Are We There Yet?

What a day it has been!  Thankfully it was a rather quiet 12 hours of driving. Hannah was her ridiculous self.  Yesterday Begley "accidentally" sat on her, so today she got a little creative and found a new napping spot.  (way in the back of the jeep)

Hannah has been the main source of entertainment for this trip.  Begley just stares out the window or sleeps. Or in the case of today, coughs up part of a toy that we haven't seen since we left Alaska

                                       

John did most of the driving today (because he is awesome like that!).  I enjoyed the view as we passed through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and into Colorado.  We couldn't have asked for better weather and the traffic wasn't too bad.

 Idaho

                                     

 Utah

Wyoming

I made an attempt to start a knitting project. I got 15 rows in and realized I somehow managed to miss stitches and in turn had 3 lovely holes.  I couldn't take it. So as the sun was setting in Wyoming I was  carefully redoing the knitting from the beginning. *sigh* Maybe one day I'll get the hang of knitting.  If any knitting pros out there have any tips for fixing missed stitches, I would appreciate the advice!

While John was driving I  tried to make sure the cat didn't cause too much trouble.  She LOVES the windows, crawling all over us, and trying to get onto the dashboard.  Oh yeah,  I also had to clean up my sunflower seed mess from yesterday.  Yesterday, I was trying to be helpful and open the sunflower seed bag for John and *POOF* half the bag went flying all over the jeep.  :(

We managed to track down Chik-Fil-A for dinner (yippee!) and after we got settled in at the hotel, our friend Jenn came to visit for a bit.  It was great getting to see her and catch up!

Tomorrow is a brand new day full of adventures.  Here's to hoping that Begley coughed up all of his toy today and we don't get any more surprises tomorrow ;)

Fall is in the Air!

I've been meaning to wrap up this post all week and now that I finally have the time- it's snowing. Go figure.

Having grown up in Florida, I remember experiencing about three days of fall each year. Three days of perfect crisp weather.  I loved wearing flip flops 9 months out of the year, but I didn't realize what I was missing out on until I moved to Alaska- true fall weather and snow :D

Fall last longer than three days... It's amazing. The backyard is full of color and it will only get better!

My days are filled with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and crisp weather.  My nights are filled with the fireplace going, the smell of cinnamon scented candles, and apple cider (courtesy of my husband).  :)  The sweaters, scarves, and boots are slowly beginning to make appearances. Soon there will be pumpkin carving! The best part about pumpkin carving- if we have a repeat of last year, you might find pumpkins still on our porch come December 1st.  :)

Termination dust- the sign that colder things are to come (little did I know how soon)

The mountains are absolutely gorgeous 

Last  week, Fairbanks got their first day of snow. I was beginning to count the days until snow hit Anchorage.  I didn't have to count for long! This morning I woke up and thought it was raining at first, but soon realized that it was snowing.  :) Hannah has been watching the snow all morning. 

This year has flown by- October is right around the corner! Hopefully fall will stick around a little while longer.  I'm not quite ready for waking up extra early to scrape snow off my windshield. ;)

What is your favorite thing about fall?

Talkeetna, Alaska

Due to my work events after the wedding and the fact that up until 2 days before the wedding, we had no idea where/when we would be moving- we never did plan a honeymoon. However, I did make sure we had a celebration of some sort- so to celebrate our one week anniversary we headed to Talkeetna, Alaska!

We really couldn't have asked for better weather.  

The drive up to Talkeetna was beautiful! It was the perfect fall day.

Since we left the house a little too early *cough JOHN cough* we arrived at the Talkeetna Air Taxi an hour and a half early.  We checked in and went to go check out the town! There were tourists everywhere. We debated grabbing lunch beforehand but opted to wait until after the plane ride.

After a crazy wedding week, it was really nice to sit, relax, and enjoy the sunshine.

                                

         

There was a slight delay due to fellow passengers running behind, but soon we were on the plane and ready to take off! Thankfully there was another pilot on board just in case anything went wrong ;)

The plane was tiny :(  I really don't know how John flies a plane of similar size.  During our flight out to the glacier, I thought the girl behind John was going to be sick. I don't blame her.  We all had "barf bags" (AKA 13 gallon garbage bags).  

  As rough as it can be to live in Alaska, the scenery more than makes up for it. 

Things I learned during the flight: 

Alaska has 35 species of mosquitoes

Alaska has 4 seasons: Winter, June, July, and August

After a gorgeous tour of Alaska we were ready to land on a glacier! 

Getting to play in snow in the middle of August was pretty awesome!  

       

     

My handsome hubby enjoying the sunshine :)

While we were hanging out on the glacier we had some mini avalanches. :)  

It sounded like the rumbling of train tracks. 

Sadly, play time had to end and we departed for Talkeetna.

You know... it really is a small world. It turns out that our pilot is good friends with one of John's co-workers who just moved.

If you ever find yourself in Alaska... I highly recommend doing a plane tour. It. Was. Awesome!

It really has been an amazing summer. Perfect, record breaking weather. Now winter is right around the corner. Brrrrr. I'll enjoy fall while it lasts :)

Until next time...