The Russian River was a very beautiful place where we saw a ton of fishermen and fish and thankfully NO bears!

At the Alaska Zoo!

These flowers, delphiniums, smelled so fragrant.
This snow leopard had the most regal stance and beautiful eyes.

There was also some rock throwing going on after visiting the Sea Life Center. Alexi really took to this and had fun.

An adult puffin bird.
An immature puffin.
This bald eagle was in the wild and could be seen from the observation deck of the Sea Life Center.
I have no idea what kind of fish this is.
Another immature puffin.

Alexi tried out his hand at dog sledding. We also went to the Sea Life Center that was built by Exxon Valdez after the big oil spill.

Our next road trip was to Seward. Cool town on the edge of the water. Our friends here have a pizza place. I love the reflectiopn of the mountains in their front window. Yes, that sign says tsunami evacuation route. Not very reassuring is it?



The Iditarod (dog sled race) starts here in Seward and ends in Nome, some 908 miles away.

The beautiful Whittier Harbor. It is surrounded by mountains.I thought the red color looked good here.

To get back to Portage you have to go through a single-lane tunnel that has been literally carved through the mountain. It is almost 3 miles long and you can feel the cool temperature change as you drive through. It was made during WWII because Whittier has a deep harbor that doesn't freeze and the mountains hide it from the Japanese. The sign to the right says "Watch for falling rocks." Alexi is waiting patiently to cross.

Whittier is the cutest little town ever - we had the best halibut and shrimp ever, it was so fresh it melted in your mouth.
I love this composition, especially the dark red colors contrasting with the blue.

Another "Ansel Adams - like" photo. Another favorite, I especially like how the trees look really white and stark.

At this point we are all in the van watching Theodore getting swung back and forth in an effort to be calmed down by his dad. We had to stop quickly because Theodore could not handle being in his car seat - not a good thing since Alaska was all about road trips!

These are bison in the animal refuge. The white dead pines are ghosts forests that are left over from the earthquake of 1964 when the water rose dramatically and drowned them. They are still standing because the rate of decomposition is really slow due to the cold temperatures.

This adult bear was sleeping quite close to the fence.
Alexi enjoyed getting close to the moose.

These cute little cubs are orphans. They played together as if they were puppies.

This was the scenery on the drive back to Anchorage from Soldotna. The light was spectacular as it was right before sunset. I especially love the reflection in the lake in the bottom photo.