July 4, 2015 ~ Well we've only slept about 6 hours during our 1 1/2 day adventure in Anchorage, Alaska but there's just too much to see and do! Happy 4th of July and today Anchorage turns 100 years old! I really wanted to be a part of this celebration including witness the reading of the Deceleration of Independence but it was a rainy day and the streets were packed so we decided to drive back down Seward Highway and see if we could find any moose, bear, sheep or salmon.
I was really glad yesterday was so perfect because you couldn't really get a good view of the mountains today because of the clouds and rain.
Of course the good thing with a cloudy day is the colors seem to be more vivid.
This train was pretty cool because it had a few cars that had windows on the roof so that it's passengers could see all around!
So we couldn't help but laugh as every time we drove by this spot on Seward Highway we always saw people filling up their water jugs. I would assume it's ok to get this water and that it's safe enough to drink but still think it's crazy!
So we pulled over to use the inter-webs to find the best place to locate Dall Sheep and couldn't help but snap a few photos.
Just a few miles down the road Brandon spotted this guy!
"Oh gosh, it's a crazy blonde with a camera!"
Then two more appeared! They were heading to get a drink at the pond!
That's a pretty steep hill they were coming down!
Almost there! Isn't the baby cute!
We watched them for a good 15 minutes and it was pretty cute watching them at the pond. (Several cars began to pull over to see what we were taking pictures of and it wasn't long until they went back up the hillside.)
It was pretty neat seeing another train and this time I was a little more prepared to take pictures!
If we had spent a little more time in Anchorage I would have loved to take a train ride!
Oh yeah... that's our ride for this trip... don't be jealous! LOL!
We drove back to Potter Marsh to check out the birds....
Potter Marsh, at the southern end of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife
Refuge, is an ideal break from Anchorage for birders and other wildlife
viewers. From the Seward Highway just before the left turn into the
Potter Marsh parking lot, you are treated to a stunning view of
Turnagain Arm. A wooden boardwalk winds 1,550 feet from the parking
area through the marsh and across watery openings and sedges, perfect
habitat for a rich variety of birds.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewinglocations.pottermarsh#_=_
As you know any town we go to we try to find a Harley Davidson store to find a shirt for pops....
but since it was the 4th of July they were closed! Dang it!
They had an awesome bear made out of metal in front of their store.
We headed to downtown area to meet up with Jeff Schultz to get another couple copies of his book for a friend. It was great talking to him and can't wait to check out his book!
We drove to Eagle River to see what critters we might find!
We didn't find any critters but kind of cool to see where the Iditarod Trailhead is!
We found another creek so it seemed like a perfect time to try out some tips that Jeff showed us!
Although these couple pictures almost look like ice it's actually water flowing over the rocks!
(I love camera tricks!)
I really love the Fire-weed in Anchorage. This common plant is generally the first thing to grow back after a forest fire.
As the blooms go up the plant, the closer winter is.
We're back in Anchorage and headed to meet our pilot!
I tried to book us for a float plane ride but sadly everything was booked. We called Sound Aviation and although it wasn't a float plane it would still take us to see some awesome views and glaciers.
With flights a lot of them are dependent on weather so we were up and ready to go by 8:00 AM in the event they called to say this was the best time for our flight. (They called around 9:00 AM and said that our flight would be best around 5:30 PM.)
Let's get ready to fly!
We had scheduled to do the Prince William Sound Flight but because of the weather we weren't able to go there. We weren't picky we were enjoying being able to see Anchorage from a different view!
This is information about the flight we were going to take.... such a bummer!
http://www.soundaviation.com/tours/prince-william-sound
Now that's a fancy house!
It was an amazing view and our pilot did a great job but trying to take pictures on this flight was a lot like trying to drink a glass of milk on a bull ride! Oh my goodness that was crazy! Thank goodness for a good camera that I can put on rapid fire to get a few good pictures!
Alaska Raceway Park is adding a circle track for Summer 2015!
Found a momma Moose and her baby!
We finally made it to the Glacier!
I know it's hard to see but the the white stuff actually has splits in it (called crevasses) that is the prettiest of blues that you can see down into.
Truly amazing to see this! I mean how in the world does this blue water come from below when everything else looks like dirty snow??
All of these pieces had broke away from the Glacier. Love the blues!
Here's the Glacier! (Wish I knew the name of this one)
A closer view of the base....
A view of the edge of the big piece of ice with the really blue crevasses as we are flying back...
Absolutely beautiful!
Hard to believe we are actually in Alaska! This is the kind of stuff you see on TV!
It's amazing how the landscape changes so much in a short flight!
Really glad that we got to take a flight to see some cool things we wouldn't have seen otherwise on this trip. Amazing and beautiful!
Thank you Sound Aviation for getting us on your schedule!
http://www.soundaviation.com/
So a girl we went to high school with back in Columbia, MO moved to Alaska and saw on my Facebook page that we were there. She said we've came to far not to see each other so after our flight we headed to her house!
This picture cracks me up... in case you didn't notice the black marks on the road here's the road sign to give you the warning!
What was really cool is we had to drive past the Alaska Raceway Park to get to her house!
(Remember the one we saw from the air and they are making a circle track)
So we got to her house and Becky took us for a ride to try and find some critters! It was nice to have someone show us around that was familiar with the area! Within the first few minutes we spotted the first moose!
Then we spotted this feller crossing the road!
Becky took us to a neat little area where she saw a bear recently. Although we didn't see a bear it was pretty out here! Just hard to imagine waking up to mountains all around you!
It was fun watching this couple and their dog take off on an adventure!
Becky it was so good to see you!
Brandon and I had a blast!
Dandelions I am guessing!
Random things we found on the way back to Becky's house!
"Hey girl... what are you lookin' at?"
"Well if you are gonna take pictures this is my better side!"
"You should come in here and try this stuff... the ones under the water are best!"
"Wait! Y'all are leaving now? Dang! You just got here!"
(That was really cool seeing this moose in the water)
Before heading back to her house, Becky took us over to a Reindeer Farm!
We've seen Reindeer both days we have been in Alaska...Santa might be watching me!
An interesting yet kind of cool house!
Imagine sitting up in the glass area drinking coffee and watching the beautiful view around you!
We headed back to our hotel to pack up our stuff and get ready to head to the airport.
We had a little time before heading to the airport so we headed back to Lake Hood Float Plane Base to grab a few more pictures before we left.
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