Jul. 15, 2008 - Our Alaskan Vacation (yes, we live here)

 

As some of you may know by now, our family LOVES taking road trips.  Big ones!  We've had the pleasure of visiting nearly 30 states now, but seldom do we venture out and about within our great state of Alaska.  This past week, we finally did some sight-seeing here within our own state.  We had such a great time and drove over 1,000 miles in our big station wagon.  We tent camped and ate mostly from our coolers, and most importantly we made some great memories as a family.  Tony's Dad and his friend Colleen were also along and everything went great (in spite of the rain).  :)

 

The trip started last Monday by driving from our home town to a small fishing community called Whittier.  To get to Whittier you either have to take a train, plane or boat, or be willing to drive your car UNDER a mountain.  That's right.  It's a 2.5 mile tunnel under a mountain and we drove our car through it.  I was not happy, but I survived and tried not to let the children see my fear.   Safely on the other side of the tunnel, we had a couple hours to goof off in Whittier before boarding the ferry Chenega to take the Alaska Marine Highway to Valdez.  Here we are loading (following Tony's Dad's rent-a-car onto the ferry).

 

 

 

Once on board the Chenega, we had a wonderful 2 and a half hour ferry ride through the Prince William Sound.  It was a fishing day and we had the pleasure of seeing the Valdez fleet out catching salmon.   We also saw a whale, but I couldn't get any good pictures of it because it was quite a distance away.

 

Valdez is a neat place to visit.  I've heard it's even prettier when the weather cooperates, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.  We got a little wet in our tent that night, but bought two huge tarps for the next 3 nights and managed to stay dry the rest of the trip.

Here we all are at a beach in Valdez.  I promise, I don't really have a cone head, but no-one informed me that my hat wasn't all the way on my head and apparently I was too hungry and busy eating pizza to care.  :)  Hey, I'm just keepin' it real here.

Valdez is a fishing community (and also the location of the end of the Alaskan Pipeline).  We spent a couple hours just walking around in the harbor enjoying the sights and sounds of a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains, marine life, and interesting boats.

 

We were actually this close to this sea otter.  I could have easily touched him (no, I wouldn't do that!).  He was crunching away on mussels.  Later in the trip, Evelyn was eating corn nuts and she exclaimed, "Hey, I sound like an otter!!"

After leaving Valdez, we drove north through Glennallen, then Paxson, and finally onto the Denali Highway.  Well, it's called a highway.  I'd call it the "130 mile long dirt road famous for flat tires".

We were fortunate enough not to have any flats, and found a decent place to set up camp for the night.  Tangle Lake Campground.     We put up the tent (it's a nifty Cabela's tent that hooks to the car) and settled in for a chilly night of sleep.

 

These are the boys.  They are lucky because they sleep through the entire night, unlike their mother who woke up SEVEN (yep, 7!) times that night to use the outhouse.  Camping at 6 months pregnant isn't all it's cracked up to be, folks.  :)   Plus, I think it was about 40* outside.  I'm not complaining, I had a great time.  But next time I'm bringing a bucket, that's all I'm gonna say.

Oliver showing Evy what I mean by "cheese".

Here we are in the morning.   This is what I found when I returned from my 8th trip to the outhouse.  Two children had taken my warm spot under the blankets!  Notice the hat on Sully's head?  Yes, we slept with hats on.  It was that cold.

Celina doesn't care that it's cold, she just likes that it's light enough in the tent to read her book.

We packed up and headed farther down the Denali (dirt road) Highway.  Saw this guy and his friend, both bull moose.  Mmmm.  Wish it was hunting season!   (hey, that's real life in Alaska, people!)

That night we camped close to Denali National Park, and the next day we spent the entire day being tourists and enjoying the gorgeous park and God's amazing creation.

Tony and his Dad.  I love this picture!!

We saw this brown bear twice that day.  Unfortunately, it's the only bear we saw all day!  Usually people see more than that, but I wasn't bothered.  Too bad for the other tourists, though.  :)

See the tour bus making it's way up the mountain side?  Some places had quite a drop off.

We were among the lucky 10% who actually get to see Mt. McKinley while visiting the park.  Sure is a big mountain! 

This was called Cathedral Canyon.  I loved the colors.

After a long day in the buses, Evelyn had plenty of energy back at camp.  We popped popcorn over the fire and drank hot chocolate before heading to bed. 

The next day we drove all the way back home (about 500 miles).  We saw this beautiful fella along the highway and I couldn't help but snap his picture.  We sure are blessed to live in this beauitul state!!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of our Alaskan Vacation.  We had a great time and didn't let all the rain spoil our fun.  It sure was nice to get home and take a hot bath, though!

God bless,
~Leah~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

Jul. 16, 2008 - Alaskan Vacation

Posted by Matthew & Juletta

Hi!
I love the pictures. Can you say claustrophobic! 2 1/2 mile long tunnel. Sounds like fun! :) I couldn't help but notice that Tony and his Dad have the same smile. You must be glad to be home this summer, after two summers away. Great pictures!

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Jul. 16, 2008 - fun to see your trip!

Posted by Anonymous

I love love love road trips. Glad it was fun even though soggy.

Sis

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Jul. 16, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

Amazingly beautiful pictures - as always....and some amazingly beautiful people as well. We are blessed to live in one of God's most creative landscapes...and I am just as blessed to call you "friend". You're amazing Leah! Love you! Rhonda

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Jul. 18, 2008 - Fun!

Posted by Kristen

That is cool that you were finally able to make your way around the great state of Alaska. We want to do that sometime too. Maybe when the little ones aren't quite so little!!! I am impressed that you camped 6 months pregnant too!

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Jul. 25, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by nikkisimcox

Beautiful pictures ! It sounds like you had a great time. We hope to visit Alaska next year. We live in Tennessee and there are lots of great places to go here.We love taking road trips too. ~ Nikki

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Jul. 25, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by subbertfamily

Bee-ut-tee-full!!
You're a trooper camping when that pregnant. I don't know if I would do it or not because of having to go so many times!
We did camp a few months ago, when little squirt was five months old. That was interesting!
Michelle

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Jul. 28, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by mamato8

I read one other alaskan blog ( xanga.com/alaskahannah) and I ALWAYS conclude that alaska is a gorgeous place. The wildness of it draws me!
I am sending you the invite o my blog from blogger as you have requested!

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Aug. 4, 2008 - that's so funny!

Posted by Meggan

I came here via Molly's blog, but our family is doing an Anch-Glennallen-Tangle Lakes-Denali-Anch trip for Labor Day! AND, in October we are taking the ferry to Cordova via Whittier. What fun. My husband used to live in Paxon and Glennallen when he was a boy.
Anyway, nice to see another Alaskan.

www.xanga.com/nutmeggmama

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Aug. 11, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by sis~MM

sure was enjoyabe looking at the family fun! felt like I was there with you. Next time!
Love sis

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