(moose not pictured above)
It was raining Wednesday morning, Pops was busy cooking cinnamon rolls and bacon when I got up. I decided to go for a good fast run. I headed the opposite direction from the day before and ran fast. The rain was not hard but steady. Once I got back we cleaned up and packed up some stuff for the day and headed north.
We drove through Anchorage and on a ways to Thunderbird falls.
Unfortunately it was still raining when we got there so we put on our rain jackets before hitting the trail.
It was a 1 mile in, 1 mile out hike with a stop half way at a gorge overlook.
The rain and promises of snacks got us moving along pretty quick. The trail was dirt but packed good and not muddy or messy at all. The waterfall was not as exciting as we expected. We looked at it for minute and then headed back.
We drove back south a bit and then turned off at Eagle River. Our first stop was in town for lunch. We found a little pizza and beer place. The kids got good root beers and we got good Alaskan beers, plus some great food.
After lunch we got back on the road. We were going to a nature center and unfortunately they were doing work on the road and it was only a few miles but it took a long time waiting on construction. It worked out okay though because after waiting in one line we went over a hill and found a moose standing by a pond.
We were in a line of cars and had to keep moving but we got a few pictures out the window and everyone was excited to see our first moose.
The Nature Center was pretty cool and dry. They had bear skins, moose antlers, beaver tails and lots of other cool animal parts.
There were some artic fox tails that were crazy soft and the most exciting part of Pumpkin’s day.
We took a short hike near the center that went past a spot where beavers used to have a damn and salmon sometime run but nothing much was out and about in the rain.
Then we drove out and back into town. The girls slept on the drive and we got back just in time for Heath to put on workout clothes and go to the gym with Annie. Pops and I shredded a bunch of pork and mixed it with refried beans, onions and peppers and made a batch of enchiladas. The kids wanted to watch a movie so Pops got a 3D movie going for them to watch.
We also made rice and black beans and Heath made guacamole when she got back. Then we dug into Mexican fest and it was great. After dinner we got out some games and Bean went to bed so the rest of us could play. It was a lot of fun sitting around the table and spying things with our eyes.
Pumpkin was excited to show off her reading skills so we once we were done with the game she read some books to Pops and Annie.
The kids went to bed and we had a few drinks and watched some tv until bed.