Hatcher's Pass and Talkeetna

It's time for our last adventures with the Nielsens! We waited all week for the best weather to drive up to Talkeetna in hopes that they'd have a good view of Denali.  The last day they were here looked the best from the forecast so we went for it!

On the way up we went through Hatcher's Pass.  Much less snow than when the Woods were visiting! We stopped along the Little Susitna River to admire the scenery.

It was a really nice day, but kind of cloudy.  Not boding well for mountain viewing!

Want to see what happens when you set the self timer on your camera to two seconds instead of the recommended 10?

Awkward.

 We took a walk around the Independence Mine at the top of the pass, which mom and dad really liked (best. tourguides. ever.)

We discovered right when we got to the mine that we I had forgotten to put Ripley's collar on him when we left the house.  Whoops.  Our little t-shirt dog was running around with just a leash tied around his neck (or nothing at all when we got away from the park ranger).  Classy!

Andy was not happy with me.

I will never tire of this scenery...

We drove over the pass since it was open for the Summer and we decided it was not the best move.  It took forever and there was a marathon going on.  People actually paid money to run 26.2 miles with a 4,000+ foot elevation gain.  Gross.  After a long drive on gravel, we finally hit Talkeetna.

It was totally packed with people! I couldn't believe it.

We had lunch at the same place where we ate with the Woods.  They didn't have the blueberry beer which made Andy sad.  We also shared a table with some nice tourists from Michigan, who started a conversation with us about Ripley's t-shirt (I told you!!)

We walked around town and checked out some new sights.  First, the West Rib Cafe, which was featured on Man vs. Food along with the Talkeetna Roadhouse.

They even have a banner advertising their ridiculous burger, the "Seward's Folly," which is 5 lbs of food smothered in something called "fat ass sauce." Sounds about right.

The West Rib is located right next to the Talkeetna "airport."

The General Store demonstrates decorating with antlers and snowshoes:

I found some "put your head in the hole" things for Andy and dad:

Dad makes the best faces in these.  He should pose for them professionally.

Eventually Andy got sick of sightseeing.  Note Ripley's new pink collar.  It was all I could find in town.  Sorry Ripley.

 But I still got them to pose with one more sign:

So that's about it! The next day mom and dad headed back to non-rainy (for the time being anyway) Oregon.  We had a wonderful time on their visit and are so glad they came to see us! Come back soon!!