a 15 minute wait for our luggage even after a 10 minute walk to baggage claim. The section of the airport where we arrived had three storey ceilings from which were suspended large metal geese. Near some waiting rooms, there were several comical goose statues. There was also a moose tableau and a large painted carving of an eagle and a salmon mounted o the mezzanine wall.

The taxi ride to the hotel was about ten minutes. We arrived just before 2 o’clock (5 p.m. at home) and were given a room immediately. The room had an accessible shower, no barriers and a fold down stool. There was plenty of room in the bathroom for an attendant to maneuver a person in a wheelchair.

Anchorage is Alaska's largest city situated on the shores of Cook Inlet which leads to the Gulf of Alaska. Anchorage’s latitude is 61.2176° North which is further north than Whitehorse, Yukon. Tonight’s official sunset was at 11:27 p.m. Tomorrow’s official sunrise will be 4:28 a.m. The official amount of daylight is almost 19 hours.

We went in search of a temporary SIM card to use data and make phone calls while in Alaska. We had no success at either Verizon or Office Depot. However, the helpful clerk at Office Depot gave us directions to Walmart about one kilometre further northwest on C Street. We purchased a 30 day 4G data SIM card. Strolling was pleasant under sunny skies, a temperature of about 21°C, and a gentle breeze. We had a great view of the snowcapped Chugach Mountains.

It was almost 3:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. at home) when we left Walmart. We had eaten breakfast more than 13 hours ago and just had tea, a small package of pretzels and a package containing one Celebration cookie on the two planes. One of the many restaurants that we passed on our stroll was Applebee’s. There was a special for 35$ US (47 Cdn$) including an appetizer, we chose onion rings, and two entrées, we chose Oriental Chicken Salad and Fiesta Lime Chicken with Spanish Rice and fresh salsa. The portions were too big for us to finish. We should have skipped the appetizer.

The walk back to the hotel was about 15 minutes. We had accumulated over five kilometres since we left the hotel three hours earlier. In the hotel lobby, there was a complimentary coffee machine that brewed fresh ground coffee on demand, We each took a cup of decaffeinated coffee back to the room to enjoy. We rested our feet as we sorted the pictures taken today, fought to insert the SIM card into Larry’s phone and wrote today’s blog entry.

Total steps 18,615