Alaska diaries : Down By The Lake

Before we went to Alaska, if you'd asked me to name something that the state had in abundance, I'd have answered snow. Having now visited in the summer though, I'd be able to list several other things : trees, greenery, rosebay willowherb (or fireweed as it's called here) and lakes. There were several lakes close to where we were staying, including one just a five minute walk from our house, which was great when we wanted somewhere to head to for a quick adventure. Wandering down the road, Pierre always loved this "dead end" sign, and couldn't resist pretending to be a zombie !

We soon arrived at the lake.This lake is called Prator Lake and it's a really calm, peaceful place to chill out for a while.

There's nothing much to see or do here, but I loved it. There is a bench to sit on and a rack of life jackets to put on the kids, as well as a little car park, but that's it !

There was a family of ducks that often put in an appearance, as well as many huge dragonflies. One day, we were amazed to see an eagle swooping down into the lake and flying off with a fish - I didn't manage to get a photo of that though ! Pierre loved trying to skim stones across the water, but as they weren't flat, it was more about creating the biggest splosh possible !

I was happy taking in the scenery and enjoying the peace and quiet, as well as trying to get artistic shots of the reflection of the clouds on the lake surface.

Meanwhile, the kids were busy looking out for bears on the opposite shore. They didn't see any, but we DID spot this enormous, fat caterpillar. I'd never seen one with a big pink rear end before - ewww !

Another day, we got an unexpected visit from a very friendly dog. He came running through the trees from one of the neighbour's houses and came over for a stroke.

The kids were over the moon and the dog absolutely loved all the attention.

He was soon charging around, playing chasing games with Pierre.

It didn't seem to bother him in the slightest if he was on dry land or in the water.

Then he'd go and stand next to Pierre and shake dirty lake water all over him !

Time to head for home, dropping off the cheeky doggy on the way back.

Many of the houses have deer antlers or moose horns on the signs. Welcome to Alaska !

If there's one thing they like in Alaska, it's their own sense of personal space.

*** Don't miss the rest of our blogposts about our Alaskan adventure ! ***