Happy Father's Day from the "Real Alaska"

June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day from the "Real Alaska"

Happy Father's Day from the "Real Alaska" as A calls it!

That's right, we're not in Dutch Harbor anymore LOL! We headed to Anchorage Sat. on vacation to see the rest of Alaska. A is so excited. She always talks about where we live, and the rest of Alaska is the "real Alaska" You know, the one that people actually envision when they think of Alaska. The one with huge mountains, trees, bears, moose, caribou...all that kind of good stuff...and that's exactly what we're seeing.

Today was our first full day here, and DH got up to start his Father's Day with his first real round of golf in 2 years. He shot a 78! Let me tell you, he was THRILLED!

When he got back, we had a nice lunch and then headed to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It is an hour travel south of Anchorage on a scenic byway.

A's face as she had her first glimpse of the "real Alaska" was priceless!

The first thing we saw when we reached the conservation center was several large moose lounging around enjoying this beautiful day. (Note the dead trees in the background, this was caused by the magnitude 9 Alaska earthquake that struck around 50 years ago. The land here suddenly dropped 10 feet and was inundated with salt water killing the trees.

Then we spied a herd of muskox. Very cool!

Apparently their undercoat is the warmest fur in the world!

And we got up close and personal with some brown bears (AKA grizzlies!)

This species of Bison was once thought to be extinct. This herd is being rehabilitated and will be released into the wild in 2013.

Cute little baby bison!

It was a harsh winter, and the rescue center received 3 orphaned baby moose. They are so adorable.

We also got to see a caribou herd grazing and enjoying the summer weather.

Getting a little mommy milk... This was an awesome sight!

Last up was the black bears. These 2 fellows were so playful that we watched them for quite some time. They reminded me of my dogs Alfred and Riley back at my mom's house. The way they play fought and annoyed each other was hilarious.