Alaskans are Independent

I am your typical Alaskan. Alaskan's are independent thinkers. We are opinionated but friendly. We seek adventure. We love the sun (of which there has been to little of this year). We get the job done. We are great drivers We have to be to drive on snow and ice 6 months of the year. Most people only get to visit but we are the luckiest people in the world to be able live in a beautiful place. Sometimes I feel like I get caught up in my daily grind and take my surroundings for granted and need to shake myself awake to appreciate where I am.

The last couple of days I haven't been blogging. The sun finally came out and like starving people everyone was outside biking, running, throwing frisbees, flying kites, walking dogs, rolling in the grass with babies, rollerblading, gardening. We were trying to fit an entire summers activity into one day. Today is a bonus day. I don't think we've had two days of sunshine in a row yet this summer. These are the kind of days that we look forward to when we are suffering through the long winter.

It's like working at Disneyland. Everyone around you is having fun but you have to work. Sometimes we just need to set work aside, and pretend we are on vacation, so we can enjoy what this state has to offer. Summer's short, it goes by in a blink, it's time to take a road trip and find more ways to appreciate this beautiful place.

Denali - The Great One

Most people that come up for their Alaskan experience feel that it's not complete until they've seen Mt McKinley.

There are a couple places along the road where, if it's a nice day, you can see the top of the mountain. If it's an especially nice day, and we have the time, we like to stop for lunch at the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. They are located at milepost 133 off the George Parks Highway. From their deck you can order lunch and get a fantastic view of not only Mt McKinley but quite a bit of the mountain range. The lodge is located in Denali State Park on the banks of the Chulitna River. I recommend the crab cakes.


You can sometimes spot wildlife along the road in this area. I've seen fox, moose, caribou and even Ptarmigan (Alaska's state bird)

Along this stretch of road we did see a caribou swimming across the river. Unfortunately, on this trip, we did not get a good Denali picture.