ALASKA

Tyler and I really wanted to go to Alaska and decided we were going to go, so... we bought our tickets in April! When we bought them, it felt like the trip was never going to happen, but then July 7th came around. We woke up around 5:00 am so we could leave by 6:30 am and not get into any traffic on the way to the airport. We got through security pretty fast and then had to wait about 2 hours for our flight to Los Angeles. We were going on our first airplane trip together!! :)

We had two connecting flights to Anchorage. It was a lot cheaper to do two layovers than a straight shot flight. It takes a lot longer though to do the layovers. You become tired of it after a little bit. Having to get on the plane and then get off, finding where your next flight departs, getting on and getting off again, finding where your next flight departs. If you want to save money and you don't mind all of the stops and having to board a plane a couple of times, then go for it.

My advice would be to just save and spend the money for a flight with no layovers, if that is possible. It will be more enjoyable.

On our way back, there was a flight that was going straight from Anchorage to Salt Lake City. Tyler checked to see if we could get on that flight and we could have for $50 more, but since we bought our tickets through Vivint Perks, they wouldn't let us. We will not be buying our tickets through Vivint Perks again.

Our first flight was a little over an hour from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. When we got to Los Angeles we had to find where our flight to Seattle was departing. It was on the other side of the airport. We had to go downstairs and go through some tunnels they had there and then go back upstairs to where our gate was.

Food at the airport is pretty expensive. I was craving a breakfast sandwich on our way back from Anchorage, but it was at least $10 at every food place for a breakfast sandwich. I was not going to pay that. They are able to make everything expensive because people can't buy food anywhere else. They would have to go through security again to get food somewhere else.

Our second flight was almost two hours from Los Angeles to Seattle. Our last flight was 3 hours from Seattle to Anchorage. Our first flight left at 11:00 am and we arrived in Anchorage at 9:00 pm. Our Aunt and Uncle, Denise and Kevin, picked us up at the airport. It was still light as day when we arrived at 9:00 pm. The sun doesn't go down until around midnight. It was very different and you stay up later than normal.

That first night, they took up to a fish hatchery there and we were able to see some King Salmon there. They were HUGE!

We went to bed around 11:00 pm that night. We had to wake up at 4:00 am the next day to make it to Seward. We were going on a Kenai Fjords cruise and kayaking trip. The drive down to Seward was very pretty and we were right next to the ocean.

The drive was about 2 hours and we departed on the cruise at 8:30 am. They gave us a complimentary small breakfast on the cruise of cinnamon rolls. It was weird being on the open waters on a boat because I haven't been to the ocean too many times in my life let alone been on a boat in the ocean. We saw where their prison was and sailed in between the mountains they had there for about an hour to an hour and a half before we docked and got off to go kayaking. Only a few of us got off at Fox Island. Everyone had different packages they were doing.

We met our kayaking guides and started signing paperwork and getting on our gear to kayak. There was one other family of 6 that was kayaking. We put on a skirt type thing, a life jacket and boots. The skirt would go around the hole we sat in in the kayak so no water would get on us or in the boat. They told us/gave us a demonstration of what to do and what not to do. We rode in a tandem kayak. I was in the front (so I could take pictures :) ) and Tyler was in the back. He controlled the steering with pedals.

Kayaking was AMAZING! We kayaked next to the coast. We saw a waterfall, sea stars (starfish) and puffins!

It was so beautiful. The water was so calm and everything was so pretty. We turned around the corner of the cove and the wind started hitting us. We had to paddle a lot. It started to hurt my shoulders and my neck. It got to a point where we had to turn back because the wind was so hard. It was okay because it was almost time to turn back anyways. Once we turned around the corner of the cove to go back to shore, the water was calm. I loved just sitting there. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

The other guide let us go pick blueberries in the woods.

We paddled to the shore and she pulled us up onto the rocks. The blueberries were tart and good, but I wouldn't eat a lot. Tyler is a different story. He LOVES blueberries and was eating more than me. The ground was so squishy to walk on. There was a lot of moss. We then got back into our kayaks and paddled back to where we got in.

Once we got back on shore, we got to have our buffet that was provided. I was so excited for the buffet. They had grilled salmon, prime rib, vegetables, salad, mashed potatoes and rolls. It was delicious. I was expecting the prime rib to be like a steak, but it wasn't. It was still good though. I don't normally eat fish, but I tried the salmon since we were in Alaska. It wasn't bad. It tasted like tilapia. I wouldn't say fish is my favorite taste though.

