99% of what I blog about is books… so consider this post a part of the minority 1%. 🙂
I just spent the most wonderful week traveling in Alaska with my beautiful, funny, lovely daughter. Mommy-daughter quality time! We happen to make great traveling partners, and it was all just so enjoyable and relaxing and fun.
We’ve been to Alaska before: She spent a year in Juneau with Americorps, and I’ve been on two short visits previously, once on a cruise and the second time a different road trip with my daughter.
This time around, we had a week to spend, and we determined to do a few things we’d missed on previous trips. We started in Anchorage, then headed about two hours north to the quirky and adorable town of Talkeetna, known as the possible inspiration for the TV show Northern Exposure. Also know as the town with a cat for a mayor. (It’s true! Even Wikipedia says so.)
While in Talkeetna, we stayed in cozy, rustic lodge by the Susitna River, where we could see Mt. McKinley on a clear day.
On our second day there, we boarded a 10-seater plane for a 90-minute flight over Denali National Park — and we even landed on a glacier!
The peak on the right is Mt. McKinley!
And here I am, just chillin’ on Ruth Glacier.
Talkeetna itself is a super awesome town, where we ate world-class berry pancakes, over-indulged buying amazing locally made jewelry at a great gallery, and just wandered the streets for a while, admiring the random moose art:
That’s my girl!
Next, we headed back south toward the Kenai Peninsula, enjoying the great drive along Turnagain Arm with a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, where we met these guys (from the other side of the fences, naturally):
This little guy! I can’t even.
We did some hiking along the way, heading off on a trail through the woods that included amazing views in all directions. Stuff like this, for example:
We wrapped things up with a few days in Homer, staying in a weird and wonderful round cabin on a bluff overlooking the water:
We ate, we shopped, we hiked, we sat and read (of course), and we took a water taxi…
… across Kachemak Bay to hike through the woods to see this:
Grewingk Glacier – gorgeous!
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Alaska is beautiful, and there’s just so much to see! I can’t wait to go again!
A parting shot — taken at the Anchorage airport at 11:30 pm, saying good-bye to my daughter as we headed our separate ways for now. Yes, it’s 11:30 and the sun is just setting!
Good-bye, Alaska! I’ll miss you! Especially moments like this:
Bookshelf Fantasies 
Now I want to go too… Did you really need to post all these beautiful photos?
Sgrunt! 😦
🙂
Go! Go! Go! It’s such beautiful place — I can’t wait to go back!
That looks like an incredible trip! I would love to go to Alaska someday!
I’m so in love with Alaska! I already have my next itinerary figured out. 🙂
Wow! Your photos are absolutely beautiful. I love the one of the baby bear (you can see all the detail!) and the first one of the front of the building, I’m sorry but you just don’t get stuff like that in England lol.
It looks like you had an amazing time 🙂 That last photo to me just sums up pure bliss. The one of Grewingk Glacier made my jaw drop open, stunning! The nature shots look professional. Do you only do it as a hobby? You’ll have to look into it anyway, people might me interested in your photos if you’re into that kind of thing 🙂 The one of the (… porcupine?) is hilarious, it makes me think of a crazy axe-murdered trying to escape jail! That’s mainly because of those huge orange teeth though lol.
Excellent post! I’m so glad you shared with us 🙂 I now officially want to visit Alaska 😀
Amy x
Ha, all these photos were taken on my IPhone… but thank you! That porcupine just kills me — he’s so adorable in a slightly psycho and weird way. 🙂 I definitely encourage you to put Alaska on your bucket list. It’s just so beautiful!
Thank you Lisa, I will do 🙂 It looks too stunning to miss! I’m glad you enjoyed yourself 😀
This is so beautiful! What a wonderful post! You make me want to go to Alaska! (That’s what my dog is named.) I’ve been dreaming of it and I can’t wait to go.
I hope you get there soon! And that’s adorable, that your dog is named Alaska — is he/she a husky? 🙂
It’s so nice that you and your daughter are travel buddies! I hope that I can share some amazing trips with my daughter when she gets older.
I love Alaska! I have a very similar photo of Nagley’s general store! So fun that you were able to spend a bit of time in Talkeetna. I think we had two hours at the most, and it was such a quirky place…would loved to have stayed over. 🙂
Daughters rock! We’ve always gotten along so well… and she’s also another bookworm, so we can always just chill for a while together with our books. Talkeetna is such fun! It’s cute and quirky — we went mainly so we could do a Denali flight, but we loved just hanging out and exploring too. Maybe you’ll go again!
Oh wow, Alaska is so beautiful! I have never been there, but I would love to go. Love your pictures!
Thank you so much! It’s such a beautiful place, with so much to explore!
Love this!! Everyone I’ve know that’s gone to Alaska has done it as a cruise. This is more my kind of vacation. I extra love that you went with your daughter.
My first visit was a cruise — at the time, my son was four, and it was a great way to travel with a small child. But really, road trips like this one and my previous one are my favorite way to travel! I like the freedom to explore, and I especially love trips that involve lots of outdoor time. (My daughter is an amazing human being, and having so much time with her made it really fantastic.) 🙂
Oh wow, this all looks amazing! And totally reminded me I need to keep watching Northern Exposure (I’m on season 3, it’s a bit dated but I love it!)
Also that cabin looks like my kind of place! 🙂
It’s great you were able to enjoy such a fun time with your daughter!
Thank you! It was spectacular. I should really watch Northern Exposure too! I know I watched the first few seasons, but have no idea where I left off. I remember thinking it was adorable!
Nice Pics Lisa!! Glad you had a nice time!!
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your photos from your trip, Lisa, it looks like you had a fantastic time! Alaska looks gorgeous ❤
Thank you! It is gorgeous… can’t wait to go back!