Sunday, June 24, 2012

Colorado Visitors

When I told people I was moving to Alaska, many people expressed interest in coming up for a visit, but I know it's not the easiest (or inexpensive) place to get so I didn't expect to have many people follow through on their wishes.  However about 10 minutes after getting off the phone with my friend Denise, she called me back and said, "We're tentatively planning on June 2012."

And here they are...
Brad, Damion, Denise & Joleigh
We kept it low key the first day since they were short on sleep after a long, late night flight and early morning arrival - downtown Anchorage has an outdoor market on the weekends which is always fun to wander through.  And the following day we went for a hike to Thunderbird Falls (where I'd visited last fall) and then to a Reindeer Farm in Palmer, AK.
Joleigh
 The reindeer farm also had elk who liked to eat the tall grass around the farm
 they weren't exactly shy...
 many of the reindeer (caribou) had new babies...
The farm was in a beautiful valley, the mountains in the background reminded me of being in Austria or Switzerland...
 heavy sets of antlers
 more babies
 they also had a bison on the farm...
 as well as a moose...the bison and the moose are buddies
We contemplated doing another hike, but decided to just explore the area a little and see what we could see...there were a lot of 4 wheelers along the beach along the Knik River area...
 D&D came along for the hike and the ride, and enjoyed exploring the riverbeds as well...
 nothing like some good old fashioned rock throwing, right?
 Dave quickly plopped down and got comfortable, rocks and all...
 Duncan had a great time too
Joleigh & Damion
 naptime
 we saw a lot of signs that were used for target practice and were amused by the signs prohibiting firearms riddled with holes...

They left Anchorage Monday morning to do some exploring on their own down to Seward and Homer and then we met back up at the week for part 2 of our adventure...


3 comments:

Mary said...

Dave and Duncan look so outdoorsy! :)

I think I have that identical jacket...puffy and pretty warm and packs up small into one of the pockets?

I'd wondered if jackets were advisable all year long.

atvmtngirl said...

Beautiful scenery! The reindeer farm looks awesome~ can't believe you can get that close to the animals ---especially the moose!

Melody said...

Mary - it's actually the lining of my 3 in 1 coat - rain coat, puffy part or both together...has come in handy all year round :)

the moose is as 'domesticated' as a moose can get (not able to ride it, but it puts up with getting treats / feedings and allows pets...definitely not something you'd do w/ a moose on the side of the road). :)