Exploring Eklutna Lake and Elmendorf AFB

There are so many places to explore right in the Anchorage area!  I finally discovered why so many people would take an assignment to Korea to get a guaranteed follow-on assignment to Elmendorf.  The Anchorage area is absolutely gorgeous (in the summertime).

 

We started the morning out at Eklutna Lake, which was only a 15 - 20 minute drive from Elmendorf AFB.  The lake had miles of groomed hiking trails that were easy/safe enough for me to go on without injuring myself.  (Or should I say re-injure myself since I seem so adept at getting hurt?)  We had a fantastic time exploring on the various trails.  Oddly enough, we only saw a handful of other hikers during the hours we spent here.

 

 Russ demonstrated his "rock skipping" skills and even managed a few throws with six or more skips.

 

 

Here's my handsome hubby staying out of trouble even though the drift wood looked really tempting to build something.  (Isn't driftwood just a larger version of Tinker Toys?)

 

 

After Charlie got off work she met with us to explore Elmendorf a little more.  Of keen interest to Russ was the air park for personally owned aircraft.  Elmendorf has a grass runway plus a lake for seaplanes to take off from.  An interesting factoid Russ taught me was that Alaska has more aircraft per capita than any other state in the country.

 

 

After admiring the air park, we went in search of moose, which freely roam the base.  This picture of Charlie will forever be etched in our memories.  (No, the security forces did not see her clearly unbuckled while she was sticking her head out the window.)  I'll have to save this for her retirement photo montage.

 

We didn't see any moose on base during our adventures, but we had a lot of fun anyway.