Alaska Aurora

It all started with a FB message from my friend Amy, in Anchorage asking me if I was out taking photos of the lights? A quick conversation, a few cuss words out of my mouth, and out the door Nikki and I ran. We headed to Skaters Cabin, just a few clicks from the house. Not too much happening over there, and we got kicked out anyways by the local Park Ranger. (Who knew you couldn't be in a National Park, with 30 other people after dark-thirty?) So after a few pointers on where to go, Nik and I headed out to Lena Point. Let me just tell you, unless you have driven out there before and know where you are going, I don't recommend it in the pitch black. So off we went to Douglas and headed to the Sandy Beach side. We FROZE our butts off! It was so windy, I couldn't get a clear picture if it killed me. We quickly dashed out of there and headed to the Douglas Boat Launch. Much better, lots of people and lots of traffic. The lights were ok, but it wasn't till we were getting ready to leave that I spotted a massive flare brewing. I backed into a corner of the parking lot and started snapping away. From where we were parked it looks like I have a fish-eye lens, but nope, its just the shape of the trees. We had to pee so bad that we had to leave. Then Nik was like "Mom, there's no one around...." Duh, we live in Alaska, and yes, pee freezes to the ground! LOL So off we went again this time, home, or so I thought. We were still watching the sky dance when we got to our road home. Some how BADASS decided not to turn and next thing I know we are at the Mendenhall Visitor Center. Walking down to the beach area the sky was ablaze in lights. The reflection on the water captivating and memorizing. You could hear the water flowing from Nugget Falls, and the crisp winter air was indeed cold. We set up facing the lake and watched as the Aurora slower made her way across the glacier. We steadily took photos for almost 2 hours, knowing that these images would make an awesome time lapse, something my good friends Chris and Carl taught me a few years ago how to capture. I hope there will be many more nights of Aurora in Juneau. Until then, enjoy, share and thank you so VERY much for all your wonderful comments.