50 states: Window seat > Aisle seat

I'm back in Phoenix and almost caught up on sleep after a whirlwind trip to Alaska and Washington D.C. It was an amazing journey spending time with family, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and seeing things I've only read about in history books.

We arrived in Anchorage early Friday morning totally exhausted after seven hours of air travel. After a few hours of sleep, we headed to Cooper Landing, the site of my future sister-in-law's wedding. We stopped at a scenic lookout.

We ate lunch at a restaurant that was fairly sketch, which can either be exactly what you're looking for or a culinary mistake ... this one was a little of both. A word of advice, don't try the buffalo burger or the blue drink "the bartender made for the first time today."

The next stop was Portage Glacier. It was stunning. And really cold.

After leaving the glacier, we figured it was time to finish traveling to Cooper Landing as we had to be there for the rehearsal dinner. We ended up getting lost and missing the sign for the lodge. It didn't help that our cell phones were telling us three different ways to get there, either. [Come to find out, we weren't the only ones who got lost, which was a bit of a consolation.]

After arriving almost an hour late, I went to our cabin to get ready. As I was unpacking my suitcase, I realized I had left my dresses for the wedding at the hotel in Anchorage, which was two hours away. I hung them up when we got there to ensure they wouldn't get any more wrinkled and forgot to take them out of the closet when we left. A feeling of panic was setting in, and I called my fiance who was down at the main lodge. He called the hotel and after about 20 minutes, they said nobody, including the cleaning people, had turned in two dresses to the lost and found, which was standard policy. They were gone.

Not one to give up, I called back a few minutes later and talked to the lady at the front desk. I asked if there was anything else we could do? I knew I had left the dresses in the closet, so per the hotel's protocol, they should be in the lost and found. She said she would call the morning housekeeping supervisor to see if she could get some answers. She called back and said the dresses had been "located." I was pretty steamed at the thought they may have been taken, but happy they were returning to me. My future sister-in-law arranged for extremely generous and kind friends driving in from Anchorage to pick them up at the hotel and bring them to Cooper Landing on Saturday. How amazing is my future sister-in-law that amid all the stress of her wedding, she still had time to save my day?! Thanks, Anne!

Needless to say, I was ready for a few drinks and fun after the dresses fiasco and getting lost in the car. The Bride Party was just what I needed, where we had delicious Bellini's, great conversation and a "fashion show" contest. Our friend, Kyra, and I were chosen as the models since we are the next to be married. I think we're still in shock at being covered in toilet paper.

The wedding was the next day. We had family pictures and the ceremony.

The rest of our Alaska adventure included kayaking Resurrection Bay in Seward,

a photo shoot at the Seward waterfront,

moose watching in our hotel parking lot,

a hotel parking-lot feast,

and a "65-cent" tour of Anchorage courtesy of my future father-in-law.

The sun finally setting at 12:16 in the a.m. in downtown Anchorage. So rad.