Alaska Tourists - Part 6

Wow what a day.  It's June 30th - another month has come to an end.  This morning, we got up and ate the free breakfast at Lucille Lake.  This Best Western just doesn't have the best breakfast - I guess they figure they can get away with it since the view is so absolutely awesome.

Lots of planes parked in "driveways" here.

Gorgeous mountains across the lake.

And plenty of hanging baskets outside.

We left the hotel after breakfast and headed to Palmer then followed the Matanuska river east.

It was partly sunny as we drove.  First time we had seen the sun since Saturday, June 23.

Our first glimpse of the Matanuska Glacier.  We drove into the Glacier View Point area and paid our money to go walk on the glacier.  John and I each got in for $15 since we're residents.  Morris got in for $15 cause he's old but Suzy had to pay the full $20 price for adults.

We drove out to the trail head and parked.  John and I put our hiking boots on and the 4 of us started out down the trail.  Quite a ways out, there was a picnic table and Suzy who still is not feeling so great decided she was going to stop there.  She was able to walk a little on the glacier but we didn't even get a picture of her. :(

There are plenty of rocks mixed in with the ice so it crunches as you walk on it.  We walked out quite a ways farther than we did when we had the grandkids here last summer.  For a while we kind of followed a guided group of people (those who had paid $50 for the guided tour).

There was this big slot in the ice and plenty of water running through it.

Smile boys!

See the little rocks - they make the ice so it's not slippery.

The guys walked way down as far as they could until they got to water that was too wide to cross.

Morris standing by lots of ice.

Shortly before Morris snapped this picture, we heard ice crack and a chunk fall into the water.  So this glacier is definitely moving and cracking.

A beautiful view of the mountains near the glacier.

We decided we wouldn't want to live in this house.  As we drove near the foot of this cliff, we could look up and see the railing to the left of the house hanging over the edge.

Our last glimpse of Matanuska Glacier as we headed back west toward Palmer and on to Anchorage.  But first a stop at the Reindeer Farm to feed the reindeer.

Listen up guys - Suzy wants a carved moose to keep her company at the house up north.

Lots of Elk laying around - supposedly there were babies somewhere but we didn't see them.

One of the reindeer at the farm.  Then the tour started so we had to go get in line with a herd of people. The only reason we stopped here is because I had free tickets for 4 people and someone thought her Mom needed to kiss a moose while she was up here.

This is Denali - he was brought to the farm as they found him abandoned in Denali Park.  They figure he is 2 or 3 years old.  He was laying down when we went over to the pen but when the tour guide brought out some willow branches he jumped right up.

Suzy was surprised at how big he was.  She stood back and watched the little kids feed him a while and then she put her branch through the fence and puckered up for a big smooch.  Denali didn't reciprocate but was quite content to let her touch his nose while he took the willow branch.

We didn't do the rest of the tour as we really only wanted to see the moose.  So, we drove on to Eagle River and stopped at a Carl's Jr for a quick sandwich then headed down the Kenai Peninsula to Soldotna.

We stopped on Turnagain Arm to check out the water and for the guys to glass for dall sheep.

Uh oh, for now, I'm out of time as we are meeting Suzy and Morris for breakfast.  I will post about our trip through Whittier Tunnel next time.  We've got another busy day planned so will be running all day again.

And you are right anteemoil, they will need a vacation when they get back - probably some relaxing time around Big Lake.  And we are wondering what a slimer is cause fish definitely don't need slimed.