Another Vacation post (and still loads more to come)

The day after we got back from Fairbanks/Denali we just had a easy going day.  But the following day was a busier type day.  My mo, my dad, Ella, and I went to downtown Anchorage and hit the tourist trap to go shopping. You know the place where you go to get all of the cheap souvenirs to bring home for people.  That is where we went.  After shopping for a while we decided that we needed to go and get something to eat.  We went to one of my favorite places in Anchorage.  It was the first time that I have been there and I have been back several times since.  It is called Snow City Cafe and it is a breakfast/lunch joint that is just delicious.  My mom and I shared a meal which was a turkey sandwich on a crescent with soup.  My dad and Ella shared a meal which was a BBQ Meatloaf sandwich with soup and chips.  We decided to share because the adults were going out for a fun dinner that night.  We didn't want to be too full for that. After we ate we walked around some more then went home.  

Nate got off work and we drove to Girdwood to eat at the Double Musky which is a Cajun restaurant that has one of the best steaks in the country according to food network.  I did not get the steak but everyone else did.  I got shrimp.  It was a yummy plus loads of fun to just go out with the adults.

 The following day we packed the kids up and headed to Palmer to go to the reindeer farm.  It was a fun little visit.  It is rather small and I was wondering what we were actually going to be able to do there.  The farm has a tour you go on where you get to feed the reindeer.  It takes about 15 minutes and the tour guide offers you tid bits of information about reindeer.  

We also got to see a bison and a moose.  The little kids went inside of a caged in area and held bunnies.  There was also a section where you could feed some Elk.  It was definitely worth the drive out there.  As we were driving back to Eagle River we stopped at two different antique stores.  I picked up a vintage suitcase and some decorations for the girls birthday party.  I was surprised at how much the kids really liked  going to the antique stores.  

Also on the way home we dropped off the 3 older kids at people houses to do various activities while my mom, my dad, Ella and I went to the movie.  We went and saw the new superman movie.  I enjoyed that.  The pictures are out of order but you can still see what fun was had by all.

Vacation with my parents part 3... Denali National Park

After we left Fairbanks we drove south back towards Eagle River and stayed in the small town of Denali right outside of Denali National Park.  We stayed at a hotel that was a lot like a cabin.  It had 2 small rooms inside each big room that we rented.  The worst part was that they were full size beds.

 There was tourist trap shopping right across the street which is where we found our dinner for the night.

 The following morning we got up and went into Denali National park.  We drove up to the visitors center to have a look around.

 There was this fun bear that we all took turns sitting on.

 After the visitors center we drove into the park as far as you can.  Which is only 18 miles.  We got out of the car and did the little hike there.  It is a 2 mile loop which isn't too bad at all.  The worst part was that it was very, very windy.

 But it was a beautiful hike.

 Ella picked these wild flowers that were along the trail.

 On the way into the park we saw a Caribou. We pulled the car over for a while and watched it walking around eating.

 We also saw these two little guys, an Arctic Ground Squirrel and the state bird The Willow Ptarmigan.

 This is like a seagull but smaller I can't remember the name of it.  Tyler was obsessed and took like 20 pictures of this bird.

On the way out of the park we stopped and got our picture taken by the Denali National Park sign.  The sad news for us was the we couldn't even see the Denali Mountain.  Only 30 perfect of the people who come out here actually get to see the mountain.  I have seen it from Anchorage though.  It is the tallest Mountain in the United States.

We left the park and drove back and had lunch by where we stayed the night then headed home.  It was an interesting ride to say the least.  A mama moose and a baby moose decided to run out in front of us and Nate had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting them.  It also was raining very hard.  There were a few times that we fishtailed on the road.  We also encountered the SMELLIEST bathroom that I have ever been in.  It was so stinky that my dad opted to pee in the forest instead of the outhouse.  I only went into the outhouse to pee but I swear that my clothes smelled like the outhouse did in the brief times I was in there. Ugh.