7-21-2013 Kids last day in Alaska

It is departure day for the kids.  They leave around 8:30 this evening and arrive in Dallas about 6am. The goal is to keep Emorie active all day so she will sleep during the flight home.  After Elizabeth and Jonathan finished packing, we went to Potter Marsh and walked the board walk.  This marsh is unusual in that it is fresh water with three rivers feeding in to it.  It was created at the time the railroad was being built.  It has water fowl, animals and streams in which the salmon are swimming.  It had an elevated boardwalk that overlooked the marshes so as not to disturb the ecosystem. Emorie really enjoyed watching the ducks and salmon swimming.  She really likes watching things in motion.

We have really enjoyed having the opportunity to spend the last 10 days with her.  She has learned a few things other than Nana and Grandpa adore her.  She is crawling quite well and now can show you how big she is, “sooooo big”. She also plays peek-a-boo with daddy’s hat or a burp cloth.   Emorie has a wonderful personality and has made it pretty easy for Nana and Grandpa.  She sleeps 12 hours through the night and wakes up one happy camper.  Oh yeah, it was also fun spending time with Elizabeth and Jonathan as well, we really are thankful that they brought Emorie.

On the way to the Airport we visited the world’s largest float plane airport base.  It is adjacent to the Anchorage International Airport, so that made it very convenient.  There were several planes that took off while we were there.  Elizabeth and Jonathan recalled the fond memories of their float plane experience.

We also went by Earthquake Park; it was established after the devastating disaster on Good Friday in 1964.  We had been there back in 1974, but it looked very different with the vegetation grown.

We stopped by the City Diner for a good meal before the kids had to catch their plane.  They had some real unusual dishes, fried bologna with chili, cheese and onions as well as mac and cheese also with chili, cheese and onion.  Bob loved the fried bologna.  They make a great tuna melt, too.  We fed Emorie while we were there so she would be ready for bed time when the wheels go up.

Fireweed

It was a bittersweet farewell for us. We really enjoyed the family visit and wish that it could have lasted longer but it was time for us to move on to continue our exploration of Alaska.

Monday we head down to Seward. The fish are in and the bears and eagles are going crazy. Also the wild berries are starting to ripen.  We will be on the Kenai Peninsula for about 2 weeks as there are many things to see and explore.