Friday, April 25, 2008

Alaska Pics, finally.


Well, for all you bums that like to spoil my vacation by begging for pictures.....they're finally here. Honestly! You'd think this normal everyday life--I'm holding a big grudge that I've had to do schoolwork the whole time I'm here. And you know, mothering never ends, and I've repacked our suitcases a zillion times, done piles of laundry, etc. And because I refuse to sit around and watch a barely post-partum woman do the chores (she's never made me feel obligated, seriously), I've helped with the food prep, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher who knows how many times, and of course, the funnest job of all--cuddled baby David.

I took today completely off from schoolwork since Keith took a vacation day to spend with us. He took us flying (wasn't that convenient, Mom, that I didn't tell you that BEFORE we went?!!) over the mountains and the Knik Glacier. Amazing is the only word I could think of. I was very bummed, though, that I didn't have my camera (or so I thought...it was at the bottom of the bag, and I kicked myself--hard--when I found it in there afterall). It's so hard to describe the mountains that go on and on. I thought there was just one chain of them, behind those mountains are rows and rows more, as far as you can see. The glacier was spectacular, a beautiful blue color. It was very fun flying right over Pioneer Peak, by far not the largest peak in Alaska, but still over six thousand feet.

After landing briefly in Palmer, Jacinda picked me and Carli up and Shaela and Howard Keith hopped on the plane and flew some more. We took a picnic lunch to meet the rest of the crew in Anchorage. Sat about a wingspan under the approach of many inbound flights, including some 747s which look huge that close. Driving up to that spot, we saw 2 moose about 10 feet away. We went to the Alaska Wild Berry Company to shop (Found an incredible Mother's Day gift for you, Mom! Don't you wish you knew?!!), and then on to the Anchorage Zoo, which is a tiny little thing, but beautiful and upclose to real Alaskan animals, such as Grizzly's, black bears, wolves, polar bears, etc. All of the animals have been rescued and nursed back to health.

Ok, now for the pics. I'll try to give a quick explanation prn.



Above, view out the east window on a clear day. There are mountains on three sides of Palmer, and it's stunning!
We went up to Hatcher Pass when we first got here. It was not snowing in Palmer (10 minutes away), but definitely in the mountains. It was still breathtaking.
Carli got to see Uncle Keith in his big car carrier. Someday I'll tell you about his trips to Fairbanks in -50 degree weather....there's a lot of considerations that take place even beyond survival when you're in the kind of weather. He's also a Flight Instructor out of Elmundorf Air Force Base, and a captain in the Civil Air Patrol, so we're definitely proud of him!

Back up to Hatcher Pass on a clear day. A totally different kind of beautiful. The buildings above were part of a gold mining camp not so long ago.
Olivia. This is about the only picture that turned out of her, though she looks not so great! She'd just pulled her bow out and the wind was wrecking havoc with her hair.
Carli at Hatcher Pass
Glen went with Keith on a run to Fairbanks. This is in Denali State (or is it National?) Park. Denali means "The Big One" referring to Mt. McKinnley
Hoke giving Livy some love.


Baby David. Man, I'm going to miss him when we leave!

Glen, Jeffery and Carli
Couldn't resist including this picture of Cinda. She looks great only 2 weeks post partum (at this point), and from the look on her face, she must have been teasing me about something.
Shaela and Oliva are quite the buddies.
We went on a little walk with some of the kids, and this was one of the views. Absolutely breathtaking in real life. Again, pictures don't do it justice.


Carli on the "hike." By this point she was pretty bummy since she'd been playing outside with the cousins all day.
The moose we saw up close and personal this morning.

Anchorage skyline. A little hazy today.

Carli at the Alaskan Wild Berry Company.

Daddy and Olivia. I loved this pic of her. And you can see that Glen's vacation has really produced some nice-looking results. I think his goatee looks terrific. :)

Carli and Jeffrey (along with a friend, Katherine), and of course a black bear.

OK! You all happy??!!! I've been at this computer for two hours!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

GLEN and FACIALHAIR??? OMGoodness GRACIOUS!! SAKES! (in the you-know-who-voice) ;)
Love the pics

Nancy said...

OK. I'm happy!! Thanks for the pics! What BEAUTIFUL country! WOW! I lovedthe picture of the mtns. with Anchorage as well. I've heard it was beautiful, but it's hard to imagine just HOW beautiful. I might have to see that myself someday! I'm curious about the climate. I'm seeing snow, but the kids are in t-shirts, so it must be warm? It was interesting seeing pics of Keith and Jucindas 4 kids....I've never seen them of course. That baby looks like something I would try to sneak into my suitcase! What a cutie! No wonder you enjoy holding him! And thanks again for the pictures....I know how time-consuming that is. I need to post again but I'm so far behind and have so many pictures....aaaaagh!

Melanie C. said...

yes, were happy, Pam! Thanks for sacrificing cuddle time with the adorable nephew to let us see beautiful Alaska and your family. Love ya!

Faith said...

Hi, Pam! Have I commented on your blog before (not sure!), but Glen directed me to his and your blogs several weeks back and I've been lurking, enjoying your posts and looking at your pictures. Since you put forth the time and effort to post all those pics I decided I should step outta the shadows long enough to say thanks! I've been eager to see your AK pics, hoping they would include some of Keith and his family too. * wish * If you happen to get one of Keith and family all in one photo, I'd sure enjoy seeing it! Thanks much!!

(Just in case you have no idea who I am, I was "Teacher" to Glen, Keith and Wayne in Taiwan '85-'87.)

Anonymous said...

i agree with katie about the facial hair (although it does look nice), thnaks for the pix, they are amazing and i'm very jealous. lol

Rachel said...

I'm so glad you finallllllllly posted your pictures of your Alaskan vacation. Very beautiful, it looks like somewhere I'd love to visit. Thanks for posting pictures of Keith & Jocinda and their kids, it has been such a long time since we've seen them. Glen's goatee looks nice but facial hair hmmmmmm! Glad that you'll had a great time, would love to see you'll again. Come and visit southern Indiana soon.