Alaska Trip: July 8th

Hmmm...the only thing I've got on my camera from this day is flowers. We spent the day driving the rest of the way to Anchorage, going to the Anchorage Temple, and recouping a little bit before Friday's adventure...

Alaska Trip: July 9th

We left Anchorage Friday morning to drive down to a little town called Whittier. The population of Whittier is less than 200 people. Getting to Whittier was interesting, too. The only way to get there by land is through a one-lane tunnel that traffic going both ways must use, plus trains! To accommodate all of this traffic cars trade off every half-hour going through each way with trains mixed in there somewhere.

Once we arrived in Whittier we grabbed some hot cocoa then we walked around for a while before catching our cruise: The 26 Glacier Cruise. I took WAY too many pictures and have also uploaded way too many pictures to the BBBBlog. I just couldn't resist snapping pictures of some of the most gorgeous scenery in the world. You can find ALL of the pictures I snapped here: http://picasaweb.google.com/BobBruff/Alaska2010Pics?authkey=Gv1sRgCLu_yb3--ZmjnQE#

You should be able to click on the pictures to view them in a bigger size.

Apparently dogs in Whittier aren't supposed to poop

Alaska Trip: July 10th

Saturday we drove around Anchorage and saw a few things, most of which isn't too BBBBlog-worthy. We did go on a nice little hike to a waterfall. After the hike we went to eat at a restaurant in Anchorage called the Moose's Tooth which is a favorite among locals. They serve pizza and we waited for 1 1/2 hours to be seated, but in the end we all felt like it was worth it. The pizza was that good.

It seems like everything is bigger in Alaska (sorry Texas)--we know about the mountains, but look at these leaves...

Any guesses on what this is? A swarm of mosquitoes! Mosquitoes, by the way, are MUCH bigger in Alaska.

Yikes!

A little bit of fun with trees...

Emily sure is cute, huh?

Well, that's our trip to Alaska! We had a wonderful time. Thanks Mutti for hosting! You're awesome! Again, if you want to see more pictures look here: http://picasaweb.google.com/BobBruff/Alaska2010Pics?authkey=Gv1sRgCLu_yb3--ZmjnQE#

We Love Dad, Too!

So, I don't want to copy my sister, but I wanted to also express to my dad that we love him a ton as he celebrates his 58th birthday. I only mention his age because I think he looks pretty good for being an older guy! Anyway, check out Rachel's tribute here: http://englishpatience.blogspot.com/2010/06/birthday-wish.html

We love you, Dad!

Roswell, New Mexico

Human Population: 45,293

Alien Population: Unknown

I got to go on a little adventure this week. I was expecting to go to Roswell on Sunday night so I could attend some training on Monday. I left Sunday at about 3pm and the training went well. I headed home Monday evening (a three-hour one way trip), but due to a death in the family of one of our employees I had to attend more training in Roswell on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't make it home until Thursday night.

My first thought when I drove into Roswell was that it's actually bigger than I expected. I know 45,000 people isn't a lot, but I thought there were a lot less than that.

My second thought while driving through Roswell was that there are a ton of banks in town. I probably only noticed this because I work for a bank.

I know most people think about aliens and UFOs when they think of Roswell, but there is more to see than just alien-related sites. Who am I kidding? That's the ONLY thing in Roswell. Enough of my rambling, here are some pics:

Other than some pretty scenery there isn't much between Albuquerque and Roswell.

There are two tiny towns between I-40 and Roswell: Encino (population:94) and Vaughn (population: 539). A majority of the buildings along the highway looked like this:

The employees of Comfort Inn made us feel welocme...

Arby's was catering to a different crowd

I guess this one surprised me because normally Wal Mart keeps things pretty uniform.

This copy shop is pretty proud of the fact that they've got aliens laboring away in the back. There were a ton of murals like this around town.

As far as I could see this is the only financial institution in town that has incorporated UFOs or aliens into its official signage.

Ah, the sun setting on my last full day in Roswell. The thing that sucked about this sunset is the fact that I couldn't share it with Emily.