Train ride to Skagway

Marcia and Will

Gpa and Adam



One of the small waterfalls




As we arrive in Skagway




The conductor explaining how they turn the train around to Adam





The train stopped at Bennett which is a ghost town from the Klondike Gold Rush days and we had lunch and a short tour. This church is one of the only remaining buildings and it is beautiful.




Some of the train passes made me a little dizzy with the height and the drops but it was fun. I only had to go to the other side of the train and cover my eyes once. The boys went outside for part of these passages (Will was out there almost the whole time)



Some of the train photos from the train ride. Something everyone should do. About a 9 hour day with a lunch stop and breathtaking views. Lots of trussels and tons of waterfalls. I will try to post more of the photos when we have more time. Enjoy!

Sights in and around Atlin BC



The little island in the front is for sale and I think we need to live there!




A beautiful waterfall that was probably a quarter mile long and georgous. This is the top




and the middle.




Adam in some abandoned mining equipment we found as we scoped out the mines.




Alex




We took a tour of Atlin and a riverboat they are restoring. This is taken on the deck.




Trees planted upside down?



Llewellen Glacier

Will standing in front of the Grotto

Gpa Alex and Adam on our hike



Mark and Will on our hike




Alex and Will enjoying the view from the deck at the motel.




more wild flowers ~ they are stunning here



We have spent the last two days in Atlin BC which is a tiny little town they call "The Switzerland of the North" It has amazing views as it sits on a 90 mile long lake surrounded by huge peaks. We took a tour of the town and learned about its history and its people which was really amazing. The entire town is about 330 people and they are really about community. We also took some time to check out some old gold mines and little mines people are trying to make work with the price of gold up. We rounded out our day today with a hike up one of the mountains and enjoyed the 70 + degree weather. I am pretty sold on a move to the little island that is for sale. Now if I can just get a float plane, I will be all set! We will head out in the morning to head back to Alaska on the White pass and Yukon train and then will see Skagway.

Whitehorse, Yukon

 

Adam bought himself a "real camera" and has been busy taking photos ever since.




This must be a boy thing ~ Alex has about 8 photos of this car on my camera




The boys on our tour of the paddle boat "Klondike" It was so fun to get to see all of the ins and outs of one of these boats. Must have been a very exciting time to be a passenger! (and a lot of work if it was your job)




A view of the dam with the Fish Ladder in the fore ground. Interesting place to visit and to learn about how the salmon swim up the fish ladder to avoid the dam.



Visited another Hot Springs in Tahkini. It was fun but didnt even compare to Laird Hot Springs!



Hanging out and cooling off at the hot springs.



Uncle Will and the boys building a fire to cook Reindeer Sausages and Smores.

 

We have had a great time in Whitehorse. It has been relaxing and interesting. Bob, Marcia and Will (Marks family) got here and it has been great having them. (But we wish we had Beth too!) We will take off in the morning for Atlin, British Columbia for a couple of days.

Mat-Su Glacier area, bears, moose and Top of the World Highway

One of the glaciers in the region

Kind of a tradition in Alaska I guess. We saw it all over so we did it too!



Up close with Adam




Mat-Su glacier




Another glacier - not to seem uncaring but I dont have the book with me to tell me the name. They are all amazing!




Either a great horned owl or a Northern Grey. We have to do some research.




Trumpeter swan.




One of the moose mamas and babies we saw. This little lake was just full of moose and they were really fun to watch.




Same mama and baby



Not sure why but most of the rivers looked "chocolate" - Not dirty but deep brown.



The view at the end of the Top of the World highway. A surprise to me but fun.



Us heading across on the ferry



Peregrin Falcon with a mouth full of rodent as it flew over our heads



Grizzlies!



You can see how close we were to these guys. He is right beside the road. A local who stopped also told us these were a couple of cubs as they werent to big. Mark and I about died laughing as we thought they were plenty big!




Our rock hound on a piece of "conglomerate" which is naturally occuring concrete mixed with rock.




Another stunning view across Fox lake I believe.



World Famous Cinnamon Roll- 4 of us didnt finish it.

A sad part of journey came yesterday as we had to leave Alaska and head back into Canada. Mark reminded me though that we will be back in Alaska as soon as we take the White rail Yukon train back in and head to Skagway. That will be next week, so I am letting that ease my pain. :)  The last two days have been amazing again with incredible sights and animals like crazy. The photos show alot of the high lights but really the bears were the stars of the day. We got up close and personal with them as they were right beside us. Obviously they were hungry enough that they didnt even seem to mind us watching. It was pretty cool. The moose are also cool and I love that we are here when they have their babies. Just makes it that much more fun. We will be spending a few days here in Whitehorse and then will head to Atlin. More adventure to come!

Homer to Anchorage



The three boys in Homer. Alex, Adam and our Godson, Connor.




Mark and I in front of the Salty Dog. Famous in Homer  




One of the four volcanoes visable from Homer. They were beautiful!




This eagle had a huge nest in the tree but he was pretty amazing too.




This photo shows the nest and the eagle. You can see how big the nests are if you compare to the eagle on the left.




Grizzly bear playing in the water





A baby moose, about 3 weeks old, that was orphaned and captured.




Lisa, Spence and I after running the mayors cup.




Cade and Adam after their fishing trip. They each caught one fish.




This is how big Adams fish was. He said it was puny!




The boys were on a hike and ran into this bear scratching post. Alex is in front of it so that we could see how tall it was. YIKES!

Well, it has been another great few days. We spent some time in Homer, and a beautiful drive back up the pennisula to Anchorage where we got to see the volcanoes, the bore tide and other magnificent sights. We got back to the VanMeters so that Spence Lisa and I could run the Mayors cup Saturday morning. It was a perfect day for a run and beautiful course along the coast. I didnt die along the way so that made it even better!
We have had alot of fun with the VanMeters (obviously as we planned to leave on Sunday and now we will be leaving on Tuesday) It has been fun with a fishing trip, a girls shopping trip, hiking and moose steaks and halibut for dinner. It was great! Now if only we can get an Air force base in Spearfish so that we can get them closer!
We will be headed out tomorrow and starting our trek for Whitehorse so we can meet up with Bob and Marcia by Friday.