Alaska Adventures

Yippee!  We managed to squeeze in a Cibula family vacation in the midst of a pandemic.  Although, our trip to Yellowstone was postponed for a year we perused our bucket list and with the help of our travel agent, we landed on Alaska.

Not bad for a back up plan.  {And in case you are wondering, Alaska was desolate and what few people we did interact with had on masks.}

The flight was a doozie. Our longest to date, a full 8 hours but the kids did great.  We arrived a bit jet lagged and spent our first day adjusting and napping.

By the second day we were feeling much better and ready to explore all that Alaska has to offer.  We like to use our first full day to get our bearings and do an extensive tour of our new location.  

We visited Earthquake Park, the salmon stream, Lake Hood, saw the Chugach mountains and Cooks Inlet, and explored downtown Anchorage.

The second day consisted of a lot more site seeing.  We took a several hour drive down the Turnagin Arm making a few stops along the way.

We stopped at the Chugach State Park and saw Dall Sheep in the wild.  I had my heart set on a moose, but no luck.

From there we made our way to the Alaska Wildlife Rescue Center.  Maggie and Lucy jumped on the opportunity to "adopt" an animal. Maggie adopted a three legged porcupine named Kit Kat and Lucy chose a moose named Arnold.

We drove to a teeny tiny fishing village and had fresh fish sandwiches for lunch.  The kids checked out the water and confirmed it was freezing! 

Our last stop on day two was a trip to Girdwood which is a local ski town.  We took the sky rail up and marveled at the stunning views.  

By the third day, we were all ready for some adventure.  We had a couple full days to adjust to the time change, which we found was needed.  This third day was beyond epic.  I kept repeating, " I feel like I just stepped out of a National Geographic magazine".  Seriously, amazing.

We boarded this floater plane at Lake Hood and took about a 1.5 hour flight to see wild bears. 

We landed on a beach in the midst of a beautiful mountain backdrop.  As soon as we stepped off we were immediately greeted by a mama bear and her three cubs in their natural habitat.  Unbelievably surreal.

Our guide was prolific in bear body language, thank goodness, so we followed his lead as to when to get close, when to step away, and when to freeze.  He even donned Jack with a flair just in case.  It was that real.

The momma bear was teaching her cubs how to clam.  The lesson was fascinating to watch.  She reprimanded them and praised her babies as needed.  The five of us stared in awe for hours.

Since the cubs were young a few made the mistake of biting the clam shells as opposed to opening them.  Maggie was able to grab one with a baby bear tooth hole in it after the cub dropped it.  Apparently this was a rare find according our guide.

The momma and her cubs were by far the most fascinating.  But they weren't the only bears in our midst.  We saw several more sauntering along and even followed this one into the woods.

We ate lunch on the beach with the bears.  Our guide was very strict in how much food could be pulled out at once and absolutely not leaving one crumb.  Again it was a completely surreal experience.

We ended our day with a food truck dinner in downtown Anchorage and then a scenic bike ride per Lucy's request.  We were all completely wiped out but succumbed to Lucy's idea.

When it was over, everyone kept thanking her for the push.  The bike ride was well worth it and a perfect way to complete the day.

Just when we thought we had reached the pinnacle of vacation height here came day four.  This was definitely a family favorite with a dose of unexpected drama.

We made a two hour drive from our hotel along the Glenn Highway to Matanuska Glacier.  Once we arrived we suited up in our ice cleats and helmets and started our hike along the toe of the glacier.  The total hike was about 3 miles and all 3 kids did great.

Jack was extremely adventurous, but always careful in his ways.  Maggie pretty much stayed glued to my hip and Lucy tried to do everything Jack was doing without the caution.  More on that.

The glacier and its surroundings were absolutely stunning.  I don't think any of us could stop our awing and oohing.

We drank legit glacier water which was the coolest most refreshing water ever.

And tried out a glacier facial mud mask which apparently sells for big bucks in the city.

On our way back down the glacier we stopped for a few family photos and to take in the sights.

So take a look at that chilled iceberg filled water behind us.  Well, here is the drama.  The shoreline is very deceptive.  Jack managed to step out on to the water feeling the drop off with his hiking stick.  Like I said he's my careful adventurer.  Lucy, who is my adventurer without the caution, thought it would be fun to try it out.  Before I could even get out a complete sentence, kerplunk, little one fell into the glacier water.

Clay had her out within seconds.  But poor Lucy was chilled to the bone.  We had to strip her wet clothes and bundle her up in our fleeces and jackets.  Thank goodness it was July.

Clay had to piggyback sweet girl all the way back to the van where we blasted the heat and warmed her up in blankets.  When she could finally talk again all she could say was, "that was so cold".

I'm happy to say after hot chocolate, lunch and a lots of love, Lucy is recovered and has a pretty impressive Alaska story to boot.

Thankfully day five was drama free and full of fuzzy creatures.  We love animals in our family so we jumped on two opportunities to hang out with some Alsakan animals.

Our fist stop was Williams Reindeer Farm.  It was a fun easy stop on our way to our next big adventure.  The staff was friendly and the animals were a delight.

Although, I was still looking for a wild moose, Rocky did the trick in holding me over.

The reindeer were super friendly and very hungry for the goodies we had.

From there we were off to meet our helicopter pilot for a flight over more glaciers and icebergs. 

But the best part was where we landed.  Look what we saw out the windshield of the copter....a snow field with a sled dog camp.

For miles all we could see was snow, mountains and glaciers and here we were with bookoodles of dogs.  My dream.  They live here during training season with two mushers in those sheds back there.  No internet, no human life {except for visitors}, no electricity...just lots of dogs.

We made our rounds meeting and greeting the team.  They were friendly and very energetic.

After we got our dog pets and snuggles in, the musher tied up the dogs and we loaded the sled.  We were off on our very first dog sled ride.

The take off is a bit of a jolt and then after that it is smooth sledding. A very cool experience.

After our ride we enjoyed the snow, the camp and asked the mushers lots of questions. 

But get ready for the cutest sweetest part of the experience.  We got to play with a new litter of future snow dog puppies.  It doesn't get much better than this.  I came very close to stowing one of these fur balls away in my coat.

And just when I had almost given up, I saw my first wild moose with her calf upon landing!  It only took until the very last day our vacation, but I could finally check it off my list!

There is nothing better than a good family vacation, but most definitely in the midst of a pandemic.  This was a much needed escape and surpassed our wildest expectations.  Alaska you did the Cibula family good!  Thanks for all the beauty and adventure you have to offer.