ALASKA!!

Alaska has always been at the top of my bucket list to visit. I have wanted to go for years, but it never seemed to work out. It was important to me that I go when I could stay with my Aunt Lorelei and Uncle John. They have lived there for 13 years. I wanted them to meet the kids and we really wanted to spend time with them. I grew up in a pretty incredible family. My dad is one of 10 kids and sits near the top of the chain. As Spung kids, we grew up with Aunts and Uncles not too far from our ages. I grew up hanging with my Aunts and Uncles and getting to know them from such a young age. We had so much fun. We'd play games until the wee hours of the morning, ordering pizza at 11pm, laughing tons, and sleeping over at Gram's house where they all still lived :) We were a tight knit crew.

After talking with my Aunt Lorelei about coming for the past few years, the flights never seemed to work out. Alaska is not a cheap place to fly into. However, since I had been watching prices for a few years I caught on to the fact that you had to book your summer trip the October before. I found a slamming deal in October of 2023. I called my Aunt to confirm that the timing would be ok for her and Uncle John. It did! I bought the tickets that day! I couldn't believe that our Alaska dream was coming true. Now here's a look at one of the most EPIC trips we have ever taken. All due to an Aunt and Uncle that planned everything perfectly and took the time to make sure we would enjoy every day we had with them. We owe them so much for such a memorable trip. Everyone had such an incredible time! 

One more thought before we dive in... I had a list of things we were hoping to see before we left this great state. 

1) Denali

2) Orca

3) Bears in the wild

4) Moose 

Alaska Day One: We flew in super late on May 26th. We appreciated Aunt Lorelei coming to get us at midnight. Weird thing is, the sun was still up ... WHAT?! Welcome to Alaska in the summer time, haha. 

The following day, we headed up to the mountains. We affectionately call this our Snow Day! We took a drive up into the mountains to check out Hatcher Pass Mine. Of course Aunt Lor and Uncle John knew which stop-offs to make a long the way. The first one was at this incredible river. Talk about an insane scenic backdrop. 

Family photo op at the stream. 

Photography is in the family. I grew up with cameras and video cameras in the hands of my Aunts all the time. I wonder where my passion for photography came from? Haha.

Making our way back up. 

One of my favorite photos Aunt Lorelei captured.

The boys exploring rocks.

A Dad with his baby girl :)

Uncle John and Aunt Lorelei take a turn on the rock. Love these people!

Carefully heading back.

Back to the cars to head up the mountain.

When we made it to the top there was still SOOOO much snow! We couldn't believe it. 

This California crew was beside themselves. We parked at the bottom parking lot because the gate to the mill was still closed. We walked about a mile up hill to check it though. 

The kids dove into the snow so fast. They loved making snowballs, creating holes in the snow to see the crazy blue light that shone through it, and building snowmen. 

The Mill

The crazy blue snow underneath.

Unfortunately, the snow was so high that we couldn't actually visit the mill just yet. We saw it from a distance. It was beautiful! Uncle John hooked us up with all things history about this place. It was very cool to hear. It was an old gold mine and stayed open until the early 1940's. Then the war broke out. After the war, the operation restarted. It officially closed in 1951 however, there is still a little gold up in those hills. People can still come and pan for gold within the park. Sadly, we found no gold, haha. Too much snow :) 

Finding clumps of snow to throw.

Digging tunnels

Throwing snowballs at the shed to see who could hit it first. Beckham won!

This photo took me back to my childhood. Snow in the shoes is the worst!

Trying to push this giant snow pile over...haha. It was very entertaining to watch these three try to problem solve this. 

Beckham trying a running start to push it over football style. 

It didn't work. Haha!

Our walk back down the hill.

Eating "snow cones".

Jack stopped to build a small snowman real quick.

"Mom, I'm on top of the world."

After the hike, we need a little snack time. 

After learning all about the gold mine, we tried looking for gold ourselves. We stopped off at a creek to try out our luck. Uncle John packed everything we would need for our first experience panning for gold.

