BEARS IN THE WILDERNESS A Wild Alaskan Road Trip

Our trip through the 49th State was a last-minute decision, born of my friend and I wanting to relocate our families out of the South and, on a whim, deciding to see if Alaska was a contender. We packed up supplies for a girls’ road trip, skipped across the country from North Carolina and landed in Anchorage, the gorgeous summer weather a literal breath of fresh air after the humidity on the Atlantic coast. Picking up our little SUV, we drove out of the city towards Palmer, the mountains marching down toward us as we scoured the tree lines for moose. Wildlife spotting wasn’t yet on our radar—we were more concerned by the prospect of hitting an animal—but still, the first sighting of a moose strolling across a country road by the Matanuska River brought us to an awed standstill.

We stopped at a little bar by our