Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting this week, but it’s been rough over here. I’m not only sick and sleep deprived, I’m super busy at work! But I had to make sure I posted today, because it’s Friday Five with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia! This week is a free Friday, and I’ve decided to write a little more about Alaska this week. I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately with my family and friends who are finding a lot of things about Alaska super weird, and I’ve love to share some of them with you today. It’s a beautiful place to live, but there are some crazy things about it for sure!
1. This winter has been warmer and less snowier here than on the East Coast. I’m sure you noticed in all my blog posts this winter, but it hasn’t been cold or snowy here. It snows like 2 inches each month but the ground is cold enough to keep snow around for a while. Lately it’s been 40 degrees and rainy so there’s lots of exposed grass and roads. While it’s not common for Alaska to be quite so warm and snow-free, it is becoming more common recently. This happened last year too! For info on the current snowiest cities in the US (Anchorage is clearly not one of them), go here!
This was a month ago – the lagoon looks different now but at least our mountains still have snow!
2. There are barely any highways here. When I began researching our honeymoon up here in 2013, I was shocked to find out that there were 5 main highways in Alaska – Parks, Glenn, Sterling, Seward, and Richardson. And many times they’re just 2 lane roads in the middle of nowhere. When you think about the fact that Alaska is 1/3 the size of the Lower 48, that is pretty crazy! Andrew and I are thinking about visiting a few new places in Alaska this summer, but some of them don’t even have roads that lead to them – like Juneau, which is the state capital! I’d either have to take the marine ferry (hell no) or a float plane (whyyyyy) and I’m not a fan of either. It’s making travel difficult!
Seriously, it was quite the ordeal driving here. We were so happy to be on US territory again!
3. We get tons of tiny earthquakes every day and just can’t feel them. Which is incredibly creepy for me to think about so I’ll stop. Since living here we’ve only felt 6 I think.
4. The following things are not found in Alaska: snakes, ticks, poison ivy, lizards. Win!
We do have a ton of eagles here though. This picture was taken a few blocks from my apartment in Anchorage!
5. People here are badass. Everyone kind of does their own thing and tries not to judge each other. We did just recently legalize pot and gay marriage. And everyone has a gun. It’s a crazy combo of values and I dig it!
Oh and the moose are crazy too.
Oh and bonus fact: it’s the prettiest place on earth and I can’t handle it most of the time! Seriously, how is this place even real?
Did you learn anything new about Alaska? Do you have any crazy questions about stuff you’ve heard?
Mom in the Mtns 
Wow, I had no idea that you couldn’t drive to the state capital! How crazy is that? It does look gorgeous, I’d love to take a trip there one day for sure!
It’s really crazy. They’ve tried to move the capital to Anchorage a few times but it never happens.
I’m jealous about the lack of ticks and poison ivy! Not so much the earthquakes though, My husband (who’s from LA) really wants me to “experience” an earthquake sometime because he thinks they’re fun. No thanks! I’ll stick to the devil I know – snow 🙂 Alaska sure looks beautiful!
Haha they are not fun, but they can be exciting sometimes when you know you’re not in danger! The biggest 2 that I experienced happened when I was asleep – I woke up and started shaking my husband and yelling at him to stop shaking the bed. He said he wasn’t doing anything…and then we both started screaming! A really big one happened here in the 60s and it messed up a bunch of stuff (and totally destroyed the town of Seward where I lived last summer) so I don’t want to feel anything like that!
Very awesome list. Very cool for the animals you dont have, and the extras you do. That is crazy about the lack of roads. I mean, on some points it can make sense, but the state capital is just crazy!
Hope you’re feeling better (or do so soon).
Yeah it’s pretty crazy we can’t drive to the capitol. They just can’t build roads that go there!
Ha ha! I was just talking to coworkers this week about how Alaska has been warmer and less snowy than here in the East. My husband and I visited Alaska on vacation a few years ago, and it has a very, very special place in my heart. I think it ties with New Zealand as my favorite place I’ve ever been. It’s funny, we were confused about the lack of roads. There were like two roads–one going north/south and the other going east/west. Weird, but I loved it!
Yes! It’s so strange at first but then it’s nice because you really can’t get lost once you leave Anchorage! I used to work for a tour company in Seward and people would ask me how to get there and I’d tell them to drive south on the Seward Highway. That’s it. They were like “What? Like what turns do we make?” and I’d just say “Keep driving on the highway until the road ends” and they’d freak out!
