Once there, we set up the room to sleep and headed to bed. We were all in one room as there were no women on this trip. In the morning, we ate cereal and headed to the Empty Bowl. It's a fundraiser that raises funds for Bean's Cafe, which is a soup kitchen. Patrons buy tickets which can be redeemed for bowls that artists donate. The patrons also were given cups of soup. There was a bean soup and a bacon and barley soup. I thought they were going to get soup in the bowls they bought, but then I realized the bowls weren't necessarily food-safe. My friends and I volunteered to fill any role, but we ended up taking tickets at the bowl tables.
It was a pretty big convention center. There might have been three or four hundred people total at the event.
Bowls. There were wooden ones that were chosen as fast as we could put them out, but unfortunately they were limited in number.
More bowls.
This is what we did. We took tickets and answered basic questions. There was an artist who made some of the bowls who knew more, but she left after a bit. There were some people very impressed, and then there were some who asked "Is this it?" or "Where are the rest?"
Us. At the right is my friend who graduated last semester who now lives in Anchorage. It was really nice to get to see her and talk to her again.
Whoever made these made a ton. About half of the bowls were this tan/blue/green pattern.
There was an elementary school that sent in animal masks too.
Bowl.
Wooden bowl. These went really fast and many patrons wished we had more.
More bowls.
The next day we attended the church's service. Afterwords we were planning on going to IHOP but we were recommended to support a local place instead. The pastor's wife suggested a pizzeria/pub called Moose's Tooth. We went there instead and got some very good pizza.
Buffalo chicken with ranch and carrot shreds.
Meatballs with peppers and olives.
Later we played Settlers of Catan. I didn't win.
The next day we split up into two groups. Usually about half of the people go ski, and the other half go around downtown. This time, there was only one person who wanted to ski, and so the rest of us wen to the Anchorage zoo. Here are a bunch of animals:
Seal. He started out just floating in the water, but later it moved over to the glass and kept swimming into the glass. I think it felt confined.
Otters. The liked to swim around, play with the sticks in the water, and do barrel rolls.
Sleepy polar bear.
Another sleepy polar bear.
Moose.
Peregrine falcon.
Fox. Seeing one of these really reinforced my desire to have a pet fox.
Lynx. Lynxes look like someone stole their tail.
I tried to take pictures of labels whenever I took pictures of birds because I am no ornithologist.
Red-tailed hawk. The birds we saw mostly just sat on their perch and didn't do much.
This is an owl.
Wolves. They're big creatures.
Tiger lounging.
Tiger eating meat. There were dozens of ravens in the trees and on the ground waiting for the tiger to leave. so they could get the scraps.
Mountain Goat
Dall Sheep.
Sheep (not to be confused with the goat)
Snow leopard paced back
and forth
Bear. Bears are bigger than I realized.
Bald eagle. This one had only one wing.
Caribou. I think I'm getting better at distinguishing caribou and moose.
One-antlered caribou
Alpacas I think
Camel. Another animal that was bigger than I thought.
Tibetan Yak
Off exhibit. Look closely at what's inside if you don't get it.
Oomingmak
Snowy owl
Golden Eagle
Sitka Black-Tailed Deer
Turkey walking around with the deer.
Deer
Arctic fox. The foxes were really hard to take pictures of, and these were the hardest. It's in the center. I couldn't get any better shot without it running to its burrow.
Fox sunbathing.
Afterwords we went to this burger place where I ate the biggest burger I've ever eaten. I felt the effects of that burger for days. Later we played another round of Catan which I lost. The next day we left Anchorage and drove all the way back to Fairbanks.
