Today started out nice and slow with coffee and soccer… and ended with a trip to the ER in Anchorage. We are all okay – just a bit of excitement on Six Mile Creek.

The Champion’s Cup of soccer was held today. Think of it like the Super Bowl of the Premier League. After a bit of tech work, we were able to watch the game. It was an awesome game – overtime and then ultimately decided by penalty kicks! Neither of boys’ favorite teams were playing but a team they both really don’t like lost, so it was awesome!

After the game, Leo went for a run that he said was absolutely gorgeous and the 45°weather was perfect but hard due to altitude. He’s gotten so tall, he is having to duck down under some of the beams🤪

We made sandwiches at our little cabin and then headed for our adventure day – whitewater rafting on Six Mile Creek at AK Flow. Since Hope is so tiny, we walked the 100 yards from our front door to AK Flow 🤣 Thankfully, they were prepared for rafting in frosty temperatures with dry suits that were latex internally with an additional shell keeps water out.

As we talked to the guides, we found out that all 3 were originally from North Carolina and were all graduates of Appalachian State! Small world! Suited up, we headed out. On the van ride over to our drop in, one of our guides was saying how low the water was because the snow melt had just started. This bit of information will be important later but for now, not a bad place to raft…

And we looked like a super hero squad in our dry suits.

We got a briefing on what to do and how to raft, and did a quick swim test in our dry suits and learned to pull each other into the raft… again, a bit of information that will be important later.

Six Mile Creek is made up of 3 canyons. When the water is low, the canyons get more difficult as you go along. When the water is high, they get gradually less difficult. In we went to Canyon 1. If this is the easiest one, holy moly! The canyon is crazy narrow and since the water was low, huge rocks are sticking up from the water and the sides. First rapid – wow! I almost fall out backward but able to get back in with help from Carter (our new friend and raftmate who is stationed in Anchorage) and Leo. Rapid 2, the flow pushes our raft into the side of the canyon and Mike slams into the rock wall! We pull into an alcove to check him and after a minute, he’s ready to go. Mike moves to the left side of the raft where Leo and I are so he doesn’t have to row as hard, and Michael and Carter handle the right side.

Rapid 3 really narrow, but we make it through. And then Rapid 4… boom 💥 we hit the rapid! Leo and Mike are thrown out. Mike pops up, there is blood everywhere! He has face planted into huge rock. Aeon, our guide, and Carter are grabbing him. When Leo pops up, Michael grabs Leo’s leg and I grab his life jacket. Thank you Jesus for protecting them both and for the helmet Mike was wearing!

We pull into another alcove and Aeon and Scotty, the owner of AK Flow, take over. After making sure Mike was okay concussion-wise, no loss of consciousness, nausea and pupils were good, they started cleaning his wounds. It was clear from the start that we were going to need more than bandaids and steri-strips. Thankfully, we were between canyons so the creek was pretty calm as we floated down to a put out spot where another guide was waiting with the van.

We said goodbye and thanks to our friend Carter, and climbed into the van. It’s a tradition in rafting for you to sign the van, so Michael signed for us all: “my dad left his blood at swim check 2” 🤦🏻‍♀️ (swim check 2 is location where Mike and Leo went in).

We walked back to our little cabin, changed clothes and off we went to the Urgent Care. Sometimes we talk about living way out, away from cities, but today we learned why that’s not a great idea. The closest open Urgent Care is in Anchorage… 90 miles away. I’m so thankful that the boys are older. We were able to let them stay back, watch the NBA game and then walk (because remember how small Hope is) to dinner. Our guide from today lives in town and gave us his cell phone number in case boys needed him tonight. (Aren’t North Carolina folks just the best?!?) So the boys are taken care of, and we are headed to Anchorage.

We get to the first urgent care at 6pm, Mike walks in and the lady abruptly tells him they close at six so they can’t see him. She gives us the name of another urgent care about 10 minutes away and off we go to that. This second Urgent Care was wonderful! The nurses, receptionist and doctor were so kind. The receptionist and I were trying to find a pharmacy in the direction we were headed tomorrow while the doctor cleaned the wound.

Unfortunately after cleaning the wound, the doctor said Mike needed internal sutures and they cannot do that at urgent care. They called Anchorage General and Providence Regional Hospital for us to check wait times. Providence Hospital won with a 2 hour wait (AG was 4 hours). But of course, we found the positive and had them laughing before we left.

The ER waiting room was something… actually no, it wasn’t. It was every ER, in every city, in every state. We masked up so we didn’t spend the rest of vacation with stomach bug.

