Girdwood Fun

 One of the things that I miss about the lower 48 is packing up and driving in the car to the next state in a matter of hours. That doesn't happen here. But what DOES happen here is packing up and driving through beautiful scenery to the next town. You could always jump on a plane or ferry, but I'm trying to save some cash.

 This past weekend, we jumped in the car and drove to Girdwood to see some friends. The drive there is amazing no matter what season. The summer can be crazy sometimes. RV's not pulling over when more then 5 cars are behind them, tourists pulling over quickly to take photos, and everyone rubber necking to see what people are pulled over for. I'm guilty of that. I guess I haven't seen enough Dahl sheep on those rocks either.

 We had brunch at The Bake Shop.  The outside was beautiful with all the colorful flowers. I had the Summer of '76 breakfast and those sourdough pancakes were yummy!! I was really eyeing those HUGE cinnamon rolls, but then I would have to share! Ha, I don't like sharing my sweets. I always enjoy eating at local restaurants and seeing the regulars. You can tell the Alaskan regulars from the tourists. While we were eating, our friends told us how they "maced a bear" that morning. My friends mom had to put the garbage in the car to be taken to the dump and left the window slightly opened. A black bear wandered on up and broke in. They banged on the car and when the bear stuck his head out, they sprayed him with bear spray. Didn't seem to really bother him, but he did climb out to the top of the car and began to woof at them. When they were done coughing from the dispersed bear spray, the bear finally left. Oh, Alaska life.

 The kids did so well when they were eating but then started to get ants in their pants when the adults were trying to talk. Whats up with that? So we walked around the trails at the Alyeska Resort. A little bit of rain wasn't going to stop us that day. Didn't stop the bike riders either from tearing up the mountain. Did you know you could mountain bike down the mountain? Yeah I thought it cool but rather intimidating with the bikers and their motor cross helmets on. I thought, "Hey that might be fun!" Then I looked straight up the mountain and envisioned me just letting the bike flip down the mountain and me walking down, which would take all day. If you get your thrill riding fast down steep moutanins, its sounds like a great deal! $20 for the whole day!

 Looks like there are some great summer trails on the mountain. We didn't get to far though. It was a lot of work for the little ones. When we started heading down, Brooke decided to try and run down a trail. For those of you who do not know my daughter, she trips on air on level surfaces. So I had to run after her, bout had a heart attack! Im not graceful either, so it was almost two balls of raincoats and Bogs screaming down the mountain.

 We stopped at the Littles Bears Playground on the way out. I love these type of wooden parks. Brings back memories when I was in San Antonio. TX as a kid. There was this AWESOME wooden playground by the River Walk. You could hide and imagine so much! So it was cool to see my kids running around in the Girdwood playground. I tried to follow them, some of those spots are tight and scary! I imagined myself getting stuck and having to have the fire deptarment cut me out.

 There was only one other family so we kind of had it all to ourself. I really like that it has a tot park and a big kid park. There were also dump trucks spread all throughout the park. Some swings called my girls to come play. My only complaint is that there are several exits that the kids could get out. I like that the one in Kenai has one entrance/exit, that way the kids are contained. It has Alaskan them art throughout.

 A skate park is right next door for those kiddos who enjoy riding bikes, skates, and skateboards. Little Bears Playhouse is also right next to the playground. The playhouse is a cute learning center that is open year round. This is the place you would want to take your kiddos during the winter when you want to get some skiing done.

 There are some other great places to take the little ones that we didn't get to visit on this trip. The tram to the top is always a fun trip with family and friends. A hike on Winner Creek trail is always adventure. The hand crank tram across the creek is fun to do. You can also hike around in the Crow Creek Gold Mine.

 Our ride home was a quiet one. All the kiddos, including husband, passed out, leaving me to enjoy the beauty of Turnagain Arm on the drive home. I tried to turn off the kids songs and listen to some "me" music, but then Brooke woke up asking for the music back on. Which set off everyone else. Sigh. It was peaceful while it lasted.