Alaska 2010 - Day 4

So, today was a little quieter...  A little more low key.  But that's not to say there wasn't an adventure!

We spent most of the morning lounging around the house.  Em made a wonderful breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes - always a good start to the day!  And Fin cooked several courses for us with her play foods and utensils - pizza, cake, pizza, more cake, and there may have been some cookies... 

In the early afternoon we got the call that I could go up in a plane that day!  We got dressed and waited for Karlin to come home to watch Fin so Em and I could have our daily adventure.  They have a gentleman from their church who has a small Cessna plane and loves to take people up and show them the beautiful mountains and glaciers. So cool!

We arrived to the cleanest hangar I have ever seen!  Everything was neat and spotless - and the plane itself was perfect.  We got to help do the walk-around and check everything out - he taught us all kinds of things about the plane itself.

Then we got in, and he walked us through all the checks he does before take-off.  (I always thought it would be fun to have a pilot's license, but after watching all this, and seeing all the dials, buttons, and levers in the cockpit - I think I'll settle for being a passenger!)

Once we had clearance for take-off, off we went! 

Em gave me the front seat, since she's done this before - so here's the one pic of her in the plane, before I handed her my camera to record the event!

Leaving the airport...  The pilot asked me if I'd ever been in a plane this small...  I hesitated to answer, "Yes. Twice.  But both times I jumped out of the plane."  He smiled and shook his head...  Yep.  I'm a nut.  I promised not to jump this time.

Anchorage.

So much to see...

Waterfalls...

Glaciers...

And more incredible glaciers...  We got SO CLOSE to the sides of those mountains.  So cool.

On the way back to the airport, I got to take the controls for a bit!  Oh geesh.  Kind of fun.  Back at the airport, we got a couple of pictures, and then used our big girl muscles and pushed the plane back into the hangar.  Kind of fun to say you moved a plane...  Ha ha ha.

I think I was on an adrenaline rush the rest of the day...  I love going up in planes to begin with...  But this was awesome.  I felt like I was living someone else's life for a few brief moments.  Like I was in an episode of "Wild America" or something.  This was an experience I never would have dreamt of having...  And I'm so thankful  that Em and Karlin made it happen!  So cool.

So once I settled down, we enjoyed a fun night at the house.  We had a fun dinner of roasting caribou hot dogs over the fire pit - even one of the neighbor kids came over for this fun dinner!  (And of course, while the fire was warm, we enjoyed some smores for dessert!)  Then, we played lawn games til 11pm - because it was actually sunny!  Yep.  During the plane ride in the afternoon it was pretty overcast...  But about 8:30pm the sun came out, there were rainbows in the sky, and I swear it felt a little warmer!  So we took advantage of it and played in their backyard til 11pm!

(Playing "corn hole.")

(That's me and Megan from next door - throughout the game we were referred to as Minnesota Meg and Alaska Meg.)

(Fin was having her own fun, playing in the dirt...)

(Even though this evening was the warmest and sunniest it had been the whole time I was there - Fin decided everyone needed their winter hats...  It is Alaska afterall...)

(Em and Karlin... what a nice looking couple, huh?)

Here's a picture of their living room at 10:30pm.  Yep - sun streaming in the windows!  You'd think it was 3pm.  The sun was setting around 11:30pm while I was there.  My bedroom had the blinds closed and a blanket over them - no problem.  I had no trouble sleeping!

Another day down - I'm already thinking I can't wait to come back!