Of all the reasons to go to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city by far (almost half of the state’s population) - start or end a cruise, jumping off point for a visit to Denali National Park or the Kenai Peninsular just for starters - renewing Global Entry authorization which allows a much quicker entry into the country for US citizens, wouldn’t be high on the list!

I can’t claim that renewing Sandra’s Global Entry authorization was our main reason for being in Anchorage - we are in fact in town as a stopover on the way from Seattle to Denali National Park. But it just so happened that Sandra was picked at random to undergo a routine interview in order to renew her Global Entry card and the Custom and Border Patrol Office at Anchorage airport just happened to have appointments on the day we were in town which avoided a wait of several weeks almost anywhere else! 

Kodiak friends Mary & Ron were able to take a couple of days off from running their B&B to spend an afternoon and evening with us in Anchorage - and take a little time off from their usual favourite Anchorage occupation: shopping. As Alaska residents, they can take 150lbs of luggage each on Alaska Airlines - free!! - COSTCO here we come!!