The Great Alaskan Adventure - Day 13

July 22, 2013 - Alyeska

Today we ventured off to Alyeska.   In the winter it is a ski resort and in the summer it is a huge mountain biking and hiking area.  We rode the tram to the top of the mountain and had a delicious lunch.  I would love to come back and hike to the top of the mountain!

View up from inside tram

View down tram line from top

Tram coming up

Ski Lift

Snow, in July???

Ski Runs

Andy's new friend

The Great Alaskan Adventure - Day 12

July 21, 2013 - Valdez

We packed up Sunday morning and headed back to Anchorage.  On our way home we stopped at
Thompson Pass. It  is a 2,805 foot-high gap in the Chugach Mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska. It is the snowiest place in Alaska, recording 551.5 inches of snow per year on average.

Then we stopped at Worthington Glacier.  It was a short hike to the glacier - Andy took off right away to climb, I had worn flip flops and didn't think I should climb, but the falls looked to beautiful I couldn't help myself!

I saw this sign on the way to Valdez and HAD to stop and take picture on the way home: 

The Great Alaskan Adventure - Day 11

July 20, 2013 - Valdez

We had originally planned on tent camping in Valdez, but Uncle Frank suggested we move to a cabin since it had been raining a lot lately.  Good idea Uncle Frank - we woke up Saturday morning to rain :(   Luckily it cleared up mid morning so we headed out to go fishing!

We must have been bad luck because Uncle Frank said he has never been to Valdez and not catch fish - until today :(  John did trick us and "catch" a fish head and Uncle Frank did catch a fish by the tail  - but we tossed him back.

We couldn't argue though - it was a gorgeous day just to sit by the water and the boys had fun.

The view from our cabin

Preparing the fishing gear

Falls behind the hatchery

Andy at the hatchery 

Fishing in Valdez

City of Valdez

The Luster Boys fishing

Luckily, while we were packing for our camping trip Drew was supposed to put some fresh salmon in  the freezer, but he put it in the cooler instead.  Which ended up being a good thing since we didn't catch a thing!

Preparing the fish!

Time for some campfire fun and smores!!!

The Great Alaskan Adventure - Day 10

July 19, 2013 - Driving to Valdez

Today after Aunt Angel got off work we started the trek to Valdez for our camping weekend.  Valdez is about 6 hours east of Anchorage.   The drive is absolutely gorgeous!  You actually get to see many different landscapes of Alaska.

Andy and his cousin Drew

Drew picking wild raspberries 

Bridal Veil Falls

Glacier!

Andy and Aunt Angel 

Horse Tail Falls 

The handy thing about being in the land of the midnight sun is you can arrive at the campground after 11pm and still have daylight to set-up camp!

The Great Alaskan Adventure - Day 9

July 18, 2013 - Anchorage

Today John, Andy and I went to the Anchorage Museum.  The museum had exhibits on art, history and science.   Of course Andy's favorite exhibit was the one about flight and science.

After we picked up Jack from camp we went to visit Aunt Angel at work.  She works at a Pepsi Distribution center - it was an awesome tour!!

Andy and his Dew!

In Alaska, some product is mailed out to the far out areas

Taking over Aunt Angels desk!

Before dinner we headed over to Uncle Franks car club- he has a sweet Chevy Bel Air -

After dinner we headed to Flat Top.  It was to late to hike to the top - but we were able to go up to the observation point.   The views were unbelievable!