We had Evan's parents drive us to St. Louis to catch our flight. We flew into Seattle to switch planes to go into Anchorage. Even though it was dark, I swear we caught a glimpse of the Space Needle as we landed, but Evan isn't quite as convinced. Aaron picked us up to drive us back to his place on the Air Force Base.
The next morning, the three of us drove through the mountains in Denali State and National Parks to Fairbanks. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy for us to see Mt. Denali. It was so hard even to see the smaller mountains with the snow and clouds. I kept asking Aaron "where the big one was". We stopped at an igloo gas station. While there, I kept trying to make friends with all of the ravens. We visited some shops and museums in downtown Fairbanks. This town gets so cold that there are block heaters in the parking lots- spots to increase the chances of your engines starting due to the cold weather. We saw an arch made from moose antlers. We ate lunch at Soapy Smith's Old Tyme Pioneer Restaurant. We had really good king crab burgers! Our waiter was so flamboyant! He was cracking us up! We continued north to the Chena Hot Springs Resort to swim surrounded by snow. Evan would find the hottest spots for Aaron and I to run over to them. On the way back, we stopped at North Pole (the town). We saw a giant Santa statue and lots of reindeer! Along our drive, we also went to a shop called 'Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn'. On the drive back to Anchorage, the snow started getting heavier and the trees were barely sticking out. It was so amazing to be surrounded by that much snow!
One of the places we visited was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It was similar to a zoo, but with rescued animals. We saw muskox, reindeer, brown and black bears, bald eagles, moose, etc. It was raining and cold, so Evan and I ended up buying two winter coats from the gift shop that were on sale. Those came in handy over the years! I also got a pair of "Batmoose" pajama pants. Aaron couldn't believe we found something Batman and moose. We also visited the Alaska Zoo. We got to hear screeching bald eagles! There is nothing like hearing it in person! We also watched a raven trying to steal a brown bear's food. The bear kept scaring him off, but the raven kept coming back for more!
We went on several hikes, including Virgin Creek Falls Trail, Byron Glacier Trail, the Planet Walk, and Thunder Bird Falls Trail. Virgin Creek Falls was a beautiful hike through the mossy forest. It was slippery on the rocks, and it was a long fall down! Byron Glacier Trail was packed full of snow. One wrong step off the trail, and we were knee deep in snow. The trail ended at Byron Glacier and the ice caves, where I took a rock from the creek as a souvenir. We also saw moose poop along the way! By the end of this trail, we were wet, frozen, and laughing. The Planet Walk consists of the 'planets' proportionally scattered across Anchorage. Thunder Bird Falls Trail was a little steeper of a hike than what we were used to, but we ended at a beautiful waterfall that made it worth it!
Virgin Creek Falls
Byron Glacier
Planet Walk- "The Sun"
Thunder Bird Falls
One of the days Evan and I went to a mine to pan for gold. It was early in the season, so we were the only ones there. We found small flecks of gold and several small pieces of gemstones. We put the pieces in plastic tubes to take home as souvenirs.
Aaron drove us around to different points of interest, like the second to last Blockbuster. We also went to see a movie at a dinner theater. We went out to walk across a frozen lake (Eklutna Lake) with towering mountains in the background. Aaron kept insisting the ground was solid, but it still made me nervous! He also took us up a narrow mountain road that we were sure we would fall off of! We also went shopping at Walmart for souvenirs. It sounds crazy, but they had anything we could want, including a jar of moose poop! We had to buy a birthday cake to celebrate Aaron's birthday while we were there!
In the middle of the week, we went on a whale tour! This was the clearest and most beautiful day of the week. Of course, we were going the opposite direction of Mt. Denali, so we still couldn't see it! We went to the Kenai Fjords National Park to start our tour on the boat. The tour was for grey whales, but we ended up seeing humpback whales. We also got to see puffins, otters, and sea lions. We got to see the whales flipping their tales above the water and spouting. Even though I got seasick, seeing Evan's reactions to the whales made it all worth it!
We visited the Anchorage Museum, Alaska Museum of Science and Nature, Earthquake Park, and Kincaid Park. Earthquake Park displayed how the earthquakes in the area have changed the landscape. Kincaid Park had many popular walking paths with sports complexes in the park as well. While walking, Aaron was telling us how hard it is to see moose in the wild and how "you can be right on top of a moose and not even realize it". Evan states, "like that?" There was a female moose right beside us in the trees! We slowly backed up to give her space as she crossed the trail to continue on her way. She didn't seem very old because she wasn't as big as what I expected. In this park, we also saw several bald eagles. It was so neat to see so many in one place!
We ate at so many memorable places while we were there! After our whale tour, we got Alaskan King Crab (super expensive, but we were excited to say we ate Alaskan crab in Alaska). Aaron took us to Brown Bag. We had never been to one before. We also ate at Pagoda Chinese Restaurant in North Pole. The decor was really authentic and neat. We ate at a fancy seafood place called Orso. One of our favorite places was the Snow City Cafe. They had the BEST omelets! This place is usually packed and requires reservations, but we luckily got in!
The flight home left our ears ringing and painful! We decided we don't really care for flying as much as we do the drive. This trip was so unique and amazing! I'm so glad we were able to make it there while Aaron was living there and could take us everywhere. If we ever go back, I think next time we will try a cruise!
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