Mon Aug 1
 -ok flight to Seattle and enough time there to hop into the lungs for some yummy soup . The late flight to anchorage was a bummer just knowing that we were flying west again after flying east. The cramped middle seat I had and the guy kicking me in the back did not help. 
 -we arrived at 2am in decent shape since the boys got a little sleep on the flight. Grabbed our bags and a quick shuttle to the hotel for some much needed sleep. 

 Tue Aug 2
 -I was up early after a fitful night of sleep. Happily the crew was still snoozing so I decided to shuttle back to the airport and get our rental car. I had been warned that rental cars were short but happily ours was available. I had some time to kill stopped by the helpful visitor center and got maps and ideas for the day and the whole trip. Armed with maps and info I confirmed that our steed had the essential CD player and drove back to the hotel to meet the group.
  -the crew was up and hungry. We stopped at the front desk and received confirmation that Snow City Cafe was the place to go. We made a reservation and set off into the drizzly morning
 -we parked downtown and the kids were very happy with the temperature and intermittent rain . We were a by early for our table so we headed down to the banks of the river or bay for a quick stroll along the trail. 
 -we returned to the restaurant and still had some waiting much to the disgruntlement of two hungry boys. However when we sat, ordered, and the meal arrived, any frustration evaporate and the hungry kids devoured their meals which they proclaimed to be some of the best pancakes they had ever had. Goes to show you what a late night flight and some hunger will do for you.
  -we reparked the car and started our walk across town to the salmon viewing platform. We made a quick stop at an Ulu store which is a native Alaskan curved knife. We escaped the arriving cruise ship crowd and walked on towards the creek. There weren't the hoards of salmon swimming up stream that you see on TV. We did however see one stunning red salmon and one silver. 
 -we headed back towards our car via the Main Street. Every other store carried genuine Alaskan and we avoided them all. We stopped in a government museum that was decent but the national park movie was devoid of message or information . A missed opportunity to educate the viewers including us.
  -outside the museum we tried our first tasty reindeer dog. It was lean and yummy. We topped it off with a huge bowl of ice cream that Finn generously shared.
  -back in the car we followed the tip from our breakfast waitress and headed out to a local park. True to her word we spotted two moose as we journeyed down the access road. Big animals!
 -our tired crew agreed that it was time to return to the hotel and recharge. After showers and iPad time we headed out to an Indian restaurant we had found on the Internet
  -the food was outstanding and our hungry crew ate to the point of discomfort. We found a grocery store on the way back and bought supplies for the upcoming days of hiking in Denali. Then to bed for some deep slumber for all.