Wildflowers

This is going to be my last post as I have made it home to "the lower 48" and now that I'm in Texas, I remember what it feels like to sweat! It was 57 when I left Anchorage and 94 when I landed in Dallas. Just to tell you a little about the different environment and air quality in Alaska, I never got one pimple, it took me 30 seconds to dry my hair, I could go 4 days not waching my hair, without my hair looking dirty at all (half a day max in the south!), my hair was always fluffy and held its style, my face never got oily or shiny even without face powder, I never got boogers (sorry it's gross, but it proves the point :)). I mean the air is so crisp and clean you feel like you're breathing pure oxygen.

Fireweed

Wild Dogwood

The wildflowers were one of my favorite parts of Alaska because they were literally everywhere and so vibrant. I hope you enjoy them as well!

Blue Columbines

P.S. Next to Ted Stevens International airport is Lake Hood where many personal planes are docked. You can sit and watch them land on the water. When Lindsay was taking me to the airport this weekend, we were keeping our eyes peeled for moose as they are always around the airport. We didn't see one on the way, but as soon as I walked through security at the airport, Lindsay called me and said, "You're not going to believe this, but a moose is walking down my road." Isn't that funny, that the second I leave a moose is walking down the road of the house I was staying at!!

Stay Wild and Adventurous at Heart!

Love, Rachel :)

Blue Himalayan Poppy Begonias

Mountain Strawberries

Red Columbines

Forget-me-nots

Wild Rose




Blue and Purple Lupine

Meet my AK Clinic and Home

Thought I'd share where I lived and worked with yall.


This is Lindsay's house, my room is the one with the window on the right, second story.


As you can see, my bed is super close to the ceiling so I lost a heck of a lot of brain cells to the ceiling. I decided to climb onto the roof to get a view of the mountains all around, but it was too cloudy. Still a cool pic of the sky though.

The view on my drive to work each day.

The building I worked in.
The view from inside the gym.

My first CI, Brittany and two other PTs I worked with, Jim and Ryan- very cool people.

Another awesome PT and friend, Courtney.

My second CI and the clinic director, Cortland.

-Rach :)

Denali / Mt. McKinley

Friday night we had a wedding shower at our place for Lindsays future sister-in-law, Vanessa. It was loads of fun and though I was falling asleep sitting up in my chair by the end around 9:45 after a super long work week and lots of party prep, I was still coaxed into going to the 10:30 pm showing of "The Proposal". It was a cute movie and a fun time with the girls. Sunday was the 50th anniversary of University Baptist Church here in town where Lindsay's dad was the pastor when she was young, so he got invited to preach. The whole Hearn family, including grandkids, were there and the sermon was awesome. THEN, there was a covered dish/ pot luck luncheon, boy did I get excited over that, just got me missing home is all!! It was good of course, but we all know that the Methodists cook better than the Baptists, especially if they're Southern (HAHA, totally j/k! -But not about the Southern part!). Love those people!

This last weekend was my last one in Alaska, this trip around. Saturday, I decided to make the 4.5 hour drive to see Denali- the tallest mountain in North America. The plan was for me to camp out in the Bronco that night, but after making it to the park and driving around seeing the sites, I had plenty of energy and too much sunlight to sleep that night, so I drove 4.5 hours back to Anchorage so I could make it to church the next morning to hear Lindsay's dad preach.

Several people told me that I'd probably not be able to even see the mountain because of all the recent fires, hence low visibility, but I decided I couldn't come this far and not see it! Along the drive, I kept seeing huge mountains in the distance and saying to myself, "I wonder if that's Denali", "Oh I wonder if that's it"....well that all stopped when after about 2.5 hours of driving, I came over the top of a hill and BAM, there she was and I said to myself, "Oh, ok, there it is!" There was no doubt about that sight! This and one other spot about 30 minutes up the road were the only places I could see it and even then, there were clouds rolling in front of it, so you could see the very top every once in a while when they blew over. It was definitely worth the drive, but unfortunately the pictures don't come close to capturing it since the sky was so white and bright and the mountain was so far away. The weather was gorgeous and it's funny because as soon as I got back to Anchorage, it was raining and it looks like the rain isn't going to stop until winter now! So I came to AK at just the right time and I got my Denali trip in on the last pretty day!

The drive to Denali National Park was still 2 more hours, and boy was it gorgeous...literally 360 degrees around me were mountains as far as I could see, I've never seen anything like it! I told Tim that I kept thinking, "You know, the things I've seen so far were so beautiful that nothing can come close", and I expected the drive to be pretty, but AK continually exceeds my expectations. Just when you think it can't be prettier, it keeps on coming!

I also saw 3 moose along the way! The other awesome wildlife were the fireweed. It was unreal and everywhere, gorgeous, thick blankets of deep pink flowers, really setting the scene...unbelievable. It was one of those drives where you can't stop smiling (with the music up and the windows down), but on the down side, no one else is there to see it with you. But, the alone time was great for me and I had some very good moments with God.

The history behind the official name of the mountain is quite interesting. There are actually over 12 names for the mountain, most of which mean "The Great One". Its native Athabascan name, Denali, means "The Great One" and some climbers refuse to use the name "McKinley". The Americans named it after President McKinley (what did he do again? :)). Ever since the mountain's name was changed to McKinley, an effort has been under way to change it back to Denali. The State of Alaska now recognizes it as Denali and the federal government has changed the name of the national park in which Denali is the main attraction to Denali National Park. Congress, however, has shown little interest in changing the mountain's name back to Denali, which is offensive to many people, especially the natives.

Hope you enjoyed your mini-tour and history lesson. :)

Love, Rachel

I took this last photo at the site of the Veteran's Memorial just outside of the park. Great way to remember our freedom and to be thankful.