Adventures of an Alaskan Transplant

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Rainbow Creek

Last month we planned a trip on one pf the few sunny days in June to drive down to hike one of our favorite trails with our friend Stef - Byron Glacier. Just a few miles onto the Seward Highway, our plans changed, as the highway traffic was backed up for a bad car accident. Thankfully Andrew saw a sign for the Rainbow Creek and Turnagain Pass trail heads, so we turned in there and took a short hike on this trail we had never hiked before.

It was a nice, shady hike with a few good view spots. We only hiked a few miles in since the trail's scenery wasn't very varied. On the way down we heard more sirens after the accident had already cleared up. When we got back to the car and checked our phones on the drive back we discovered that a hiker had been mauled by a bear a few miles away from us on the Bird Ridge Run!

It was nice to get out, but scary learning how close we were to that tragedy.

**All photography on this blog are property of the user.**

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

East Coast Spring Break 2017

This spring we took an extended spring break to the southeast portion of the East Coast. We split the trip into two sections: a week in Charleston (and a day in Savannah), and a week at my parents' in Florida.

This was our first time to both Charleston and Savannah, and we made the most of it. Our first day in Charleston we took a horse drawn carriage tour of downtown. It was a great overview of the city and the history of the area. I loved all of the varied architecture and landscaping!

Charleston's famous Waterfront Park

The next day we checked out a local church and then tooled around a suburb of Charleston called Summerville (what a great name!). It is the birthplace of sweet tea - and the home of the world's largest sweet tea!

Monday we drove up to Sullivan's Island and drove across the famous Ravenel Bridge. We also checked out a local fort, Fort Moultrie, and a nearby beach.

Our last day in Charleston we went back downtown and walked around their local college that is in central Charleston - the College of Charleston. It is a gorgeous campus!

The next day we drove down to Savannah and took a hop-off, hop-on trolley tour of the town. This tour also gave us a great overview for our short time in Savannah that kept us snapping pictures left and right.

Taking a break from walking on the trolley!

After a day in Savannah we headed south. We drove down to Jacksonville Beach and had lunch with some friends, and then headed west to my parents' on the Florida panhandle. As we entered Destin, a huge thunderstorm hit and we drove through torrential rain, high winds, and thunder and lightning. Quite an experience for us Alaskans! The weather cleared though, so we were able to head out on the boat the next morning. We toured the Destin harbor, and had lunch at a restaurant on the water in the Shalimar area. We even saw dolphins when we were in the harbor!

The next day my older sister and her son flew in. We spent the next week enjoying the sunshine, beach, seafood, and family. It was a fantastic spring trip!