Winter Wonderland

It starts with a little...

Grangeville is covered with a blanket of white. I think its here to stay, since we have a high of like 10 degrees today.

Kim and I have been impressed by the community support and spirit for Christmas. The local park is all decked out with lights.

Grangeville must love Christmas, Its the night of December 4th and Santa Claus is riding around town wishing everyone Merry Christmas.

Back track to Alaska

So I realized with the summer season coming to an end, Jed and I packing and ready to haul all our stuff home, squeezing everything we can to soak up our last moments in Alaska, and showing Jed's parents the TIME OF THEIR LIFE adventures in Alaska, and then jumped head first into the new school year and first time teacher….. I have failed to tell about the fun we had in Alaska when Jed's parents came. :(    Well it's never too late.

Glacier Tour in Whittier.

It was a little overcast and sprinkle but we still braved the weather and went on a boat tour. The best part of it being overcast is it makes the glaciers bright blue.

As said before, the temperature changes considerably when you get closer to the glaciers. 

But way worth it.

One never knows how big the glaciers are until you are at the face of them. They can be as long as 2 miles and high as 30 stores. Glaciers were always Jed's favorite and now I know why.

After the cruise we headed to the Wildlife Conservation Center to get as close as we could to Alaska wildlife. Its amazing to see these majestic creatures up close and from a safe distance.

I really like Jed's camera. Props to Jed for taking good pics.

Trusty ole Musk Ox. These are Jed's favorite. 

The Conservation workers were trying to separate the bears so one worker was leading this big grizzly bear away from the gate. He stood on his hind lefts and towered over all of us tourist. Don't want to come between this bear and his food.

These guys look familiar. Although they look skinny without their big winter coats. We saw soooooo many on our way up here to Alaska and here are several more. Well if you like Buffalo meat, Alaska is the place to be. 

Jed got a little to close to one of these guys and we almost lost the camera to a buffalo horn. These guys  obviously don't like there picture taken, especially when they are having a bad hair day. 

Little Musk Ox. Jed's wanted to take one home. Who needs a dog when you can have a Musk Ox. Okay. They are kind of cute. 

Wish this little guy could join his friends in Denali. 

As we were leaving, I saw the field of Fire Weed (an Alaska native flower) I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to run through the fields. Don't think I'll ever have the chance again.

Time to Ourselves

Because of Parent Teacher Conference during the week days, teachers had Friday off. So I put a bug in Jed's ear to go to the temple in Spokane. A. Because thats our district. B. I had never been and wanted to mark number 19th temple on my list. and C. Because we needed time to ourselves.

We debated whether to go to visit family 3 1/2 hours south or be selfish and travel 3 hours north. We chose the later. And very glad that we did.

Welcome to Camas Prairie region!

The above shots are from the top of White Bird Hill. Its quite a trek up the hill to get to Grangeville but its a breeze going down to visit family. I'm scared to see what its like with snow. :(

Here we are in Coeur D' Alene Idaho by the Resort and Board walk. Jed and Ali used to live here while she was attending North Idaho College. Jed had some good times here and wanted to walk down memory lane with me. It was fun to see the apartment where they lived, the park where they would play volleyball and basketball, the great harvest bread company Jed would work at and make "the best looking loafs", and the world famous Hudson's Hamburgers. We also got some "Gooey" treats from the Resort's restaurant Dockside. 

After dessert we walked down the boardwalk and around the lake. It was a beautiful night. What a perfect way to end the day. Of course we did some shopping the next day. Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Dicks, and Red Lobster! 

Here is an overview of Lewiston Idaho and Clarkston Washinton: our soon to be new home after the school year. I have never driven up and down so many steep hills. Not to mention all the twisty roads to and from any where. 

Denali National Park

Female Caribou

Eielson Visitor Center Mile 66 on the Park road.

Denali in the background
Only 30% of visitors actually see the mountain, Kim and I saw it from both the North and South.

The evening before our adventure into the park

Caribou

Only 7 miles into the park and we begin to see wildlife

That's a mouth full!

Hoping to go unnoticed

Close call.
Keeping a close eye on the bear that could've taken his life. 

Casting a shadow

Moose here are 30% larger than those further south, that's no bull!

Blackstone Bay

Beloit Glacier

Glacier Margaritas [minus the Alcohol] What a gorgeous gal!

AMAZING WEATHER!! Not typical for the PWS

I wore my jacket only to fit in.
Crazy how you will feel very different temperatures with the winds that blow off the glaciers.

Kittiwake Rookery
A Kittiwake is pretty much a Seagull, they are still nasty and poop everywhere!

Billings Glacier

Old Glory!
Fly your colors USA!

Some random wall of ice we found along our way.
Yeah, its a hard life when you have to look at stuff like this.

Gotta love black and white...

I don't look half or even a quarter as good as Kim,
but I figure I need proof I was there.

Alaska's colors

Nice blues coming through...