Alaska, IV (Prince William Sound glacier cruise)

 On our last day in Alaska we went to the very remote Prince William Sound to take a glacier cruise. The fog kept us from getting the gorgeous views you'll see if you google images of Prince William Sound, but it was still beautiful.

 In order to get to the port of Whittier to catch the boat, we had to drive through this crazy-small tunnel through the mountain on the railroad tracks. The tunnel openings are carefully timed to allow windows for cars in each direction and trains in each direction without any interference.

It was VERY windy, especially when the boat was moving.

We saw some interesting wildlife on the cruise. I don't have a zoom lens, so my photos aren't the best.

I promise it's a bald eagle.

This waterfall area is a kittiwake bird rookery. Thousands of the birds roost there.
They're part of the bald eagles' food chain...

Wanna see a zillion pictures of glaciers? We saw 13 different glaciers on our cruise, and they were pretty impressive even though we didn't see/hear any calving.

glacier = blue (the white stuff is just snow)

1/4-mile wide

Gavin was cold and kept saying "It's raining. Let's go home."
(Thankfully the boat was heated and he didn't go outside much.)

Gavin, Grandma, glacier

Alaska, part III (Denali)

Don't be fooled by the title--I didn't actually get to see THE mountain. :(
We did spend a day touring the Denali National Park & Preserve, which was beautiful. But the mountain was behind lots of clouds. Here are some of the vistas we did see.

The only time I was scared on the trip...Gavin bolted off into the wilderness of Denali. Since it's an animal preserve,
there are bears and wolves and lots of other wildlife that would have loved eating him for lunch.
Good thing I caught up with this quick little man!

My parents are fabulous!

Alaska, part II (riverboat tour + farmer's market + Fox)

We had a super-fun day on the Riverboat Discovery, and actual steamboat ride. 

 The boat ride itself was fun; we got to see a bush seaplane take off and land on the water next to us, and we got to see some amazing sled dogs in training. But the highlight was our stop at the Athabaskan village.

Gavin and Grandpa are checking out the pelts.

One of our Athabaskan guides showing us the fish camp.

Gavin's in the tent at fish camp.

checking out the fish camp smokehouse

The local farmer's market was fun, mostly due to the larger-than-life bag of delicious kettle corn.

Then, funny story, my Dad had heard about a gift shop in Fox, Alaska that sells gorgeous aurora prints. It was seriously not even a full-sized trailer; it was in the middle of NOWHERE; and it was closed. Not to be deterred, Dad tracked down someone who opened it for us. The only reason it's worth mentioning is because of the beautiful gardens and greenhouses in the back. Because there's nonstop daylight in Alaska in the summer, plants flourish. The proprietor showed us pictures of last year's cabbage that were about as tall as me!

Alaska, part I (Gold Dredge 8 + Pioneer Park)

Who knows when I'll get all the posts up from mine and Gavin's recent 10-day trip to Alaska. Here's installment #1.

Eskimo fountain in Fairbanks

We had a great time at Gold Dredge 8 where we got to ride the train (a highlight for Gavin) and pan for gold. 

everyone who helped us looked the part - especially this guy!

inside the Alaska pipeline

On a different day we had a fun time at Pioneer Park, playing on the playground and riding the train and the carousel.