Friday, June 18, 2021

Alaska: Part 1

Jimmy and I got to enjoy our first vacation in nearly two years this week.  We had some vacation credit that needed to get used up from our cancelled spring break trip last year and this was an incredible way to do that.  We dropped the kids with my parents on Saturday night in preparation for our 8am Sunday flight to Anchorage.  I love flying Sun Country because it uses the smaller terminal 2.  Much easier and faster to get through security.  We later found out it was the busiest travel day since March of 2020.  The only downside of the smaller terminal is less food options.
Our plane was about 2/3 full.  We had an empty seat in our row and many around us.  We flew nearly right over my parent's house on the way out and got some beautiful views of the rockies and other mountains from the air.
We landed at 10:45 local time after 5.5 hours of flying.  We grabbed our Volkswagen Jetta and headed to the most important stop, Krispie Kreme.  We always check for these on vacation and make multiple stops if it's convenient.
We stopped for lunch at Flo's pancake house and split an omelette, hash browns, and toast.
There was beauty to behold around every curve and you see mountains from just about every part of Anchorage.  We drove north to a little tourist town, Talkeetna, hopeful to spy a view of Denali (highest mountain in North America.)
The mountain stayed in the clouds for our whole trip, but it was fun thinking about it being there.
One impressive thing was the cell service.  We had service nearly everywhere we went.  We were able to FaceTime the kids most days and did so while at the lookout.
Talkeetna reminding us of Hayward and other small towns in Northern, WI.  Lots of cute this eateries and shops.  This is where I got the Alaska sweatshirt I was hoping to find.
We got to our hotel about 6:00 Sunday night.  We were on the 11th floor and had a great view of the inlet.
We tried a couple spots for supper without much luck and ended up grabbing gyros from Tia's Sausage Cart on the street.  They look to be a staple in downtown.  Jimmy got a traditional and I had the caribou and elk.
Monday morning brought another stop at Krispie Kreme, but this time the hot light was on!
Jackie's Place was our breakfast stop before making the 2+ hour drive to Seward.
We shared eggs, hash browns, and reindeer sausage.
We stopped at a couple scenic spots to stretch and take pictures.
The wait to board was gorgeous and gave us a chance to apply sunscreen.
They were at 60% capacity and I would guess there were about 100 people on board.  Our 5 hour trip offers the best scenery of the whole vacation.
We stopped for a salmon cake lunch on Fox Island.  Salmon isn't my favorite fish, but you gotta eat some when in Alaska.
The shore is covered with flat stones, perfect for skipping on the water.  There is some video of Jimmy's skills at the bottom on this post.
We continued on our boat ride and got to see some wildlife.  This bald eagle has been nesting in the same spot for at least 10 years
I think this is a cormorant on the rock full of kittiwakes.
Stellar sea lions are different from their California counterparts.  They growl rather than bark.
It was 5:00 when we got back to the dock and we still had a long drive back to Anchorage, but it was an incredible afternoon.

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