The light from the sun behind us on the ice was brilliant. We took off at 9:30 p.m., so the sun was low in the sky.
During our stay, record heat, (80's), came to Anchorage and mixed with the humidity causing a haze to form in the air. At this same time, approximately 600 fires were burning north of Anchorage. Smoke and haze settled into the Anchorage area, and this is the view after the haze and smoke settled in. It was amazing how little you could see. It was truly like being in a cloud!
This is the house with the view visible behind and through the windows on a clearer day! 
Alaska has 3 kinds of bears. Brown and black bears live in the Anchorage area but polar bears live much farther north. Since we didn't get up to see them, we visited the polar bears at the Anchorage Zoo. They are huge!
And awesome to watch! Especially from the other side of the bars. 
Cole and Carson had a great time collecting Subaru pics. Alaska may be the "Land of the Midnight Sun", but they decided it was also the "Land of the Subaru". This was a Subaru jackpot!
And this was the most unusual.
This adorable building houses a running store called the Skinny Raven. It also has the largest display of Dansko shoes (my favorites, but that's another story!). I promised my fellow Dansko lover, Melissa, a pic.... so here it is. I just want to take this opportunity to point out that Dansko's are very cool in Alaska. Everyone including the teenagers wears them in Alaska. Just one more reason to love this place!
And another shot with the sign.
Something else to love about Alaska......the trails. At least they call them trails. In Oklahoma, we call them manicured garden paths. I lived for years on a gravel road that wasn't nearly this nice. Everywhere we went, there were marked hiking trails like this. Absolutely incredible!
And speaking of incredible, this is a roadside restroom. They are everywhere. Anytime we saw a pull out or trail, there would be an "outhouse" (nicest outhouse I've ever used). Since there aren't a lot of roadside services (stores, gas stations etc.) it is quite handy to have these. I was impressed (and relieved).
Another lousy picture from the car, but you can get the point. ROAD CONSTRUCTION...There is one road north out of Anchorage and one road south out of Anchorage, both conveniently called HWY 1. Hwy 1, and every other road in and out of town is under construction. There are signs warning of 45 minute waits at most of the construction sites but fortunately, we never waited that long. This is the only place I have ever seen where the entire road is taken out at once. Yes, that's correct, they don't leave even one lane intact. Alas, this is a good thing. There are only 2 seasons in Alaska, winter and road construction season. So you have to appreciate that they are getting it all done now! And there's plenty of daylight for working!
Typical Alaska vehicle. Camping gear in back, ski case on top, outdoorsy stickers....
Huhhhh???? Must be one of the tree huggers who thinks 65 brown bears and about 250 black bears living in Anchorage is ok. It's sometimes hard to understand how they coexist with these folks....
Just part of what makes this such a unique and fun place!
We have little huts like this all over the place in Oklahoma City. They sell snow cones. Not in Alaska. Here they sell Espresso and other coffee drinks and they are literally on every corner. This is truly Seattle's northern suburb when it comes to coffee. 
This is fireweed. It grows in the glacial silt where it doesn't look like anything could grow. Apparently, it is tasty too. I had a scoop of Fireweed ice cream at the Frosty Moose downtown. It was great and definitely unique.
You have to love any city that has a Chocolate Lounge. What is it you ask? A store devoted entirely to chocolate....chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, hot chocolate.......the smell was intoxicating.
Dowling Road - Wow - I've never seen that before. For those of you who don't know, my maiden name is Dowling. This is a main thoroughfare in Anchorage. Well, after some research, I discovered that Dowling Road is named after Bud Dowling who worked more than 20 years as a surveyor for the city until he retired in 1978 and left Alaska. I think there must have been surveyors named Huffman and O'Malley as well!
This is the Carhartt moose. Carhartt is popular in Alaska and also in Stillwater. Our oldest son has discovered a passion for all clothing Carhartt since moving to Stillwater. He purchased a pair of overalls similar to those the moose is wearing while in Alaska. I didn't point this out to him, but he wore overalls all the time when he was a little boy, until one day he told me "Mommy, big boys don't wear overalls, they wear pants". Well he didn't wear overalls from that day on... until now! Every woman knows that all great fashions come around again (and some not so great - I'm having a vision of hot pants and go-go boots - someone help me). Oh well.
Ash Braquet and the worship team at Cornerstone on our last Sunday morning. Yes, that's Carson in the back with a bass guitar. He loved playing with them and we loved worshipping with them. 
Talkeetna is the town where those attempting to climb Mt. McKinley come to get flights to base camp. The U.S. Ranger Station is located in this building. Inside they have some memorabilia, a video about climbing the mountain, and the boards tracking all of this year's climbers. Climbing season runs from June through mid July when the glaciers get too soft. All climbers are registered and trained here. They track all climbers and any coordinate any rescues. They also maintain camps on the mountain for first aid and other assistance. Mt. McKinley is the highest peak in North America at about 20,000 ft above sea level. It is truly unique because Anchorage, just 100 miles south, is only a few hundred feet above sea level.
Talkeetna is a charming town with several restaurants and pubs and lots of flightseeing operations. They were packed with patrons during the festival. It was a beautiful day and a delighful little town.
Alaska's answer to Sonic. I never did figure out where to drive-in but the picnic tables were full. 
This is the Roadhouse. It is well known for great pies and sourdough bread and is somewhat of a legend. We ate lunch here and it was very good.
The walls are covered with tshirts and flags signed by Mt. McKinley climbers and search parties. This is the place they all come to eat. There are also rooms for rent with shared baths and a bunkroom.
There were fun, decorated moose around town that were later auctioned off to benefit the Historical Society of Talkeetna. 
This is definitely a "green town". The town announcements are posted under a roof of grass! 
There was live music all day in the town square. We really enjoyed listening to the Anchorage Scottish Pipe Band.
The bagpipes weren't keeping this cutie awake! 
Or this little rock hugger. 
There were lots of fun and unusual booths with Alaska made products. 
When can you stand outside eating ice cream cones in Houston without making a mess????
When it's Houston, Alaska! Miller's Market was a great ice cream stop. 
We stopped in Wasilla but all we could find was suburbia.....
with mountains in the background......
The smoke and haze kept us from seeing Denali but they created a fantastic view from the deck where mountains were once in sight.
