Springtime in Alaska means two things; longer days and waking animals. Our daylight begins around 6:15 a.m. and ends somewhere around 10 p.m., depending upon where one lives. As I type this, the sun has finally gone behind the treeline and alpenglow is slowly turning the mountains a lovely shade of pink.
Everyone gets a case of Spring Fever about now; with a week of sunshine behind us (except today) Yukon caught it and decided to take the afternoon off.
After lunch at Red Robin (Bear's favorite dining establishment because they have good chocolate milk) we took a trip to the south end of town to visit the Alaska Zoo. I figured this might be a good day, taking a cue from my sister who used to work at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Animals are usually more active on the chilly days, and it was true this afternoon.
We saw the Siberian tigers prowling around their enclosure, caught a coyote being served her dinner, and even witnessed the brown bears coming out of their den. As you can tell from the photo, the big fellow didn't quite know what to do with himself. From what we hear, the brown bears have been out of hibernation for about three days and quite enjoyed the sunny weather. The black bears, on the other hand, have yet to emerge for more than a few minutes.
After re-upping our family pass and following Zoo trails around for a few hours, we headed home to a fire in the woodstove. It was that chilly.
A nice way to start the weekend.
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