Alaska!

Six years ago my sister Lois and her husband Jim bought a house in  Fairbanks, Alaska. They travel there quite frequently and have always said that we should go along with them sometime. We agreed that would be a fun thing to do but as is often the case "life got in the way." The airline tickets were expensive and we didn't really see how I could leave the store for an extended period of time.

Earlier this year at one of our Wednesday night suppers, Josh made the comment that we should go to Alaska this year. We kind of brushed it off but it did get us thinking about it again. Eventually, plans fell in place and we purchased the tickets in May for an August 1-8 trip. The employees agreed to step up and cover for me and it seemed like everything was working out. 

Then Steve had his heart attack and it looked like our plans would be foiled. However, since he was able to avoid open heart surgery, the doctors said that as long as he felt well enough there was no reason for him not to go. Ironically, I also was dealing with a rapid heart beat and until I got checked out for that, we were unsure about traveling. Thankfully, my issue was taken care of with medication and on August 1, we boarded a plane with Jim & Lois for Alaska.

It was a wonderful week. We did some sightseeing around Fairbanks and Steve and I took a day and drove two hours to Denali State Park in the hopes of seeing the great mountain. It was a cloudy day and the buses were full that take you part way up the mountain so we were unable to visibly see it, but honestly we didn't really care. We spent quite a long time in the visitors center and probably learned more about the mountain than we would have if we had ridden the bus. 

Steve and Jim drove 4 hours one way to go salmon fishing for 8 hours. It was expensive and a long way to go and by the time they got back, both were exhausted but Jim caught a king salmon so I guess it was worth it. 

Alaska has a lot of wildfires that basically they just let burn, unless they get too close to civilization.  They were close to Fairbanks when we were there and we had 3 days of heavy smoke. You could smell smoke even in the house and visibility was not very far. I was a little concerned and Jim said he had never seen anything like it, but there never seemed to be any danger of an evacuation so we just put up with it.

We also had plenty of time for relaxation. Lois & I put a puzzle together, played Scrabble and read books. For the most part we just enjoyed spending time together. It was just what Steve and I needed--a restful and rejuvenating week. (Although I will say that I don't recommend taking a red-eye flight home. That was a little brutal.)

Here are some pictures of our week.

Flying over the Rockies was beautiful. Of course the picture doesn't do it justice.

View from Jim & Lois' deck

Pipeline - I remember when it was being built 45 years ago

A cute place to visit. Lots of Christmas stuff.

Riverboat tour

On the boat

These planes are 50 years old and they still use them daily. They are great for fighting fires and also delivering items in the winter to those who can't get out.

Home of Susan Butcher who won the Alaskan dogsled race 4 years.

Reindeer

The only moose that I saw. Steve saw some when he and Jim were traveling to salmon fish, but he didn't get a picture of them

Beautiful scenery near Denali State Park

Jim's king salmon

Jim & Lois' house

Dense Smoke

We are very thankful that we could make this trip. The employees did a fantastic job of covering the store. A very special thanks to Julissa for overseeing everything and making sure things went smoothly. Alaska is indeed a beautiful state and I'm glad we got to experience it for one week.