Alaska 2010 - Day 2

Today was our first field trip!  Em, Fin and I saw Karlin off to work and then hit the road ourselves. 

We headed to the town of Palmer, Alaska, where we first visited "Vagabond Blues Cafe."  My kind of place.  Warm, friendly, great coffee and chai tea, homemade bakery goods...  Local art on the walls.  A venue for local bands in the evenings.  Like I said, my kind of place!  And my sister could not wait for her giant cinnamon sticky roll!  Can you see the pure joy in her face?

After leaving the cafe, we walked across the street to the train tracks (Fin is a little obsessed with trains).  We came across a little park with an old train engine - and HAD to play on it!  Fin and I jumped right up and played and played, yelling "chugga chugga chugga" and "whoo whoo!"  (A lady passing by across the street actually sat down to watch us play as she laughed at our funny noises!) 

Pulling Fin away from the train after about 20 minutes of playing was a tough job...  But we made it!

Next, we drove into the mountains to Hatcher's Pass.  I've seen pictures of Em's family sledding at Hatcher's Pass in the winter, so to see green hills, I never would have recognized it as the same place!  It was rugged, green, rocky, lonely - and beautiful.  We found a little lake to hike around and picnic by - the water was such a picturesque blue!  Gorgeous.

We hiked around the small lake, stomped in puddles, threw rocks in the water, and discovered all kinds of funny little rodents!  We finally found the perfect spot for our picnic lunch - a Finley-sized rock and all!

After we ate our picnic lunch, we walked around a little more. 

(This is me - happy to be in Alaska!)

Fin's in the midst of potty-training - and I have to admit, she's a great student! She fits right into the wilderness of Alaska - ready and willing to drop her pants anywhere - even in the middle of nowhere! Ha ha ha. I was really cold - I can't imagine how cold her little butt must have been! What a trooper!

Critters of the day:
Arctic Ground Squirrel - a lot like a prairie dog.  Same noises and everything. They were all over Hatcher's Pass!  So funny!

Hoary Marmot - did a whole photo shoot for us.  We loved this little guy!

Singing Vole - looks like a chinchilla, sounds like a bird.  Crazy cute.  (No pics of this one...  He was a little more elusive...)

We got back to the house about nap time - which we all took advantage of.  Then, that evening we met Karlin at "The Moose's Tooth" for a yummy pizza dinner!

Another great day in Alaska.