I started to plan the trip down south quite a while before my patents actually did arrive, I think maybe as early as may. There was a lot of talk about what should be included and the costs. Alaska is really expensive if you don't live here, the hotels and the tours. I wanted to include Seward and a train ride from Anchorage or at least Talkeetna, but that got scratched from the list pretty early. We started our trip on a Saturday, not too early maybe even a bit late according to some... The first stop was Denali, me and Winslow were going to camp, and mom and dad got to stay at the Grizzly Bear in. On the way down we stopped at the 49th brewery outside Healy for a late lunch and then we continued the trip.

    Once in Denali we decided to set up camp before driving the parents to their hotel, and on the way there we got our first wildlife viewings!

    Next day we went up early in the morning and started the bus tour into Denali, unfortunately it rained the whole day, but that didn't stop us from seeing wildlife again. And the view itself wasn't too bad.

    The next day we were all pretty tired and started the car ride to our next destination, Palmer and the state fair, and most important, Avett Brothers!

    Palmer is a beautiful little town, or maybe I should say the setting is beautiful. It's surrounded by mountains and the pretty balmy (yeah Alaska balmy) evenings brought beautiful sunsets.

    We also went to the musk ox farm, anchorage and Wasilla (that's where Sarah Palin is from) to visit a good friend of mine. We also went to Matanuska glacier, really lucked out about the weather, sunny and blue sky.

    But, as I mentioned earlier the visit to the actual state fair and Avett Brothers was one of my highlights, especially when I saw the two brothers come walking at the fair right by me, and I finally got courage enough to walk up to them and ask if my mom could take a picture of me with them. That made my day!

    The journey continued south and we had a rainy drive down to homer, and I was worried how the fishing would be for Winslow and my dad the next day. My parents got a nice welcome to their B&B

    To our surprise the weather cleared up and the men had an awesome day out on the ocean and came back with 33 lb of halibut (including one cod).

    Meanwhile me and my mom explored Homer and by the afternoon we had lovely weather.

    That together with a wonderful dinner and sunset.

    The next morning we had a wonderful sunrise, and had to prepare for a 12 hr car trip up to Fairbanks.