We're sure going to miss that girl!

Goodbye, Sweet Morgan!

We only had three days remaining with Morgan.  It was hard to believe that the time had gone by so quickly!  

For our final time together, we had thought about walking the Matanuska glacier, but the hike was over a half mile one direction, in and over rugged, muddy terrain.  With Morgan's ankle still a bit sore and swollen from walking the Kennicott mine, we felt it would be too much for her.  When we awoke to more rain, we easily made the call to abandon the idea.

We camped again at Eagle River, where we had camped the first night Morgan had arrived.  The following morning we drove down the Turn Again Arm, south of Anchorage, hoping to see belugas.  Our ultimate goal was to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage.

David and I had visited the park in 2010 and, quite honestly, had felt sorry for the animals.  Several folks had told us they had made major renovations over the past few years and that we should try them again.  They were right.  The animals were in much better environments, and the park had made many more improvements.

Morgan was able to see porcupines, moose, muskox, bison, and bear up close and personal.  

Porcupine at Wildlife Conservation Center

Moose at Wildlife Conservation Center

Muskox at Wildlife Conservation Center

Muskox and baby at Wildlife Conservation Center

One gigantic brown bear strolled close by us, finally settling on a log to take a snooze.  I was so glad Morgan could finally see how amazing these magnificent creatures truly are.

Brown Bear at Wildlife Conservation Center 

Brown Bear takes a snooze at Wildlife Conservation Center 

After our visit to the wildlife center, we camped at another favorite place... Black Bear campground.  David set up the hammock, and he and Morgan took turns being lazy.  It was a great afternoon.

The next day we took a short hike and took in the visitor center's interpretative museum... we even met an old friend, Smokey the Bear.  Afterwards we tried to catch up on blog posts and started organizing Morgan’s things back into duffle bags.

Morgan and Smokey the Bear

It was a glorious last few days with Morgan.  We were delighted with our sunny skies.  Temperatures were even predicted to reach 71 degrees on Friday.  When weathermen posted an extreme heat alert because of soaring temperatures, we had to chuckle… friends were reporting 94 degrees at home in Texas.  When we have 71 degrees at home, we’re still wearing long sleeves and have the windows open!  What a difference!  Of course, we knew the opposite was true... Alaskans would simply shake their heads at us when a half inch of snow shuts down nearly the entire state of Texas.

One more night of camping at Black Bear, and our adventure with Morgan was over.  We drove into Anchorage Friday morning and took Morgan to lunch at Sook’s wonderful restaurant, Alaska’s Gourmet Subs.  Afterwards, we checked into a motel near the airport so that Morgan could take a shower, and we could finish packing all her gear. 

Her flight was right on time, leaving at 8:10 in the evening.  Hugs around and then goodbye.  Wow!  We sure are going to miss that girl!