Meanwhile, the boys walked back to The Dirty Skillet for dinner. When I texted to see how they were, they sent me a picture – somehow they ended up in a canoe??

Then I texted back and said send me a picture from dinner…

We clarified that I wanted a picture from dinner not OF dinner 🤣 so I got this

I further clarified that I wanted of a picture together and no dumb faces! And then I get this…

Then I gave up 🤪

Back in the ER, the wait was only about an hour, and then it was time to go back to another waiting room to wait. Maybe 15 minutes later, they called Mike back. Xrays were clear – No fractures just a whole lot of soreness. Thank the Lord! After some anesthesia, they cleaned the wound really well, and put in 8 stitches.

At 10:13, we walked out the ER.

Key takeaways… so thankful boys are older and we didn’t have to bring them with us. The almost constant daylight means that even at 11pm we aren’t driving home in the dark. We walked in the ER, and we walked out of the ER. Mike is okay with what’s likely a scar and cool story. And we are so thankful for God’s protection today!!!

I can’t even begin to think what tomorrow will hold but right now, we just want a hot shower and some sleep 🥰

Collectively, we have decided that today may be the greatest first day of vacation ever! Partly because we didn’t know what to expect from Alaska but mainly because we just had the best day. Due to the time change, we started the day early. Some of us woke up earlier that others, but all of us were dressed and downstairs at the hotel breakfast by 7:30. After breakfast, we loaded up and hit the road. This trip we are trying to alternate between planned activity/adventure days and open days. Today was an open day. Our only objective was to end the day in Hope, Alaska.

First Stop: the Ulu (oo-loo) Factory. The Ulu knife is a traditional Alaskan knife with a curved blade. The factory was great and by factory, they mean half the store is the guy actually making the knives that you can watch, and another employee showing how to care and maintain your ulu knife.

They also sold the greatest coffee mug ever – I think with this I could finally be a one cup of day coffee drinker 😂

We also got to see the Alaskan Railroad Train and Depot. We tried to work in a train ride on this vacation but with our car and the stops we wanted to see, we just could not make it work.

And then, it was off to Walmart to stock up, as well as a stop at Cabella’s for bear spray. You should have seen the people looking at us taking a selfie in Walmart parking lot.

Then it was off to the first stop of the day (provided by my new travel buddy, Chat GPT). Along the way, the views had us all in awe and then Michael spotted our first bit of Alaskan Wildlife…

We made it to Earthquake Park. According to the plaque 😁, on Good Friday in 1964, a 9.2 Earthquake hit the area in and around Anchorage. The quake lasted over 4 minutes with ongoing aftershocks. They said the blast had the force of Mt St. Helens. While the quake was centered about 80 miles east of Anchorage, the damage including 9-foot waves in San Franscisco and larger than normal waves all the way to Honolulu. And we know this is all correct and true, because they are commemorated on a plague! 😀

Thankfully, Earthquake Park was connected to Tony Knowles Trail that runs along the coastline. According to Chat GPT, it was a gorgeous easy trail along the coast that showed the rolls of hills caused by the Good Friday Earthquake. Say what you will about AI, but Chat GPT has been spot on so far in Alaska.

We also found the cutest thing along the trail – a Dog Stick Library! Feel free to borrow and return as needed ♥️

As we were walking, Micheal, now known as the Moose Spotter, said “Stop for a minute.” We did and off to our right was another moose. He was just wandering around, eating and just doing moose stuff.

MOOSE P

We also met the nicest Alaskan ladies who were out for a walk. They wanted to know all about our trip, and what we thought of Alaska and the weather. – It’s a little chilly about 45 degrees but the wind makes it feel so much colder. Definitely the chilliest Summer Vacation we have had. Back on the road, we recharged at a local copy shop, Sip.

We drove the Seward Highway. According to the everything we read, SewardHighway is one of the most scenic drives in US. And they were not kidding. As beautiful as this is, the pictures do not do justice to how stunning this place is.

There were several recommended stops along the Highway. The first one was Beluga Point. If the tide were in, we potentially could see some beluga whales. It was low tide when we visited so no whales, but the low tide did allow for some excellent pictures and walks along the water.

Traveling on, look what we found… Mom’s Cafe now serving Alaska! Thankfully we “borrowed” an unoccupied campsite to enjoy a non-moving lunch 🥪♥️

The views continued as we made our way to our next stop, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The center takes in animals who are abandoned, injured or surrendered by land owners. There were all kinds of animals including a wolverine! Seriously, who has ever seen a wolverine in real life (and lived)?!? If there was any question that wolverines are dangerous, the wolverines and the grizzly bears had the same amount of electric fences around their enclosures! And this guy was intent on the whites foxes next door!

