We woke up early and drove from Anchorage to Eagle River (about 30 minutes), where my good friend from college, Sylvia, lives with her boyfriend, Eric.
We dropped our car off at their house and they drove us to Eklutna Lake.
We rented kayaks here:
and walked down to the water.
WOW! It's gorgeous and the water is like glass! Perfect for a day on the water! Let's goooooo!!!
Get ready for a LOT of selfies and my big face.
We were immediately hot and I had to shed my sweater. It was so sunny!!
It started to get more choppy on the way back and we had a ROUGH time! We were begging for it to be over long before it was and by the end we swore we had just gone through something akin to Castaway. In reality it was a super pleasant day on a beautiful lake and we're just pansies.
This is us after surviving our ordeal:
Last looks:
Lovely.
After our near-death experience (or at the very least major workout), Eric took us to his favorite ice cream spot nearby.
Eric also introduced us to his favorite ice cream flavor: fireweed and honey:
Aaron got the fireweed and honey and I got the birch walnut, just so we could try both.
Fireweed and honey:
Birch walnut:
Both were delicious, but the fireweed and honey was outstanding!
While waiting in line, we watched this giant bug climb up this lady's leg:
and we didn't even warn her! We are the WORST!
Then we drove back to Anchorage and went to an outdoor market:
Chocolate dipped bacon?? Yup!
Hmm...interesting. Tasted exactly like bacon covered in chocolate. Go figure.
We also shared a salmon and reindeer quesadilla:
I found a picture of fireweed:
It's literally like a weed that grows all over Alaska and blooms during certain times of the year (not while we were there).
More of the market:
Best booth ever:
LOL!
Then we went to one of the most popular restaurants in town, called The Brewhouse:
Aaron got the Herb-crusted Alaskan Halibut:
I got the king crab cakes and a seafood chowder:
and we all shared some jalapeno calamari:
Everything was fantastic!! Best halibut I've ever had! The calamari was so good, even Aaron loved it and he usually isn't a fan.
Sylvia's shrimp and steak looked good too:
Happy campers:
What a fun day!
We said our goodbyes and walked a block back to the hostel. Bye Syl and Eric!! See you next time!
We had to wake up at 3am, so Aaron could take me to the airport before driving back to Kenai to drop off the car. This is the darkest it got the entire time we were in Alaska:
and in the distance the sun was already coming up:
I never saw a live moose, but I saw a stuffed one at the airport, so I figured I'd get a picture:
So disappointing!
Goodbye Alaska! How I've loved thee!
I had a layover in Salt Lake City (so random) and it looked really pretty from the plane:
We loved our time in Alaska and can't wait to go back again someday! If you ever get the chance it's one of the most beautiful places to visit!
