Great Alaskan Road Trip: Day 3

Today we spent exploring the front portion of Denali National Park. We knew rain was in the forecast, so we drove into the park after breakfast (Black Bear Coffeehouse, pretty good) to see if we could catch a glimpse of the mountain before the cloud cover came in. We were just in time to see the middle third (photos to come when we return home). About 20 minutes later, after giving up on the Mountain Vista trail because we we're the only car in the parking lot, the clouds rolled in and Denali was hidden. You hear all the time how quickly the weather can change up here, but it's crazy to see in person.

After returning to the Visitor's Center, we set out on the McKinley Station Trail, headed for the two bridge crossings of Riley Creek on the Three Lakes Trail. The path led through a very peaceful forest with just the right amount of fellow hikers to help ward off any bears. The creek is very swift right now due to recent rain storms, so the kids weren't able to toss in as many rocks as they had hoped. The second creek crossing is a wooden and cable suspension bridge. We made it about halfway across and decided to turn back as it wasn't quite wide enough for one mom gripping two kids by the back of the sweatshirt to traverse together, and the railing was just thin metal cable. The kids spent time building rock structures along the creek's bank for awhile before heading back.

After a picnic lunch, we visited the science center and learned about different animal bones. Then it was on to the sled dog kennel, where we got to meet and pet several park "canine rangers" and listen to a presentation about how they helped establish the park as a wildlife refuge.

Shew, I'm tired all over again just thinking about what we did today! We are in need of a day of rest. We moved to different accommodations for tonight simply because it was less expensive, so we are at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Rooms here usually aren't cheap, but we are just on the edge of shoulder season and got a deal. Aside from last night's place being about 15 miles from the park entrance, we much prefer it to where we are now. The only gas station in town is charging $5.19/gallon, so I'm glad to have enough left to make it up the road to Healy in hope of finding cheaper prices. This lodge is owned by Princess Cruises, and it is set up for cruisers on land excursions. There is only one small parking area for vehicles at the front, and the property is huge. We had to carry our bags quite a distance, and we weren't told about the distance, parking, or the property trolley shuttle when we checked in. We weren't told much at all, actually. Not very helpful for a mom and two young kids. The room itself is okay, but certainly not worth the $269/night they charge in high season. I chose this place thinking it would be nice to stay in "glitter gulch," as they call it, for ease of walking to restaurants rather than more driving. Now that we have tried both options, we'll opt for the smaller local-owned lodging rather than more touristy lodges. But it's right on the Nenana River canyon with a great view!

We took an easy out with dinner and had pizza and ice cream to combat the road weariness. Tomorrow it's just 120 miles to Fairbanks, where we plan to take it slow and enjoy the warmth.

Photos: suspension bridge, making friends with peanut butter on our hands from lunch, view behind the Denali Princess, ice cream to top off the day

Great Alaskan Road Trip: Day 2

Pardon the short entries and weird photo format- I went light on tech for this trip and am blogging from my iPhone with just the photos on it. I'll upload lots of amazing pics when we return home.

Today we left Anchorage around 7:30am (thanks to kids who were up at 6!) and headed north. We were lucky enough to get a few views of the top of Denali before it clouded in for the day. We stopped several times along the way and still made it to the park at noon.

After a quick picnic, we talked with some park rangers to get advice on safe places for just the three of us to hike, got our free national parks pass for military members (this is new and so, so nice!), and off we went. We drove into the park as far as personal vehicles are allowed (mile 15) and stopped at the Savage River Loop trail. There were plenty of other people around, and even some trail workers, so we set out on the two-mile hike along and across the river.

After nearly two days of saying how tired they were of being in the car, the kids finally GOT it. Got why I wanted to trek up here to visit Denali, even though we have mountains out our living room window. Attitudes turned, kids followed our hiking rules intentionally, and a certain 4-year-old even held my hand the whole way because he wanted to. The near-500-mile drive was worth just that one hour of being surrounded by enormous rocky outcroppings, types of wildflowers that we couldn't name (we usually know them all!), and a small but roaring river at our feet. We often joke that Alaskan scenery is like that movie "The Truman Show," in that it seems so perfect that at any moment it could just be rolled away like movie sets The drive here today was just that- huge, picture-perfect views making our car seem tiny in comparison.

