Anchorage, AK

As evidenced by my photos from the penultimate post (the most recent two-weeker), I traveled up to Alaska in mid-August and spent fifteen days there. It was, for me, an attempt to visit my birthplace (I was indeed born in Anchorage) as well as an opportunity to visit my grandma - and take a summer trip that wasn't to Tingley Beach. (I'm just kidding. I actually really enjoyed the trip to Tingley Beach because of the adorable photoshoot and being able to take all the littles someplace besides the living room couch.) But, enough blathering on: here are the behind-the-scenes pictures you've been waiting to see along with a more comprehensive account of my travels.

Saturday, August 12
We headed out in the afternoon: me, Patch, Boomer, and Pongo. The middle twins had never before been on a trip like this, so I wanted to document their milestones along the way.

 

Sunday, August 13
We arrived late on Saturday night, so Sunday was our first day. I was refamiliarized with the house - the last time I was in Alaska was when I was six - and basically got the entire downstairs area to myself. Then Grandma gave me the official garden tour, and some neighbors who were passing by stopped in to say hi and try their luck shooting hoops.

looking out the tea room window

downstairs lounge/living room

library (next to lounge/living room)

my uncle's old room/my room for the two weeks

my mom's old room, now the office

(Pic a Day for Aug 13)

the old basketball hoop my grandpa had put in just before he died

creek behind the house

neighbor family that stopped by

shooting hoops

Monday, August 14
We ran errands and drove around in The Gent, the 1984 Chrysler Fifth Avenue that was my grandpa's. Later, I tried out Grandma's trike and took the little ones with me.

Tuesday, August 15
We went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where I learned about the lives of indigenous Alaskans through the ages.

Wednesday, August 16
Grandma had booked us a day cruise to see some glaciers in Prince William Sound; so we boarded the Alaska Railroad train and headed south, then got on the cruise and did some glacier and wildlife sightseeing. (Also, the guy in the red shirt was one of our train car-mates who was originally from New Mexico, and on the ride back to Anchorage, I talked more with him and we played a game of gin with points, which I had never done, but was fun to learn.)

Steller sea lion blobs on an island

bald eagle

the guide said it was an otter, but I think it's a seal

Thursday, August 17
I had asked Grandma if we could visit the hospital where I was born as well as the apartment where I used to live with my parents. The hospital was easy enough, except it had been renovated in the almost twenty years since the aforementioned occasion, so the room where I was born was pretty much torn down and other rooms built in its place; we found a room where my parents might have been afterwards, but I have no faith in these claims since I can't remember the precise rooms or locations or any of that. My grandma turned down the right road for our old apartment, but later my mom confirmed that it was further down, so the pictures I got of places it might have been were inaccurate. After those fiascoes, we drove down to the Delaney Park strip in downtown Anchorage and took some pictures.

Friday, August 18
Friday we didn't do much of anything. We watched Fences in the downstairs lounge/living room, and later I hung out at the dining room table writing, and the little brothers tried to get into the candy dish.

Saturday, August 19
Grandma and I decided to put together a birthday lunch for her boyfriend, Virgil, who turned 85 this year. I spent most of the morning making vegan shepherd's pie, and Grandma cut up some fruit and put together a salad - and also bought a carrot cake for him. We ate and chatted and then Virgil opened his presents.

my vegan shepherd's pie

Sunday, August 20
Grandma had planned another trip-within-a-trip, this one to Denali National Park. Sunday we spent eight hours heading north on the train, then checked out the lodge we were staying at and took pictures.

Hurricane Gulch

Monday, August 21
This was the day of our bus tour of the park. We were on the bus for five hours heading in, stopping whenever we spotted wildlife so everyone could get a picture. Midway, we had lunch at the Miner's Day Lodge and had the chance to peruse the gift shop and/or engage in activities, such as panning for gold, and/or just walk around. Then we piled up and headed back out, stopping for each glimpse of an animal and snapping away with our cameras. We ended up not seeing the mountain, but our guide told us that it's only visible about 20% of the time as it is, what with it being the tallest mountain in North America and creating its own weather patterns.

grazin' caribou

Dall sheep on the slope

mama grizzly and cub

surprisingly heavy

moose bull

Wonder Lake

massive antlers

somewhat smaller antlers on this one

ptarmigan (tired of all the pictures)

fox on the run-'n'-hide

lil ground squirrel

bear far away

bear getting closer

right under the window

standing caribou

bear on the rock

moose cow

blurs of playing fox kits (two black, one red)

they had lots of these goofy street signs

Tuesday, August 22
Tuesday we rode the train back down to Anchorage, which took most of the day.

Wednesday, August 23
It was the twins' (honorary) seventh birthday, so I spent the day cuddling and hanging out with them and baked them a vegan box brownie mix and made them like little chocolate muffin cakes.

Thursday, August 24
My mom had looked up, before my trip, vegan-friendly restaurants in Anchorage and come across Middle Way Café, which was amazing - almost half the menu was vegan! Grandma and I met up with one of her friends for lunch and chatted and received unexpected presents. Then Grandma took me to Wild Berry farm, which has *supposedly* the world's largest chocolate waterfall, and I got some souvenirs for friends. We paid a call to another of Grandma's friends and had tea, and it felt like I was having an authentic British experience, what with hanging out with these two British ladies, except it was Lipton tea! (Okay, I just read that Lipton is UK-based, but it feels like such a fraud to me - then again, what would I know; I'm not British.)
   

paying a call to Grandma's British friend

Friday, August 25
I had come down with a cold Thursday that I think I got from one of the other tourists on the Denali bus tour, so I wanted to try to rest as much as I could and kick the virus.

wearing a new hoodie - one of my gifts from Grandma's friend

Saturday, August 26
I loved Middle Way Café so much I wanted to go back and try their breakfast menu - namely the vegan breakfast burritos - so we arranged to meet Virgil there for brunch. As we were heading out, a dog tied up to the bike rack outside was looking at me through the windows in the entryway, so I went out and pet her(him?), and she was so insistent that she would shove up against me if I stopped petting her for a second and pushed my hand away when I offered it to her companion for a sniff. (I didn't found out 'til later that it was National Dog Day - how 'bout that?) Then Grandma showed me Earthquake Park (there was a really bad earthquake in 1964 that caused a lot of flooding and damage in Anchorage) and we went to the post office so I could send back a package of some of the things I had gotten in Alaska.

amazing art by sixth graders displayed in the café

on a bench in Earthquake Park

waiting in the post office parking lot

Sunday, August 27
I spent the day blogging and downloading music, until Grandma kicked me off the couch and told me to get off my butt (not exactly like that - of course I'm paraphrasing), so I went for a long walk around the neighborhood. Then I was given the privilege of picking the first apple. We ate dinner (which included the apples and sugar snap peas from the garden) before she drove me to the airport and I began the journey back to good ol' RR, NM.

apple toss-up

I'll be back in the next Pic a Day post, and I'll be back in school the following week. Hope everyone has a good academic year, whether in school or not!