Jack Flaherty 8-18 Media

A little while after we got to Alaska, we were on our way to the apartment. The drive was next to a lake, with a cluster of mountains on the other side — they all still looked like they had milk on top of them.

We came to the small valley town of Girdwood. It wasn’t very exciting. There were a couple of small shops, neighborhoods and schools, and that was mostly it. We came upon our apartment, Grandma and Grandpa went to their own. The apartment was a big building with some balconies. It was also made of logs.

We went inside. There was a big staircase going through all the floors, four in total. It seemed like it wasn’t cleaned in a little while. It had a spider web on one of the steps and a dirty wall.

We came to the hallway on the top floor (YES!), which is where our room should be. There was a hallway with the head of a moose sticking out of the wall. It was plastic, by the way.

We came to the door of our room and entered it. The apartment was not too bad. There was a fire in the living room, and a bathroom and two bedrooms that were just big enough to fit all of us.

We put our stuff where we had to and decompressed from the flight. Score! A balcony with a view of the mountains.

The next morning, we had breakfast and went for a hike — that’s sorta what Alaska is there for. The hike was pretty. Sadly, we saw no wildlife, except for mosquitoes, but that was not interesting. Another flaw is that bear and deer deposits were everywhere on the trail.

The next morning, we had breakfast and went to the car to go to this thing on a boat. We drove and drove until we came to this massive lake. There was no boat anywhere, but we then figured out that it was out on the lake somewhere carrying people. We then sat by the water. I put my hand in it and took it out. My hand felt like I had just stuck it in the freezer for a week.

We then went to the line to get on the boat. The boat came. It was white with two floors. We went to the top floor. It was cold. We sat down on a bench. We then sat there, waiting for the people to board and fuel up the boat. Exactly like the plane. Then a man spoke into a loud microphone. “Gooooooooooooooood morni’n everyone! I’m your captain for this ride. We’re gonna take a look at a glacier and a waterfall. Enjoy!”

We began to move slowly. First, as fast as if we were pulling a refrigerator, then as fast as if we were running, and then as fast as a car. We kept on going through the ice-cold water. We then slowed as we approached a glacier. It was super big. As we approached it, though, the wind picked up. I almost lost my hat.

We had to sit there to take pictures. It was still windy. Finally, we drove away from it. We began moving somewhere I did not know. The captain started talking about the lake being empty. No fish at all! If there were a fish, though, it was probably lost. We then approached a waterfall.

The waterfall was pretty. It was flowing off the cliff of a mountain. We sat there and stared at it, really not too interesting. We then drove away from it and back to the dock. The captain said, “And that is the end of our adventure! I hoped you all enjoyed it!”

We then all exited the boat. That was kinda fun, except for the glacier part. I had to check to make sure my shoelaces were still in their places after that wind.

This is the fourth in an ongoing series of five parts about Jack Flaherty’s Alaskan adventure. Jack lives in Marquette and enjoys relaxing and reading. He wants to be an author, a pilot and an architect. He loves watching planes and flying in them. Jack also enjoys seeing huge buildings, such as skyscrapers and museums. He enjoys eating pizza, cookies, cupcakes and brownies. He also loves video games, board games and card games.