alaska!

We arrived in the Last Frontier yesterday afternoon. Not gonna lie, that flight was rough. Henry and I were in the very last row of the plane, right by the bathrooms, and I was in the aisle seat, so I spent 6 hours being assailed by slamming doors, people bumping into me, people stepping on my foot (which was NOT in the aisle), and just general misery. But we got here safely, and that's what counts. I suppose.

stolen from his snapchat

Anyway. It turns out that the Anchorage airport is small enough that the rental car center is actually in the airport proper, and there was nobody in line at the Avis counter, so we lucked out with one of the quickest car rental experiences we've ever had (second only to Hilo). And the house we're renting in Anchorage is only about 15 minutes from the airport, so we were here within an hour of landing, which I think is pretty amazing. 

Last night we mostly just spent time getting settled in, getting groceries, that sort of thing. We did go for a walk on the boardwalk at Potters Marsh, where we saw a bunch of seagulls and a couple ducks and some amazing scenery. Then we drove a little way down the Seward Highway to Beluga Point to look at Turnagain Arm, a waterway in Cook Inlet. 

that sky!

This morning we got up and checked off the number one item on my list: a bike ride on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. We went to the bike shop and rented bikes for each of us. Henry and I were going to get ebikes just in case we weren't up for the whole ride (11 miles each way) but the guy at the shop basically vetoed that idea (I don't know, man) so we all ended up with old school bikes. Which was fine with me because I've been riding pretty regularly for a few weeks ... but Henry was not very happy about it.

The trail itself goes along the ocean and through the woods. There are a couple of hills but they weren't terrible. We got off to a really rough start because the boys rode ahead of us really fast, and pretty soon they were *miles* ahead of us, and they weren't answering their phones. You can see why this would be a less than ideal situation on our first day 3,000 miles from home. We finally got ahold of them and made them stay with us for the rest of the ride, with one exception. And then I fell getting off my bike because the bike shop guy insisted on putting a bag on the back (I asked for a basket for the front to keep my camera accessible, but apparently cool bike shops don't do that), and I caught my shoe on the stupid bag while trying to swing my leg over. And my seat kept sliding down so I would go from riding upright to basically hitting my knees on the handlebars with every rotation. In short, I was miserable. Eventually, some combination of riding hard and beautiful scenery led to me getting into a groove though, which (trust me when I say this) was a blessing for us all.

this is about mile 15, so they were dragging a little

Mike found sandhill cranes!

The very end of the trail is a long uphill slog, only to turn around and come back. Henry was flagging pretty hard by that time, so Mike and I started the return journey with him, while Liam and Max rode up the hill because they wanted to come back down really fast. They were richly rewarded for their efforts when they saw the first MOOSE of the trip (that's 100 moose points for Max!). My phone started blowing up with snapchats from both of them with pictures of this moose with a really impressive rack, and then Max even facetimed me so I could see it. We were a little bummed to have missed it, but not 10 minutes later, Henry found another moose (50 moose points for Henry!). This one was a mama moose, grazing in the woods about 50 feet from the trail. We stayed and watched her until Liam and Max caught up with us, and then we all rode together to finish the trail and return our bikes. 

their moose: most impressive

our moose: less impressive, still a MOOSE

Back at the house, we all chowed down on sandwiches (credit to our foresight in buying groceries last night), then everyone took a nap. Sleep is kind of a mess for all of us right now because it's light all the time, so it feels like time is both everything and noting. Liam called it a liminal space, and he's not wrong. Eventually we ventured out for dinner at a diner called Lucky Wishbone, where we feasted on burger (Liam), chicken sandwiches (me, Max, Henry), and grilled pastrami (Mike) along with fries, onion rings, and milkshakes (for the non-Mike family members). And now it's 8:22 p.m., and we're all resting our tired bodies even though it looks like noon outside. 

Not bad for the first day!