Family Vacation

The trip to Anchorage went a lot better than the trip to Vegas for Nana and Papa. Thank you Grandma for the carriers and backpacks. Since we weren't expecting Ak to be as cold as it was for this time of year we spent the couple of days prior to the girls arriving to pick up some warm coats and boots. The average temperature has been around 38 or 40 with some days almost reaching 50 by mid afternoon. After bundling up we headed back to the room for a couple hours rest. The girls slept late the next morning which gave us a little bit of a late start Sunday morning however we still had plenty of time to enjoy the area.

I think A enjoyed the escalator as much as seeing mommy and daddy again. She would take her "tail" to whoever she wanted to walk with or who ever she thought would take her down an escalator. It didn't take long to get back to the room and get everyone in bed. Thinking we would all be tired on Sunday we decided to take the day off and enjoy visiting. Nana and Papa had other ideas however and woke up ready to go Sunday morning. So we took a short trip through Anchorage to show them some of the sights. Then we headed south to check out Seward. There was a great park that we stopped to play at next to the bay. We enjoyed skipping rocks and watching the otters play just off shore. Coming back there was a beautiful rainbow over the water, even though it wasn't raining.

A had a blast picking out rocks for daddy to throw in the water. While b enjoyed being bundled up in Mommy's jacket.

Monday we explored Anchorage some more and did a little window shopping. That night Nana, Papa and S went to find some Northern Lights. Just when they thought they weren't going to see them some finally appeared just off the horizon. The best time to see the Northern Lights is on cold clear dark nights. During the winter the best times are between 10pm-2am, this made for a very late night Monday. However, they were all ready to go again on Tuesday so we headed south again to check out an animal conservatory. The conservatory had a short drive thru to view rescued animals from the area.

The cariboo have lost their antlers for the season already so they really looked goofy.

There were three bears that were very entertaining. This one walked over sat down in front of the viewers and started posing for the cameras. The other two smaller ones were enjoying tussling behind her.

Finally this eagle had been rescued up north. It was shot in the left wing which had to be amputated. Since it couldn't fly it has permanent residence at the conservation.

One of the guys taking photos of the bear offered to take our picture with it so of course the bear had to walk off. I think B is getting use to riding in my jacket like that. Leaving the conservatory we went to have lunch at the top of a mountain. Taking a tram to the top we had a beautiful view for lunch.

The restaurant was approximately 2900 ft and overlooked seven glaciers. The resort was beautiful and would be the perfect place for a weekend get away. S can't wait for the chance to get back to do some skiing, I'd love to try some snowboarding as well.

Since we reached Anchorage much sooner than we expected we have had a full week to enjoy a short vacation before we finish our trip to Kodiak. We leave tomorrow for Homer where we will wait for the ferry and enjoy a few days in a fishing town. Saturday morning we catch the ferry for Kodiak and will finish our journey on the 10hr boat ride to our new home. I can't wait to finally get our home, get settle in and get unpacked!!!