Trip Through Denali

We are just returning from a trip to Fairbanks for Stef's wedding reception. Fairbanks is a 5.5 hour drive north of us and is located in the center of Alaska. The drive is the second most beautiful I've ever had the honor of driving. The most beautiful would have to be the Hana Highway in Maui. I miss Maui, maybe Andy and I should go back next year for our 10th anniversary ... or maybe we'll just watch the video!

Anyway, back to our recent drive. The highway (it's really a two lane road) takes you right through Denali State Park and Denali National Park. The mountains were absolutely amazing. I had to share as I was just in awe throughout most of the drive.

And, here are my awesome travelling buddies! I stayed a little longer with the kids, so it was just the kids and I during our drive up and back. They did great and we had fun! We listened to Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals, our History of the World CDs (you know I have to squeeze in school time!), and sang various songs. We also ate our weight in blueberries and Sun Chips!

Of course, no trip to Denali would be complete without a view of the biggest mountain in North America - Mount McKinley! I was driving home when all of a sudden I round a bend and - BAM - there is the biggest, most impressive mountain I've EVER seen! It still has significant snow coverage (in August!) and rises above the cloud line. It looks twice the size of the dark mountains in front of it. I had to pull over and take a picture, next trip I'll try to get a better one. Check this out ...

So that was our recent trip to Fairbanks. We start school time up full-force next week. We're all looking forward to getting back in the groove. We've dabbled in school activities this summer, but as the boxes of new books and games started arriving, we've ALL been getting excited to get going again. We'll blog about that experience next week!