dodging jack frost

September 24, 2013

Day: 23

Total mileage (car): 3919

Total mileage (with ferry): 4764.5

From Fairbanks we headed out for Denali National Park.  It was cold.  Really cold.  Dipping down into the single digits Night One, we were all very thankful for our heater.  And for a husband who braves the cold to make sure it works properly.  We had a quick view of Denali miles before the park- once we neared the sky clouded over and she hid away from us.  I read a statistic that only 30% of the people that visit Denali actually get to see it.  I feel fortunate.

Me and my man

My men prepping for a fire.

An evening stroll before dinner.

Mama time while making spaghetti

We survived the night and awoke to a fresh layer of snow on the ground.  Just spectacular!  Mama and Dada made an executive decision to start heading south - winter was quickly chasing us.  Traveling with Children 101:  22 month olds don't last long in 10 degree weather with wind blowing.  We did manage a drive out to Savage Creek in the snow and saw a massive bull moose.  I'd say it was well worth the trip.  Sometimes just being there is what it is all about.

Waking up to snow!

The Big Girl loves the cold.



Just precious.

An hour or so down the road, we pulled off at Byers Lake.  We headed out to circumnavigate the lake.  Our boy hiked the first 1.5 mile - in less than an hour.  Rocky, tree root filled terrain and he hiked like a champ.  I really believe he would have kept going had we let him.  Mama and Dada wanted to get their hike on.  On the far side of the lake, we came across the freshest evidence of bears we have seen yet!  Bear scat and fish heads scattered the trail every 10 or so feet.  Bear spray in hand, we charged forward.  Sadly, we didn't see any bears this go around.

Our energizer bunny

Views of the Alaska range- on a clear day you can see Denali.

Hard to tell- but the winds are a-blowin'!

Back in the truck, we headed south to Talkeetna.  A rad little town, we splurged on reindeer meatloaf at the local brewery, drank the local brew and popped the top for the night.

The sun rose, the sky cleared a bit and we enjoyed an epic display from the mountains:

Denali is behind the big white puff on the right.

Scoping it out.

Talkeetna is a cute little town....the bumper sticker really says it all:



Nice.

Downtown Talkeetna.

Black John's Cabin.



I can't get enough of this toddler!

Traveling with Children 101:  Explore the local playgrounds. The one at Talkeetna was really quite impressive and we spent a chunk of time there messing around with Colter.  Great times.  Awesome memories.



Park fun!

We checked into our first hotel in 3 weeks - the Westmark in Anchorage.  And just because we are going for the true Alaskan experience, the Westmark is a chain found only in Alaska and the Yukon.  Cool, huh? :)  We had a great view from our balcony.

A perfect view of Denali 125 miles away!

 We strolled down to the shore to watch the sunset over the water.  It felt great to be back in the "warmth".



Sunset in Anchorage.

Goodnight!