Alaska!

Every year, as soon as the 4th of July has passed, I get the sinking feeling that summer is over.

This year, especially getting home from our vacation just after midnight on July 4th, is no different.

Time to buy school supplies, I guess.

This year we took at 10 day trip to the last frontier. . . . Alaska.  As usual, Bassam researched like crazy and planned an amazing trip full of exploring, hiking, rafting, fishing, and kayaking in Anchorage, Denali, Talkeetna, Seward and Homer.

The highlight for all of us was probably the day we flew out of Talkeetna on a small plane (with a pilot who looked young enough to be my son) that landed on glacier at base camp at Denali.   The view from the plane ride and the glacier were truly among the most extraordinary things I've ever seen.   But, yeah, it was still super scary.

Interestingly, this was the only day of our vacation that we wore our coats.  Why?  Because Alaska was in the midst of a very unusual heat wave and it was around 80 degrees every day of our trip.   Obviously, the glacier was another story, but we spent the rest of the trip hiking in short sleeves.  Bassam was in shorts, but the rest of us opted for pants because the mosquitos are huge and plentiful in Alaska.  

Of course, nobody has air conditioning in Alaska, so the natives were definitely restless in the heat.  For us, of course, it was pretty comfortable.   80 degrees and low humidity?  Yes, please!

We tried our hand at salmon fishing on the the Kenai river . . . . all of us caught one, which worked out nice.   We had them processed and shipped home, and between the fishing guide and shipping costs, making them the most expensive fish I have ever eaten.  But they were the fruits of our labor, so we had to do it.

All in all it was a great trip.  We had 20+ hours of daylight each day (and it never seemed to get truly dark) and an amazing view at every turn.    Every time we visit a National Park (two on this trip, Denali and Kenai Fjords), I'm reminded how wonderful it is that we protect these places.   #AmericaIsAlreadyGreat

Incidentally, we could not see Russia from anywhere in Alaska.