We got back onto a boat and sailed around for about 2 more hours. We saw several whales that were breaching.

There were A TON of birds and puffins. We saw a lot of sea lions sitting on rocks, a few were swimming and we got to hear them roar.

It was crazy to see the ocean never ending. For me, being from Utah, it was awesome and scary at the same time because there was nothing there. I am used to mountains surrounding me.

After kayaking, Tyler and I were tired. I thought it was cool to see the whales and all of the other animals. Tyler was done right after the kayaking and I was done after about an hour of the boat. They gave us cookies and they were pretty good. The food they made on the boat always smelled so good and it wafted through the whole ship.

We arrived back at the harbor at about 4:30 pm and looked in the gift shop for a little bit and then headed back to Eagle River. I was SO tired and slept on the way back.

We went to see "Barbara Falls" with Kevin, Denise and Skyler. It is a local waterfall that they have.

The mosquitoes there attacked! I think I got like 10 mosquitoes bites from just being there for about 10 minutes.

It was Bear Paw days when we went down there. They had a parade Saturday morning that we went to. There were a lot of political floats. So many people were running for state senate. They handed out candy which I loved, of course. The booths that they had were PACKED! It was so busy. We went to the Saturday Market instead in Anchorage. It was less busy there and I bought a really cute T-Shirt. There were a lot of photography booths that had awesome pictures, but I figured I could print my own pictures that I take instead of buy one (unless I really loved it :) )

Eagle River has a nature center and it was so pretty! Proof:

Sunday we went to Hatchers Pass and the Independence Mine State Park. It was so cool! They had a little preview of the tunnels they were in and they were cold! It said they were about 38 degrees. I loved the flowers there too! I tried my best to get a picture of a bee on a flower.

Sunday night, Tyler and I, Kevin, Spencer and Skyler headed down to their cabin. I was so excited. I love cabins! It was about a 2 hour drive up there. The cabin was in Talkeetna, AK. We drove to the point where we had to ride the machines. They had two four wheelers and one three wheeler. We put on our waders and I put on a big jacket so I wouldn't get dirty. We sprayed ourselves with bug spray and were off. It sprinkled on us a little as we rode up there. The ride was SO MUCH FUN! There were a bunch of mud puddles and a couple streams that we rode through. Our surroundings were beautiful! It was so green.

After about a 50 minute ride, we made it to the cabin. I loved the cabin. We went to "the lookout" to see the river. If it hadn't have been cloudy, we would've been able to see Mt. McKinley. (We were able to see it the next day though) They had a big rope swing and the base that you swing from was probably 40-50 ft off the ground. I love swings so I climbed up there to do it. They gave me the rope and I looked down and got freaked out. It was so high up. I wanted to do it SO BAD, but I was scared! I ended up getting down. I was determined to do it though.

We played 48 in their cabin. It is a basketball game where one person shoots the ball and if they make it they get 3 points. If they don't make it, then the other players around the basket can tip it in and have a chance to shoot. The first one to 48 points wins. I was laughing so much! It was past 10:00 pm at that time and normally when it gets later, I get slap happy. We played Catan and it was my first time. It was confusing at first, but once I understood how to play, it was fun. I didn't end up going to bed until 2:30 am.

The next morning we saw Kevin's dad's cabin and I finally went on the swing! It was so much fun and not as scary as I thought it would be. You get very close to the ground and have to keep your feet straight or else you could hit the ground and it wouldn't be pretty.

I went fishing for my first time! Kevin showed me what to do and literally 3 seconds later I had a tug on the line. I had caught my first fish! It was a rainbow trout and a decent size. Catching a fish is a lot of fun. Waiting to catch a fish isn't as much fun. I didn't catch any fish after that. Tyler caught a little baby fish and then a bigger one. Kevin caught a big fish. We were in between salmon runs, so the salmon fishing wasn't very good when we were up there. I didn't mind though.

When we got back to the cabin, we packed up and headed back to Eagle River. The ride was similar to when we rode in to the cabin. There were a bunch of mud puddles that we rode through and we saw some bear and moose tracks. I would've liked to have seen a bear, but we didn't. We rode through some rivers and Spencer hid 3 times and scared us as we drove by.

I was sad to leave. I didn't want to go back to real life. Alaska was so beautiful and it was nice to take a vacation. Kevin and Denise dropped us off at the airport on July 11 and our flight left at 12:45 am on July 12. I was very tired and happy to not have anymore flights when we got to Salt Lake City.