Denali, Talkeetna, Anchorage and Seward

Okay, I know that there are a lot of pictures on this post. However, we took over 1000 pictures on our trip. So, really, I've narrowed it down quite a bit! This post includes our trips to Denali, Anchorage and Seward. Enjoy!

Denali National Park

Drive to Wonder Lake

The Many Faces of Denali

More Denali Wildflowers

Mike and Kristie Having Fun

The Road to Wonder Lake

Denali Wildlife

Golden Eagle

Family of baby Ptarmigans (The Alaska State bird)

Mother Bear

Mother Bear and Two Babies

Caribou

Another Caribou

Coyote

Blurry Fox

Ms. Moose

Mr. Moose

Side trip to Talkeetna

Welcome!

Within 5 minutes, Mike finds an ice cream shop!

Within 5 minutes of getting his ice cream,

Mike finds a swing on which to eat his ice cream!

Talkeetna Flower Gardens

Talkeetna's Moose on Parade

Downtown Talkeetna

The Seward Highway

Our Drive to Seward

Buluga Point

Kristie braves the strong winds at Buluga Point.

Mike wants to see how cold the water is at Buluga Point.

Okay, it's cold! Very cold!

Mike wishes he had on long pants.

Temperature 52 degrees. Humidity 100%

Winds: 25 to 35 MPH

The view from Bird Point

The clouds hang very low along the coastline at Bird Point.

Alaska Railroad passes by at Bird Point.

Mike tries to stay dry.

After bird point, we drove to a lake along the Seward Highway.

The lake.

From the lake, snow is still visible on the mountains.

Mike looks for fish in this crystal clear stream.

Okay, this picture is out of order.

It was taken at Portage Glacier with heavy rain falling.

We did not see any fish in this stream.

The water is so clear that you can see the bottom!

Along the Seward Highway, we found this beautiful valley.

A walking path through the valley.

Of course, there were plenty of flowers in the valley.

And, of course, I could not resist taking pictures!

Okay, now's it's time for Portage Glacier pictures!

Portage Valley

Glacial Ice

Fog rolls into Portage Valley

Blue glacial Ice

Fog hangs over the lake in Portage.


Seward

Seward welcomes Mike and me!

Mike looks into the harbor for signs of whales.

A faint rainbow decorates the harbor.

Kristie discovers Sweet Darlings, a fudge shop,

and immediately determines she must go in.

She looks back to see if Mike is going with her.

5 pounds of Vanilla Walnut will do.

A sea otter munches on dinner.

A friend comes to join in on the fun.

The sun sets as we drive home from Seward,

which was a great end to a fun day.

Introducing....Zoee!

On Friday, Mike and I picked up our new kitten in Anchorage. She is from Cats Creation in Orlando, FL and is a Persian. When she was born, the breeder was not sure if she would live. After much prayer, God touched her little body and healed her. The breeder began calling her Miracle, because of the miracle God had performed in her little life. Mike and I have decided to add to the name Miracle. We are calling her Zoee, which in Greek, means life.

So, we are pleased to present little Zoee Miracle to you!

Mike and Kristie anxiously await for our new arrival!

Mike and Kristie hold Zoee for the first time.

Zoee plays and plays and plays!

Zoee explores the hotel room.

After exploring, Zoee takes care of business.

After all the excitement, Zoee is ready for some rest.

Zoee goes home to Fairbanks.

It Rained. Then, It Rained More...

On Friday afternoon, Mike and I packed the car with all of our fun camping gear and drove 2 hours south to Denali. We had visions of sunshine, warm weather, and loads of fun. What happened was almost directly opposite of our visions. We had lots of clouds, lots of rain and lots of cool weather. However, we still had loads of fun. We were able to get in a short hike, before one of the storms. We, also, cooked a dinner before another rain storm blew in. Finally, we played cards in our tent while staying dry. This morning, three days before we were to leave, we packed up all of our fun camping gear and drove back to sunny, warm Fairbanks.

After the Storm

The Hike

Denali Flowers