On our own.

We had a great time in Seward, visited the branch, Dan went fishing and came home with a box of fish, and we celebrated Chad’s ?? birthday.  We had ice cream and Twinkies and frozen chicken cordon bleu.   I know this was not how he envisioned spending his birthday, but we were out on our own going at a slower pace and enjoying a beautiful day. 
Sunday we met back up with the rest of the family in Anchorage.   We began sorting out belongings and packing up to drop off the RVs in the morning.  Here are just a couple of pictures that got missed from along the way.
     


Monday we found ourselves on our own.   We had plans to stay with President and Sister Eberline in Soldotna that night so we had all day to do what ever we wanted to do.  We took the kids shopping for some new cloths  and then hit the zoo.  The Alaska Zoo is not very big.  Most of the animals are native to the Alaskan wilderness. 

The polar bear was really putting on a show, so I have to share the video.

After the zoo we started south once again.  This time we took our time, stopping often and letting the kids play.
  
Tuesday night we were back on the ferry and headed home.  
  
Kodiak looked beautiful with clear skies, calm seas and green hills.  How I love living on our emerald island.

Still on the road, and loving it!

Four days of driving!  It was fun, it was long, and we were all glad to get back to Anchorage.    We had a great time, saw a lot of the country, and put a lot of miles on the RVs.  We made it back in time for the temple, saw Aspen and Troy off at the airport, and then spent the night in the temple parking lot.  We didn’t feel out of place, there were about 8 other RVs camped out with us. 
The next morning we had another meeting to decide what to do for the last couple of day.  Most were ready to settle down and stick around Anchorage, no one wanted to spend any more time driving.  Daniel had arranged a charter fishing trip in Seward, so we grabbed our kids and took off with Cheary and Dan.  We had a really pretty drive down to Seward and it only took 2 1/2 hours.  We pulled in just before noon so that Dan and Cheary could head out on a glacier cruise of their own.  They did the same one we had done earlier in the week with Aspen and Troy.  They loved it and took lots of great pictures.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to download their pictures so I don’t have any to share.
Chad and I took the kids for a walk along the coast, and found a fun park where the kids could play.  I stayed with the kids and Chad went off to find someplace for lunch.  We found a great little Chinese buffet and then set off for the Sea Life Center.  The kids had a great time seeing the aquarium and we read all about the natural habitat for the the marine animals. 
      
We were all amazed at the size of the sea lion.  He kept swimming in circles so he came past several times.
 
After the Sea Life Center, we went out to pick up Cheary and Dan from their cruise and we drove out of town a little ways to Exit Glacier.  We were able to park and hike right up to the base of the glacier.  It was a pretty hike and nothing like hiking Flat Top at the beginning of the week.  The kids were very relieved and said they would not go if it was going to be that hard.