North to Alaska--Highlights

As many of you know, David and I, along with 

my siblings and their spouses 

try to take a trip each year together.  

This year the trip was to Alaska.

Unfortunately, my brother Lynn

and his wife Terry were not able

to get away from jobs this year,

so they didn't get to go with us.

I am definitely not the pro-photographer

of the trip.  That distinction goes

to my brother-in-law, Randy.

But here are a few of the highlights

from my camera.

Note:  The pictures loaded in a crazy

order, so I will jump around

with the highlights.

A huge highlight that happened early in the trip
was the actual sighting of Mt. Denali.
I know it says Mt. McKinley on the sign,
but the name has officially been changed
to the Native American name of Denali.
We were told that 70% of visitors never see the
mountain because it is usually veiled in clouds.
We felt blessed to be in the lucky 30%.
This picture does not do it justice.
It was an awe inspiring sight.
It brought my sister, Kim, to tears.
Those of you who know her, know that is not
an unusual occurrence.  :)

We loved wandering the little towns of
Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan and
seeing unusual sights like this little
car with the top hatted driver.

The flowers in Alaska are amazing.
This Texas girl thought everything was
bigger in Texas, but Alaska flowers
proved me wrong.

Traveling with this guy is always fun!
The first couple of days, we had
drizzle, which we expected the entire
trip, but we were blessed with beautiful
weather the rest of the time.

This was the sight flying into Fairbanks.
I was amazed at how green everything was.

Our favorite excursion was "The Deadliest Catch".
We had never seen the TV show, but were fascinated with
learning all about how fishermen work.
The crew was fun and made us feel like
family.  And they provided me with my
favorite moment on the trip.
We stopped in a secluded bay and were
suddenly surrounded by what seemed like
hundreds of Bald Eagles.
And it was the Fourth of July!
What a way to celebrate America!!!!

This was the first morning of our trip.
This is a great group to travel with!
For those who don't know my family, from left to right
Randy, Kim, Terry, Gail, me and David.
We thought about photoshopping in
Lynn and Terry

This is a reindeer that we saw on
our first excursion.  We learned that
reindeer and caribou are the same
except that reindeer can fly.
(actually reindeer are domesticated)

This is the Alaska Fireweed.
It is everywhere and grows taller
than my sister-in-law, Gail.
For those of you that know her,
you will realize that is not all that tall.
Just kidding, Gail.
It is one of the first plants that
returns after a wildfire.

This is one of the fishermen from the Deadliest Catch
Excursion.  He had as much or more fun than
those of us who were on the tour.  

Another view of Denali.
When we got to the Lodge, you could not see the mountain.
One of the amenities of the Lodge is that if you request it,
they will give you a wake up call if the mountain decides to
show itself. We had just gone to bed at about 10:15 and it
was still daylight outside when the call came.
This picture, however, is the morning after
when Denali was still showing all of its glory.

This picture was taken at about 9:30 p.m.
I LOVED it being light all the time.
I'm sure that I wouldn't appreciate the winter
darkness though.

Another flower picture.
I was captivated!

This is a beautiful Athabaskan Indian
in her summer parka.  She was delightful.

Alaska was more than I ever expected!
God definitely used his paintbrush
in that beautiful land.