Last Wednesday, Jackson and I drove to Denver International Airport to catch a plane to Salt Lake City. Our ultimate destination was Anchorage, Alaska where Bradford lives, works, and goes to school. Jackson was excited for a number of reasons: he had not seen his big brother since Christmas 2009, he was going to Alaska (where no one in his class had visited), and he was taking his first airplane ride. I made sure that he had a window seat for all three (that's right - three) legs from Denver to Anchorage. His excitement level was pretty high as we barreled down the runway and then lifted off. He enjoyed the view of the Rockies below us until they were obscured by the clouds. A seven-year old's point-of-view of flying is different than an adult's: i.e., he think that it's pretty amazing that you get a "free" coke and peanuts on the flight.
When we finally landed in Anchorage at 8:40pm local time, he was pretty wiped out. However, he was excited to finally see Bradford. Brad and his girlfriend, Mel, were waiting for us and Jack rushed to his brother to be picked up. We then all proceeded to Moose's Tooth to have some of the best pizza in town, to catch up and to get to know Mel. Jack and I then drove to our motel (a big disappointment - stay away from Spendard Ave) where we pretty much collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.
The next day was filled with just hanging out with Brad and Mel...Jack and I started the day by driving to the Starbucks in downtown for coffee, hot chocolate, and bagels. Being winter in Alaska, it was still dark at 8:30 as we drove downtown but Anchorage is a pretty easy town to navigate. At Starbucks we were able to iChat with Charee (same as Skype but with Macs..). We then met Brad and Mel at a Denny's (Brad's choice....). Then some shopping, a quick trip to Earthquake Park, and finally ended up at the Anchorage Museum in downtown. The museum has a fantastic area for children - the "Imaginarium" - which is very hands-on for kids. Jack had a blast and Brad and mel had a chance to catch the Andy Warhol exhibit. The museum also had some really cool jellyfish!
We left around 6:00 when it was dark. The winter night colors in Anchorage are pretty cool. I took this picture of Jack in the parking garage - no computer enhancements...
To end the day, we had dinner at Brad and Mel's work. Brad has worked at Kinley's - a very fine restaurant in midtown - for a while now. If you are ever in Anchorage, I highly recommend going there. It's fine dining but one can either dress up or dress down (we chose the latter). Order the scallops and you won't be disappointed. Said our goodnights and Jack and I headed back to our "dumpy" motel.
The last day we spent in Anchorage was New Year's Eve day. Started off at Starbucks again (for their coffee and wi-fi). Jack really wanted to sled so after meeting Brad and his good friend Luke at IHOP for breakfast (again, Brad's choice) we spent some time looking to buy a sled. After finding one we drove to a high school on the south side of town that had a great hill. Brad, Luke, and Jack had a lot of fun playing in the snow together.
Afterwards, we drove up to Flat Top Mountain. The view of the Anchorage area was truly amazing!
Our visit with Brad and Mel ended with some miniture golf and one last meal at Moose's Tooth. We said our goodbyes, went back to pack, and then headed to the airport. Our plane left Anchorage at 12:40 in the morning for Seattle and then home to Denver. We arrived in Denver at 11:15am and then drove home to Charee.
As is always the case, the trip was awesome but it was also nice to be home! We look forward to Bradford visiting us in Colorado - hopefully soon.
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