Prince William Sound

    We went on a cruise of Prince William sound and saw lots of glaciers and wildlife. Here's a Sea Lion Bull sunning on the rocks.

     
      On the way to Prince William Sound, you go through the mountain with a tunnel that is also used by a train. The cars going either way and the train all take turns going through it.

The tunnel to Whittier was built during WW2 to reach a hidden military base. 

This was a snow plow train, used to clear snow off the train tracks. We passed it on the way to the Sound.

Glad I brought a hat. Brrr.

       Prince William Sound is full of glaciers spilling their snow out into the water. 

     They looked even more mammoth and impressive in real life.

A lady sea lion on an ice flow. The ice comes down from the glacier.

The big glacier. The little brown dots are sea lions and sea otters, who were hanging together in the ice water around the glacier because killer whales don't like the ice.

This was an amazing trip, but so is what we did next. A trip to Denali National Park, in a plane! I'll share that trip tomorrow.

The ice is actually blue.

A bald eagle sitting in it's nest. 

First Day in Alaska

       Alaska is still quite a wilderness, for sure. On the way from the airport, we saw a moose, and I got a photo from the car window. My friend Louise had seen her only twice before, so this was a treat. Isn't she sweet?
       I was even greeted by this big fellow at the airport, although you don't see him as far south as I am in Alaska.

Polar bears can be found further north.

                    The next day Louise and I drove to the Forest Fair at Girdwood.

       

I'm standing in front of Turnagain Arm, which is called that because Captain Cook had to keep turning around his boat to get out.

      After a drive with non-stop lovely views, we wandered among the trees along with lots of hippyish folk.

A band dressed in medieval costume played the open air stage.

The kids with nutty colored hair are watching a guy make glass jewelry with a torch.

We shared a quesadilla.

 The next day we were off to see Prince William Sound. I'll post those amazing photos tomorrow!

Alaskan Adventure

Here I am in Alaska, taking a walk in the Eagle River Nature Center.

Alaskan Geraniums

There was a "cow" bear and her two cubs sighted on the trails, so I kept my eyes peeled and made lots of noise.

Fortunately, or not, depending on your point of view, these were the only bears to be seen.

Happy Birthday to me!

Modern Decor at the Cafe des Architects.

     
     My husband took me out on the town for my birthday, kicking off the evening with a trip to the restaurant in a towncar. We went to the Cafe des Architects, at the Sofitel in Chicago. My gift was a new point and shoot camera, the Canon PowerShot S95. I used it to take the pictures below and it is fabulous. It was a great evening and everything was just right.

My husband had a Towncar pick us up.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi - the best dish of the evening.

The Happy Couple - (that would be me and my wonderful husband.)

Fine wine.

Filet Mignon for the husband.

Walleye Pike in a lobster broth for myself.

     We ended the evening with an array of great truffles. Happy Birthday to me!

Sunday Afternoon Bikeride to A Taste of Heaven

     Sunday afternoon I met my friend Crystal for a bike ride along the lakefront path to Andersonville's A Taste of Heaven. It was deceptively sunny, and it was in reality, very cold. Crystal was dressed properly, however, with a windproof balaklava.

Crystal in front of Belmont Dog Beach.

My Oma at the Playground.

     After a windy ride north, we cut through the Andersonville neighborhood and arrived at A Taste of Heaven, which has some of the best cupcakes in town. Of course, I was so hungry by the time we got there, I forgot to take a picture of our treats (we shared), until they'd already been cut up.

Rasberry Rapture.

      The Rasberry Rapture had a creamy center, if you look closely and was, as Crystal put it, "Really Rasberry Rapture." The Pumpkin Bundt was also very moist and tasty.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake.

     We had a lovely conversation about all things writerly, as Crystal is also a children's novelist, and it was a wonderful afternoon, even if it was a bit nippy out.