First came a lesson on how to do it. Then he showed us by example. 

The boys hung out at this location.

The girls tried their luck a little further up the river. 

Did we get any?  Nope :(

Beckham enjoying his experience.

Day Two: Anchorage

Aunt Lorelei and Uncle John had some work to do so we took off to Anchorage to spend the day. They live about 45 minutes from the city. We decided to hit up a couple souvenir shops and then watch the planes take off from from the beach.

We're off on our own! Beckham is doing "thinking man". Haha.

So peaceful and serene.

Pres took the kids out to teach them how to skip rocks. 

Jack thought a throwing contest seemed more fun. How far can it go?

Everyone had a turn.

Then we played the rainbow game. Everyone had to find colors of rock within the rainbow. We actually did!

Then back to the throwing and skipping.

Massive cargo ships took off all morning. It was fun seeing where they were headed to. Pres had an app that would tell us the flight pattern of each plane. Every time one took off we'd look up to see where they were headed. 

Once we were done at the beach we headed to a park nearby. On our way we saw our first moose!

On our way back from the park we saw this guy!

The Anchorage temple was on our way home so we stopped by. It had a lot of construction going on in the parking lot. Wonder what they're building? Maybe a stake center? 

One more stop at Potter's Marsh before heading home. 

Such cool views. These are more for bird watching, but we used it as scenic views and a bathroom stop. They had signs throughout about birds that you could learn about. 

Heading back to Wasilla!

Day Three: Seward

We joined up with Aunt Lorelei and Uncle John for our Seward trip. We made a quick stop off at a view point on our way to Seward. It did not disappoint. It was cold but absolutely gorgeous!

When the tides were low, it showed off this shiny mud. Apparently it is very sticky and makes you sink if you try to walk on it. Kind of like quick sand. It's super dangerous.

We loved all of the green! Plus the mountains was just so beautiful!

Moose!!

We made a quick potty and breakfast break at Alpine Bakery. It was SO good. They had such tasty baked goods. Everything was massive and delicious! 

Yes, that's a chocolate chip cookie the size of my face! We loved the goodies we got from Alpine.

We had to leave Wasilla early to make our afternoon boat time. We made it with time to spare. Taking the opportunity to check out Seward's touristy shopping spots. Once our boat was ready for us to line up, we headed that way. Major Marine Tours was worth every penny!

Aunt Lorelei and Uncle John had done the tour several times, so they sent us on our way. We enjoyed a little family adventure. When you book with them, they assign you a seat section on the boat. Our crew ended up being in the best spot on the boat if you ask me. We had a window seat, close to the potty for the littles, and the concessions was across from us. We were very happy with where they placed us. This boat ride ended up being the most EPIC boat ride I have ever been on. 

Jack and I enjoying the outdoors. Waiting to spot our first marine animal.

We have a sighting!

We were on the boat maybe 15 minutes when the captain called out that we had an otter coming up on our left.

This little guy was just relaxing in the water with his hands behind his head yawning. He clearly was in his own little world. It was so funny to watch him just float there without a care in the world.

Sea otters have to be one of the cutest and fluffiest animals. We named him Gary.

Not long after we heard there were porpoise in the area! Not gonna lie I wasn't even sure what that was, haha. These guys are so fast in the water! They seemed like they were on a mission and anxious to get there. We saw a small pod of 4-5. They were so cool to watch. They swam right next to the boat.

Into the Unknown!

We sailed out to the fjords. I legit didn't even know Alaska had fjords. It was beautiful! It was a rainy day at times and cold, but it was such an amazing day to capture wildlife.

Whales!

There was a Momma and her calf close to shore. The captain thinks the baby was only a few weeks old. He was learning how to tail slap and breech. It was so incredibly fun to watch this little guy figure out his surroundings and take on this whale life. We had never seen whales act like this on any other boat tours we have done. This was special and absolutely something I will not forget. Such a sweet moment for all of us to capture together. 

