So Monday Shanna, the boys, Baker and I drove down to Seward, which is about 3 or so hours south of their house. It was a beautiful drive along the coast and we stopped multiple times to take pictures, etc. First we stopped at Beluga Point, and to our surprise the Beluga whales were migrating in! It was so cool to see...there were tons of them..and they are so white! They kind of look like manatees. We were so lucky to have witnessed that! We went on down and stopped to picnic at an overlook. It was beautiful of course but we ate quickly because of the "beware of the bears" signs everywhere!! The weather was cool and the wind was whipping! The drive took us down through the mountains and pretty much followed the Alaskan Railroad. We saw Dahl sheep way up on the cliffs and the rivers flowing through the valleys were crystal clear green/blue and gorgeous! I wouldn't want to fall in...they were freezing!! You can raft those rivers too...
Further into the trip we drove over a small bridge. I was in the back seat and looked down to see "something red" in the water. Shanna turned around and we drove back over the bridge...it was the Salmon spawning! This was by far the coolest thing we'd seen so far! They were beautiful and there were thousands of them swimming upstream!! We pulled into a little park area and got out to go get a closer look. The boys were amazed and so were we! There were people wading in the water fishing too!
We finally made it down to Seward and went to check into our cabin on the water. Our cabin was rustic, to say the least, no bathroom or running water. It did have a refrigerator and microwave though. It was so cute and quaint. We built fire in the cast iron stove and built one outside. We roasted hot dogs and made smores, which was a lot of fun for the boys. We watched the sea lions play in the bay and watched the bald eagles sitting in the trees at the campsite. It was really a cool experience. We went to bed and woke up the next morning early. It was really cold outside and I was not looking forward to kayaking in that wind. Shanna took the boys to a sea life museum in town and Baker and I went to check in to kayak. We were supposed to have 2 other people with us but it turned out to be just us...which was cool. We took a ferry ride with our kayaks across the bay to be dropped off. Our guide was really cool...he was from Montana and had just gotten married on Saturday. The water was like glass and crystal clear. We were out in the middle of nowhere and it was great. We saw starfish, salmon, tons of eagles, and jellyfish on the trip. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We were looking up at the mountains with the glaciers on them the whole time, which was really unbelievable that we were right there by a glacier. Our kayak trip lasted about 2 hours and by that time we were ready to go because we were a little wet and had to use the bathroom. A ferry came back to pick us up and it was back to the camp. Shanna and the boys were waiting on us there. We were all tired as we started back to Willow. The trip back was faster of course because we had already done all of our sight seeing. We did stop at Alyeska ski resort though to scope it out. We want to go back and go skiing the next time we visit.
Wednesday was a chill day. Baker and I went into Wasilla to go to the Iditarod Trail Headquarters. It was interesting place. We went and ate lunch at the best Chinese place we've ever eaten then went back to Merrill and Shanna's. End of Day 5.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
ALASKA- Day 1 and 2
So, we went to see Merrill, Shanna, Corban, and Collin on Friday, August 22. The flight took forever and we didn't get there until 1:00 am Alaska time, which was actually 4:00 am our time. We barely slept on the plane so needless to say we were exhausted! Merrill came to pick us up then it's an hour and half drive to their house in Willow. I slept the whole way back while Baker kept Merrill company. Shanna woke up when we got there and we got to kiss the boys "goodnight". We slept late the next morning, to be awoken by Corban and Collin wanting to see their Aunt Jana and Uncle Baker! It was so good to see them! They'd both gotten so much taller! We planned to drive around the Willow/Wasilla area to get a feel for AK.
AK is beautiful, but strange. Some people live in shacks...with no running water and no electricity. It's crazy! No one really cares about their yards or upkeep on their houses, but I guess I can't blame them since it snows more than 6 months out of the year. There are not many "neighborhoods" per say, just random housed stuck everywhere. And there are definitely not building codes!
In Willow, the "area" where Merrill and Shanna live, there is really not much going on. They have a couple of gas stations, a bank, post office, general store, and an espresso shack. Alaskans love their espresso! Willow is not a "town", but a community. They live right beside the church where Merrill preaches so that is very convenient, and they can walk or ride bikes to the post office, library, or general store. It's very quaint. They live right off the main highway to Mt McKinley, Denali National Park, and Fairbanks. In fact, you can see Mt McKinley from their house on a clear day!The temperature was cool...50s during the day and 40s at night. It did get up in the 60s a couple of days and it was only sunny the last 2 days we were there!
Wasilla is bigger and is actually more of a city, complete with a Target, Lowe's, Chili's, and Carl's Jr. Little did we know at the time, this is where Sarah Palin is from! After driving around Wasilla and getting something to eat, we decided to drive east up into the Hatcher Pass Mountains. They were not huge mountains, but definitely bigger than anything in the south! They had beautiful mountains streams (rivers) flowing through them and the air got colder and colder as we went up. At first we didn't think we would go all the way over Hatcher Pass, since the road becomes very rough, but we kept on driving! At the top was a volcanic crater filled with water, called Crater Lake. We got out and took pictures and then continued our way down the other side. Further down was the old mine that is still up and running. You could look halfway up the mountain and see the holes where the men were mining for gold. I would never want to be in that claustrophobic space! It was really cool though. We hoped we would see a moose or bear on our way down but we didn't. When we got home we boiled halibut for dinner...it is so good! You dip it in melted butter...mmm!
After dinner Merrill, Baker and I went to the state park down the road from their house to look for animals. It didn't get dark until 10:00 pm so we were definitely tired by this time. We saw several moose and a porcupine! It was great!
AK is beautiful, but strange. Some people live in shacks...with no running water and no electricity. It's crazy! No one really cares about their yards or upkeep on their houses, but I guess I can't blame them since it snows more than 6 months out of the year. There are not many "neighborhoods" per say, just random housed stuck everywhere. And there are definitely not building codes!
In Willow, the "area" where Merrill and Shanna live, there is really not much going on. They have a couple of gas stations, a bank, post office, general store, and an espresso shack. Alaskans love their espresso! Willow is not a "town", but a community. They live right beside the church where Merrill preaches so that is very convenient, and they can walk or ride bikes to the post office, library, or general store. It's very quaint. They live right off the main highway to Mt McKinley, Denali National Park, and Fairbanks. In fact, you can see Mt McKinley from their house on a clear day!The temperature was cool...50s during the day and 40s at night. It did get up in the 60s a couple of days and it was only sunny the last 2 days we were there!
Wasilla is bigger and is actually more of a city, complete with a Target, Lowe's, Chili's, and Carl's Jr. Little did we know at the time, this is where Sarah Palin is from! After driving around Wasilla and getting something to eat, we decided to drive east up into the Hatcher Pass Mountains. They were not huge mountains, but definitely bigger than anything in the south! They had beautiful mountains streams (rivers) flowing through them and the air got colder and colder as we went up. At first we didn't think we would go all the way over Hatcher Pass, since the road becomes very rough, but we kept on driving! At the top was a volcanic crater filled with water, called Crater Lake. We got out and took pictures and then continued our way down the other side. Further down was the old mine that is still up and running. You could look halfway up the mountain and see the holes where the men were mining for gold. I would never want to be in that claustrophobic space! It was really cool though. We hoped we would see a moose or bear on our way down but we didn't. When we got home we boiled halibut for dinner...it is so good! You dip it in melted butter...mmm!
After dinner Merrill, Baker and I went to the state park down the road from their house to look for animals. It didn't get dark until 10:00 pm so we were definitely tired by this time. We saw several moose and a porcupine! It was great!
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