Anchorage continued ...

For a late lunch, hoping to avoid some of the crowd, I stopped at Moose's Tooth Pub & Pizzeria. This place was mentioned in several guidebooks as a "must eat, but be prepared for the wait."  The wait wasn't bad and the pizza was well worth any wait.  I ordered a Pepperoni Supreme (pepperoni, mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, red onions, mozzarella and provolone cheese with house sauce and I added spinach). The house sauce is a blend of marinara and pesto.  Pesto is not a favorite, but, I have to tell you, this was the BEST pizza .... and my waiter, Skyler, was the best waiter I have ever had, hands down, anywhere.

As long as I'm adding Moose Tooth to the list of best/worst in my travels, I have to add Alaska to the list as being the most neighborly.  A ranger told me it was the law to stop for any motorist along the road (written? she didn't specify), but the people who live here go out of their way to make sure you are enjoying yourself.  I have pulled off the road to take a picture and had Alaskans stop to be sure I was fine; they continually ask if I'm enjoying myself, what I've seen so far and can they help with anything; they laugh with me good-naturedly about the Alaskan windshields and the dirt and the mosquitoes.  The absence of sales tax helps a little with the higher prices 😊 And, actually, gas and diesel are getting a little cheaper here in the east ...

I spent 4 nights at a State Park in Eagle River, about 10 miles from Anchorage. It was nice; unfortunately, the parks have a 4-day stay limit.  Odd.  Anchorage is really high for camping; $40/nite to dry camp is the cheapest I found.  Walmart and Cabela's have stopped allowing overnight parking in their lots because the campgrounds are "losing money" and applied pressure.  This morning I moved to the Elk's Lodge in Eagle River for a couple of nights before heading to Homer.

I'll be back here for a couple of days in a month (some appointments I couldn't work in this time) and plan to spend one day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center and hopefully get to the Farmer's Market.