Turning 40 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Back in Montana, we joined the Moose Lodge and here in Anchorage, our new membership came quite handy. A pit stop in the middle of the city is what was in order to refill our Airstream and to gather friends around for Dan’s 40th birthday.

Parking lot camping is not glamorous but we appreciate having a place to city camp for a few days with our Elks and Moose lodge memberships.

Before long, we were joined by Jeff & Lisa of UpInTheAirstream, Dave & Ann of AdvoDnA, and Kerri & Tim.

The kids were excited to have an empty parking lot to ride their bikes in… until cars started so show up for bingo night and then learned that no bikes are allowed.

They didn’t mind having to hang out for a bit indoors since they all had each other’s company.

Check out this rule breaker. No bikes! Oh Luka.

The no bike rule didn’t bother the kids too much since they had a decent playground on site.

The bars in all the Moose and Elks Lodges are old school and usually smokey. This one is no different.

The rules of bars/drinking are really strict here in Alaska. Everyone gets carded, no matter their age. If you break any alcohol laws in Alaska, your license will get a red stripe through it, banning you from buying any liquor in the state.

Kids are allowed in bars that serve food but they just have stay out of the main room where the bar sits.

You might be thinking “What do your kids do while you guys are ignoring them, playing darts?”

Ummmm, this…. playing games on their iPads. They are not allowed to play iPads until the end of the day so they are loving this time of day. If you are ever hanging out with us and overhear our kids ask “Is it happy hour yet?”, this is why. Haha.

As Dan’s birthday approached, we had one more friend stop by. The most bada** of us all. Perky Mog!! We actually ran into them on our way out of Liard River Hot Springs back in Canada and quickly at Watson Lake too but this is the first time we are actually camping together.

I asked Luka how we were going to get into the Perky Mog. With his flying shoes, he screamed.

Not only are Brad and Oksana super nice people and fun to hang out with, they also cooked us dinner. Here are the kids setting up our table for dinner outside.

And then BOOM. Dan turned 40! Airstream birthdays are our favorite and this one was no different. The kids and I were stumped on what to get Dan for his special day. Something small, of course. Hmmmm? Got it! An Ukulele!!! He’s been singing the Lava song from the Disney short all week and now he has the perfect instrument for it.

Let’s get this party started, kids!

That evening we gathered at the best pizza place in town, Moose’s Tooth.

Yup, iPad and beer time.

The food was delicious, the beers were awesome and the company even better. Who says living on the road is lonely? Not us. Even way up here in Alaska.

Ava was in the charge of holding the birthday cake.

But we were all in charge of eating it! We were also joined by Eric and Jeannette for an evening in the parking lot.

It may look like it’s early still with the sun out and kids at the playground but it is waaaay past bedtime. This summer sun that never sets in Alaska is messing with us all. Big time.

The next morning, we said our final good byes to the UpInTheAirstream crew. We’ve spent so much time together since our paths first crossed last fall in Kansas. It was a little hard to say good-bye since none of us know exactly when our paths will cross again as they start their migration to the east coast and we stay west.

Not an hour later, look who pulls up in the empty spot next to us. The Bodeswell crew in their ’71 VW bus. The next day, we all had a choice to make. The Moose Lodge was hosting a carnival in their parking lot, the one we are all camped in. The choice was to move on to next campground or stay for carnival and get blocked in. Kerri, Tim and AdvoDnA chose the take off while we and BodesWell decided to stay.

As soon as we woke up, we noticed we were stuck in our camp spots, surrounded by bounce houses, bbq pits, carnival games and cotton candy.

Sugar for breakfast? Sure, why not!

The best part of this carnival is that everything was free. Everything! Cotton candy, sno-cones, games, food, drinks, everything!

Worked off that sugar, kids!

The lodge even had a pile of hay filled with hundreds of dollars of coins.

The kids were let loose to find as many coins as they could and they all walked away with at least $15. Not only is this place free, it is paying us to be here. Score!

Being stuck here with all this excitement ended up being the perfect day.

Who else has bounced and flipped in front of their (dirty) home?

Did I mention that they also had a free open bar? Yeah, we will spending one more night here. Haha. But after this week, no more drinking!

And when the bar is open, the grown ups sometimes do silly things. Like race each other in the bounce house obstacle course. Stretch stretch stretch!

Go go go!

Mali Mish wins!

In your face, Bodeswell!! (Stop kicking him, Luka!!)

When the crowds got too dense for us, we retreated back to our front porches.

Ummm, why is the bartender delivering us an unsolicited pitcher of IPA to our front door?!?!

Oh, Anchorage Moose Lodge!

And off we go to the Kenai Penninsula next for an entire month!

Thanks for reading,
Marlene