The ONLY thing on my mind when the van pulled in to the parking lot was.....where is my cot? Where is my sleepy eye mask and ...... SLEEP!
Wednesday was our day of exploring and traveling south with Vicki and the Prairie group on Seward Highway, stopping along the way for a lot of scenic and wildlife views. We had a really cool CD in each vehicle to narrate historical information as well as geological facts as we made our way south. It was such a neat way to have our travel enhanced. We stopped at several places, including the Wildlife Conservation Center and a hike to see Exit Glacier. At the conservation center we got a close up look at many protected animals such as an eagle who had one wing and was rescued 14 years ago and has been there ever since. We were able to see 2 different types of bears, moose musk ox and tundra bison. I can't really tell you what the Exit Glacier actually LOOKED like as I only made it as far as the bathroom at the entrance to the trail head. I was very, very tired and decided I needed to take advantage of the 45 we would be there to take a nap. Safety comes first when it comes and driving the van! So, I can tell you what the view from the van seat looking down onto the floor under the seats was prior to my falling asleep.....A blue Black Forest Camp water bottle, three candy wrappers, a random sock (not sure whose), 2 jackets and a hoodie, an empty have crunched Izzie drink can a shoe (not sure if the person was wearing the other one or if it was in the van somewhere, and the new wolf hat that Taylor bought and left in the van since purchasing said hat. After that, it's pretty much all a blur until the kids came back from their hike to the glacier! I heard it was very cool though...so you should ask a youth about it! As we pulled into the town of Seward and towards the bay the excitement about our evening cruise. Especially all of our over achiever eaters who were really looking forward to the all you can eat dinner of salmon and prime rib!
We pulled in just in time to get in line to board the boat. Darn! I had been hoping we could do a little shopping in the cute little town. Hmmmmm.....Maybe that was planned that way on purpose by the guys of the group!?
What a beautiful evening for a cruise! The sun was out, light breezes and a pretty calm sea were the conditions for the evening. Once on board and as we set out into the Fjord (don't know what a Fjord is? --- I really didn't either until yesterday -- I guess you could Google it) most of us headed outside to the upper deck and the top deck for the best views. Wow! And what views they were! Beautiful blue water next to the high, green lush mountains. We filled up on yummy salmon, prime rib, rice and fresh made sour dough bread, then headed out to watch for wildlife along the shores, glaciers, dolphins, whales, sea lions and birds. Guess what!?!?! We saw ALL of those and more! It was such an amazing bonding time for both youth groups, adults and all. A lot of the youth (and adult leaders) were even sworn in as Jr Rangers! How exciting!
As we pulled into the harbor we counted kids and realized that we had been lucky enough not to lose even one! So parents, if you were hoping to have another couple weeks of silence around your house, you are out of luck!
We headed back to Anchorage at about 10:45 for our long trek back to our beds. The night sky still being pretty bright really helped with keeping drivers awake! In one of the vans on the way back our music leader team David and Jordan decided it was "Story Time" and told several made up on the spot stories with amazing improvisational skills! It was very entertaining!
We pulled into the parking lot a little after 1 AM and went straight to bed feeling tired from our fun and new experiences to dream about.
In the morning guess what we get to do?!?!? That's right......SLEEP IN!!!!!
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