First Visitor in Alaska!!

We had the pleasure of my mom flying in to visit us this last week.  

It's hard planning a trip for someone special who is only staying a week when you want them to see EVERYTHING you've gotten to see.  

I'd say she got a pretty good look at what Alaska has to offer.  

The weather didn't cooperate most days, but we still had a blast and many memories for a lifetime.  

Day 1: My Birthday!!

We took a drive down to Seward, AK.  Of course we had to stop to get "special" coffee at a coffee hut on our way out of town.  Alaska has more coffee huts than any other state per person.   

We took a hike up the Turnagain Arm trail to catch a view of the Arm from up above.  

Once we got to Seward, we walked around the small town a bit to check out the shops.  Their local library has a video daily about the effects of the Big Earthquake in 1964.  

We took a second hike of the day to Exit Glacier.  

We stayed in a unique apartment in downtown.  It was fun to have space to move about and not be shoved in a tiny little hotel room.  We had our own kitchen, and got to cook a meal together.  My mom surprised me by making a pineapple upside down cake that she hauled all the ingredients for in her suitcase from Iowa.  

Day 2: Boat Tour of Kenai Fjords National Park

Lots of wildlife.  Orcas, Humpback whales, Puffins, Sea Lions, and one GIANT glacier.  

Day 3: Spend the day in Anchorage

Biked along the coast.  Special visit from a Moose.

Day 4: Attempt to climb Flat Top Mountain, but the snow put a little damper on things

Day 5: Pete was gracious enough to drive us to Denali, even though he had to come back for work. On our way up there we hiked to Thunderbird Falls

Day 6: Tour of Denali

Day 7: Train home from Denali

The trip went way too fast!! But it was very much needed to have some family come visit.  Looking forward to our next guests coming in about a month!!