Last Day! 

It was really strange to wake up, leisurely pack, eat breakfast, leave our AirBnb, and not head straight to the airport. When we were planning this trip , the return flights were early morning or evening flights, and since we always want one more day of travel, we chose the later. Our flight tonight doesn’t leave until 8:20 and its only 2 hours to Anchorage so plenty of time for a few last minute adventures.  

We said goodbye to Grandma Brolene’s cabin, but not without a little wrestling and wrapping up Mom’s Café’s final meal (for now), and this one is to go!

 

And of course more photos of the view.  I know it’s been an excessive amount of pictures but you just cannot grasp the beauty of Alaska.

 

And again, the Alaskan mentality of nothing goes to waste!  I loved the road markers made from paper plates!

 

Our travel companion, ChatGPT, helped us find a stop today at the Muskox Farm in Palmer, Alaska.  It was awesome! 

 We got to see the older male muskox who are their own “herd”.  The rambunctious adolescent males have their own pasture because they like to head butt for no reason.  

 

We saw the babies and their mamas – they were so little compared to their mamas. The mamas watched us intently the whole time we were near their pasture.

 

We learned so much in this quick tour.  First, they don’t use an electric fence because the muskox get itchy with their fur and love to rub on the fence. Their top fur is different than their fur underneath – the top coat is like a water-resistant parka. Their nostrils look like a painting.  The swirling warms the air before it gets to their lungs and then cools it from their lungs in their exhale. We also learned that muskox use a height-based hierarchy. So, the bigger the muskox, the higher up the chain you would be. Mike would be a big deal in the heard because of his height. 

 

Before this trip, we had never seen a Muskox.  Now, I think the muskox may be my spirt animal.  They like to eat and sleep.  They are really only aggressive when you bother their babies. And the older cows get their own pasture where they just give you a side eye when you walk past.

Muskox are also VERY food motivated. They figure out that food was kept in this barn… you can almost see the entire face of the musk ox in this metal!

This was an awesome little side adventure. We were going to have lunch at the picnic tables but there were LOTS of school field trips today and the picnic tables were full.  Popped open the hatch and instant lunch location.

Our next adventure was to check out Hatcher’s Pass.  The drive wasn’t bad and we made it to the lower parking lot… and then we found out the the upper lot was not open so we started up the one mile walk.  I cannot even calculate the elevation change for this walk.  All I know is that it was straight up! These two thoroughly enjoyed the snow and the resulting snowballs. And we met the cutest dog who was hiking with his mom and grandma.  The walk was tough but the views were awesome!

 

Once we got to the top, we realized why the lot was closed.  Nike was filming a commercial for the winter wear on the top of the mountain.  They didn’t seem to be doing much but still pretty cool to see.  Unfortunatley the visitor’s center was closed, but again, the views and the walk were great!

 We made our way to Anchorage, because we were shooting for an early dinner at an Italian place, Sorrentos. A few months ago, someone told Mike that she was from Anchorage and every time she went home, this was her favorite restaurant so we wanted to check it out.  Since our flight didn’t leave until 8:20, we have plenty of time to return rental car and check bags.  Plus, don’t you hate airport food?  It’s way overpriced and never very good. 

The World Cup has started and USA played at 5pm here (9pm EST). The boys really wanted to make sure we were somewhere either showing the game or with Wifi so they could watch.  Sorrentos had both – although we really couldn’t see the TV from our table. Thank goodness for wifi!  The food was fantastic and USA won!!  Great time was had by all!

 

Rental car returned, bags checked and now we wait for our flight, with fingers crossed that we can sleep for the 7 hours it will take to get to New Jersey…