Different in the Winter

As promised, we went on a snowshoeing adventure yesterday.  While it's nice to be able to just zip up to Flattop whenever we want, we decided to change up the scenery a little.  We ended up going somewhere we've actually been before.  See if you recognize it:

Would you recognize it more if you saw a picture from the summer?

Eklutna! We'd finally gotten over all the post-traumatic stress we had from hiking up that mountain and decided we could go back - and stay on flat ground this time.  Ripley seemed a little sad that the lake wasn't liquid.  Also, it wasn't exactly solid, so we wouldn't let him run around on it.  We are so mean. 

I was actually kind of bummed when we got there because we woke up to clear blue skies in Anchorage.  By the time we drove north past Eagle River and did the 10 mile drive up into the mountains, it was cloudy and snowing.  Oh well, good weather for snowshoeing, I guess.  

Just like in the summer, the scenery didn't disappoint.

Ripley finds it very hard to walk in the snow, so he just runs instead.

and sniffs.

There's a bunch of pink birch(?) trees up there.  So pretty!

Andy insisted on taking a picture of the giant sack of poo that Ripley dropped and I had to carry around  forever.  Thanks, dog.

This brought out my Sassy Face.

I should take up modeling, I know.

It was just so pretty up there.  I loved all the snow-covered trees.

Ripley insisted on staying about 50 yards ahead of us at all times.  I was sure he'd find a moose, but he didn't.

What makes the trees do this?  Moose? Is it just normal?

This is a fun game Andy likes to play with Ripley when he's wearing his snowshoes - MONSTER!

As you can tell, Ripley is not a huge fan.

The sun tried really hard to come out!

By the time we got back to the car, Ripley was DONE.  Unfortunately for him, we had errands to run.  Next stop - Costco! (thrilling, I know) 

At Costco we bought Ripley a brand new dog bed (the brown one).  Can you tell how much he loves it?

At least the cats were intrigued...

By the end of the night, Ripley was all over the bed.  He loves it now, which we knew he would because it has pillows.  Ripley is obsessed with leaning on pillows.

And to end the post, a cute picture of Fro.  She told me she wants more pictures of her on the blog. 

I'm so happy we have tomorrow off work.  Thanks, Presidents!