Flowers All Year

I love flowers. And so does Alaska because they are everywhere. I realize that many of them are considered to be weeds but I figure they're pretty, and they're not going anywhere (especially if they are weeds), so I am going to enjoy them! Last Sunday I went on a bike ride with the sole purpose of finding flowers to dry for the winter so I can enjoy flowers all year. An hour later, after biking quite a bit, walking through lots of tall grass, avoiding several surprisingly huge spiders, and peeling spider webs off my legs (all completely worth it), I had a bag full of beautiful flowers of all different colors. And now I have them to enjoy for the winter!

Pure joy.

Drying for winter!

Hiking, hiking, hiking!

Summer in Alaska is amazing. The days are long, the grass and tress are vibrant green, and the temperatures are (at least usually) fairly warm. Once the summer solstice hits, everyone watches as each day the sun shines for a few less minutes than the day before, knowing all too well what is only a couple of months away – winter. As much as I love winter in Alaska, there is just no beating summer.

Summer in Alaska is a time of substantially less sleep, and lots of outdoor activities. One of my favorite summer pastimes is hiking. Living in the Matanuska Susitna Valley, we are surrounded with endless opportunities for hiking, and the summer is the time to take full advantage of that. It's so satisfying to be able to get in a full day of work, and still hike to the top of a mountain peak all in one day.

Last week, we had little to no rain, and so some friends and I set out on a few different hikes. Each were beautiful in their own way...someday you'll have to see these with your own two eyes!

Starting to head up Lazy Mountain

At the top! We missed the view, but the fog looked pretty cool!

The group at the top!

Next day – more sunshine this time! Part way up Marmot Mt. in Hatcher's Pass.

The Great Wall of ..... Alaska. Or Marmot Mountain. You choose.

Lookin' back down.

At the top!

Our friend.

Reed Lakes Hike a few days later.

The group (CYAK's Arigaa Anchorage group) at the end. Good times!

Mom and Dad Came to Visit!

A couple of weeks ago, I was blessed with the presence of...my parents! They flew up all the way from Colorado to spend a week with me. How luck am I?! We did a whole smattering of things including a day trip to the one and only Talkeetna (where we met the mayor, who if you have not heard, just so happens to be a cat), a hike in beautiful Hatcher's Pass, a train ride up to Denali National Park, a bus ride into the park (where we saw all sorts of animals from bears to arctic ground squirrels to dall sheep), and lots more. It was so fun to have mom and dad here and to simply spend some good quality time with them. I just wish Brian could have been there! I am already looking forward to the next time we're all together. Enjoy a few pics from their visit!

Talkeetna, AK. The mayor (cat) is chilling out on the picnic table.

Mom and Dad in Hatcher's Pass.

A momma bear and her cubs hanging out in Denali National Park.

One of many dall sheep.

Where Mt. McKinley should be (when it's clear, the base of the mountain would fill the entire width of this picture)

There were a couple of drop-offs...

Many much moosen!

Alaska Railroad.

So fun to have mom and dad here!