Alaska 2010

A picture of a brown bear I took right outside our cabin!!

no, not really..... 

This was actually taken at the zoo on our last day

We took our annual trip to Alaska and spent four days 40 miles outside of Anchorage in a cabin at Knik River Lodge in Palmer.  I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon this place when I was planning the trip, but I took a gamble and reserved it because I thought a cabin all to ourselves would be much better than sharing walls in a hotel with three small kids.  We were pleasantly surprised.  It was everything we could hope for in a "cabin out in the woods" - peaceful and away from the city, but not too secluded to where I would be freaked out the whole time. 

Scotty got to sleep in the loft

The cabin served all our needs, was comfortable, clean and cozy and we would definitely stay there again.  The "lodge" consists of about 18 cabins situated on a chunk of property way out in the middle of nowhere.  It is owned and operated by a very nice Dutch couple who live on the property during the summer months. 

View from our cabin

They delivered breakfast to our door in the morning upon request, but serve lunch and dinner every day out of a small kitchen, with a yurt serving as the dining area.  It sounds odd, but the ambiance was great and the food was excellent (Peter, the owner, is also the head chef but he has a small staff to help). 

Kitchen to the left and "dining" yurt to the right

They also coordinate with one of the local helicopter companies to offer tours right off the property, they even keep a helo on hand.  The first thing the boys did when we arrived was check it out and they got a big kick out of watching it take off and land every day.

Last year we road tripped it throughout the Kenai Peninsula and MatSu Valley, this year we decided to stay in one place and relax a little more.  The first full day we were there, we headed into the town of Wasilla.  No, I did not stalk Sarah Palin this time!  But the thought to go over to her neck of the woods did cross my mind :)  I resisted.  Later that evening we headed to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.  We ran out of time to see and do everything at the fair, so we actually headed back there the next day.

Matt, the lumberjack - the boys really enjoyed this logging show 

These cars were so cute!  Scotty actually got to drive it, no cables or tracks to help him.  He did quite well and Zac got to ride along.

Friday evening we met for pizza at the very popular Moose's Tooth in Anchorage with our friend and old neighbor, Edrie Vinson.  She lived right next door to us in our first house in Juneau, before we had to move to another house, but we have managed to stay in contact with her and now that she lives in Anchorage, it was a must that we meet up with her.  The last time we saw her, Scotty was just a baby.

The next day, we set out to make the three hour drive north to the Denali National Park for a photo op with Trev and his namesake, Mount McKinley (aka Denali), the highest peak in North America.  However, the weather turned to rain and clouds and since we hear that it's hard to see McKinley even on a clear day if you're not lucky enough to get to the right area in the park, we figured the weather would make it that much more challenging and it wouldn't be worth enduring the long roundtrip with restless kids.  We also have heard that the trip really should be done in two days in order to enjoy the guided tour through the park.  So an hour into the drive, we turned around.  Maybe next year....

This is just a random photo of the mountain I stole from the internet to show what could've been

We spent the rest of our last full day in Alaska exploring down by the Knik River and hanging out in the cabin, topping off the evening with another nice dining experience at the lodge restaurant.  The dreary day made it easy to be lazy.

Our flight didn't depart until 5:30 PM on our final day, so we decided to visit the Alaska Zoo since it's right in Anchorage.  Again, the weather was dreary, but there was hardly anyone at the zoo because of it so we weren't complaining!

Zac trying to feed a dead leaf to the Dall Sheep

Sadly, the only moose we saw this trip was at the zoo

It was a great family trip and it made us love Alaska even more.  With the boys getting older, it just gets more and more fun to go up there.  Looking forward to next year....