Alaska
This morning's flights to King Salmon and Katmai National Park ended up a bust, canceled due to fog in both places. Katmai Air is good about refunds at least, and that at least let me see more of Anchorage.
Snow City Cafe is still good, remaining immensely popular-- waitlist said for me to show up 35 minutes later, and even then, it was another 15 minutes' wait. The cinnamon roll is still amazing and the bacon tasty, appropriate fuel for a late summer walk around Anchorage. The Alaska Railroad Depot is on the north side, and some rather ordinary covered outdoor stairs with the fun name of "salmon run" are nearby. Walked a bunch more than planned, then did a last stop at Glacier Brewhouse for a decidedly okay meal of seafood chowder and grilled shellfish.
The one real surprise of the trip was finding that Anchorage has a rather decent public bus system, at least from the airport to downtown. $2, runs every 15 or 20 minutes, and is quite reliable. Took it both ways and was pleased both ways, just remember to have cash.
Once at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, found a United 777 bound from SFO to Tokyo Haneda had diverted here the day before due to left engine failure (low oil). With the original 777 broken (N78009), a non-broken 777-200ER (N77006) was flown in the next day to take the passengers from ANC to HND. Was quite surprised to see UA 3011 ANC-HND on the departures board when I arrived for my SFO-ANC flight.
With my Katmai National Park trip canceled and letting me take the earlier flights home, the second aviation-related pleasant surprise of the day was being upgraded on both of my return flights. Not that being delayed on the second flight was great, but can't complain too much about upgrades, even if it's just United 737 MAX first class.