I’m very jealous of the lack of ticks and poison ivy. That’s so wild!
I know right! I was so excited when I found out I could hike without worrying about those things!
Wow, such gorgeous pictures! Visiting Alaska is on my bucket list.
Do it! It’s so pretty here, especially in the summer.
Beautiful photos but the earthquake thing is super creepy. I love the tidbits you share about living in Alaska!
Yeah, it’s super weird. There’a a website that tracks the seismic activity here and it’s so crazy how many tiny un-feelable earthquakes we have every day!
I never knew that about the earthquakes! very weird! and it is funny to think you guys have less snow than we do in the northeast right now! hahah, does that mean I should move to Alaska to escape the winter weather? lol.
Yes! There are a lot of studies done about how Alaska is warming faster than the lower 48 and our climate is changing so much because of it. It’s kind of scary. But I moved here to have cold and snowy winters so I’m kind of sad that I might not get a ton of those!
yay for chicago being on that snowy list. the earthquake thing is new to me though; i would definitely be a little freaked out haha
Yes it’s super creepy. I try not to think about it but my mom asks me about it every time haha
Beautiful pictures! It must be incredible to live in such a beautiful place..
I love it! It was definitely worth it to move up here!
Alaska sounds like a very beautiful place to visit! Last summer the company I work for did a seminar cruise for our clients through Alaska. My boss came back with lots and lots of pictures but they look like they don’t do a justice capturing the scenery. I love how you don’t have to deal with snakes, but the mini earthquakes – yikes!
That’s awesome! Yes, the pictures don’t do it justice at all. Everything is so much bigger in person! And yeah the earthquake thing is pretty scary, but I’m sure it’s true all along the ring of fire and not just up here. I’ve never lived in a place with earthquakes before though!
Alaska is so beautiful! I will get there someday to see it for myself! And girl…..you have no idea how jealous I am of your not-so-bad-as-the-east-coast weather!
Haha that’s what everyone is saying!
I wouldn’t mind the ferry but a hell no on the float plane.
Haha I don’t want to do ferrys at all! Spending days on a boat sounds awful honestly. I start feeling awful after a few hours on one so I’d probably die on there.
thanks for sharing! i had no idea about the dearth of highways – that’s gotta be challenging. what’s the reasoning behind that? i hope you feel better soon!!
Haha well Alaska is just so massive and there are so few towns/cities here and there are lots of mountains and glaciers in between them. It’s pretty impossible to make a road to Juneau due to the landscape down there. Most people in Alaska live in Anchorage so it’s just easier to fly to remote towns instead of making a road to them, especially when it’s just going to freeze in the winter. It really is a crazy place!
I always think you have to be crazy or a total badass to live in Alaska! I knew some people who were moving to Alaska and it took them about 16 hours of driving to get from one city to another – it’s crazy big. Jealous of your lack of snakes!
Haha well I hope I’m badass and not crazy! It did take us over a day to drive from the Canadian border to Anchorage, but that’s mostly because we blew a tire near Tok and it was hard to find someone to fix it! It’s so pretty, but driving is definitely different up here.
No poison ivy would be super. I break out every year from touching it in my own back yard. I would ride the ferry to Juneau for sure.
Oh no! I hope you don’t get it this year. And I would be all for a ferry if it only took me a few hours, but it’s more like a day and a half on the ocean 😦 I hate boats!
Anywhere without snakes is AOK in my book! I also love that moose!
Haha you should have seen me when I found out! It makes hiking near rocks/places with lots of holes so much safer!
Weird Alaska fact number one made me yell out loud. WHAT?!?! *faints* I am currently still trying to thaw out from my long run. It’s been bitter in Connecticut. And I nearly took a digger on the ice this morning. It might be weird, but man it sure is pretty! 🙂
Awww I’m sorry 😦 We have tons of ice if that helps!
Wow interesting facts. I had no idea you could not drive to Juneau. Love that you can go moose spotting.
Yeah there’s no possible way to build a road there and it would take an insane amount of time to get there if it did exist. But a short plane ride or a 2 day ferry ride works!
I did learn a lot! I didn’t know you didn’t have snakes. Man, I should move there. 😉 I am terrified of snakes. I also didn’t know there weren’t many big highways.