Hiking in Eagle River

We decided to go hiking with our friend Amy in Eagle River. We went to the nature center and did a seven-mile trail. Three of these seven miles are part of a large trail, Crow Pass. This is a 26-mile trail with part of the trail gaining 4000 feet in elevation. A lot of people hike this in one day, a couple of days, and there's even a running race on this trail! Michael, Amy, and I would like to hike this trail, but in two days. That 4,000 feet elevation gain is a bit scary to me. Oh, and did I mention you have to cross a river...that is made from a glacier and can be waist deep?

A moose rubbing. We did get to see a male and female moose hanging in the woods as we were hiking. This kind of freaked us out because we did not notice them at first and they were pretty freaking close. Freedom smelled the moose. Her hair was standing up, but I don't think she located them. She is a moose barker...aka runs up to the moose and barks at it incessantly!

Some pretty trees

Amy and I at the river. We touched the river and it was cold! I am going to have to gain some weight so I can have some insulation before I cross that river!

Michael and Amy. Oh, and this is not the part of the river you cross when you do Crow Pass...

A grouse

The dogs had to be tied up while we took pictures. Freedom tried to follow us on the rocks, slipped, and got stuck in some rocks in the frigid water. Luckily, we saved her and she was okay. However, she had to be tied up after that!

Amy and me

Michael and the mighty mountain he climbed! :)

One of the trails was blocked off due to bears. We thought this sign was funny. Pay attention to the handwritten part.

A lone salmon

Me in a tree! :)

Labor Day Road Trip to Valdez

Over Labor Day weekend, Michael and I both had 3 days off! (Gasp!) So we took off on a road trip to Valdez, AK. It is about a 5 hour drive from Anchorage. This was by far one of the most beautiful drives we have ever taken in our lives and that says a lot seeing that we have driven cross country twice!

Michael in front of an ice cave at Worthington Glacier! We really wanted to go inside, but we were too scared that it might crack on us! :0


Me standing near the glacier with part of Thompson Pass in the background

Yum, glacier ice! (Don't worry, I really didn't lick it!)

Look at me, I am man! Rarrr!

Us!

We just slept in our Durango during this trip. Of course, the dogs were with us too, so all four of us cuddled up together at night! Something I learned about car camping is that you always need to crack the windows! Otherwise, you run out of oxygen...not good! (Note: Michael already knew this, just forgot about cracking the windows before we fell asleep...this could be due to the wine we were literally swigging out of the bottle right before we passed out!)

Is this not one of the most beautiful landscapes you've ever seen?

And photos don't even do it justice...

This is part of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. There are only two roads that go into the park. They highly recommend that you carry a good spare tire because you will most likely get a flat driving the 100-mile gravel road! We opted just to look at the park from the main road!

We went hiking in Keystone Canyon. It was about a 4 mile hike through a beautiful forest. This is Bridal Falls behind me.

As we were hiking, we came across a few piles of bear scat. One of the piles was still oozing! That freaked us out a little bit. Luckily, we had bells (to let the bears know that we were coming through) and bear spray. I think we both would have felt a little better if we had a gun, though. I'm not sure how much I trust that bear spray when it comes to a giant grizzly! No worries, though! We never "saw" the bear...that doesn't mean that the bear didn't see us, but we didn't see or meet him so that's all that matters! :)

Valdez Glacier

This is a salmon viewing area. As we were watching the salmon swim upstream, a small black bear came out! I freaked and started to look for mama! She never showed up...Michael thought this bear was too big to still be with its mom. It was pretty awesome to see this bear try to catch some salmon. As soon as the bear tried to get some food, the salmon swam the other way in a hurry! I would hate to be a salmon. What a tiring life!

The salmon trying to swim upstream. All this just to lay eggs and die. *sigh* Thank God I'm not a salmon!

Valdez

Horseshoe Falls on the way to Valdez

The falls

Bridal Falls

Matanuska Glacier

This was such a great trip and I'm so glad we did it! When you come visit us, I highly recommend you make this drive. Absolutely breathtaking!

They grow 'em bigger up here in Alaska...

Our fair crew: Michael, me, Kris, and Nick! Michael had to work at the fair a few days because the Marines had a booth set up. This night we were able to steal him and he could hang out with us doing fair stuff! :) Also, this fair was actually kind of small. I thought it would be a little bigger, but I guess in a state that only has a population of 400,00, the fair is not going to be that huge!

Us trying out one of the few alchohol tents! ;)


Kris and I petting the baby chicks. I must say that NC State does a much better job in this department! Holla to all of my poultry peeps! :) Hahahaha!


This goat was tired of her hay and wanted some variety in her diet...or maybe she was annoyed with her sign!

This is Ms. Piggy. She weighs 950 lbs.

This was an award winning fungus. I took this picture for Roy because I know he likes mushrooms!

A giant rutebaga

The award winning pumpkin

The record breaking cabbage

Another rutebaga

Captain Phil from "The Deadliest Catch"

Giant watermelon

Now that's a big cabbage!

Award winning zucchini

Housewarming Party

You all know us, and you know that we love some parties! So, of course, we had to have a housewarming party and what better way to celebrate than to have an 80's themed party! Whoop whoop!! We had such a great time and I think every party should be themed! Here are some of the best pics from the party. I really hope that our new neighbors do not think that we always dress like this! hahaha!

Michael and me at our party! Michael is supposed to be Chet from "Weird Science", but he got annoyed with the flannel sleeves and ripped them off. So does that make him an 80's redneck? hahaha!

Two of the girls I work with at the moment, Renae and Katie.

All of the girls at the party.

This guy is totally straight! I love him and am so glad he's our friend!