Mom ~ Meet Anchorage

The warnings came the day before I was set to leave: a freezing rain was heading towards Bethel. I began to worry if I would be able to meet my mom in Anchorage after all. I even debated trying to fly to Anchorage a day earlier. But I'm not supposed to leave my cats alone in my house for more than 3 days, and I really didn't want to impose on Dakota's sitter one more night.

So I took my chances. There was several other people flying out at the same time, so we decided to charter a plane together to cut down the cost. Which worked out really well. Except that Jeannie had called to see if the bush airline would be willing to fly out earlier, which raises a big flag if you are used to flying in the bush.

Here's the thing: you have to be so flexible to the point of being ready to fly as soon as bush planes are ready. If there's bad weather heading our way, planes will fly as soon as possible to avoid it. Which is great, but you have to be ready for it. Which I was. I planned on being ready 3 hours before my plane was due to pick me up. Sounds excessive, maybe? We left 2 1/2 hours before my plane was due to pick me up. The other people we were flying with were new to the bush this year and were in the middle of breakfast when the call came in. They thought I would still be sleeping.....I wish! It's my 3rd year in the bush, hopefully, I've learned some things.

I made it to Anchorage just fine! My mother and I went to dinner and she got to experience someone bush shopping. It was my first time leaving the bush in 5 months, and my only trip out until summer break. I'm not flying to California for the holidays, which also meant this was the only time I had to shop in person for the holidays. I spent a lot of money. I don't have buyers remorse, but I was trying to save some bucks. Ah well.....hopefully, I can save more the rest of the school year!

Anchorage, Alaska

Thursday night I became very, very ill. I was thinking I had some kind of food poisoning, but I later found out that several of my co-workers were sick at the same time with a stomach bug. But I was sick. And it wasn't fun. But I had my mommy to take care of me.....or walk to the corner market at 5:30 in the morning to get me some meds. Thank you Mom! I was in bad shape.

It's a good thing that my mom really just wanted to hang out with me because Friday, that's all I was good for. We watched movies and just hung out. Finally, I was able to get up and we stopped by Walmart (I needed more medicine & I was the only one driving ~ too slick out) & went out to dinner (I ate soup.)

We were supposed to go on a helicopter tour of some glaciers on Friday, but they had to postpone it due to weather. Thank goodness! I was too sick to go anyways. I finally started feeling better Friday night and I woke up feeling much better on Saturday.

Which was a good thing because the tour place called me to ask if I could come that day. I said "YES!" and so my mother and I headed out to Girdwood, which is about 45 minutes outside of Anchorage.

If you are ever in the area, and want an incredible adventure, please check out Alpine Air Alaska! They were super friendly, knowledgable, and I think reasonable. They offer helicopter tours and in the summer: dog sledding! Our pilot flew us through the valley and past two glaciers (one with a spectacular ice cave!) and then we went looking for moose and passed a bald eagle flying by us. It landed in a tree by the helicopter. We flew around a mountain, over mud flats, and back to Girdwood. Our pilot knew so much about geology, I was able to learn more about how glaciers change the landscape.

And flying in a helicopter beats a bush plane any day! You just lift off the ground! And it was so smooth, even in the rain there was no turbulence. It was small, but I was surrounded by windows, so I didn't feel inclosed at all. It was incredible, simply incredible. I highly recommend it!

My Mother & I 

Inside of the Helicopter

Heading towards the glaciers

The Valley

More of the Valley

My 1st Glacier

The Ice Cave

Top of the Glacier

More of the Glacier

Coming up to the 2nd Glacier

Loved the blue color

The glacier has pushed the rocks it took off the surrounding mountains into a new formation.

Jagged Edges of Ice

The lake created by the receding glacier

Two moose

At the top of the tree is a bald eagle

Loved the color in the river

Mud Flats

Heading back to Girdwood

After the helicopter tour, we headed to the mall. There was a pair of Superman shoes I had wanted to buy. Also, I hadn't been to a mall for awhile. I stopped at a beauty salon and got my haircut by a professional. She wasn't my hair stylist, but she was okay. She wanted to know why I had cut my hair myself, sigh, I just said it was a long story and I emotionally distraught. I stopped by a calendar store and picked out my calendars for the next year. I had wanted a calendar of Iceland, but I figured I could buy that one online. (I found out later ~ wrong! They don't make one.)

I was getting very worn out. My mom stopped and got a chair massage (my mom's addicted to massages by the way.) while I rested. We had a couple more stops, Walmart again to buy a new suitcase and a tote to pack all this stuff up and then I really wanted a nap.

But now it was time to pack:

We were hoping to go to a movie at some point in the trip, but it was not meant to be. I didn't finish packing until around midnight. But we did watch some fun movies on HBO, so that was nice.

We woke up early and drove to the airport. My mom was leaving a couple of hours before I was, but I didn't mind hanging out with her. I won't be seeing her again for quite some time. When we got to the airport the sun was just beginning to rise (at 8:30 a.m):

It was a good trip, despite my getting sick. I was glad to see my mom & spend some time with her, but I was also glad to get home to my furbabies!! Dakota seemed glad to see me and my kitties cuddled with me and slept on me last night. I'm glad to be home safe & sound!

Okay, I did bite it on the boardwalk in front of my house......but despite a swollen knee and icy conditions, I'm glad to be back home. (My alarm went off awfully early this morning though!!)

And for the record: Dakota has already shredded one of his new toys. Fantastic.....