He'd splash and play just like a toddler, haha.

Mom was always close by too.

This is when I wished for a telephoto lens ;) Loved this little whale. We named him Wally.

Our first orca spotting!! It's happening!

The captain briefed us before we left the dock that the boat from this morning did not get to see any orca. She said that it happens some times but there was still hope that we may see something. Boy oh boy, did we see orca! The captain was amazed at how many we ended up seeing and how interactive they were. We had to shut the boat off because they were all around and swimming under the boat! It was literally my dreams coming true! Insert Free Willy song!!

This orca even decided to breech for us. I was so grateful I could capture it. The captain came on the speaker and said it was the first she had seen this season. The orcas were majestic! It was such a dream to see them communicate with each other and swim all around us. 

Sea Lions!

This crew was hilarious! They made barking noises at each other as if they were bored and tired. We loved watching these guys. Such a surreal backdrop for an incredible experience. These sea lions were huge too. They definitely didn't have an issue eating in Alaska, haha. 

The loudest of the crew was the guy in the middle with his head up. It seemed like he was barking out orders for everyone else, but no one seemed to care, haha. 

Pres is on a boat!

Enjoying the sea lions and scenery.

Such a fun boat ride!!

This guy ;)

We ended up getting a little hungry on our journey. Luckily we had these sweet seats and a kitchen to order food. 

Kids had mac and cheese and hot chocolate. I went for the hot chocolate with veggie chili. Super yummy all around!

After a while we ventured around the boat a little more. Checked out each deck and the back of the boat. 

I'm on a boat! Living one of my life long dreams!!

After our EPIC boat tour we headed to the yurt that Aunt Lorelei booked for us. We had never stayed in a yurt before so we were excited to add that to the list of new adventures. Our family loved it! 

Views from our home for the night.

The kids loved coming down to the water to skip and throw more rocks. 

Who's rock could skip the farthest? Dad won every time, haha. Due to more practice, I think ;)

A yummy barbeque for dinner! We tried reindeer sausages and it was pretty dang good. Who knew?!

Skipping a few more rocks before heading to bed. 

Our cute yurt.

We played a few rounds of Qwirkle with Aunt Lorelei and Uncle John that night before everyone headed off to bed. An awesome ending to a fantastic day!

Uncle John started a fire for us and these guys did not make it long afterward. 

One last person to fall asleep ;)

We all slept great that night. I think the excitement from the day, full bellies, and new adventures knocked us out. I woke up in the middle of the night confused at who turned a light on, but it ended up being the sun again. I walked around to find a switch to turn off the light and realized it was from the sky light above. It as like 1am! The sun thing was so weird to us. It stayed up so much longer than we were used to but luckily it didn't make sleeping hard. We tend to be able to sleep anywhere we are. It's a Spung thing. 

Day Four: Whittier, Anchorage, and Mirror Lake

Waking up to this seemed perfectly alright to us ;)

We had a breakfast of champions at the little lodge up the road. It was a beautiful morning.

Quinnie's on a boat! Cute girl.

On our drive home we saw some of the coolest water colors. The emerald green was gorgeous!

Stopped at a little place before heading to Whittier for ice cream. 

Not a bad view for eating ice cream.

Just a boy throwing some rocks :) Childhood...insert heart eyes.

Now off to Whittier!

Something a little odd about entering Whittier is that the only way to do so is on train tracks. Yes, on the train tracks. You actually share the tracks with active trains! Of course you wait your turn, but it's crazy to think about. Once the train is clear they give you a green light and you are able to enter.

Whaaaaat?! 

Just driving on train tracks in a tunnel...haha. So crazy!

Whittier is tiny, but beautiful. The harbor is so pretty. The water is so clear and the views were stunning. Whittier is known as a gateway to the mesmerizing wilderness of the Prince William Sound. There is not much here at all. Super small but like a hidden gem. 

