Entrance to Spenard Hostel
Day 1: Friday, July 21, 2006
The Long Journey to Anchorage
After almost 15 hours spent in a plane or waiting in an airport, we arrived in Anchorage around 1:15 AM (3:15 AM Austin time). We were pretty beat but happy to see that our luggage had made the long journey with us. We took a short cab ride to the Spenard Hostel where we planned to catch a few hours of sleep before picking up our RV. The Spenard was cozy, but before we had a chance to get settled we had our first wildlife sighting. While I was checking out our bunks, we both heard a noise that sounded like a combination between a dying cat and a gurgling toilet. Right before Courtney's eyes appeared touristus nakedus. A man, about 45 years of age, walked across the hallway to the bathroom adorned in nothing but his skivvies. It was quite a site and after sending an awkward grin in his direction (because she couldn't look away fast enough), Courtney began to scour her bag for something...anything. As soon as the man shut the door to the bathroom, Courtney ran to our room (which shared a wall with the bathroom) and couldn't stop laughing. After our new friend used the facilities to the best of his ability we decided that we wouldn't be using the bathroom that night.
Aside from our first encounter with the locals and aside from the power going out in the middle of the night, the Spenard Hostel proved to be a great place to catch a few hours of sleep on the first night of our journey.