Anchorage, Cooper Landing, & Seward - 2013

Anchorage, Cooper Landing, & Seward - 2013

Impromptu trip - 

In August, what seemed to be at the last minute, we decided to take a drive to Anchorage and then to Cooper Landing to look at some property that became available.  The idea of buying and running a business is scary, but also exciting and what I consider to be a worthy challenge.  So off we went on Friday, August 9, to make the six hour drive to Anchorage, even though I was disappointed that according to the weather it was raining at our destination and Fairbanks was suppose to get one last day of exceptionally hot weather that Saturday.  The drive to Anchorage was uneventful.  We got there late and tried to get some sleep for the next days drive to Cooper Landing, only about two hours further.

Cooper Landing -

Seward Highway

Seward Highway

The property

Cooper Landing was an interesting and beautiful place.  The property seemed to have a lot of potential.  The only problems I could see were that the details are still being worked out for the sale of this property and would we be able to buy it?

After some dinner with the real estate agents who also happen to be my friends, we had planned on doing some fishing.  However, we then decided instead to drive to Seward so that the boys could see their Grandpa.

Seward -

Ducks - On the way to Seward

We arrived to Seward later than planned.  The boys were happy to see Grandpa Larry and he them, but I had to make the decision to either drive the two hours back to Anchorage or stay the night in Seward.  Staying in Seward gave us the opportunity to see the Sea-Life Center in the morning and I didn't think it would be wise to drive while tired and in the dark.  Larry went to check on the price of a room at the lodge where he works.  He surprised us all when, instead of coming back out with the information, he came out with a set of keys and said, "Here's your room!".  

The room was nice and comfortable as well as much appreciated.  We got a good night's sleep to prepare for the next day that promised to be a long one.  We planned on seeing the Sea-Life Center of course, but we also had to drive to Anchorage, do a little shopping while we were there, visit some relatives, and drive all the way back to Fairbanks because my mom had to work the next day.

Alaska Sea-Life Center -

In the morning we had breakfast at a little restaurant recommended to us by Larry.  Looking across the street we could see a cruise ship on the bay. 

After breakfast we were off to the sea-life center.

Resurrection Bay

The Trip Home -

The drive to Anchorage was not that bad, other than some occasional rain showers.  We got our shopping and our visiting done, but left Anchorage in the evening rather than in the afternoon as we had planned.  We raced back towards home, hoping to catch as much of the day light as possible.  

However, we had to drive through the inevitable road construction areas and also got hit with exceptionally heavy rain that forced us to slow down drastically.  

When we were still pretty close to Willow, I seen a little black bear bounding through the tall grass on the side of the road.

Later, after we had just driven through Healy when we came upon a moose standing in the middle of the road.  It just stood there and looked at us for what seemed like a long time, breath showing in little white clouds within the light from my car.  It was twilight time than, but only just, and from there on out I was extra careful driving the rest of the trip in the dark.  Fortunately, we did not come across another moose.  I did however, see two foxes.

From left to Right:  My mom's moose photo and Jesse's moose photo.

We finally reached Fairbanks at around 1:00 A.M.  It was a relief to be home and to finally get some sleep.