Laid-Back (Sort Of) Weekend

I can't believe it's August already! I have been traveling since July 2; so far, in only 30 days, I have visited: 15 states (NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, IA, MN, SD, WY, MT, ID, WA & AK); 3 countries (Canada, Bermuda & Turks and Caicos); and 2 US Commonwealths (Puerto Rico and the US Virign Islands). Before my trip ends, I'll probably visit about 11 more states (OR, CA, NV, UT, CO, KA, MO, AR, TN, KY & WV). I've driven almost 6,000 miles, plus traveled another 3,000 by ship. I've been to 5 National Parks/Monuments (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Badlands National Park, Mt. Rushmore & Yellowstone National Park) and will probably visit at least 6 more (Kenai Fjords, Denali, Crater Lake, Redwoods, Yosemite, Capitol Reef, & Rocky Mountains).

This weekend we stayed pretty close to home-well, my dad's home, that is. On Saturday we went to Anchorage to the street fair and out to dinner at this awesome place called Suite 100. We also went to this used bookstore called Title Wave Books-so awesome! Used bookstores are my favorite places to hunt for treasures. I got 3 books about Alaska plus a novel for about $25-you can't beat that. We also went to the Alaska Wildberry Gift Shop, where I saw the world's largest chocolate fountain:

Man, did I want to dive right in there! But my dad wouldn't let me. Afterwards, we went to a few scenic places in the city, where I was able to see a nice view of Anchorage from a park near the airport:

Today we went to the Iditorad Trail Headquarters. That's me petting the statue of Balto:

We also had the salmon tonight, along with some yummy shelled peas:

 

Although my dad cooked the salmon to perfection and it had a nice flavor, I unfortunately didn't like the texture. So I just had peas, corn, bread & cheese. But at least I got try some really fresh salmon.

Tomorrow we're heading on an overnight trip down to the Kenai Peninsula, which I'm really excited about. We're going to see some Russian Orthodox churches in Kenai and maybe go tide-pooling in Homer. Then we're going to stay overnight at a place called Summit Lake & then drive down to Seward, stopping at Exit Glacier along the way. In Seward we're going to have a look around, maybe go the Sea Life Center (which is an aquarium) and then go on a boat cruise in Kenai Fjords National Park, where we'll see a glacier and hopefully a bunch of wildlife! And I'm also hoping that somewhere along the way some Alaskan king crab legs see the inside of my tummy!

Anchorage

So far I've seen a bit of Palmer and Wasilla, and today we went to Anchorage. They have these huge stores here called Fred Meyers-they're even bigger than Super Wal-Mart and they sell absolutely everything. So I've been there and we've had some nice lunches at local restaurants. Yesterday my dad bought fresh shelled peas from a farm, so we had a big old yummy bowl of those with dinner!

Today we went to Anchorage, where we saw the Native Heritage Center, which was pretty neat. They had replicas of traditional homes of all five of the native culture groups that are in Alaska. We saw some dancers performing Inupiaq dances and also some athletes who participate in the Native Olympic Games. Then we went to Anchorage where we had some yummy hot dogs from a street vendor and visited the Anchorage Museum, which was really neat. They had a great exhibit on Alaskan history and a bunch of neat art. My favorite piece was this amazing quilt that was a symbolic re-creation of the American flag in all these bright cheery colors!

Tomorrow we're going to Valdez, so I'll probably put up pictures on Saturday. Also, I bought a bunch of post cards today, so check your mailboxes next week! Miss you all!