Just in case you needed a reference for size of the flowers.....Here's an example. These are hanging EVERYWHERE.
Also, Ian picked up some information at the visitor center about Alaska and we found some interesting facts:
- Alaska has the only state capital not accessible by road: Juno
- Alaska's state flower...the forget-me-not
- Alaska's state bird is the willow ptarmigan. Its feathers turn from brown in the summer to white in the winter.
- Average snowfall for the season for Anchorage is only 69 inches.
- Anchorage average temperature in January is 15. In July it is 58. It will be 64 all week this week,
- This week there is 21+ hours of daylight.
- In January there is 5 hours of daylight
- Alaska is 570,374 sq. miles in area....that is equal to:
17 Maines
69 Massachusetts'
470 Rhode Islands
14 Ohios
59 Vermonts
- Only 0.001 percent of Alaska's land area is developed into cities
- Alaska has 100,00 glaciers covering 28,000 square miles
- There are 1,800 named islands and 13 major volcanoes, mostly along the Aleutian Chain
- Alaska has the largest Bald Eagle population, 3,500 alone that come to the Chilkat River in the fall and winter to feed on the late salmon runs.
- Alaska has:
northern lights
40 foot tides
frequent earthquakes
3 million lakes
half of the worlds glaciers
tundra
totem poles
potlatches
rainforests
cabin fever
muklaks
migratory whales
fish wheels and 27 species of mosquitoes
- Alaska also has the longest salmon run; 2000 miles up the Yukon river
- Western most islands of the Aleutian Chain are on the other side of the 180th meridian, putting them in the Eastern Hemisphere, and they are closer to Tokyo than Anchorage!!
-And finally, its 6,640 mile coastline is 50% longer than the combined east and west coasts of the United States combined.
And, oh yes, the Alaska flag consists of 8 gold stars (the big dipper and the North Star) on a field of blue. It was designed by Benny Benson when he was in the seventh grade in 1926!!
That's it, until tomorrow....
Ian & Nancy
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