Remembering Alaska

I’m not sure why I have been thinking of Alaska so much lately. Maybe all the snow we’ve had. Whatever the reason, I decided I would go back through my blogs and read about our visit. I was very disappointed to find none. I had one brief post about the glacier shrinking but that was it. I did find pictures though! Here are a few of my memories of Alaska. I hope you enjoy and I highly recommend you visit.

Anchorage welcomed us with open arms. No problems with the flight and we were on time. It was night time but being on a plane all day makes a person forget what time it is. Once we landed, we got the car, found our hotel, checked in and immediately left to find a restaurant. Everyone was starving. Luckily, there was a nice looking restaurant next door to the hotel so we just walked over. The weather was beautiful. Inside, there were very few customers. Our waiter came and we ordered. Then he told us they would be closing soon. We all must have looked very confused because he proceeded to tell us they closed at midnight. It was 11:30. Because it was still daylight out, we had assumed it was still plenty early to go get something to eat. Surprise! This was my welcome to Alaska.

Throughout the week we drove all over Alaska. We hiked around Mt. McKinley at Denali National Park, we drove to Seward and visited the Kenai Fjord’s National Park where we saw the Exit Glacier. We drove to Whittier and took a boat out into the College Fjord Bay and witnessed a glacier calving.

We stopped one afternoon in Talkeetna. Great little old mining town! Very unique. Talkeetna is also the town that the television show Northern Exposure was based on. Fun fact about the town was that the mayor was a cat. I was walking into the general store and had the honor of meeting him. How often do you get to meet the mayor walking over to “his” chair and proceeding to jump up and curl into a ball to take a little nap!

The beauty of Alaska is breathtaking and I have never seen anything like it. The history is amazing and I only touched on a small part of it. The people are very friendly and welcoming. I don’t know when we will be able to go back but I will definitely be there again.

#ruthielanigan #whittier #alaska #talkeetna #exitglacier #mtmckinley #seward