Queen of the Ice!!

I currently live in Alaska, and for those of you who have never been here, Alaska is pretty damn chilly. There are hundreds of glaciers here, and one of them is called the Matanuska Glacier. It is a pleasant 2 hour drive from our house, and for a small fee you can drive almost right up to it, park in the car park, follow the route marked by thoughtfully placed orange cones, and actually walk (scramble/ slip/ slither) right on it!! Of course you have to sign a waiver first stating that if you fall to your death down one of the many cracks and fissures you won't blame anyone but yourself (actually I have no idea what it says, I didn't bother reading it, like almost everyone else who signs it I would imagine) then off you go!
I had been to this glacier a couple of years ago during my first year here and my ill-fated marriage to Eskimo Husband. He is a great one for staying at home and being grumpy and never going out or doing anything (precisely why that particular marriage didn't last) and on occasion I would get brave and insist we went out and did something. Seeing as I had given up everything in the UK to move here and be with him I didn't think this was too unreasonable. So Eskimo Husband and I had driven to the glacier, whereupon finding out it would cost the princely sum of $20 each to experience the glacier close up, Eskimo Husband exploded with anger and grumpiness and would have turned around and driven straight home again (despite the fact that he spent $10 per day on cigarettes and I'm willing to bet that a walk on a glacier is better value and far better for one's health) if I hadn't been fortunate enough to have had enough money of my own to pay for us both. I was elated to be out and about, experiencing something that you can only experience in certain parts of the world, while he sulked and tried to hurry me along.
So this year I went back to the glacier with Perfect Husband, who has lived here for 44 years but never visited it, and our two dogs. Of course they would not be accompanying us onto the actual glacier, despite them both owning lovely warm coats and shoes, but they rather enjoyed the ride and the fact that they got to have a wander around the car park, and when they were given a biscuit each before we left them in the car they practically exploded with joy.
Off we went, stepping carefully on the planks laid down over the grey glacial silt; sticky, muddy residue of all the rocks that the glacier has spent many years pulverizing. Then onto the glacier itself, coldness radiating from it, huge jagged ice peaks in a beautiful blue/white colour, grey and black stripes of crushed stones running through it, small waterfalls, cracks, and terrifying looking holes that went down and down. We scrambled, photographed, picked up stones to take home and explored for over two hours before the cold got the better of us. A certain amount of fear too, as at one point we could hear the gurgle of fast running water and then realized that it was actually right below our feet! Time for a sharp exit, as the saying goes...
Of course Perfect Husband could not resist saying "Two Husbands, One Glacier" in a deep voice like he was doing a movie trailer....but that's why I love him, because he is an idiot (in a good way!!).
So I have added two photos on here of our experience, hope you like them. If you get the chance, get out and do stuff whenever you can, life is short and to be lived fully.