Alaska

Most of you know I'm in Alaska. So far we are having a good time. The trip started out great with first class seats on a 6 hour flight. You never hear people say "once you fly first class you never go back" but that might be the case.

When we arrived at the car rental place, it was not your typical ALAMO or AVIS like you would expect, but rather a small parking lot with a lot of beaters and a few motor homes and a rottweiler. The "office" was one of the motor homes. (Bob, it looked like your old old motor home). We were a little nervous about the minivans they rented to us. We overheard the man saying to pops "she's a beast, but she runs great." Is that supposed to be reassuring?

We managed to have car troubles this afternoon when we tried driving to the top of a smaller mountain. They had to meet us at the bottom with another van. It had overheated so much, that when we opened the hood the coolant reservoir was boiling rapidly. At least we broke down by a little restaurant in the mountain; where we had lunch. Food was awesome, but expensive! A small cup of soup and salad would have costed $18! Spaghetti and marinara... $22! It was just shy of a shack. It was really cool though, and the view was amazing (those of you who know me, know I don't use that word loosely).

The rental house we are staying in is also beautiful. But on the way there we saw a few... rednecks and redneck stuff. I will share the redneck stuff in pictures next time I blog, as I was in a state of shock when we drove by it the first several times, and I have not yet remembered to pull out the camera. Little shacks that people supposedly live in and cars on their sides and cars that say "free / runs" with no windows or seats. There was a redneck dog on the front porch of the house we are staying at. We still don't know where she came from, but she likes it here. Anyone seen the movie SPACE BALLS? The dog reminds me of Barf from the movie, Different coloring, but those goofy folded over ears. I was calling her Barf until I was informed her name was Suzie, per her dog tag.

We tested out the new RZRs (sounds like razors) that Adam wants to get. The lady there took us on a fun test ride. She was pretty crazy. I think we are all convinced it would be a good purchase. I think we will wait until we get back to Michigan.

I guess I will stop for now. I'll add some pictures later. And just so you all know, we are on the look out for Sarah*-Palin, as she lives about 10 miles from where we are staying.

Did I mention it's beautiful here when you aren't in the inhabited area? More beautiful than Michigan I hate to admit.

Wild blueberries... they were really good. I ate several.
This is where we had lunch. The bigger shack, I mean building on the right. It's cute, isn't it?!Walking back to the car from our lunch expedition, all of an eighth of a mile, maybe.

Baby sled dog puppies! So sweet and cute.