We left Anchorage for Matanuska. When we got there, we hiked a glacier. It was easily the most beautiful place I've ever seen. We were surrounded by ice, and in the backround there were trees and snow-capped mountains. We had to wear crampons, those things you attach to your boots that have spikes on the bottom. There were three kinds of ice: white, black, and blue. I learned a ton. We also saw a plant that was famous and poisonous because the main character of the non-fiction book and movie Into The Wild. There were crevices in the ice that were really big, so you had to be careful. When we left, we drove for three hours to Talkeetna. We got there really late, and we didn't eat dinner till like 9:30, and unfortunately I didn't get to edit my blog till today because my mom had to edit hers.

Hey people I'm really sorry I couldn't update yesterday....This is what happened.

We woke up at about 7:30 and drove to Chicago. There is a time change there-- 1 hour early. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 5:30 Chicago time (6:30 Cincinnati time) and get to Alaska at 12:30, 8:30 Alaska time. Then, our plane got postponed twice, and it ended up we didn't leave until 7:05 Chicago time (8:05 Cinci time) and we didn't get to Anchorage, Alaska until 10:30 Alaska time--2:30 Cincinnati. I stayed up the whole plane ride. The weird thing was, the sun didn't start to set until about midnight in Alaska. We got our rental car, and headed to a hostel (free wi-fi-- thank god!!!). We didn't get asleep 'till about 12:30 a.m. Alaska time-- 4:30 a.m. Cincinnati time.
When I woke up, luckily, I was already adjusted to he time change, because since I was up so late I didn't wake up till 8:30 AK time, 12:30 OH time. Anchorage is great. The first thing we did is went on a nature trail, where we saw a bunch of different birds that I've never seen before. I spotted a Junco later on, but didn't get a very good picture.
Then we went out for lunch to the Middle Way Pub. After that, we went to Flat Top Mountain, and climbed it--it's approximately 6000 feet tall! The trail wasn't that bad, until you were about 97% there, when the trail stopped and you had to climb up rocks. What was pretty freaky was we saw a cute little white dog in front of us, and it's owner had cut off the trail, went through the ice near the top of the mountain, and went to a ledge. The poor dog tried to follow him, but it slipped and started skidding down the ice! Luckily, (thank god!!!) it was smart and managed to stop itself and somebody put a leash on it. The sight at the top was completely amazing-- you could see the whole city and a lot of other mountains. After we finished, we went to 'Moose's Tooth' (pizza place) and my mom ordered an...um...odd pizza. Long story short, she ate 10 cloves of garlic. Got to go now, I'm getting sick of my mom and brother's snores so I might go to sleep...it's like 11:00 AK time. We are leaving Anchorage tomorrow.

I can not BELIEVE we are leaving for Alaska TOMORROW!!! I can't wait but there is a lot to do between now and then to prepare. I might not be able to write on my blog tomorrow but will update on trip ASAP. We are leaving for Chicago in the morning. Our plane leaves for Alaska at 5:20 PM. Once again, I will update everyone ASAP on what we are doing, and I will take advantage of every wi-fi hot spot we go to.

We are going to visit the dogs today in the shelter. This is unfortunately the last time we are going to get to see them before our trip to Alaska. I should probably mention something right now--how the dogs got there. Well, they were at some place in Kentucky, and were scheduled to be put to sleep the next day. Then, the shelter flooded, and people from Save the Animals Foundation came and took them in. Save the Animals is a no-kill shelter. My parents got our last dog, Emma, from there before I was born. We were there looking for two new ones. As soon as we told the people there that we wanted two, they brought them out. They said those two really loved each other and the volunteers were hoping that someone could adopt them together.

Wow. Only three days until Alaska. I am seriously amazed that it is already SO CLOSE!!! Ugh, I don't really have anything to write. Dog pics time!!! They are just puppies, so they are playfully wrestling. The one on top is Moose, below is Denali (who has lighter fur).

Hey people, only five days till we leave for Alaska! Today, I went to the pool. Freezing cold. Which reminded me, I might (will if possible) get to do the polar bear plunge in Alaska! By the way, here is another picture of my new dogs! They are in their favorite spot, under the spruce tree. (Left: Denali. Right: Moose. A way to tell is Denali's nose has much more white on it.)

Here is a picture of Moose. The picture uploader is finally working.