After leaving Denali, we continued to drive down to Wasilla. It was hard to leave the beauty of the National Park… but we had miles to cover and the clouds were rolling in. Still stunning as we drove along the water’s edge. The mountains grew taller, the skies clouded over & it began to look more like the Alaska I expected to see. Yet as we pulled into Wasilla, we were treated to a quick sunrise to cap off our day!

So one of my “bucket list” items for my trip to Alaska was to find some moose in the wild. All of the locals talk about them walking around EVERYWHERE!!! Like across their backyards, walking past their studio windows, in the ponds & creeks, everywhere… kinda like we have squirrels. And although we tried to find moose on several prior excursions, I hadn’t seen one until we got into Denali. When suddenly we came up in this sweet twosome… a mama moose & her calf.

Now I know that the photos kinda look like a staged diorama at some Nature Museum… but trust me, they were just walking down the road as we drove up. The calf was hiding & peeking out. Mama gave us the stank-eye a couple times. And then they walked off into the underbrush.

Don’t believe me?… scroll to the last photo where you can see part of the front hood of our car!!!

As always, a bigger skyshow needs a bigger picture…
that goes for bigger mountains too!!!
Especially while in Denali !!!

Once we got to Denali National Park, the sun came out, the sky turned blue and all was great in the world!!! I mean, who doesn’t LOVE a great National Park? The views, the scenery, the fresh air & all of the NATURE around me! I was mesmerized by the “fireweed” blooming all around… think of it as Alaska’s version of goldenrod… a blooming “weed” growing everywhere you look! It was a colorful splash against the grandeur of the mountains & trees all around. So beautiful. So amazing. Checking another National Park off my list!!!

On Monday, after the weekend pottery workshop, we set off on my extended Alaskan adventure! Workshop coordinator Theresa actually volunteered to be my tour guide & chauffeur for my Alaska travels…WOW!!! So we left Fairbanks headed towards Denali National Park. It was cloudy when we started out, but luckily the sky cleared as we got closer to the National Park. Regardless of the clouds… it was still GORGEOUS. So many roadside stops for me & my camera!!!

A larger panoramic shot of our hike around an Alaskan lake right after our pottery workshop!

And now back to ALASKA… after three months of putting-it-off… I figured I should finally get around to sharing my Alaskan Adventure!!! So there’s going to be a LOT of photos coming your way… settle in & enjoy my travels through Alaska after the pottery workshop!

Starting right after the workshop…
We went hiking before dinner with Theresa, Tammy & Matt. The goal of course was to find me my first moose sighting! It was a gorgeous hike around the lake… but NO MOOSE!!! We did see plenty of sandhill cranes… and a “wild” swan family out in nature! As a land-locked Midwesterner, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a swan “out in the wild”? Who knew??? We only see them in parks & ponds owned & raised by the village or township!!! Like pets swimming in a pond & being over-wintered at some swan spa somewhere?!

Enjoying what could be the end of our Fall colors with a dicey weekend weather forecast… that might even include some snow?!!! But for today, this sumac bush is really showing off in all of its Autumn glory!!!

Last night in the middle of my Beginning Wheel class, we heard someone mention Northern Lights happening. I had heard nothing about it. But a bunch of us ran up to the roof of Lillstreet… and this was our colorful view! Not the strongest… but pretty cool nonetheless! Good call… rooftop for the win!

That one perfect tree… ablaze in all its glory!