Tired of Touring

We have been busy the last few days exploring Anchorage and checking out a variety of sights & activities. For the most part on the blog I've been following a pattern of writing up what we did each night, and sharing as soon as I could, but the past few days that hasn't seemed quite right. Perhaps it’s the rain putting a damper on my enthusiasm. Or perhaps it’s that I've reached the point where all this exciting stuff just isn't so exciting. I’m tired of the constant doing, doing, doing. We went here, we saw this, we did that. Every day it seems like we have some activity that we just Have. To. Do. It’s exhausting always going and never just being, and I desperately feel the need to just stop and feel normal for a while. 

That’s not to say I haven’t been having a good time. Over the past couple of days we have done a variety of activities, all of which have been quite enjoyable and interesting. But Bob and I have also been discussing how much we’re looking forward to getting into southern BC and changing our pace. Shifting from touring mode, which is what we've pretty much been doing since we got started, into something slower. I’m excited about the idea of staying put for a few weeks (and seeing Bob’s family & meeting my new nephew!).

But, we’re not quite there yet, and it will be a few more weeks until we get that far – there’s a lot of driving to get us from A(laska) to B(.C.), and a few places we want to check out first. 

Now, for the family wants to know what we've been up to, here goes:

We took the kids to see Planes – cute movie, I missed the part with the tunnel though, cause Lily had to go;

We went to the Alaska Zoo, which is a really nice preservation/education style zoo, with many native creatures, including Lily’s new favorite – the musk ox. Bob spent quite some time communing with the river otters (which is his favorite, and Morgan’s too). I don’t think I have a favorite, but I do want to note that their Kodiak bear was frighteningly enormous. They make the standard grizzlies look small, in comparison.;

Big bear! - hard to get perspective here

Playful otters

We went to the Anchorage Museum, which houses the Imaginarium & Planetarium within (really wish I had taken pictures here). The Imaginarium is a fantastic kids (and adults) interactive science area where you can check out all sorts of interesting phenomenon (bubbles, earthquakes & tsunamis, marine life, magnetism & physics and a bunch more). My favorite was the wax volcano, where you can direct the flow of “lava” and build up your own volcano. I would love to have one of these to play with & make visual art.  The museum also houses several galleries & exhibits, including the Alaskan History gallery which takes you on a visual journey of Alaskan history, from its various original inhabitants ( the human ones that is – the Aluets, Inuits, Athapaskans, Tlingit, and several others), to the early explorers, settlers, and all the way up to present day.  This had one of the best displays I've seen to accentuate and explain how each of the areas’ native groups lived quite differently from each other because of their environment and resources (this concept that is being visited in Morgan’s social studies, and so when I find good examples of it I try to get him to really observe and think about it).  We all quite enjoyed our day there.

Last night we had a campfire and s’mores, which attracted several of the other kids in the campground over. We were slated to pull out this morning, but decided to stay an extra day at the campground, not because we wanted to do more in Anchorage, but because the kids made some friends. The family in the site across the playground from us have two younger boys, not too far in age from Morgan, and the kids spent quite a bit of the evening playing (Morgan included!). Morgan invited them in to play Wii last night, and everyone got along pretty good. 

Today Bob took the kids to one of the many pools in town and I stayed at the trailer to putter, tidy up & read a book. The neighbour boys came back over for more Wii after the kids were back from the pool, and the three boys played a couple different games. They co-operated really well, and I was really happy to see Morgan stay involved and engaged for quite a long period of time. Socializing doesn't come easy for him and so when it does happen I’m happy to facilitate it (even if it does mean he gets way too much Wii time in a day!). Speaking of - I think Bob was in need of some outside-the-family socialization more than he cared to admit, and he spent some of the evening chatting around the neighbours’ fire. I know it’s something I've been missing – the neighbourly chats and feeling like part of a community. It’s hard to do when you don’t stay anywhere for more than a few days. 

Tomorrow we say goodbye to our new neighbours and head south to Seward and the coast. We want to see the Alaska SeaLife Center and perhaps go on a boat tour before we head back inland and re-enter the mountains.