Since I am going to swamp you with Alaska fun, I decided I would try to keep the writing and commentary as short as possible.
(A picture is worth a thousand words, right??)
Well, to start off, Mike and Matthew arrived two weeks ago ready to explore and take on Alaska when they arrived Sunday night!
Oh, and I have officially grown some-- I will have to give you an even more updated picture in the next post, but in this picture, I look as if I am carrying a basketball!!
Now, its a watermelon :)
This is our planning table, where Matthew is working away at planning the next two weeks!
First on the list: Matanuska Glacier.
So, we packed up and went for it!
First glacier view...
Glacier gift shop....
The glacier hike
Baby and I
Matt and Eli hike to the top!
And after 72 days, I have my man back again!
It was so much fun picking him up from the airport on Tuesday night!
Its been a treat having him back in the house.
He also brought this t-shirt back from Italy for Elyse ;)
....but don't you think it looks so much better on him??
;)
Next on our planning regime: Flattop and Moose's Tooth!
The sign to the trail head:
Our hike was quite a cold and rainy one for the majority of the time...
....but the view was well worth it.
Mike and Matthew went to F St. Station for lunch and got some yummy fish and chips while Andrew and I did military paperwork for the day.
Makes me want to stop by and get some soon. Looks delicious :)
Next on the agenda: Denali National Park!
We had a beautiful drive there....
Stopped to camp overnight at Montana Creek for some fun in our fancy A-liner and fly fishing in the morning.
Our quarters:
...nice and cozy!
...Then it was onwards to Denali!
We took a little hike through the forest on our first day...
But as Matt can point out, it was a trek with a sign well worth noting...
Danger Will Robinson...
On the suspended bridge!
(doesnt this remind you of a senoir picture?)
(And this one too??)
...I love it!
The three of us :)
..and Mike makes 4!!
Our paid photographer was ready at every given opportunity for that million dollar smile ;)
(he also makes a very nice at-home barista as well)
Up for hire at your next event!
Caribou!!!!!
Back at the camp site
..preparing to make one of my favorite treats: S'mores!!!
The next day got really chilly (obviously) so we ditched the hiking idea and went to visit to sled dogs and bookstore instead...
As you can tell, we were all sick of the rain and ready to find some sunshine.
So we left the park to find it.
Here's when we found a great view of Mount McKinley!
On the road...
The following week we took a glacier and wildlife tour!
It was so much fun and we saw a lot while we were there too.
Sea otter!!
Puffins:
Sea Lions:
Humpback whales!!
Old war bunker:
After the cruise, we went to check out Exit glacier (Glacier #2 on their visit here!)
We drove from there to our accommadations in the Cooper Lake area, where we would fly fish from 7:00-4:00pm! It was a beautiful day on the river.
The first catch of the day!
(He had a ton other, but I had to be selective on the ones I posted or you would be looking at pictures of fish for much longer than you probably desire, haha)
From there, we headed back down to Seward for another fishing expedition, except this time it was all about the halibut and salmon-- for keeps and eats!
While they were out, I did some exploring of the town. The nice part of this deal was there was no need to drive. Everything was in walkable distance.
So I went to check out the Alaska Sealife Center.
...and the downtown area!
Here was a seal I saw:
And some sea lions!
Jellyfish!
(saw plenty of these at sea the next day as well)
I was excited to hear the boys got back so early and had such success!
Their halibut:
Mike's winning fish!
Biggest catch of the day :)
And the salmon show
(we didn't show the grouper or rockfish, but they caught plenty of those as well)
This was day 2... which I actually got to come along for since the seas were so calm.
It was SO MUCH FUN!
We had extra company for this trip too: Matt Adam and John came along.
(We missed you sweet Lindsey!!)
Not as pretty as the first day's run...
...and the catches were slower too. BUT we did catch some and it was a lot of fun!
Matt and John's turnout:
All our fish!
The boys learned how to cut them up good in the Fish House:
And after all that fun, we wrap it up and drive home...
It was fun boys!
What a beautiful way to end such a fun visit...
What a beautiful way to end such a fun visit...
And more fun to come as life continues and the baby clock ticks down...
Just two weeks or so left.
Until then.... BLESSINGS! XOXO
(more updates to come. Stay tuned!)