Looks like a postcard. It's just beautiful!

We could see a receding glacier from the parking lot. 

Lunch time!

Eating an apple in Whittier.                      Eating an apple with Aunt Lorelei in Whittier.

It started to rain so we hung out for a little bit and then headed back to get in line for the tunnel.

Due to the weather and needing a little break from the car, we opted to stop at the glacier museum up the road. It was super cool and entertained us all for quite some time. 

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Found this ripped bear on a bench and felt we needed a picture to capture this moment ;)

I walked into a room to find my husband "rowing" a kayak. HAHA! I laughed so hard.

Beckham wanted to take a pic of the two us rowing. Haha. I'm glad he did. 

Beckham's turn!

The views on the drive home were just amazing!

Dang Alaska! You know how to do it!

Once we were back in Anchorage, we stopped at The Lucky Wishbone for some fried chicken. It was such a delicious choice. We loved our food and the place was so cute. 

We were pretty thrilled with our meal that we had to get a family pic.

Quinnie with her treat! Love Uncle John's face in this, haha. 

The kids were treated to an orange creamsicle ice cream. It tasted exactly like one! It took me back to being 7 years old on a hot summer day eating a creamsicle popsicle outside in the heat of the sun. It's crazy how things can do that!

One more stop at Mirror Lake before heading back home for the night.

Me and Aunt Lorelei

We hiked to a cool observatory tower that you could climb up. Once you were at the top you could see some pretty amazing 360 degree views.

The Alaskan crew!

The views!

"Mom, take my picture on this bench."

Our three little cuties.

Is this real life??

I wonder why they call it Mirror Lake? ;)

These ducks get to call this place home.

A break before heading back.

Day Five: Denali, The Reindeer Farm, and awesome hike

The next morning we woke up to head to the Reindeer Farm in Palmer. Aunt Lorelei and Uncle John had some work to do so this would be a Clark family outing. Uncle John informed us that we just might be able to see Denali if we headed about 25 minutes towards it. We figured we'd take the chance and drive out to see if we could see anything. As we were driving we had joked that we aren't even sure what we are looking for. A giant mountain? Will we know which one it is if we can even see it? Uncle John mentioned that you would notice people on the side of the road taking pics if it's out. As we drove we came around a bend and saw this beautiful mountain ahead of us and Pres and I said, "That must be Denali." Then as the road started to bend more, a huge mountain came into view. We both exclaimed, "THAT'S DENALI!" Holy crud! We saw cars pulled over and snapping pics just as Uncle John predicted. It was a beautiful clear day as Denali stood proudly so high in the sky. 

There she was in all her glory!

Denali is so massive that it has it's own weather system. It can be crazy windy and cloudy. Most of the year you can't even see it! We were so LUCKY to have picked a time when it decided to show it's face. It was insane being able to see something that was two hours away! That put things into perspective a little bit.

Since we gratefully decided to try and see Denali it took us back a little. We had to drive 25 minutes in the opposite direction from the Reindeer Farm, so we headed back towards Palmer.

They do exist!

These cute little reindeer were everywhere and so much smaller than I had imagined. We actually even got to feed them. It was such a fun farm.

This buffalo was so funny to watch. It would randomly hop all around like it was dancing. The kids and I were very entertained.

Personally I think alpaca's are hilarious looking. They just have this look about them. 

This little babies name is Alan, haha.

Feeding the reindeer.

What a back drop!

I'm sorry, is that a highland cow?! Yeeeessss!! Love those cows! More dreams coming true, haha.

They had a yak named Appa! Haha! He would come when you called him and loved being rubbed on the belly. It was such a funny yak. I don't think I have ever seen a yak in real life before. That was new for me.

Caribou

The kids each got to take a ride around on a horse named Sebastian. 

I think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed that :)

They had a super cool playground too.

Me and Seamus ... love!

The reptile house was a hit with these three. 

