Monday, July 18, 2011

Alaska Part 1

Yay!!  I'm so excited to get some of these up!!  I took around 2000...yes 2000...pictures!!  I ONLY downloaded about 1500-I think.  So I have finally found the time to edit some and post'em.  I hope you enjoy.  I have so enjoyed going back through my pictures and being in AWE at the beauty that Alaska has.  If you've never been, it needs to be on your list of places to visit. 
I went to Anchorage to visit my best friend from college, Julie and her family, Luke and Jackson.  Julie's parents were also there, they live in North Carolina, so it was so great to get to spend time with them too. 
These pictures are the first day and some of the second.


On the plane...do you know what this is??  Its the aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights!! Isn't that cool!!  I was so psyched when I planned the trip that I thought I might get to see them...in reality though....I didn't even know I saw them till I got the picture on the computer!!  Can you believe that!  This is probably somewhere over Canada on our LONG LONG Flight. It started completely dark and got lighter and lighter the closer to Alaska we got. By the time I got to Alaska around 1:30 their time, it looked like dusk or 9:00 Oklahoma time.
On the plane I also got to sit next to a real Eskimo!


We went to Earthquake Park the first day.  We saw Mt. McKinley (20,320 feet) from here!!  Mt. McKinley, is in Denali National Park and is about four-five hours away from Anchorage and you can still see how massive the Mountain is.  It is glorious! The 'smaller' one is Mt. Hudson (14,573 feet) and then the one on the far right is Mt. Foraker (17,400 feet).  Amazing!!

Mt. McKinley again.

On the trail in Earthquake Park.

One of my favorite shots.

Me and Julie

Jackson and Julie

We saw 5 moose while I was there...they just walk around town, and its a completely normal thing!  These two are young and we don't know where Momma Moose is.  Moose lose there antlers every year and then grow them back in the spring.



I don't know what Mt. range this is...just beauty though!


This was odd...look carefully, what do you see?
It's a car that's been buried on this beach!  We don't know if it came over the bluff or what, but it's upside down and shows the seat belts, wires, muffler, tires!  Crazy!


Our 2nd Day, we went to Girdwood.  We drove down the 1st or 2nd most beautiful highway in the nation!  This is Seward Highway, I think it ranks 1st or 2nd with Pacific Coast Highway in California.  Tough call, but both stunning!







We went to Girdwood on the second day and went to Alyeska Resort, where we went up the mountain on the tram.  So fun!  Alyeska Resort was so pretty and the really fun part...we saw some O-State Fans!!

One the Mountain, it was the last day for skiing.

Me and Peggy



We were really hoping to see a bear...this was the closet I came to one.  Julie and Luke have Bear Spray though...I so meant to take a picture of it...and somehow in all my 2000 pictures, I never did!

Still on the Seward Highway.  If you can see all the lines....those are from the drilling where they blasted the side of the Mountain to create the highway.

So many pretty waterfall along the highway.

And here are to the end of Part 1.  I have so so so many more pictures to process and then I will post some more.  Hope you enjoyed!

4 comments:

angie on maui said...

Wow, you captured some truly beautiful photographs! I have never been to Alaska before, but I hope to make it out there someday to witness this breathtaking beauty in person. It must be amazing to be surrounded by so much magnificent creation and feeling so insignificant, yet blessed, all at once!

Julie said...

Those are AWESOME!!! You really are talented. I can't wait to see more.

alayna said...

i skied Alyeska resort when i visited my friend my freshman year of college. so much fun! the seward drive is beautiful! so glad you had a great time....can't wait to see more.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Lance got me a new camera for mt bday. Can't wait to use it this week. You'll have to give me lessons. Looking at your pics makes me really excited about what we are going to se.