North to Alaska

September 30th

That's the song that kept running through my head the whole way there. Johnny Horton's ballad. I flew to Alaska by myself for three days to visit my brother and my 4 legged niece Belle. The flight up there was long but beautiful. I watched the moon rise on one side of me and the sun set on the other. The weather man had been calling for rain for the extent of my stay.....but I think God must have known the severity of my disappointment had it rained.....so I got to experience 3 clear beautiful days in the North Country.

I had the pleasure to see Alaska and all of it's magestical grandeur. There are no small words to describe it. It's nothing short of spectacular. There isn't a direction you can turn that isn't meant to be in a calendar. It's a photgrapher's fantasy. And to top it all off.....I saw everything in the fall...the most manificent, colorful time of year to visit.......and cold.

The shot below was the first shot I took of the day. I knew it was going to be a wonderful day. We went down south to Whittier (which is a little town on the coast full of boats) The drive down there was just amazing. After that we drove up and went over Hatcher's Pass. Now, if you have ever seen the "Sound of Music" it reminded me so much of some of those scenes....and I felt like singing like Julie Andrews the whole time. Again...just amazing. In one I day I went from the ocean to the top of the world.

The next day was spent on a 4-wheeler through the brush in the mountains.....just like the below photo. It was muddy and gross and sooooo much fun. My brother lost his wallet which was found my a fellow mountainier the following day....after he had already cancelled everything. And even though my brother thinks I'm a yuppy....I'm not afraid to get dirty.

The following day we didn't have much time to go to very far ....... but we went hiking for the morning. We saw some wild moose and let me tell you....they are MUCH bigger in real life than what you might think. Some of the trails were closed do to bears in the neighborhood....I was less than thrilled about that as I really don't think it as being adventurous if you end of getting eaten by a bear. The below was in the middle of the trail in one of the clearings....once again...amazing!

And this is my studly outdoorsy brother, Sean (as requested) and his dog Belle. Thanks Seany for having me. I had a wonderful time.

I couldn't post all the pictures here. That would take WAY too long, so I put them in a gallery for your viewing pleasure. Just click the link. http://www.flickr.com/gp/8125773@N08/0xy362

If you choose the detail link in flickr (next to the word "thumbnails") at the top you are able to view them bigger or you can also watch them in a slide show.