Day 6 in Alaska Thursday July 2

• Nothing planned today except to go to Wasilla and meet some TS friends and do a tour :). So I ate b-fast at the Sheraton and then walked downtown to get my rental car. The rental guy told me to meet him at 10am but didn't show up till about 10:30am. This was not one of your "name" rental companies but a local Anchorage operation who happened to have a much cheaper rate than the big national companies. This was quite an experience as they gave me an old Ford Taurus with about 80,000 miles on it.. It looked like it had been wrecked and wasn't vacuumed out or anything but the rate was about half of what I was quoted from Avis. Picked up the car and drove back to the Sheraton --- Cost $10 to park for a day. The car had power cords sticking out of the front. Being a Virginian , I had no idea that these were used as a heater to warm the engine during cold weather :)
• Walked back into town as I had some time to kill and was reading the historic signs on the sidewalk about Anchorage. Decided to go to the "Snow Goose" restaurant on 4th street just down from the Hilton. Our bus driver from the Sunday tour had recommended it and it has an outdoor patio with awesome views of the Cook Inlet and downtown. They also have a little micro-brewery called the "Sleeping Lady" after Mount Susitna.
• Then walked back into d-town, this is a very touristy area kind of like a touristy beach area but instead of dolphins and sharks as the theme, there are moose and grizzly bears :). Plenty of gift shops, tour companies advertising cruises, restaurants etc.. The weather was absolutely perfect, a cool breeze and sunny skies. I know the winters up here are rough but the Summer, from my brief experience has been fabulous.
• Ate at a sidewalk vendor - had a reindeer sausage, chips and a Dr. Pepper. The sign on the vendor's machine said, "no you are not eating Rudolph." That made me feel better :)
• Left Sheraton to head towards Wasilla, the Sarah Palin portion of the tour. Wasilla is about 45 minutes North of Anchorage and on the way up actually got caught in a small traffic jam in Wasilla -- the area is actually a lot more congested than the Media's impression.
• Met Jill from Wasilla and Denise from TS at the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce which is actually where the Alaska Railroad makes a stop:

• Jill took us to the Wasilla Bible Church, this is Sarah's church and also Jill's. This was the church that some nuts tried to burn down but now it is looking great and doing fine !!! I sent a donation and Jill said that inside you can see a pin on the map of all the people that donated. We couldn't get in but I took a picture out front:

• Next stop Wasilla High School. The alma mater of the Governor of Alaska. Jill said inside they have a trophy of Sarah's high school b-ball championship.. GO WASILLA WARRIORS !!

• Next stop: City hall: This is where Sarah was the Mayor and I think this is where her and Todd voted in the presidential election. The building is actually a lot bigger than this photo captures as it extends around the back.

• Last stop: Iditarod headquarters which is located in Wasilla. Jill said that the event used to start from here but has been recently been moved to Willow, which is North of here.

• Back to Anchorage and got back about 9pm. I'd like to thank Jill and company :) for taking her time and showing me around. It was great!! You get a lot different perspective when you actually see the sites first-hand.
• Plan for today Friday is to tour Anchorage, might take in a hiking trail and either go to the fireworks in Wasilla tonight or will be definitely heading out there on Saturday for the July 4th parade, Tea Party and cookout!! Stay tuned more to come from Billy's excellent adventure to Alaska :)