Those mountains though! Dang!

This little moose was a rescue. It had fallen down off a cliff. Luckily, she didn't get hurt but she was separated from her Mom. Someone called the farm and asked if they could bring this little one in to be looked after.

The kids got to feed her.

Another rescue by the name of Lucy.

After our time at the farm we grabbed a bite to eat at The Noisy Goose. We all loved our choices from here too. The service was great and they had huge windows all around to enjoy the views.

We met Uncle John and Aunt Lorelei at Mirror Lake, so we could follow them to our next hike at Eagle River Nature Center. This hike did not disappoint! It was absolutely beautifully and we were lucky enough to see wildlife!

Ready to hike!

We found this cute bench on our way to the river. Photo op!

As we were moving along and talking Pres said ever so calmly, "there's a bear." What?! Sure enough a black bear was making it's way through the trees away from us not even 30 feet from where we stood. We all watched as it moved along as we did the same. I couldn't believe it! It was the last thing for me to hit on my list! I did it! Well, with the Lord's help. He knew my list too and I think He had fun putting us in the right places at the right time ;)

We made it!

Pres on a rock! 

Pres helped Jack navigate his way over to join him.

Because of these two awesome souls, we will remember this trip for the rest of our lives! We owe them so much for taking the time to coordinate an itinerary that would become the most epic trip yet. We sure love our family!

On our way back to the car we took a little detour to check out this lake. Breathless!

While we were at the lake Pres spotted this guy too. He's great and finding wildlife! Who knew?!

Another bull moose. Apparently they are super rare to see right now. Usually they are up in the mountains and stay away. We were lucky enough to see two of them over the trip. They are such cool animals. We all sat and just watched him make his way across the waters. Like watching a documentary on moose :)

We were almost to the parking lot when once again Pres spotted a black bear, haha. This time I was able to snap a pic. 

Just eating berries in the wild....awesome!

Day Six: BBQ with family friends and boating

On our final day in Alaska we took it easy in the morning and then headed to my aunt and uncle's friends house for a gathering. We had a lot of fun meeting everyone. We played ping pong, drove a boat, and ate delicious food. It was a perfect ending to an incredible trip.

Playing football in the backyard to get some wiggles out before the BBQ.

Peggy's house sat right on the lake. It was beautiful.

Playing a little ping pong.

Uncle John got their little motor boat to work so we took it for a spin around the lake. No, we've never driven a boat before, but it was another sweet first for us!

Enjoying the ride.

Not bad to have some time on the lake!

Love this woman! I was so happy to reconnect with Aunt Lor. I have missed her so much!

A little more ping pong before calling it a night.

We got home, watched a detective show in French, and called it a night. It was truly a great day. Relaxed, yet fun meeting new people, and playing games.

Day Seven: 

Annnnnd we're off! We woke up and headed to church. It was nice supporting and seeing a ward in the area. We then got home, packed up, ate lunch, and headed to the airport. We couldn't believe how fast the time went by. We all had such a great time. One thing that I didn't mention was that anytime we had to drive somewhere we had to take two cars. Beckham and Quinn opted to ride with Uncle John and Aunt Lorelei every time they could, haha. I think this warmed all of our adult hearts. The kids took to my aunt and uncle so quickly even though they were meeting them for the first time. They wanted to be with them as much as they could. This made saying good bye a little harder. 

I tend to see miracles in my life because well I look for them :) One of the miracles of this trip was that we were able to go when we did. After years of looking and trying to get tickets it all worked out. A month before we were to leave for Alaska my Aunt Lorelei informed me that they would be moving.  What?! I asked when they were thinking, and it ended up not being until the middle of the summer. We were so grateful to have had this trip work out when it did. If we would have waited another year they would have already been gone. The Lord is pretty awesome with His timing even when we think it should be faster or slower at times. It just takes trust in Him and His time :) 

Boarded and ready to head home!

Goodbye ALASKA!

We had THE best time!