Where to begin?

I'll begin with a huge thank you to everyone who made our trip to Alaska possible and wonderful! We had a fabulous week in Anchorage with Kristen, her kids, Greg and Ryan. I loved seeing a piece of their lives in AK and to have a picture in my mind now when I hear about Brad's past experiences living in AK. Someday Brad and I will have to go back together, maybe during the summer months!

My nephew and nieces are amazing! Cora loved playing with her cousins from the moment we got there. They were so loving and kind with her which warmed my heart. It took a little longer for Cora to warm up to her auntie and uncles, but by the end of the week she was tickling Uncle Greg and hugging Auntie Kristen without hesitation.

We were able to do some sightseeing around Anchorage, too. We drove up Turnagain Arm to visit Girdwood; we went downtown Anchorage; I hiked a little bit in Power Line Pass; and we drove north to Palmer and Wasilla and went sledding near Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine. The scenery truly is stunning in Alaska. We were able to see Mt. McKinnely a number of times and it was breathtaking!

We also saw a moose and her calf along the highway just outside of Anchorage on Friday (the day before we left)! The whole week everyone kept telling us that there are moose all over the place but we just hadn't seen any yet. Marge, Brad's mom, was especially skeptical because in all of her many trips to AK she had never seen a moose yet. Greg even took me intentionally to hike in areas where he "always" sees moose...but there were none to be seen that day! I decided they are tourist-shy animals. They may walk main street in downtown Anchorage and enter Doug and Kristen's backyard on a regular basis, and Ryan claims that mooses (plural?) greet him at his front door when he comes home. But they disappear when a camera-wielding tourist comes nearby.

This poor moose seemed to have been separated from her calf by a large fence. She was on the highway side of the fence and when we stopped to take pictures we saw her calf on the other side of the fence. She didn't seem at all distressed, thankfully. Anchorage actually puts these fences up to try to keep the moose off the highways and they make special openings every once in a while for them to pass through safely in case they manage to get on a highway. I guess there really are a lot of moose all over.

I'm thankful for safe travel and to be home again, but I will miss sharing meals with Mom, Kristen and the kids, coloring with Anna and Aleya, and watching Cora "tackle" Josh. I'll miss the nightly tea time with Kristen, conversation and laughter! We're looking forward to seeing you all again in a few months and hopefully we'll be back in AK sometime for one of the kids' birthdays!