Leaving Alaska

Despite what an awesome (albeit slightly indirect) trip home I had, it was really hard to leave Alaska. It was great that Tasha was with me for so many reasons, but those first few days, her presence definitely prevented me from turning around and going back to Wasilla. Saying good-bye to my dad (and Susanne) was pretty hard. Witness my red, teary face!

Anyway, once we got going, it wasn't so bad. And I obviously came home, so that was good (although how long I'll stay is anyone's guess). Our first few days were mostly a lot of driving. The scenery along the Alaska Highway is beautiful, but those frost heaves are killer. That first day, we only made it to the Alaska-Yukon border, because we left late (of course!), go stuck in construction, stopped at Fred Meyers (always good for an hour or so), and visited a few places, too.

A big polar bear (the only kind of bear I have yet to see in the wild-but Churchill, Manitoba is so on my list) at the Santa Claus house in North Pole.

Another shot for my collection of "the biggest ______ in the world" things. This one is a vintage Santa, proudly displayed in North Pole.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline suspension bridge over the river....I think it's the Tanana, but I saw so many rivers I kinda lost track.

Rika's Roadhouse, which was (and still is, in a way) a stop along the old dogsled route from Fairbanks to Valdez.

A sunflower from the garden at Rika's. Check out the bee in the center of the flower, doing his pollination thing.

The other end of the Alaska Highway. I officially drove the entire thing-without getting a flat tire or eaten by a bear.

Gorgeous mountains (I believe they're the Wrangell-St. Elias range) along the Alaska Highway south of Tok.

The international boundary between the US and Canada. Apparently they clear the trees and brush along the boundary once every ten years-sounds like a fun job!!

Up next, the rest of our (mis)adventures in the Yukon!

Long, Awesome Trip

Yesterday we went to Valdez-it was a pretty long trip: 6 hours down and 6 hours back! But it was really cool. Here are some of the things we saw:

The Trans-Alaska pipeline. In some places you can see it stretch as far as the eye can see.

Dad and Susanne with the Worthington Glacier int he background. It was pretty cool to be able to just drive right up to the glacier-well, almost right up to it. I've been curious about the temperature of the water all along, so I stuck my hand in just to see:

Boy, was it cold! You would NOT want to go swimming in there!!

Here's a close-up shot of the glacier ice. We saw a whole group of people walking out on the ice way up high. Pretty crazy, if you ask me!

We also stopped at a few neat waterfalls along the way. Here's me, Dad & Susanne at Bridal Veil falls:

And here's Horsetail Falls, too:

We stopped at a place right outside of Valdez where you could see salmon spawning in this little stream.

Then we went to Chitina to see if we could meet up with my Uncle Larry, Aunt Kathy and cousins Gracie and Robbie. We saw them in their car as they were coming around a bend in the road, all done dip-netting for salmon (which was a bummer because I would have liked to have seen that), but we followed them to their campsite and were able to visit for a little while:

My dad and my uncle talking. Then my aunt filleted up a fresh-caught salmon for us, which I'll get to try tomorrow night. (I've never really had salmon before, so I'll let you know how that goes).

Today we're off to Anchorage again, so I'll post all my Anchorage pictures later tonight or tomorrow.