We headed out from Galena to Soldotna making our first stop a great visit with friends, the Hadfields, and a great time for salmon fishing.
A couple days later, we drove up to Anchorage, and met my parents for a week of fun.
We had a lot of fun admiring all the plants at the Botanical gardens. And, yes, I included some of the favorites because I think they are beautiful!
A flower as big as Clint's head, wow!
We had fun shopping at Alaska Wildberry products. They have a 40 ft. Waterfall- I got about half of it in the picture. I got the most delicious blueberry fudge there. Best ever!
Hey it's a rock man.
These were the kids picks from the Alaska Wildberry products store. I should have gotten a picture of my fudge. It looked like a glacier, swirly blue and white. Anyways,...
The next day Dad was feeling under the weather, so while he rested, we drove down Turnagain Arm with Mom. The views are amazing, and we had lots of fun. We stopped at Beluga point and stretched our legs a bit. I hear you can see Beluga Whales here, though I've never seen any. I even know someone who has seen them. Apparently I always come at the wrong time.
We were headed down to the Conservation Center. It was really fun and we saw lots of animals up close.
Elk
Woodland Bison, which are being reintroduced to the wild in 2015. So cool! Unfortunately, not that close to Galena.
Caribou
Next stop was Portage Glacier. You can see a little iceberg being blown across the lake. It was so beautiful here. We learned a lot in the visitors center, and saw lots of glaciers.
The next day, we were riding the train. This was the highlight of my trip. I'd do it again, and recommend anyone visiting Alaska to ride it.
Spacious, comfy seats, room to walk around, delicious food, and wonderful views.
Having a drink in the Bistro car with Pop.
We were so excited we actually got to see Denali. There's only about a 20% chance the weather will cooperate and you get to see it.
Having lunch in the dining car.
We arrived in Denali National Park and got checked into our hotel and found Balto at the main entrance. The kids were thrilled since we've read about him.
Breakfast to start our day.
We took a short hike around Horshoe Lake. The view below was so pretty. We saw a huge beaver dam, but the beavers weren't active while we were there.
This is the Nenana river, we found it on part of our hike. This was a really cool spot and I'm sure the kids could have played here all day.
The next day we had a change of plans due to a rockslide. Part of the tracks were wiped out so everyone had to take a bus instead. Major bummer considering we had so much fun on the first train ride and were looking forward to the second.
We made it to Fairbanks though.
The next day we went on the Riverboat Discovery. It was so much fun. This was my second favorite thing from vacation. They gave a lot of good history as we boated along. We saw a float plane take off right next to the boat, a sled dog demonstration, and stopped at a 'village' to learn more about culture and life in Alaska. At the village we got off and saw a fish camp, trappers cabin, native made winter parka, animal furs, and all kinds of things.
That's a fish wheel behind Preston.
That night I had the most amazing dinner at the Silvergulch Brewery. Halibut tacos. Oh my, they were fabulous. Everyone else enjoyed their dinner as well. I think I'm the only one that took a pic though. We said this was Dad's late Fathers Day gift.
Now the work began for us, with a 12 page shopping list, as we had to buy everything for the next year.
We got a new-to-us truck and it's very comfortable for our family. The kids came along for all the shopping. It was the first time we did it with the kids, and they were very good helpers. After shopping was over, 2 days later, and we delivered all the goods, including our new truck, to the barge in Nenana, we prepared to go home. To do that you put almost all your clothes on the barge so you have room to take fresh and frozen goods home. Also, specific to this year, we went to pick up our new puppy!! Her name is Sugar and she's an English Springer Spaniel.
Our time in town was very full, and very fun. We had a blast with Mom and Dad. But it was time to get back to Galena.
1 comment:
So glad to see this post. Been waiting for a new one. We should have shared some photos before we all left. One of my favorites was the bloom that was as big as Clint's head. Such a beautiful flower. We had such a good time. We need to do it again and do a few more things. I think we learned a few things. Not sure we could ever pull it off, but I think it would be fun to get our whole family together and do it again. We need to finish up the ride on the train to Fairbanks. Loved the riverboat, the food, the train and the museum. It was lots of fun, too. I think we all enjoyed a lot of different things there. And it was fun getting to be there while you picked out Sugar. I sure hope she is doing good. I bet she is growing like a weed! Fun,fun,fun!!!! Glad we were able to do as much as we did.
Post a Comment