Her flight didn't come in until late Friday night/early Saturday morning so our first real adventure day was Saturday. We all slept in a bit then grabbed bagels at our favorite Anchorage bagel shop in midtown before heading downtown to the farmers market. It was an overcast day and kind of breezy so we weaved our way through the booths for a bit then sought reprieve between the high-rises and snooped around the solstice celebration on 4th. After we grew tired of the crowds and the chilly temperature, we ran back home to pack up our stuff and head north to mammaw's! I was excited for Kara (the sibling) to see the beautiful scenery in the MatSu valley but a) it was cloudy and pretty socked in and b) she was pooped and ended up sleeping a good chunk of the drive. Oh well! Just another reason to get her to come back! We had dinner at mammaw's and took Remy on a walk around the "neighborhood" then played cards until late. It was nice to be able to show her where we spend our relaxing weekends in the woods!
We were treated to mammaw's special biscuits and gravy on Sunday morning then hopped in the car to head to Talkeetna for the day. It was a long drive made longer due to partial road closures because of the wildfire that has been ravaging the Willow area for the past week. Luckily it's all contained now but unfortunately a lot of damage was done. It was sad to drive past all the scorched trees and mounds of what used to be homes. Talkeetna was bustling due to it being both Fathers Day and the solstice. Garrett, Kara and I walked down one side of the main drag down to the riverbank then found a restaurant on our way back with a nice outdoor patio to eat lunch in the sunshine. We had delicious fish and chips made with Alaskan halibut and a salad with local veggies. We all also tried the beer brewed with fresh-picked Alaskan blueberries and it was the perfect touch to the meal. We sat around and chatted for a while and enjoyed people watching in the sunshine before we decided to head back to mammaw's. One of mammaw & Bills' neighbors live right on the edge of Cheri Lake and have a bunch of water toys such as kayaks, paddle boards and a paddle boat. Kara mentioned she wanted to try paddle boarding on a lake while she was here so I set out to make that dream a reality! She and I hopped in the paddle boat first while Garrett tried out the board. It was his first time and of course he was a natural! He went pretty far into the lake and only fell when he started to get adventurous. Luckily the lake is fairly shallow so it was warmer than the typical Alaskan glacier lakes, but the bottom of it is silty and gooey! His reaction to falling in (the few times that he did!) was pretty funny. I decided to give the board a shot even though I was wearing jeans but fortunately didn't fall in! The breeze didn't seem strong when we were in the boat, but it really pushed and pulled you around when you were trying to maneuver the board! I didn't stay out too long and convinced Kara to try it. She was a natural, too! It was fun to watch her try it for the first time and to see her enjoy it. We headed back to mammaw's for dinner then took Remy on another walk before playing cards on the porch for a while. It was the night of the solstice so we wanted to do something different and special at sunset, which wasn't to be until 11:46pm! Garrett brought his drone and Kara had her GoPro camera so we hooked them up to each other and Garrett flew it high above the house to record the sunset and how light everything still was at midnight. As much as I love daylight, it'll be nice to get back to having at least a few more hours of "night"!
Garrett took Monday off of work so we could do some more adventuring around the MatSu so we packed up our stuff and headed toward the Willow end of Hatcher Pass on Monday morning after thanking mammaw & Bill for a fun weekend. It was once again overcast but we hoped it'd clear up once we climbed higher into Hatcher Pass so Kara could see the amazing views. Unfortunately we just drove deeper into a thick, heavy cloud and didn't get to see much of the best parts of the area, but Kara was still impressed with the scenery. Everything was so green and lush! We took our time winding into the mountains and pausing here and there to take it all in. I guess she'll just have to come back to do that drive again, too! We popped out of the pass in Palmer and decided to grab lunch at the Colony Inn. It was delicious and not what we expected at all! I'd go back there just to have the meal I had again - so good! We then stopped at the Palmer Reindeer Farm so Kara could see a real-life reindeer! We did the whole tour and got to feed and pet a bunch of friendly reindeer and their babies. We also played with bunnies, fed grass to some elk, and tried to get Dolly the bison to eat some red cabbage before heading back to Anchorage via the Old Glenn Highway. Kara once again fell asleep during the ride but I don't blame her - there's something about that back seat! We went to the Moose's Tooth for dinner and definitely pigged out on the amazing pizza and some rootbeer floats. She was just as impressed with the pizza as we are!
Garrett had to go back to work on Tuesday but since I took the entire week off, Kara and I got to have some girl time. I took her downtown so we could do some shopping at the 5th Avenue mall and at the little shops near it. She treated me to lunch at Urban Greens (so good!) then we made our way to the mall where we spent hours and hours window shopping and day dreaming - just what we like to do! We casually stopped into one beauty product store called Lush and since the shop was slow, we got movie star treatment and were given a demo of their foot and skin products! We got scrubbed, massaged, and moisturized for free and had a great time doing it! Basically an entire pedicure but without the nail polish! We then had drinks on the roof of the Snow Goose in the sunshine then walked a good chunk of the Coastal Trail to Westchester Lagoon so she could see how cool Anchorage's geography is. The trail and parks were full of people biking, running, canoeing, roller blading, walking, and relaxing on the grass so it was a cool way to show Kara the culture of the city, too. We then weaved our way back to the car downtown then stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick ingredients up for dinner. We made shrimp pasta alfredo with garlic bread and sat outside on the deck resting our weary feet!
