And A Lazy Saturday for All

Sometimes you just have to throw in the towel and RELAX...full capital letter relax.  Recharge the batteries.  Rejuvenate.  Even if you are a forest critter.  Shibby's first visit to the Wildlife Conservation Center was one of those kind of days.  It seemed like all the little residents were enjoying a Saturday that was even lazier than ours.  The little red fox was combining  nap with the warmth of the rays in a comfy food bowl in his enclosure.

This baby fawn sauntered out of a little shed made for shelter to walk around in the sunlight for a little bit.

But before long she decided to go join her other fawn friends, the littlest of whom was having a nap in a natural hidey hole.

It took the three little ones a few minutes to decide who should get which spot, and they seemed to all switch spots several times before settling on the final nap location.

This one woke up with bedhead.  Soooooo cute.

In then end they decided it was better to set up to nap together instead of spread out through their range.

This bear used the long grass to keep mostly out of view.

This bear decided to spend some time floating on his back, wiggling his toes, and making water bubbles...also in spots where tall grass afforded some bath time privacy.

He did swing by to give us a view of his wet butt while he surveyed the range to find the best nap spot for the afternoon.

I think this was when Shibby really started enjoying her Alaska vacation.  Wednesday was jet lag day.  Thursday was make sure your anesthetized host stays alive day.  Friday was ok...but Saturday she finally got to see the best kind of Alaska residents...bears and moose and elk and lynx and foxes and caribou, and eagles, and more.  Even if they were just hanging out and getting their relax on...it made for a good day.

And in the gift shop...perhaps the best Alaska T-shirt ever.

Baby Steps

We had been turned back from the Nature Center the day before due to a bad accident.  So we set out again the next day.  Another beautiful summer day on Turnagain Arm awaited us.  The drive afforded lots of time to catch up on all the stories that had not been shared yet.

Of course we had to pull over a few times and just soak up the scenery.  The ocean was glittering like the jewel it is, definitely photo worthy.

 It takes just over an hour to get to the conservation center (it might take less if I ever manage to make the whole drive without stopping for photos...I kinda hope the day never happens that I don't feel so inclined).  Once there, the first stop was to see some of the new babies.  The whole herd is protective of the little guys.  This female had no problem giving us the tough girl stare as if to make sure we didn't intend to bother them too much.  She can't help if her best mean look is adorable.

A few minutes later a baby emerged from its hiding spot beneath a log!

As soon as the little guy ventured out, everyone closed rank around to make sure the baby would be in the safest spot.

Momma gave encouraging muzzles to greet her babe.

 And presumably the proud papa let out a warning to all around that he had antlers and would not be afraid to use them.

 Walking on stilts is tough.  Mom was around to help give a nudge forward...and offer a little support if the momentum accidentally carries backward.

The two aunties hang back, gossiping, grazing, and girl talking.

Seriously, it takes a lot of confidence to get those disproportionate legs all going in the right direction at the right time.

But like most things, the task at hand is made easier with a friend by your side.

Now they have the hang of it.

 A tender moment with a proud momma for the bigger baby.

He is getting big enough to wander along on his own.

But his little cousin still needs some gentle help.

Looks like a scene straight out of Bambi.

Mom helps the littlest one take just a few more steps.

Then rewards her with a kiss on the head for making it all the way across the clearing.

It's nice to have days when you can just stand and watch the simple things in life.

The Alaska Zoo

So it was my first visit to the Alaska Zoo.  I have not been to many zoos in my day.  Zoo programs do really important job in these days.  They provide safe haven to orphaned or injured animals that might otherwise have died in nature.  They participate in breeding programs for endangered species, and they aspire to educate the public about a parts of the world many of us may never venture too.  They endeavor to make keep wildlife in the collective consciousness, and to promote Conservation in these times where the human population takes more space and more resources than ever before.  Still, while I am sure all zoos want to give their animals the best habitat they can, I wished there was more space for many of them.

These seals seemed pretty content.  I think they were even hamming it up for the camera.  If you are a seal, you spend a great deal of time in life in the wild trying not to get eaten.  Polar bears above you, orcas below you, I don't imagine life is very relaxing for seals.  In the zoo, these two little fatties were laying out catching some rays, definitely relaxing, and I absolutely caught one smiling on camera.

Soon it was time for seal slumber again.  This involved a big sigh, closing ones eyes, and stretching out your flippers.

Here is the move in action...the stretch, a little flipper footsie with your best seal pal..

And then a final big yawn for naptime.

The polar bears were laid out sleeping too.  We definitely hit afternoon nap time.

This polar bear was awake, but wasn't showing us anything except his fuzzy polar bear butt.  He was watching the construction on the other side of the bars...they are expanding the enclosure.  Polar bears in the wild travel hundreds of miles...the few feet are not going to make up for that, but it's going to be roomier than it has been so I was happy to see that.

