Summer Days

Summer in Alaska.  Aaaaaaaah.  Full of promise, respite from winter, this is what people wait all year for.  The biggest dilema, is how to spend those fleeting summer free days.  On this day, I didn't have time to find a new route, leisurely explore, or plan a day.  I hopped in the car and headed to my old faithful...south of Anchorage through beautiful Turnagain Arm.

When I landed in February, Alaska was all shades of grey and blue.  In summer Alaska is a stunning lush green.

Millions of people plan once in a lifetime trips to drive this road, right here.  I consider myself fortunate to be able to do it any day off...even if I have to remind myself to get out there and make the drive on a day off instead of catching up on groceries, laundry, and sleep.

My journey was to the Wildlife Conservation Center (yes again).  I heard they had taken in two orphaned moose calves...quite young, so I took the camera and headed down.  The moose were too young to be introduced to the public  though, so I didn't get to meet them.,,yet.  I did however get to meet a whole hamster cage full of ducklings who had recently been admitted to the center.  Hopefully when they are bigger they will stick around, or at least come back to visit.  They will be mobile soon enough...but for now they were tucked away safe and protected while they took some time to grow.

The song goes "Home, home on the range...where the deer and the antelope play..."  Did you ever wonder what antelope look like playing?  I admit I thought it would involve a lot of running and frolicking, but apparently antelope games looks a bit more like this,  "Marco!"

"Polo!"

Silly antelope.  After watching them for a bit, I headed back to my favorite spot...the bear viewing deck.  Mr. Bear was out roaming around.

He tossed me a casual glance over the shoulder, but then went back to his day.

He decided to be farmer bear on this day, blade of grass hanging out off his teeth.

And on a hot day, a wet bear is a happy bear.

It's just such a treat to be able to see these guys roaming around the Alaska landscape where there is no danger to them or us from being in contact.  Yes, a bear in the wild has hundreds of miles of terrain it will cover, so this is a reduced living area.  But for bears rescued from certain starvation after injury or orphanage, this is a pretty good alternative in my mind.  They may just have a couple of miles to roam, but they are safe and looking pretty comfortable.

There are always more bear pictures to follow...will leave off here today, as Mr. Bear continued his daily walk at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.