Wednesday got off to a late start but Kara and I grabbed breakfast at a cafe south of town before driving around some ritzy neighborhoods in Anchorage. We found some cool backroads that provided a great view of the ocean while high up in the mountains and happened upon some massive homes! Sometimes I forget how much money is hidden around this town. Then we traveled further south toward Beluga Point in hopes of seeing some beluga whales along the Turnagain Arm but unfortunately couldn't spot any. We clambered around on the rocks of the point and took some great pictures, though, so it was worth the trip. We drove back into Anchorage toward the Botanical Garden afterwards and took a nice walking tour through the beautiful flower beds. Kara had her fancy camera with her so we spent time photographing the various types of intricate plants bathed in the midday sunlight. For lunch, we went to Middleway Cafe in midtown and split a sandwich and had smoothies on the patio. It's amazing how much a meal costs when it's just two girls...much less than when Garrett and I eat out! My coworker Paige had a going away gathering downtown that evening so Kara and I went home to freshen up before heading back into town so I could say goodbye. It was nice for Kara to get to meet the people I work with! We didn't stay long due to it being a long day already and headed back to the house. Because it stays light so late, we all loaded up into the car once again and went to Kincaid for a bit to show Kara the awesome forest/desert/jungle/mountain terrain of the park! It was windy but still fun!
Thursday was the longest day by far! Kara and I had to get up at 4:30am to be at the train depot downtown by 5:30. We boarded the big, blue Alaska train headed toward Seward and were excited for the journey that awaited us! We had comfy seats on the main level of the train but quickly discovered that there was open seating on the second level of a different car with way better views! We snuck up there for the second half of the four hour journey and saw plenty of moose, a few glaciers, and gorgeous views of the mountains. We arrived in Seward at about 11:00 and started hoofing it from the train station to "downtown" where I know all the shops and restaurants were. We had lunch at a quaint but extremely overpriced cafe then browsed some giftshops before heading to the SeaLife Center to check out the exhibits. We saw seals, sea lions, octopus, a ton of sea birds, starfish, anemone, salmon, and walked through a cool shark exhibit. It was way nicer than I thought it would be! It was a cold and windy day in Seward so we ducked in and out of more giftshops before finding a nice coffee shop to hunker down in for a while. The train back to Anchorage didn't board until 5:00 so we had a lot of time to kill and not much to do. I'm pretty sure we went into every store downtown before slowly making our way back to the depot. We walked back along the harbor toward the marina hoping to spot seals or otters but the water was too choppy to see much. We walked along the boardwalk and oohed and ahhed at the fancy yachts and fishing boats before boarding the train for the long journey back. We broke up our seating arrangements during the trip by spending some time on the second level with the views, had dinner in the dining cart, had a drink in the loft in the bar cart, then found a table in a cart without many people but with a great view of the water for the rest of the ride back to Anchorage. We were so tired by the time we got home! Kara took some great pictures, though, and it was nice to have so much time to catch up.
Friday was Kara's last full day and we wanted to drag it out as long as possible. The two of us had breakfast at House of Bread then went next door to a shop where you pick out and paint ceramic pieces that you can take home! Kara painted a cute sugar bowl and I picked out a set of measuring spoons. It took quite a while to paint them and unfortunately they won't be ready for 7-10 days, but it'll be a fun thing to ship to her when the time comes! We headed to Pro Nail in midtown for pedicures afterward and had an amazingly relaxing experience! The women that treated both of us were great and did such a good job. I'd go back again in a heartbeat! We drove around midtown and Spenard for a while afterwards before heading home to change for our fancy dinner reservation downtown at Sullivan's. We got all dressed up and had a delicious (& extremely expensive!) dinner complete with drinks, appetizers, and an extravagant main course. It was a really fun meal and I was happy to spend the time with both Kara and Garrett. We chickened out on dessert and instead stopped at Tastee Freez on the way to Kincaid after stopping at the house to change out of our fancy clothes. We went to a different entrance to the park and walked around for a bit, enjoying our last evening together. I didn't want it to end!
Kara's flight left at 12:30pm on Saturday so we got a few hours together in the morning. We went to the bagel place again because she liked it a lot then went to Target for a couple travel items she needed. We showed her the neighborhoods we're interested in then had to come home so she could finish packing her things. The morning went so quickly and before we knew it, we were saying "see you later" at the security line in the airport. It was really hard to see her go but because Garrett and I will be back in Montana in September, it wasn't as difficult to say goodbye as it was last fall. The week went way too quickly but I guess that's what happens when you're having fun! I'm hoping she'll come back again soon because there's still so much to see and do here!
