Summer is now in full swing. The first week after school gets out ends up being totally taken up in catch up, or at least that’s what it feels like. It doesn’t really feel like summer yet. Consequently, this past week was the first one that felt like summer had started.

We are not a big traveling family, we don’t go on a big family trip or anything like that during the summer, but we have plenty going on.

Every year there are campouts for our Church youth groups. This year (rotating every other year) there is a week long activity for youth called FSY – For the Strength of Youth. These always involve our teenagers and they are excitedly looking forward to attending this again.

We also plan on hiking. Some years I make a firm plan of hiking every week. But as my kids have gotten older and busier, my plans don’t tend to be the top priority, so I have to either go on my own or invite other friends. I seem to be busier the older my kids get too, but I love getting out and hiking, so it’s always a priority although it only happens every couple of weeks now.

I love visiting a few specific places, even though we go every year. I go to Seward every year, partly because there was a gift shop there that was willing to sell my art. It had to close last year as the owner was seriously ill and couldn’t run the shop anymore. There is also the cutest fabric store there, and they carry many of my fabric panels, so I visit every year just to see how their stock is, as well as just wander, hike a little, walk along the beach, and eat good food.

If my oldest daughter visits in the summer, Whittier is a must as well. I enjoy Whittier, but because of the tunnel, the fee to go through, and the wait if you don’t get there at the right time, I don’t always make the effort to stop. But, it is definitely a must if you’re in the area and have never been. If my family comes and visits, we always make that a stop in our travels. They have really good fudge there as well.

Talkeetna is always a must go place, but because it is close, it ends up being a must go place at least once every 2-3 weeks. My kids will also join me on this jaunt several times a summer because it’s a quicker trip, the town is fun to wander through, the river is fun to skip rocks and walk along, and the Spinach Bread is one of our favorite treats.

We don’t go as far north as we could in the summer, but I enjoy heading up to the Princess Lodge at mile 133, it’s a beautiful drive, a great stopping point, and there’s a cute little hole in the wall restaurant that is fantastic, but I cannot remember or find the name of it online currently. We also make a pitstop at Byer’s Lake every time we drive past, to visit the beautiful Veteran’s Memorial there.

Reading through this, I realize a lot of my stops are hiking or walking related, which is good, but a lot of them are also places I’ve found great food. I guess the hiking and burning calories means I need to refuel as well!

Alaska is a land of extremes, the biggest ones being the winter and cold. But summers do come, and they are beautiful. But because they are short, we have to pack a lot into a small space of time. That’s probably why we don’t leave in the summer very often, and this summer is shaping up to be a beautiful one.