Alaska!

Have you ever really looked at a United States map before and spotted Alaska at the top, by Canada? Well its one huge state.  Like one fifth of the U.S.  Every time I looked at a map, Hawaii and Alaska were at the bottom of the map as an afterthought.  Of course I knew where Alaska was, somewhere up North, but I had never thought of Alaska's size.  No, I didn't pay attention in Geography in school.  About one week before my husband and I flew there, I actually googled a map and finally had an idea about where I was visiting and how large the state actually is.  Yeah, I know I'm a little slow, but I'm the type of person who will only research places when I'm heading there.  Like, France is about 4,000 miles from Washington.  Like Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, not right next to California, which was the reason for a 5.5 hour flight on our honeymoon.  It just goes to show that these maps aren't too realistic and sometimes, you just won't find out things until you actually do them.  At any rate, Alaska was pretty sweet.  We were there from July 4th- through the 8th. The reason for the visit was my Brother's Wedding in Palmer, which is about forty five miles from Anchorage where we flew into from Seattle.  The flight was 3.5 hours and I captured some neat shots from the air.  Yes, I had a window seat. 

Somewhere over Washington? Lots of water, at any rate.

But before we took off, my husband and I ate lunch at Seatac airport at Anthony's.  I ate the Shrimp and Cheddar Melt and he ate the Fish and Chips.  I was glad we opted for a nice sit down lunch because it made the time while we waited for our flight more relaxing.  We usually just order something from the food court area and have to fight for a table in the middle of the airport.

It was gray and overcast when our plan was descending into Anchorage, but this view out my window was kind of cool.  My parents had told me how neat the mountains are, but I was still wowed and experienced a feeling of anticipation about what else I would see on our Alaskan adventure. 

When we landed, we grabbed our checked bags and met up with my brother and his fiance, who we were meeting for the first time.  They were getting married in a few days and were getting pretty giddy about their big day.  We drove to Palmer, where our family was renting a cabin.  The views on the drive were very pretty, a nice start to our trip and gave us the overall feeling of Alaska. 

The side view of the cabin we stayed at.  On our first night, we roasted marshmallows for s'mores in the fire pit in the backyard. 

The happy couple, my bro and my now sister-in law, roasting marshmallows and getting excited for their Wedding Day.

Although we were there for the Wedding, I got to have some authentic Alaskan experiences and was able to do some sightseeing in Anchorage, take a drive to Hatcher Pass, visit the Palmer Open Air Market, and even spend some time with our relatives in Anchorage who I hadn't seen in years. 

We got to see a Bull Moose! On the second night in Alaska, my Dad took my husband and I on a drive up Hatcher Pass, so we could possible spot a Moose.  The whole drive, my Dad kept his eyes peeled for one while he drove.  About two miles from our cabin, my husband with his amazing eye site, saw this moose along the side of the road.  The neat thing about Alaska in the summer is that it doesn't really get dark.  This moose shot was taken at 11 pm. 

My parents took my husband and I to Anchorage to check out the city.  A couple of miles or so from downtown is a Reindeer Farm where you can feed them.  I'd never seen Reindeer before and thought they was pretty exciting.  But no,  I didn't feed them because then my hands would have gotten dirty. No thanks!

On Friday after the Rehearsal Lunch at the Colony Inn Cafe, we walked the two blocks to the Palmer Open Air Market.  My favorite part was listening to a Blue Grass Band play and seeing this adorable dog, relaxing on stage next to the band.

I don't want to make this post super long, so I will do a post about the food I ate in Alaska next and then the Wedding part after that one.  Stay tuned!