Tiger in Alaska?  Well, yes.  The natural range of tigers included Russia (Siberia), and there are still a few tigers in the mountains of Afghanistan (Caspian Tigers).  In fact, Siberian Tigers did roam Alaska 100,000 years ago according to the fossil record, and it may be true that they were still here thousands or tens of thousands of years more recently than that.  But for today, there is just these two Tigers in Alaska that i know of.

The zoo also is home to a couple of llamas.  If you ever saw the cartoon 'The Emporer's New Groove," you might think this sassy llama was characterized well in the film.

The Alaska zoo also has 3 brown bears.  This enclosure made me a bit sad -- one bear just paced back and forth...all the grass had been long overturned, and lush greenery and a small stream trickle by just outside of the bars.  I wish they could move the fences so the stream goes through it, and toss in a few salmon now in that stream.

That same stream is a good home to the swans though.

The zoo had a few mountain goats -- one shy little goat stayed up top...

...and one bold goat came down to have a little nibble.  When mountain goats nibble, their little mouths move across the ground with far more accuracy and consistency than the average lawn mower blade.  It was actually pretty cute to watch.

After getting his munchies is, he had time for a little chat.  I have no idea what he was saying, but he mumbled on in little goat talk for a while before going back to his munchies.

So that was the day at the zoo.  It isn't a big zoo on the scale of zoos, so we had time to go to my favorite sushi restaurant, Sushi Sushi before heading back to Eagle River to plan the next day!

Summer Drive

On Day 3 of Shibby's Alaska vacation, it was time for a road trip.  One of the first places she wanted to go was to see the bears at the Conservation Center.  We had our pitstops at Alaska Wildberry, and lunch at the Peanut Farm, and headed south on the Seward Highway.  It was a beautiful clear and sunny day to see Turnagain Arm.

It was a little different from the days of old where we explored Bermuda by scooter.  We had radio.  Coffee holders.  And traffic.  In the scooter days, we could maneuver pretty easily, or get by holdups in Bermuda's infamous "third lane' of traffic, the third lane being the center line of the road between opposing lanes flows of traffic.  Amazing that I survived all that and got taken out by a rat terrier in the end.  Anyway, our beautiful drive started out well, great clear views of the water, some beautiful Fireweed on the roadside to add a splash of color to the pictures.

Occassionally a float plane would cruise by, just willing us to take its photo as it headed on to Seward or Homer, in that cool and casual way that Alaskans fly rather than drive distances between 100 and 1000 miles. Fact...one in five Alaskans have a pilots license.

Unfortunately there was an accident further up the road, and after an hour parked on the highway, we were forced to turn back to Anchorage as the road would remain closed for several hours.  We were a bit disappointed, and with the afternoon fading, had to come up with a change of plans on the fly.  We decided to stop at the Alaska Zoo on the way back through Anchorage.

Before I talk about the zoo, I wanted to share some pictures of flowers at the zoo.  Alaska is quietly big on flowers.  You don't hear a lot of fuss and muss about city planners, or beautification schemes, you just find a lot of flowers, everywhere.  I think nature around here inspires everyone to try a little bit of gardening.  Even I managed a little wildflower garden on my patio this year, which I am desperately trying to keep alive now in September when the sun won't come out and the clouds hang low threatening to freeze my poor little flower friends.  They live in the spare bathroom now.  But anyway, there are lots of little wildflowers that pop up anywhere there is an open spot, and lot of little pots and plots carefully tended that you see all around town, and even around the zoo.

This sleepy little sunflower in the late afternoon sun made me smile.

And these bright pink and yellow flowers could brighten any day.  In Alaska, the flowers themselves are small, but their color and energy are super big!

One more shot of the flowers...and then it was time to focus on the animals (literally and figuratively).

The Peanut Farm

I hear a lot of ads on the radio about "The Peanut Farm."  It took me a few ads to know what it was about...at first I was like "a peanut farm in Alaska?"  After the next ad I thought maybe it was a pub...beer and peanuts...but it was the Facebook status of others that lead me to understand that it is a large sports bar style restaurant/pub that sits alongside Campbell Creek, which runs through town.  I decided I had to go try it out when I saw my boss post that she was at the Peanut Farm enjoying some sunshine and watching Salmon swim by in Campbell Creek from her table on the patio.

Shibby and I had to eat, and the Peanut Farm is a neighbour to Alaska Wildberry Products where we had just been.  So it was off to the Peanut Farm for lunch!

The Peanut Farm immediately made it on to my favorites list.  It has a large patio to soak up some of the sunshine on those long Alaska summer days.  The menu and food were good, but it is really the comfortable patio view that made my lunch.  The tables border the creek -- and the bridge is a good viewing deck for salmon watching.

On this day we watched for salmon, but what we actually saw go by were geese.  The current is actually pretty fast, and they shot by the first time before I even had my camera ready.  But there were either several gaggle of geese upstream, or they hop out just past the restaurant and waddle back upstream to take the ride again, because 10 minutes later, they went by again.  This time I was ready!

I can't say I caught them smiling, but I am pretty sure they were having fun.  Like everyone on the patio.  The Peanut Farm, on airport road, is a great place to stop in for summer lunch, or a pint to watch the fish and fauna go by.