Then we headed over to the Muskox pasture. I have to admit until today, I had no idea that Muskox existed. We did learn that the qiviut (the fur under the top coat of fur) is considered the warmest fabric in the world. I guess if you’re living outside in Alaskan winters, you better be covered by the warmest fur!

We headed over to the grizzlies next. The 2 biggest bears were orphaned after their mom was killed and the little one, Hugo, was abandoned by his mom because he had porcupine quills in his face. Porcupine quills have hooks on them and animals cannot remove. So when a baby animal comes in contact with a porcupine, the mothers will often abandon them because they know they can’t help. Watching them just sit and wait for their meal was so cute. You wanted to cuddle them up… until you remembered they could rip you apart.

Next up were the black bears who I swear were posing for pictures… at least until the side by side pulled up with the blue buckets. The zookeepers told us that the animals know what the blue bucket means… food!

Then we headed back to see the moose. These guys tend to wander into traffic and get hit by cars. One of these guys did not want anyone else to get any attention!

There were reindeers and more black bears along with bison who ran in a pasture so large we decided to drive there instead of walking.

Ornament for the travel tree purchased and then we were back on the road headed to Hope, Alaska. The views continued to be amazing, a little different but just as beautiful.

Our little cabin in Hope is so cute!

Hope, Alaska is a tiny town on the Kenai Peninsula. When I say tiny, I mean TINY! Population is 162 and a Main Street that is dirt 🤣 Before our trip, we watched a YouTube video on Hope, Alaska and discovered it is a big wedding destination for nature-loving folks who want to start their marriage in Hope. The town started as a gold rush town and the prospectors wanted to give the town a name. To pick the name, they decided they would name the town after the next person who walked off the boat… off came a 17 year old prospector named Percy Hope… and Hope, Alaska was born! There’s a social hall, public toilets, an old cafe, and gift shop open most days.

Off the main Highway is the Dirty Skillet. The Dirty Skillet was supposed to be a great dinner destination so off we went… with 3 restaurant choices, we figured the number one had to pretty good 😊

Dinner was fresh caught and grilled halibut, and it was delicious. Clearly the apple crisp with homemade ice cream dessert was wonderful as well.

Someone may have had cold feet throughout dinner because they wore flip flops in 45° weather… but that same someone was warned about the temperature before we left and said “oh no, I’ll be fine.” After dinner, we headed back to our little cabin, and passed by Creekbend Cafe and Acres. We read that they had great breakfast sandwiches and coffees. But we did not know they also are a live music hotspots in Alaska. In fact, tonight and tomorrow a group the boys know is playing – Buffalo Traffic Jam. So after tomorrow’s adventures and dinner we’re headed down to a free concert! Seriously, what are the chances?!?!

Tomorrow is our first adventure day, but it’s going to be pretty hard to top Day 1!

It’s here. State number 50 – Alaska! It is hard to believe we are almost done with our quest to visit all 50 states before Graduation. Technically, Michael graduated last week, but we are still counting this as success. The travel notebook is ready, the check list is done and the Browns are on their way!

An early afternoon departure out of Raleigh made for a leisurely morning to finalize all our last minute things, and then were off!

To avoid some of our prior close-call/sprints through the airport, we arrived today with plenty of time. It takes a full day of travel to get to Anchorage – RDU to O’Hara, and O’Hare to Anchorage. So we grabbed a snack/lunch in Raleigh, and jumped on the first leg of our travel day.

We made it to Chicago! Quick layover and we were right back in the air for our 7-hour cross country flight to Anchorage!

Once we crossed into Canada, the clouds cleared, and the topography and scenery were amazing! It was so gorgeous, it looked fake!

Someone may have gotten annoyed with me leaning over to take photos🤪

The interactive maps on the plane were really cool… see Mt Macon on the map, see Mt Macon out the window.

WE MADE IT! Welcome to Alaska! NUMBER 50!!!

Bags + 1 cooler ✔️ Rental Car ✔️ (Seriously, if you aren’t an AARP member for discounted car rental, you’re crazy!) and we were on our way! Not a bad backdrop for a city.

And it’s not Mom’s Cafe, but maybe it’s a satellite location?

Alaska is 4 hours behind East Coast Time. Our 8pm arrival was midnight to us, and our 9pm dinner was 1am to us. And some of us do not adjust as well to the time change.

By the time we finished dinner, it was 10pm here (2am at home). This is 10pm in Alaska.

I for one am looking forward to seeing how much Alaska we can pack into 20-22 hours of sunlight every day! Some people are not😂 We can do some serious Clark -Griswold-vacationing with that much daylight!!