The Homeland

Okay, So maybe not REALLY the homeland but I was beyond excited to take Brandon and the kids to Alaska to see where My life started out. Even though we moved when I was 8, Alaska has always claimed home in my heart. I couldn't really tell people I was from Saudi Arabia because I wasn't born there nor am I a citizen or even of Middle Eastern decent so despite living my late elementary-high school years there I clung to Alaska as where I was from.

Alaska is beautiful, and wonderful, and PERFECT! And now that my parents have a house and resort there we can go every summer. I am currently trying to convince Brandon that we should move there but he is scared of winter. 

We flew into anchorage around midnight and went straight to the house  of our long time family friend's. The next morning the kids enjoyed playing in their back yard, picking raspberries, visiting my old house, and the Anchorage museum.

When I lived here it was white with black shutters... My dad built the garage!

Next we were stranded for hours on end because of a fire but once we got past it, the scenery was beautiful and the 2 hour drive to Sterling went by very quickly.

We arrived at Eagle Head and loved seeing the place. Beautiful cabins, lots of grass for the boys, and my family all around. We explored the area including Kenai, Exit glacier, a famous dog sledders property where he trains his dogs. We also went on a float plane ride to an isolated fishing spot (where I caught 5 salmon) and a river float where we attempted to catch a king salmon.

Shasta from Snow Buddies is all grown up and living on a sled dog ranch where he goes by Hugo and doesn't race.. But he's still a gorgeous dog!

 

Last of all, we headed back to Anchorage and were able to hike my old childhood favorite, Flat top. We didn't get all the way to the top with Seth walking but the views were still amazing.

Ohh, and on our take off out of Anchorage (at 1am) we saw the aurora borealis so basically a perfect Alaskan vacation.