The last few days of our trip....

Sorry for the interruption in my posts. While in Denali I was unable to get online.

On Saturday we drove up to Denali National Park and spend the day exploring it. In the morning we hiked to the top of Mount Healy Overlook and had lunch at the top enjoying the beautiful view. For a snack on the way down, we enjoyed some wild blueberries. :) At 2:00 we visited the park kennels and learned more about sled dogs first-hand. It was fun to watch them get so excited when they started hitching up the team for the demonstration. It seemed like each dog--regardless of its age or size--suddenly came alive and was pleading "pick me, pick me" to their trainers. Of course in doggy language "pick me" translates into frenzied barking and racing around in circles, but the message was clear--they love to run!!
The final activity of the day was a leisurely bus ride to Savage River. Along the way we saw a caribou and a mother grizzly and her two cubs. The most exciting part of the ride occurred when an unsuspecting photographer came upon the grizzly bears (as we were watching them from the safety of the bus). For a few minutes I was afraid that I was going to witness a mauling, but fortunately the mother bear decided to take her cubs and find a more secluded spot rather than continuing to charge the foolish man.

Sunday morning we spent resting, listening to a sermon, and reading our Bibles. Toward lunch we headed up to the park to get something to eat and enjoy the visitor center and science center. Since it was raining, all these indoor activities were more pleasant than anything outside. Fortunately it stopped raining in the early afternoon--just in time for our white water rafting tour. To protect us from the 38 degree water, we were told to dress warmly--as many layers as possible--and given dry suits which only left our hands and heads exposed. After signing our lives away and receiving detailed instructions concerning every possible emergency situation which might occur during such activities, we were helped into the large, sturdy rafts by our able guides. For the next two hours we enjoyed a thrilling, but not terrifying, ride through numerous rapids which were rated between categories 2 and 4. Our friendly lady guide was very experienced and chatted with us the entire way. After riding a bus back to the beginning, we decided to buy the picture they took of us to prove that we had done it!
Monday we drove back to Anchorage, but on the way stopped to hike around Byers Lake in the nearby state park. We enjoyed a leisurely hike of about 6 miles around the lake while taking numerous pictures of the beautiful landscape and unique creation we saw along the way. After a later dinner in Anchorage, we turned in early after a long day of riding in the car and hiking.

Tuesday we packed up all our dirty clothes, souvenirs, and paraphernalia and hit a few more tourist sites in Anchorage before eating lunch and turning our rental car in. My mom's cousin Steve Baker picked us up and took us out to his beautiful home in Eagle River--a suburb of Anchorage. We met his family and spent a nice afternoon and evening at their house. Around 12 midnight we headed to the airport to catch our 2:50AM flight home.
On the way we flew through San Francisco, but on the way home we flew through Seattle. We all agreed that we liked stopping in Seattle better because it broke it up more evenly. In Seattle we had breakfast and my dad and I started the process of weeding out our pictures. I took over 400 and I think he took about 200 so we had barely begun when they started boarding for our flight. We arrived home around 1:30PM and were able to unpack everything and eat lunch before crashing around 4PM for a couple hours of sleep.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to see such a beautiful part of God's creation. It was a wonderful break from the busy routine of our normal lives. God really blessed us above and beyond what we expected with regards to the weather, safety traveling, and wonderful Christian fellowship with our relatives.
I am continuing to go through all our pictures and hope to post some here soon.