Crow Creek & Tram Rides

We spent the night at Crow Creek Gold Mine. The intent was for us to have the option to pan for gold if we wanted to. We walked down to the place and were able to see what it was about. We decided we didn't want to spend the money to tour the place or to pan for gold. It was pretty.

I suggested that we drive over to Alyeska because we were so close and I had heard good things about it.   It's the main ski town for Anchorage and it was so pretty.   There was a tram that took us to the top of the mountain.  I wasn't really that excited to go on it, mostly because it wasn't a cheap option.  But Brad was in and so we all went up the Tram. 
 

 

Getting Settled

After we had our breakfast in the airport, Brad and the older 4 kids met up with the RV owner.  He drove them back to his house in Wasilla to pick up the RV.  There wasn't enough room for all of us so I stayed back at the airport with Bo.   (He gets car sick easily so I thought he would be a good choice for staying behind).   

We waited for Jeff & Tracey to arrive because they were joining us on this epic adventure.   While we were waiting Bo spotted this guy who was wearing the same thing as Brad.  We thought it was funny. 

Jeff & Tracey arrived and then we waited with them for their shuttle that took them to their RV rental place.  Once we got there Brad met us and then we all went out to dinner at Moose's Tooth.   Chase's flight arrived a little later so he took an Uber to meet us. 

After dinner we got our groceries and then headed south for our first night of camping at the Crow Creek Gold Mine. 
 

Alaska!

We have been planning a trip to Alaska since last summer.   It is the 50th state for Brad & Brody (although Brody was only 10 months when he went to Hawaii) and the 49th state for the other kids.  I had already been to all 50.   We had thought about doing a cruise but I proposed the idea of renting an RV so we would have a little more freedom to explore. (Plus I wanted to go to places I hadn't been before, since I had already seen Alaska on a cruise).

Our trip was scheduled for Wednesday, three days after Fafa passed away.  So, we weren't quite sure what to do.  In some ways it felt strange to just continue on with life but we also know that Fafa would have wanted us to go.  (He and Grammy had explored Alaska together and had a wonderful time.)  We were also thankful that Uncle Brian & Aunt Angie were taking good care of Grammy.  That made us feel so much better.   

We woke up REALLY early on Wednesday morning to catch our 7:10 flight.  Papa Bob & Grandma Shari met us at the airport to take our mini van.  (top notch airport shuttle service but I'm not going to tell to many people about it).   Even though it was early the kids were so excited to be going.  Bo, Brody & Darby sat in a row together.  Brad was right behind them and sat next to a guy that LOVED to talk.  I was in a row on the other side with Colt & Ollie.  

We watched movies and played games on our devices.  This ended up not being very good for Bo since he threw up on the plane.  Thankfully he was able to get it in a bag so we didn't have to clean up much. 

We arrived at the airport earlier than our scheduled time which meant we had over an hour until the RV renters were going to meet us.  So we decided to have breakfast at one of the airport restaurants.  Brody & Colt ordered Alaskan sized biscuits.  We asked our server how big they were and it seemed pretty big.  We were all disappointed when they served us with small biscuits.  The rest of the food wasn't that great and we were hoping this wasn't a sign of things to come in Alaska. 

 

Family Pics

I always like to take at least one family picture while we are there.  Here are a few of them.

 

Exploring

It's weird to be at a stage where the kids just wander by themselves. They did some of their own exploring and I used the time to enjoy the beach and read. 

 

 

Abi, Bo & Darby went with Brad to drive into Seabrook.

 

 

 

 The kids also played a lot of Rummikub. 

 There was a fire right near Moclips so we watched the airplanes and helicopters drop water on the fire.  It made for some extra excitement during our week. 

 

Skimboarding & Boogie boarding

The waves weren't that great when we were out at Moclips but some of the kids still tried boogie boarding and skim boarding.

 

Lowtide

One of the fun things about going to Moclips as often as we do is seeing the change in the landscape. This time as we were walking during low tide we noticed a sand bar with a significant drop off.  It's probably the biggest drop off we have seen.   We got the kids outside so they could do some exploring too.  But they were more interested in the tide pools and finding crabs.