Our First Visitor!

Now that it's August in Alaska, summer is starting to wind down… that said, it's not over yet ;) And what better way to cap off a great summer than with a visitor?! Vince's mom Pat took a well-earned break from their farm in Washington and came up to see Alaska for the first time. We had a blast having her as our first official visitor and we had a ton of fun playing tour guides. Good times were had by all :)

We picked her up from the airport, dropped off her bags at the condo, and headed downtown to show her the Saturday Farmers' Market...

The weather was great and we had fun checking out the goods!

All the smells, sights, and walking got our stomachs growling, so the

next stop after the market was Humpy's for fish & chips- good halibut

is not common in Eastern WA, so Pat was ready to go fishin' :D

Nom nom- can't beat it! Definitely a splurge, but totally worth it.

We enjoyed our dinner, chatted up some of the folks at the bar, and

headed home to catch up, relax, and make plans for the next few days.

Back Home In July

Vince and I had some great adventures in July: fishing in Seward, going to Talkeetna, hiking in Denali, and making the loop back to Anchorage. That said, I was happy to be home for a few days before we had to go back to work… I was missing my kitchen (and healthy food)! Here's what was cooking at home…

Fresh taco salad with seared Alaskan scallops

Turkey fried rice (heavy on the veg)

Larb (Thai chicken salad)

Complete entree (you wrap the salad in lettuce or cabbage leaves)

Seared Muscovy duck breast with a balsamic vinegar &

cherry reduction- YUM. Plate would have been more complete with

some green veggies, but we were too hungry from smelling the duck

searing (plus the cooking time on the sauce) to wait any longer...

Good times in the kitchen!

Denali- Day 2

Our first day in the park was fantastic; not only was the weather perfect, but the scenery was awe-inspiring as well. We decided to go back for more the next day. Our plan was to get in and catch a bus so we could get further into the wilderness (you are only allowed to drive in a short way in personal vehicles). We woke up, laced up our hiking boots and headed out for the day!

First stop: breakfast at Prospectors

We loved the adventuresome interior

Awesome breakfast pizza! On to the park...

We got the car parked and headed to the visitors' center

The bus stop...

…one of countless beautiful views from the bus

I was the first passenger to spot a group of Dall sheep up

around Polychrome Pass; I could have taken their picture, but

they were so high up they were just white dots without binos ;)

Couple ptarmigans on the road

A nice male caribou

YES! A grizzly! I was hoping we would get to see a bear :D

Getting closer to the mountain

Wow

Posing for the camera 

One more mountain photo- pretty amazing. These photos

are from the Eielson stop, which is about 70 miles in. As much

as we wanted to continue, we figured we'd better get back on the

bus if we wanted to get back before things started closing for the day

Back in town, we had a light dinner and headed to the ice 

cream shop. It was Vince's birthday (July 5th) and I couldn't make

him a treat since we were away… so this was a fun alternative

Moose Tracks and Huckleberry- yum! Great ending 

to another spectacular day of exploring :)

Denali- Day 1

Yay- we made it! It was beautiful when we started driving from Talkeetna, and the day just kept getting better. With a mild breeze and a temperature of almost 80, it was a perfect day to be outside. Needless to say, we were ready to get out of the car!

The entrance to the park- so exciting!

Vince found us a good day hike to check out...

...the view from the top- luckily there was a group of

people up there that offered to take our picture :)

Another gorgeous view

A squirrel- I was surprised he let me get this close...

There was a whole little village of them up there :)

Some cute little flowers along the trail

We had to take the road to get back to where we had

parked earlier and I'm glad we did. We got to see this

big caribou crossing the Savage River- very cool!

Vince and I got back to the car and headed into town for

the evening; we had worked up an appetite and were ready

to relax. The people we met along the trail recommended 

"The Bake," so we decided to check it out.

It was busy- always a good sign- and the interior was great;

complete with tons of old photos and signs from AK's early years

Time for an indigenous beverage; this was a good lager!

Ahh- food! Elk burger and waffle fries- SO good after our hike

We finished our dinner and went for a little walk around town

Stunning...

Time to check into our lodgings; I got lucky and scored a

cabin for us at the Crow's Nest, a newer option for the area

The office

Stairs to the "second floor"... The cabins are all built

GREAT recommendation by one of our bartenders in Talkeetna

Almost there...

Home sweet home for the night

Pretty nice "camping;" it even had a Keurig!

...and a private bathroom. We washed up, watched an

episode of "Meat Eater," and made plans for the next day :)

4th of July

After much debate about whether or not to go back to Seward for the 4th of July (to see the famed Mount Marathon race & associated festivities), Vince and I decided to dodge the crowds and head up to Talkeetna- a small town up towards Denali. The weather was supposed to be great, and I had wanted to go there for years, so it seemed like a winning plan. We packed up on the 3rd, filled up the gas tank, and hit the road :)

Fireworks are legal once you get far enough out of town,

so we stocked up on some for later...

The next stop after the fireworks stand: Denali Brewing;

we're always up for checking out new craft beers!

We did a sampling of the offerings and got some

good Talkeetna tips from the bartender...

We pushed on driving for a bit more and finally

made it to the B&B I reserved near town; SUPER charming

Time to check out the town! We dropped off our things,

got acquainted with our hosts, parked the ride, and started walking

As you can see, the weather WAS great! Almost 80!!

The town wasn't busy per se, but there were plenty

of people out enjoying the weather; such a cute little town

This place caught our eye, although we thought it was closed at first...

...but after a little fact-checking on our phones, we realized

it was an old Roadhouse that now serves as a bar & lounge

So, we stepped inside for a look around

A drink bell- don't ring it unless you're buying ;)

Interesting pics of some of the old timers...

An old piano and cash register; this place could

almost be a town museum hehe

Time to walk a little more...

Some craft stands near the river... This is about it; there

were some cute gift shops that we checked out before having

a bit to eat and then we set off to find the XYZ Lakes Trail

It took us awhile, but we finally found where to go

I wasn't surprised to see this; glad I brought bear bells!

(You don't want to surprise a bear!)

Following the leader...

One of the lakes; it was truly serene (other than being a

little freaked out about running into a bear...)

...I guess bear do ____ in the woods ;)

Happily, we made it back to the safety of the car and 

headed up to a nearby lodge for a cocktail on the patio- 

made even better by the spectacular view of Denali. It was

a great way to end our day of adventuring in the boonies

The next day, we decided to head up to Denali- the weather was

great, we'd already driven pretty far, and it seemed like an epic way

to spend the 4th of July, so we checked out of the B&B and went into 

town for breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse before hitting the road

The cozy interior...

Holy sourdough pancake! This sucker was hanging off

the plate! It was huge, but delicious :) Glad we stopped in

One more stop to snap a shot of the mountains on our way

out of town- beautiful! Stay tuned for Denali pics!