TR: 4 Adults, 3 Kids, 2 B-days, and our 1st family DL Trip! 5.25 - 6.1! (**Updated 7/7!**)

So beautiful! Oh my goodness I cannot imagine what it must feel like to witness the northern lights in person. Thank you for sharing these!
 
Thanks for posting the Alaska pictures - very cool! Just seems like such a foreign place to where we live, and seeing pictures like that almost makes it seem like out of a movie
 
Joining in a bit late, but loving all your photos. They are spectactular!

Welcome! Thank you so much!

So beautiful! Oh my goodness I cannot imagine what it must feel like to witness the northern lights in person. Thank you for sharing these!

Thanks! It is a pretty cool experience, definitely one I recommend if you ever get the chance :) Even though I've seen them from around our home, I'd love to go to Norway and see them. I'm in a few Facebook groups for Northern Lights pictures or info and the photos from the Norwegian posters are just breathtaking. You are very welcome!

Thanks for posting the Alaska pictures - very cool! Just seems like such a foreign place to where we live, and seeing pictures like that almost makes it seem like out of a movie

You're welcome, and thanks! There is so much to explore outside of the Anchorage area, you can go from driving down your every day busy road lined with McDonalds and Walmarts to gorgeous winding roads along water with mountains in ten minutes. I picked a bunch of photos from places we've been around the state on our summer adventures from the past years too.
 


Next set of pics are from the Summer of 2011 :) My great grandmother taught in a small village along the peninsula in the 40s and 50s, her oldest son (my great uncle) fell in love with both flying AND a Native Alaskan girl and stayed to start an airline and a family. Both of which have greatly grown over the past 60 years. Her younger son (my grandpa) moved back to WA but always had a large spot for AK in his heart and when he passed away in late 2010 he wished to be buried up here out in the village.

Like many areas up here, it isn't accessible by roads. Air travel is a very common way to get around, but many of the villages and communities are small and limited in resources compared to the bigger cities like Anchorage. It takes two flights to get there, the airport in the village is a short gravel strip runway with a small building at one end. I want to say the biggest planes they can land up there seat around 9 people. There are around 70 people who live there currently and salmon fishing is the main source of income. They have no stores so all of their food, clothing, etc. are flown in (at the nearest town with a store, you can expect to pay around $10 a gallon for milk). There is a church and a small school as well, and possibly a post office.

I didn't get the building in the pic, but this is part of the runway:
IMG_4646-2.jpg

A couple pictures of the village, the second is a pic of the old cannery:
IMG_4674-2.jpg

IMG_4657-2.jpg

You know you're in rural Alaska when...

IMG_4697.jpg

On our way back to Anchorage we took a detour to fly by Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain peak in North America. I took a bunch of pictures out the window:

Alaska range

IMG_4901.jpg

Top of Mt. McKinley

IMG_4915-2.jpg

Right before I had to put the camera down and grab the paper bag...:scared1::rotfl:

IMG_4909.jpg

All in all a really fun trip to take though, not only to see where my family has such strong connections to but to see how life is away from the city! Anchorage is definitely small compared to Seattle but there are malls and buildings over 2 stories high, and busy roads with stoplights and many stores and restaurants found everywhere in America. Driving in town it often is no different than most cities, except maybe the moose crossing the roads at their own leisure from time to time ;-) Out in these small villages it is a completely different world!
 


Love the photos! Especially the bear one!
 
Love the photos! Especially the bear one!

Thanks! We've had signs posted in our own neighborhood back in Anchorage about bear sightings too. I've never seen one outside of the zoo, but plenty of people do. A friend of my Aunt just had a really close and scary encounter with a very ticked off brown bear earlier this summer while hiking in a really popular area. I'll stick to hiking through Target (kidding...mostly....:rotfl2:)

Love the picture of your girls! How pretty!!

Thank you! I love that they are finally all at ages that it's getting *somewhat* easier to get a nice picture of all 3!

Boy, if you would fly in that plane, you are more brave than I am !!!!

That isn't even the smallest plane I've flown in! We were in a 9-seater when we flew out there, but I've been on a couple of flights in a 4 seater. Not my preferred method of travel, but I had a lot less anxiety about it than I thought I would.
 
DH and I definitely aren't against outdoor activities, but we haven't gotten into as much hiking or camping yet despite living in a great area for it. I imagine we will more and more as the girls get older though. One of the little hikes we have done several times is up near Flattop Mountain, about a 15 minute drive from our house. I posted a picture of the mountain at night above with the Northern Lights photos, but here's the mountain during the day:

IMG_3409.jpg

If you look about an inch up from the bottom of the picture in the middle there's a grass clearing between the trees and the base of the mountain with a few hikers there. When the girls are older, we'll be able to go to the top with them but they are still a bit too young.

Another view just to the left of the above picture:

IMG_3361.jpg

This trail is called Powerline Pass. It's an old service road where the power lines go over the mountains - we haven't gone too far on it, but I know it is quite popular year round (good for mountain biking in the summer and cross country skiing when there is snow). That's me in the pic too! I'm not often in front of the lens, but DH had the camera here ;-)

IMG_4634.jpg

Finally, this area is also a great lookout point over the entire city and beyond - you can even see Mt McKinley and Mt Foraker (3rd highest peak in AK) in the background :)

IMG_4654.jpg

There are plenty of other gorgeous hikes to take too, but this is certainly one of the more popular areas and so close to the city so it makes for a super easy activity.
 
Last edited:
So pretty! My DH would love the hiking. He and our son are going backpacking two weeks before us girls go to Disneyland. It's beautiful countryside.
 
Chapter 10: Baymax Balloon! Baymax Balloon!

Switching back over to our Disney trip because I'm finally getting around to uploading the video of YDD getting her Baymax balloon! Even just waking up she's quite the character ;-)

 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top