Alaska - facts and final thoughts!

Happy New Year, and I'm home and rested now after the seemingly endless trip back, which was definitely worth it! Alaska was a gorgeous (yet cold) winter wonderland, and I'd go every year if I could.  If you love the outdoor winter sports, this is definitely a place for you to check out.  If you'd like to try your hand at combat fishing (look it up), seeing the mts and glaciers by a cruise boat, etc, come in the summer.  Whenever, Alaska is a gorgeous place to visit.  I'm grateful for the experience, and thanks for tuning in. Below, I've posted a few facts I learned about this state...

ALASKA FACTS:

- Alaska was purchased by the US in 1868, and shortly after, gold miners came to discover gold.  The largest gold nugget found in 1998 weighed in at 24.9 lbs.

- There are 100+ volcanoes in Alaska (I only saw one of them!)

- There is no poison ivy or poison oak in this state.

- Alaska has 3,000+ rivers.

- Besides English, there are 20 Native American languages spoken in Alaska.

Source: Alaska Passport Factbook, by Ronald Reiser, 2006, Reiser & Co.

A few more fun pix below...

Okay, so below are some pictures that for some reason never got on the blog.  I did want to share with you the "Spit Sisters Cafe" pic, for when you get to Homer some morning at 5am.  Also the ninja skier, the night skiing headlamp, the car that needs some snow cleared, and how about the table that might need some help before the next picnic?  =)  The REI pic for my brother, and the one of Lindy and I running back to the car in windy, below zero 20+ weather are fun, too.  

Last few pictures...kinda fun!

Day 8 - The drive back to Anchorage (brief stop in Seward)

There is one road from Kenai to Anchorage, so if there's an avalanche or some other weather issue, people simply turn around.  Thankfully, that wasn't the case, but we did make a brief extra drive to Seward (yes, also just one road to get there).  Gorgeous scenery, although we had to drive on what looked like sheer ice for part of the way.  Bob got to look at a plane that is for sale, we got to experience the cold wind off the water, and we all were glad when we were inside the warm car when we noticed it was -22 degrees F for part of the drive.  Actually, yesterday it never got warmer than -3...

Pictures from today are below. The image above is one of my pix of the sunset over the horizon of the inlet close to Anchorage.  As with all of these, my camera can't come near to capturing the gorgeous scenery.  Our God is so very creative and amazing, and this was such a great place to see (especially in the winter, people who told me I was crazy.  =)

Day 8 - Trip back to Anchorage, with a side trip to Seward, Alaska

We figured the newspaper delivery person thought it was too cold to bring...see the sign?  It says "Closed for the Season"

Lots of cars pulled over to photograph this bull moose.  We joined the crowd

Gorgeous!


At Seward - it was -14 degrees and super windy cold.

Lindy and Bob at Seward

Random recommendations and quotes...

From my vast 8 days of experience, here are a few recommendations & places that made my trip possible, should you decide to embark on this amazing journey.  

Kenai Places to Visit:

- The Moose is Loose Bakery (pictured to the right, and their hot chocolate and really everything is terrific!)

- The Starbucks in the Safeway grocery store 

- Beaman's - for cross country ski rentals, and very nice people

- the golf course near Kaknu Way and Tsalteshi trails - great skiing

- Parson's Lake, Nikiski - wonderful people, great trails, and so beautiful

- Soldotna airport - you've seen the pix!

Anchorage Places to Visit:

- The Moose's Tooth - great pizza place, and a local, non-chain restaurant!

- The airport Microtel - very convenient, and tell Marcus and Claudia I sent you

- Along the inlet to Anchorage, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (if you go not during the winter, the bears might be out!)

- REI - much better than the one in Nashville, and they also rent skis

- Century Theaters (this is the nicest one - and Marley and Me was cute)

- I'll probably think of more, but this was a good start!

Memorable Quotes:

- (before we got on the airplanes in -14 degree weather) "Girls, following a crash, the life expectancy in this weather is about 10 minutes." - Bob

- "If we do crash, you have my permission to eat me to survive." - Lindy

- "Birds of prey" - Me (long story)

- "It is REALLY dark outside (right before we went skiing).  I think we're gonna need the headlamp!" - Me

- "Did you know, we're charging 25 cents per picture? " - John

- "Sure, the cops are nowhere to be seen if you hit a moose, but they are quick to pull you over if you have a broken headlight AFTER you've hit the moose and you're waiting for the part" - Lynn

- "Wendy, you are averaging about 6 pictures per minute..." - Bob

- "Will a moose REALLY run after you?" - Me

- "Once it gets below 5 degrees, it just feels really cold." - Me 

Day 7 - Flying in John & Lenny's Airplanes!

Many Alaska residents purchase small airplanes, for recreation, to get to villages and places without roads, etc.  Lindy and Bob have friends with their own planes, and they were excited to take us up.  John took Lindy and I in his 4-seater Pacer plane, and his brother Lenny took Bob in his 2-seater Kitfox experimental plane (a home-built plane).  View pictures below...when I can get to where I can upload them a bit faster.  

The flight was gorgeous!  We flew by the Harding Ice Field (which is a bunch of mts with glaciers mixed in).  John took us way in, flying about 800 ft above a glacier, which was beautiful.  We saw several moose and snow machiners from the air, and I of course took lots of pictures.  It was quite the opportunity - not many tourists to Alaska get a airplane tour of the glaciers.

Thanks, John and Lenny, for the great flights!  

Day 7 - Pix from the air!

We were impressed by this huge snowplow on the runway!

Bob, Lenny and his plane below

John and his plane below...







See the glacier below - to the right, is the scary part, where you can't see the ground.  Pilots turn around when they get to this point...

See the cool blue color?  This happens because of the way glaciers reflect the light.

Lynn's cabin below!