We saw a caribou today. We decided he would have made good pepperoni and breakfast sausage. I think we may in fact be official Alaskans. We also saw a bull moose and a cute thing that looked like a prairie dog, although I'm sure it was something else.

We are staying at McKinley Creekside Cabins, which is even nicer than its website depicts. The kids are sleeping inside while I enjoy the view on he deck. Dinner was at the Denali Salmon Bake, which was also better than expected but still definitely a place for tourists.

Tomorrow we plan to hike some more (buying the kids new hiking shows yesterday has certainly helped their eagerness to hit the trails!) and maybe visit the park's sled dog kennel. Hooray for a day without driving very far!

Photos: from the South Denali viewpoint from the Parks Hwy., creek at our night's lodging, us on the Savage River trail, dinner.

Great Alaskan Road Trip: Day 1

Today we started at the beginning of the road (which most others refer to as the end!) and took our time driving to Anchorage. In just two months since we last made that drive, the scenery has gone from snowy with ice falls and avalanche warnings to mostly fresh spring green. We even saw newly-blooming lupine along the side of the road and a mama moose with two babies in the marsh.

We don't particularly enjoy Anchorage, mostly because it is a whole lot of city compared to our 1-stop-light town, but stopping over is a necessary evil for shopping and to avoid an extra long day of driving. We are staying in military lodging at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson for the first time. What a bargain! $41.50 for two bedrooms and a living room. Before settling in for the night, we ran off some energy at the indoor playground on base and then visited the commissary. We learned last summer to stock up on fruit, breakfast items, bread and pb&j, and snack food, along with a 2.5 gallon jug of drinking water to refill our water bottles to save money and restaurant hassle along the way.

Tomorrow it's off to Denali!! Pics below are Tern Lake at the intersection of the Sterling and Seward Highways, a view entering Turnagin Arm, and the Arctic Oasis playground. On the iPhone, so I can't caption them.

On the road again...

Wow.  A year ago right now, we were in the middle of our journey from Connecticut to Alaska.  The past year has flown by, and we feel completely at home in Homer.  So much so that I do believe we will be back for good once our Coast Guard ride is over.  Sorry, Mom(s).  But I think you knew this already.  

The past month has been a whirlwind, with the end-of-school activities, playground build, and lots of crazy ship logistics.  Today was our first regular weekend day in longer than we can remember.  The highlight of the past few months for me has definitely been the playground build.  Now we not only have a fantastic new place for the kids to play and spend time with their friends, but we also have lots of new friends of our own, met alongside table saws and paint brushes.  

It started as a forest of posts, 18 of which I helped set myself!

Last day of work

Complete, huge, and awesome.

We are finally greening up around town, with new baby moose wandering around and dandelions everywhere.  Two sets of moose twins were born in our neighborhood.  And after spending a winter's day at minus 26 degrees, 55 is t-shirt weather for sure.

Monday the kids and I are headed north for what we are calling our Great Alaskan Road Trip.  The LT (soon-to-be LTCDR-select!) can't get away from work, so we are going it alone.  We will be spending time in Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna along the way.  We haven't been further north than Anchorage, other than our drive in from Tok, so we are really excited to explore new-to-us parts of the state.  I downloaded the Blogger mobile app, so I should be able to give daily trip highlights along the way, just like we did last year with our drive from CT to here.  If you have been through or to any of the places we are headed, please leave us suggestions of your favorite pit-stops and attractions!

In the News...

Last week, both local Homer newspapers featured an opinion piece that I wrote, expanding on my last blog post about our new community playground. I've written plenty of blog posts, reviews, and even scientific journal articles, but that's my first newspaper appearance! Here's the link to my article.

Summer Adventures Begin at Home(r)

When we first moved to Homer, finding a playground was at the top of the kids' to-do list.  The closest one to our house is at Karen Hornaday Park, less than a mile away and a nice walking distance.  We made only one trip to that playground last summer, because once was enough to see that it just wasn't a fun place for small kids to play.  Many structures were missing pieces or just not built for little legs to climb (heck, I even had a hard time climbing up some of the ladders).  It was also very dirty, even by Alaska standards, with the base set in gravel and sand.  But the location is amazing- views of the bay and mountains, and right next to the hospital so kids can watch the helicopter come and go.  After emptying the gravel out of their shoes, the kids begged to go back to "the big Groton playground" that we used to frequent in Connecticut.  Um, that's 5,000 miles away.  Sorry.

