While the Mom's away the boys will PLAY!

Grandma Scow came to visit in October while Danielle went to meet Lincoln back in Canada.  While grandma was here, it was the true essence of Alaska in the fall.........CLOUDY, all day - every day.  It rained off and on or was overcast for about 80% of her visit.  On her first Saturday, we decided to get out of town and make the trek to the Matanuska glacier. It is 26 miles long and 4 miles wide at it widest point.  With a lot of faith, we left Eagle River in a downpour and it continued raining for an hour, but eventually we out drove the rain and found the glacier under very favorable skies.

The view from the parking lot, after driving on a horribly maintained road that is "accessible for all types of vehicles". They were running the road grader, leaving a huge median of dirt, large rocks in the roadway, tree limbs in the roadway.

The Crew

Ah-ha, there's Oliver hiding in the Kelty on Denton's back.

Because Denton believes in scenery..........how can you pass up a reflective pond.

Walking across some silt/dirt/mud flats on the way out to the visible ice. In the distance where it appears to be just dirt is actually dirt covered ice over 10' thick at least

There is no way to actually climb this ice.  Looks are deceiving as that ice is polished slick.

So instead, the boys got to climb a 4' high clump and slide down.

You may not see the bottom of the crevasse from this picture, but it is about 15' deep, and of course the boys wanted to get as close as possible to throw rocks and ice chunks into it. On the walk back, Cohen jumped on a sheet of ice and briefly into a 2' deep puddle of ice water.  mason the  promptly jumped in the same area and soaked his legs and boots/feet completely (walking with sound of sloshing ice water in your boot is a sign of hurting feet, I guess).

The further into the glacier you go, the more blue to ice becomes.

Grandma actually preferred having Fenway to serve as a walking aide to keep her sense of balance (since he pulls constantly).

Handsome boy ready for church

Even when mom is out of town, the boys make sure we stick to our routine of smoothies on Sunday.

Cohen came upstairs while apparently out of business and promptly laid down to sleep in a much more comfortable position.

Danielle made it back and we took Bev up to Mount Baldy to see the view.

 We also went up to the Independence Mine in Hatchers Pass.  It is no longer a functional mine but it was neat to see all the old buildings and read about the history.  We didn't think there would be as much snow as there was so we didn't really come prepared.  

Grandma putting the boys in the "old mine".

 We are so glad Grandma was able to come and share part of our new adventure with us.  We sure do miss seeing her and Marv regularly.  Come back and visit soon!!!!