I assume when the average person envisions Anchorage, Alaska they picture mountains capped with snow and valleys rounded out by the glaciers that once passed through them. They may think of salmon swimming up the streams or moose wondering about. Often people find it quite surprising to learn that nestled in the forests of Anchorages Kincaid Park there rises a sand dune straight from the forest floor. However, this remnant of the Ice Age was in fact deposited by a glacier moving through the Anchorage Bowl!
From The States
Adventures in Travel and Education
Independence Mine State Historical Park is located in the beautiful Hatcher Pass. From Anchorage the drive is a little over an hour, but it is well worth it. On your way you pass the Knik River, the Little Susitna, Hatcher Pass Lodge and countless peaks! In addition, there are many great hikes to be found in Hatcher Pass, not to mention great skiing and sledding in the winter!
Jasper’s third birthday is upon us and I don’t know where the times has gone. He is so big and so smart. He can do so many things and is constantly impressing me. However, at the same time it makes me very sad to know that his baby years are past. This year we celebrated on his birthday, just the three of us at home. However, this coming weekend Jasper will have a birthday party. He has chosen a Monsters Inc theme and he is very excited for his birthday cake!
If you are an inexperienced hiker, you have small children, or you don’t have a lot of time to spare I totally understand wanting to find a place that is beautiful, yet doesn’t require a lot of walking. In addition, due to the somewhat intimidating wildlife in the area, I like to keep a list of places that I feel comfortable going to completely on my own. These three locations fit the bill!
We have photos of my husband reading Jasper his very first book, days after he was born. In addition, Jasper was the Very Hungry Caterpillar for his first Halloween! Books are extremely important in our family. My husband and I both harbor a love for reading and, at two-years-old, we have successfully passed that love onto Jasper. Jasper can sit quietly in his room for over an hour looking at his books. He loves to see the pictures as much as he loves being read to.
The second hike we did after moving to Alaska was Thunder Bird Falls. In April of 2017 we climbed the ice covered paths to the viewing deck overlooking the falls. At this time we were unaware of what microspikes are. We slipped and slid with Jasper strapped to my husbands back. It would have been so much easier with microspikes!
Easter Events in Alaska
Jasper’s first Easter egg hunt was last year, in 2017, a few short months after we moved to Alaska. A church in our town puts on an egg drop for the local children. This means that a helicopter flies over a field next to the high school in town, and drops tons of eggs all over while everyone watches. Then the children are set free to go collect the eggs like a normal Easter egg hunt. Children have to be four before they can participate in the actual egg drop hunt, so Jasper was and still is too young to participate. However, that year he was able to have fun at the toddler egg search, and we all enjoyed watching the helicopter drop more than 30,000 eggs!
We live in America. So like many people here, we are a little bit of everything. I have a tiny bit of Irish in my Ancestry, in addition to Polish, French, German, Slavic, English, Scottish… My family has been in this country for quite a long time, I could go on and on. However, you don’t need to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Of course there is a certain crowd that celebrates with lots of drunken antics. That’s fine for them, but we start the day with the “traditional” kid St. Patrick’s day breakfast, Lucky Charms and green milk!