A photo of the current playground, from the HOPP Facebook page

We went to a street fair later in the summer and were so excited when we discovered a fabulous group of community members there who were trying to raise funds for a new playground.  They sucked us in with tables full of bubbles and play dough and then told me all about their vision while the kids were occupied.  What a wonderful idea, especially for a town like Homer that has such a sense of community.  The Homer Playground Project (HOPP for short) raised funds all fall and winter, and now we're only a month away from "build week."  It's amazing to see SO many people from town get together to make something like this happen.  A design firm was brought in to plan the logistics.  It's the same firm that did the Soldotna Community Playground, about 75 miles from Homer, that my kids now frequently request to visit.  Still not quite close enough for an afternoon at the playground, but we'll stop by if we head up to do some shopping.

So, our first adventure of the summer?  Helping to build the playground!  The entire thing gets built in just one week, with about 100 people working each of three shifts per day.  We actually even cancelled a trip to Kodiak that I had booked for this week because we don't want to miss it.  Thanks to the playground design firm, HOPP has build week down to a science, from knowing how many hammers are needed to arranging volunteers for childcare (who will even be background-checked for safety) to securing food donations that provide each building shift with a meal and snacks.  It's a HUGE job to organize it all, and we've been helping out where we can.  The kids and I will be baking and freezing cookies for the snack table over the next few weeks.  I've signed up for a few building shifts.  The CGC Hickory is organizing a team to work some of the shifts as well.  We ordered our pickets so the kids will have their names on the playground forever.

Homer friends, here's the link to visit to find out how you can help out.  And believe me, if you don't sign up now, you wish you had when build week comes around and the whole town is buzzing with excitement!

Surviving Our First Homer Winter

It's been so long since I've updated the blog that you may think we got buried by a blizzard.  While that is technically true (more than once, in fact), we have officially survived our first Homer winter.  Honestly, at times it felt like the darkness and snow was swallowing up our days, but we managed to get out and enjoy lots of unexpected Alaskan winter surprises. Now that the days are (much) longer, we have a new appreciation for the extra hours of sunshine that we took for granted last summer.  While we still have a couple of feet of snow at our house (and about 7 feet at the top of the mountain behind town), we can feel spring coming in the mud puddles (ponds?) on the streets and the need for fewer layers of clothing.

This winter we learned that we had never truly experienced cold before.  We thought we had in New England, but Alaska was hit with an especially cold and snow season this year.  The entire month of January was spent below zero.  Sometimes TWENTY below.  For Homer, that's unusually cold.  We also had a ton of snow (maybe it followed us from Connecticut, where we had record snow last year?).  Anchorage is thisclose to getting record snowfall for the year.  Anything above 10 degrees now feels warm.  Crazy.  The LT escaped to Hawaii on the ship for "training" for seven weeks of winter, during which we had several back-to-back blizzards.  School closed once.  I learned to drive in whiteout conditions with drifted snow that felt like sand dunes.  I love my Honda Pilot.

Snowshoeing on Christmas...3 degrees

Post-blizzard Homer harbor

Right about the time that I couldn't take another morning spent plowing through the 5-foot drifts on our driveway and chasing hungry moose away from the preschool door, we joined The LT for a week in the sun in Honolulu.  What a fabulous family vacation...we lived in bathing suits and went through three bottles of sunscreen.

Top of Diamond Head

We went from a world of gray and white to Technicolor

All of the snow has its pluses.  Our whole family learned to cross-country ski this year.  Homer has a surprisingly fabulous network of groomed ski trails, with our favorite starting just 5 minutes from our house.  We also saw some spectacular sunrises (even if they weren't until after 10am).

Also a rarity for living this far "south", we we able to get the kids out of bed at night to see the Northern Lights.  Twice!  And I learned how to photograph them.  But photos don't begin to describe it.  You'll have to come visit in winter and see for yourself.

Now that we're back in the light, I have started planning our summer adventures.  We are already due to move again next summer, so we have to treat this summer like it could be our last in Alaska for quite some time.  The LT will be spending much of his time cooling off in the Arctic Circle (see this article and this article for more on that), so I will be going solo with the kiddos as the Adventuresome Three to see all that this huge state has to offer.  Stay tuned for our itinerary.