At the end of September we took quite the family trip. Of course, it's not us to make it an easy trip. We had to see how much we could throw in there. Honestly, I was pretty nervous before the trip began because I wasn't too sure how Grant would adapt to our crazy travel plans. Here's a quick synopsis of the trip. (Yes, I consider this quick...)
Thursday, 22 Sept: (Eastern Time Zone)
1230p-Leave Valdosta & drive to Atlanta to catch our flight to Seattle.
3:30p-Arrive ATL, check in, and eat dinner.
5:30p-Board a completely full flight to Seattle (5hr flight).
8:20p-Arrive in Seattle (Pacific Time Zone-3hr difference from previous), we run to our next gate.
9:05p-The lady at the gate was waiting for us at the gate....we depart for Anchorage (3.45hr flight)
11:45-We arrive in Anchorage, AK (1hr time difference from Seattle. 4hr time difference from home. To us, it is almost 4am).
Grant is a champ and I'm thanking God for such an amazing baby.
In Alaska getting ready to take off for Anchorage. Yes, to us it is after 2am and Grant is smiling and laughing. Love him!
Grant absolutely loves to fly. He's intrigued by everything. If this was a video you could hear him chatting about everything he saw, and he must have been making a few jokes because he was cracking himself up. haha.
We finally conked out and woke up when we were landing. I loved this!
After landing in AK we were an amazing team. We went and found the rental car desk and while Joe went to get the awesome 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee he rented Grant and I went to find our luggage. Finally, at 1am we left the airport and began our almost 3hr drive to Seward (3hrs because we were exhausted and my wonderful husband took a few nap stops along the way). At about 4am we got to our townhouse, got Grant set up for bed, put him down, then finally fell asleep around 5am. That night was freezing and it was only freezing in our room. We realized the room's heat was off, turned it on, and went to bed knowing it would warm up soon. I woke up at about 8am unable to feel my nose, fingers, toes...I was still freezing. That's when I realized I felt a breeze on my forehead. THE WINDOW WAS OPEN! We had meant to put Grant in that room, but accidentally set him up upstairs, I'm happy we made that mistake. haha.
That morning I was tired of sitting in the townhouse unable to sleep while everyone else did, so I went to the grocery store around 11am. I love Seward, even their Safeway was refreshing to roam around. I returned around noon and both of my boys had finally woken up. We set out for lunch, a great meal at Ray's Waterfront, and as always were very full when we left. We walked around the waterfront, stopped at all of the little Alaska stores, drove all around Seward taking it in and after dinner we had to get our little guy to bed. He was a great trooper, but was very pooped. The townhouse was great, so we didn't mind heading in around 7ish. We were just loving the fact that we were back in AK.
I forgot socks so I bought my new favorite pair of socks!
Enjoying the beautiful Alaska day with my family (obviously Joe was behind the camera).
Day two was great, but again a little bit of a later start than normal. I guess that's what happens when you're on vacation :0)
Grant love the ginormous remote control.
Playing with Daddy before starting the day 2.
Family photo.
Day two was a bit rainy and cold so our plan to hike Exit Glacier with a 14 month old was put on hold. Instead, we had breakfast at our favorite breakfast joint, head back to the resort and played with Grant before his nap. After lunch we went to the Alaska SeaLife Center and had a wonderful time. I wish we had given ourselves more time there, but they closed early that day.
Grant's favorite part of the museum.
Grant was a pro behind the wheel.
It looks like he is actually driving the boat.
Quiet back there!
Uh, oh! Rough waters ahead!!!
So cool!
Running around with his cute little chuckle.
Check out his leg...you can tell he never stood still.
Day three we left pretty early. We had just enough time for breakfast and then to check out of the resort. Of course, I was sad to leave because we had so much more we wanted to do, but we were excited to get on the road and see more of AK.
Grant was quite the comedian at breakfast.
My good looking husband driving his super cool Jeep.
My baby boy got in a quick nap in the car.
Next 3 pics are some scenery shots from the drive. The first one is from inside the car. The last two we stopped to take.
During the drive to Anchorage Joe made a quick U-turn and decided we were finally going to visit Whittier. I'm so happy we did because it was a gorgeous drive and it was a fantastic stop.
An amazing tunnel that takes you to Whittier. It's a one lane tunnel that is shared with the railroad. If you look closely you can see we're driving on the railroad. It was built in 1914 and reduced exposure of ships to Japanese submarines, reduced the risk of Japanese bombing the port facilities because of the bad weather, and avoided the steep railroad grades required to traverse the Kenai Mountains during WWII. Driving the tunnel was a neat experience.
This short trip was a great experience for our family. One of those that for some reason bonds you a little more and feels surreal. One we'll never forget.
Cheese!!! We're in Whittier!!!
Family photo :0)
Making our way to lunch with a beautiful view.
Grant held my hand the whole time and I loved it. I can't explain how exciting this was for me, each step with was hear warming and the feel of his little fingers holding onto me is love.
He pointed out everything on the ground that shouldn't have been there. Plus, you can see the photographer's shadow :0) Good looking one if you ask me.
The whole time Grant was talking...he had a lot to say. He obviously loves Alaska.
We were at Whittier on their last day before closing all of the shops for winter.
Shadow hunting. hahaha
Farewell to Whittier :0(
I couldn't decide which I liked better so I'm posting both :0)
Hat shopping in Anchorage.
We went with this one.
Grant enjoying his bread at the Glacier Brew House. This was the first time we gave him a whole slice and his eyes got huge. Total excitement!
I love this picture of Grant sleeping in the Pack'n'play in the Anchorage hotel room. I was scared I was going to wake him when I took the pic, but I took my chances :0)
Later that evening after putting Grant to sleep Joe and I lucked out. Thanks to our monitor we were able to escape to the hotel lobby to relax while Grant slept. The next morning I was so happy to see clear skys. That meant one thing, a quick 5 mile run along the water before catching our flight to Hawaii. I got to sport my new Seward socks while I took my run in the 38 degree weather. Then, it was goodbye to Alaska. For now.
2 comments:
Great pictures! That sounds like a fun trip. I'd love to visit Alaska some day. Definitely in the Summer, though!
I love Grant in the boat. You can tell he was really into it.
Funny about your socks. I wore polka-dot grey knee highs under my black stretch pants for a jog the other day. Stretch pants only went to just below my knees and I wore a long-sleeved fitted black t-shirt. I asked Dave if I looked like a crazy person and he said, "no" but I wonder...
Cynthia, Id love to be there when you visit Alaska in the summer. It's amazing. As for the socks, I wore mine with neon green running shorts and had on a bright pink running jacket. Haha. It's what I had. I'm sure I looked beautiful :0)
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