so it begins...

we're back! i have been delaying writing this blog for two reasons: 1) it took me a good 2 days to get back on some kind of normal sleep schedule and 2) there is SO much to tell that i honestly couldn't sit down and make myself begin the daunting task. this second reason also got me worrying that, if i was to write everything at once, i sincerely might risk boring the reader to death. so in light of this, i have decided to write about our trip to alaska in segments. one or two days of vacation per blog. that will give me a chance to give it to you in detail AND share some pictures. oh, speaking of pictures, the majority you will see were taken with a "loaner" camera. i had been debating about getting a fancy "photographer" camera for a while. with our trip rapidly approaching, we were torn over whether to rush out and get one. three days before we left, a lady at marc's work said something to him about taking lots of pictures, and he mentioned our dilemma. she immediately said "take mine!" she has a nice canon with an adjustable long lens. score! a free trial before we took the plunge ourselves :)

Friday, Day 1
not much excitement-- just a long day. we left st. louis at 10:30 and had a 3 hour layover in minneapolis. then we headed to anchorage on a 6 hour flight. we were lucky to have enough sky miles to get seats in first class, so we indulged in free margaritas and mojitos most of the way. we also spent a large portion of time playing around with our "new" camera and watching the DVD on how to use it. those things are complicated! with about 45 minutes left in the flight, marc decided to open the window. you would not believe the literal sea of giant, snowy mountains and glaciers that went on for miles in all directions below us. incredible. they lasted the rest of the trip in. the camera definitely got put to good use. after we landed, we navigated our way to Hwy 1. it wasn't terribly hard to find since it's the only major highway running through anchorage, or for miles around actually. we headed north to the town of wasilla, where we were booked to stay at Echo Lake Bed and Breakfast. we arrived at 8:30 pm and found that we had an entire basement living area to ourselves, a beautiful back porch, and a gorgeous lake view. the owner told us we could use the dock and paddlboat if we wanted. we were definitely eager to explore and excited to be there, so we stepped out onto the patio in the broad daylight. it's very strange how sunlight at nine at night can play tricks on your brain--not to mention that it was midnight in our central time zone minds. we couldn't deny the exhaustion we were feeling, so we decided to just call it a night and get up early. as tired as we were, you would think we would have slept like babies--not so. each time i woke up, i couldn't tell if it was 5 minutes since i had last fallen asleep or the next morning. damn sunlight! i think it would have helped if there had been SOME way to cover the french doors directly next to our bed. sheer,white drapes do not block light very efficiently. i hit the 2:15, 3:40, and 5:45 marks before finally getting up around 6:30. and thus ended our first day.

Pictures, Day 1

~on the flight with a tasty drink~

~the sea of mountains from the plane~

~approaching anchorage~

~stuffed bear in the anchorage baggage claim. let the terror begin! this would not be our last bear encounter by a long shot. stay tuned.~

~french doors, porch, lake~