Homeward Bound

On September 2nd, I headed home to Alaska. I hadn't been home since Christmas, and wouldn't be back again until May 2010 for Adam's wedding, so my mom and dad asked me if I wanted to come home for my birthday. Of course I did!

For those who haven't been to Alaska, it's hard to describe how beautiful it is. Even just driving from the airport to Eagle River (my suburb about 15 minutes north of Anchorage) is pretty.

Once you get off the Glenn Highway, you turn right on Eagle River Road.....And up about 10 minutes....Until you get to my house! (I didn't take a picture of the house, but here's one from Christmas...)

My first and most enthusiastic greeting is always from my dog, Aly.

Aly's 11, but she still runs around like a crazy, hyper puppy. Every time I come home, she acts like she's going to burst from happiness. After spending some time with Aly, I can't help but compare her to Magnolia who's attitude when I get home ranges somewhere between indifference and contempt that I'm intruding on her nap.

Buster's pretty happy to see me when I come home, too.

We have a great trail behind our house, so my dad and I decided to take the dogs out for a walk...... but they ended up walking him.On Saturday night, we all went to Anchorage for dinner. I had some delicious salmon, and afterward, Adam and Leane took me out to introduce me to Anchorage night life.

Downtown Anchorage has some unique characteristics. Like the bears...

And the murals.

For the most part, a bar is a bar, so going out in Anchorage is pretty much like going out anywhere else. One thing I wasn't used to, though, was going out with 22 year old girls. Adam's friend, Alan, recently got married to a girl named Jen. Both Jen and her friend, Lindsey, were celebrating their 22nd birthdays that night. While they sipped lemon drop martinis and trash can punch in their short, tight dresses, I drank a beer wearing a cardigan and scarf. I'm pretty sure they wondered who the old lady crashing their birthday was... but oh well.

On Sunday, we all headed down to Portage to take a mini-cruise out to see Portage Glacier. While driving down Turnagain Arm, we passed Beluga Point which is a spot where beluga whales like to hang out, eat, and play.

In all the times we've passed it, we've never seen one and kind of figured it was a lie Alaskans tell the tourists. My mom was making a similar comment, when Leane pointed and said, "I see one!!!" My dad pulled over, and as we looked out into the waves, we ALL saw the whales! You can't see them in these pictures, but believe me, they were out there.

After getting to Portage (about an hour south of Eagle River), we got our tickets and waited to board the boat.

We staked out some good spots on the top deck...
...and headed out toward the glacier.
It was a nice day (maybe 60 degrees), but once the boat took off and the wind got whipping, it was pretty chilly. Even though Leane has lived in Alaska her entire life, she's not immune to the cold!

The glacier was huge. And so blue!

My poor dad is color blind and can't see how blue the glacier is.... I wonder if he can see the blue in these pictures?

There were a lot of ice chunks out in the water, too.

The people leading the tour were pretty entertaining. There was a lady with a southern accent who had a microphone and regaled us with glacier fun-facts for over an hour. After she'd finally run out of material, she decided to tell us how she was born and raised in North Carolina and wanted to hear where we all were from. The first group of people were from Oregon. "Oh! I live in Oregon during the winter!" she said. The next group was from Michigan. "Oh! My first son was born in Michigan!" After she told us her fourth son was born in Kansas, like some of the cruise passengers, I started to wonder about the credibility of her stories.

Not to be outdone by the lady with the microphone, the boat captain was quite a character, too. When not steering us around, he was dropping a bucket into the water so we could all feel how cold the water is. He also liked blowing bubbles. That's right. Bubbles.

Being the trusty friend she is, Aly was as excited to see me come home from Portage as she was when I first got in from Denver, and she sat next to me the rest of the day.

Good-bye Alaska! I'll be back soon....