ALASKA (part II)

8 July - 15 July

Juneau

Devin, Yeti and I got into Juneau (on Monday) a few days before my parents (Wednesday), but the same day as Laura, Adam and Isaac.  (Beth and Matt got there there a week earlier to take care of wedding details.)  Pete wasn't planning on coming but surprised us by showing up with Bubba on Thursday.  Do you care when everyone got into town?  Probably not, but it'll help me organize pictures and details.

The first thing Devin and I wanted to accomplish upon our arrival was to get a good picture of Yeti next to the tiny pair of Xtra Tufs we'd purchased in Anchorage.  Why?  The day we left for Anchorage - back on July 3rd - we'd had our 20 week ultrasound and found out we were going to be having a BOY!  But we hadn't told anyone yet, so we created little cards to give to our family once everyone got to Juneau…

We took Yeti and Letti to Sandy Beach for the photo shoot.

Devin was taking this picture…

…while I took this one.

Yeti photo shoot.  I have about 80 pictures similar to the following:

No.

Not bad, but no.

Nope, not these.

The winner!

And that was the end of that.

The final product!  

We had the cards printed at a great little place in town.

(We told everyone on Wednesday, July 10th)

Adam, Laura, Isaac, Me, Devin
(Yeti and Letti couldn't be bothered with the camera.)

Devin, swinging in Jill's living room.

Tired dogs.

Crabbing.  9 July  

Jill lives with a great guy - Matt.  Matt's dad, John, took a few of us crabbing out on his boat!  It was awesome!!  We caught about 25 Dungeness crabs - roughly $500 market value!       

A HUGE thanks to Matt and his dad for taking us out that day!

Matt, baiting one of the rings with the frozen head of a chum salmon.

We would drop 3 rings, wait, and then go pick up the first one.  We'd pull up a ring, make sure the crabs where male and mature (big enough), throw the keepers in a cooler, toss the females and small guys back, drop the ring, and proceed to the next ring.  Repeat, repeat, repeat…

We also did a little fishing.  Matt's trying to remind me how to cast.

 

I love this picture!

 

We were visited by a few Humpbacks.

Auke Bay Harbor

  

We figured that since we were going to eat these crabs, we'd better be the ones to kill them.  

Messy work, but it made the next evening that much better…

Crab feed.  10 July

Matt and John Kern and lots of crab legs!

No butter needed.

Jill.  Riding in the back of her truck with the dogs.

Fishing.  12 July

The next fantastic outing Jill planned was a day of charter fishing with our immediate family.  We were ALL there!  It's hard to believe!    

Pete takes this business very seriously.  ;)

Nice work, Suz!

Silvers

Me, Pete and a fish eye.

Christmas card? 

Even our little guy is in there, hidden by the 3 jackets I had on!

Wedding.  13 July

(The picture above is courtesy of Beth, taken by her wedding photographer.)

Mother Nature was smiling on Beth and Matt that day - the weather was beautiful!  The ceremony and reception were held at the top of Mt. Roberts, one of the mountains that provides Juneau with it's amazing backdrop.  Guests took a tram up to the Timberline Bar & Grill and the views were spectacular.  

Adam did a wonderful job officiating the ceremony - it was short and very sweet.  Isaac carried the rings and provided comic relief when he sprinted down the aisle.  Matt cleans up wonderfully ;) and Beth… she looked gorgeous!!

The food was great - I especially remember the cake - and the music was fun!  We were a small group, but the energy was high and everyone had an awesome time!   

The Rev and Laura

Isaac and Bubba

Juneau, from the tram after the reception.

Looking across from Juneau to Douglas Island (where Jill lives) and Mt. Jumbo.

The reception on the mountain had to end early due to the tram's run time, so the dance continued at a bar in town.  I think the wedding party took up the majority of the space that night.

Laura and a tired Isaac.  And Adam's picture of the ladies - he centered us nicely, don't you think?  ;)

 

Dancing Dad - he was sore the next day!

Thank you, Beth and Matt!  Well done!

Neature walk.  Jill's backyard is pretty amazing.

The day after the wedding, Pete, Devin and I took a walk to the creek that runs near Jill's house.  We really lucked out on the weather during our time in Juneau - it was another glorious day!

From their back porch.

Pete, looking at nothing.

We had such a great trip!  Alaska continues to amaze me with its incredible landscapes and I've only seen a small section of the state.  Even more wonderful is spending time with family in such a beautiful setting.  

A very special thank you to Jill, who put her life on hold to make everyones trip memorable…  

ALASKA (part I)

3 July - 7 July
Anchorage, Girdwood, Denali

If you'll remember, in my 2012 Christmas post, my cousin Beth and her boyfriend Matt had just gotten engaged.  Because they met in Alaska (a billion years ago) they decided to have their wedding celebration up in the Last Frontier!  Not only did they pick Alaska, but more specifically Juneau, so our RSVP changed from a "YES" to a "DUH."

Devin and I decided to make it a 2 week vacation in order to spend time with family and to see parts of the state we hadn't seen together yet.  We also decided to bring our favorite 4-legged character, as he loves Alaska too.

We flew into Anchorage and spent a day checking out the city and getting Yeti set up with the dog daycare.  That was an ordeal!  Note to self: ALWAYS bring most recent vet records when traveling with a dog.  I forgot them and luckily the daycare overlooked my mistake and boarded Yeti anyway.  I won't get into the specifics of this place other than to say we just kept reminding ourselves that Yeti didn't care if the place smelled like dog pee, and he was properly cared for.  He only had to spend 3 nights without us.  We would have loved to have had him with us, but because we were traveling over the 4th of July I had a difficult time finding lodging, let alone places that allowed dogs.

After saying goodbye to our guy, we drove southeast along the Seward Hwy to Girdwood, where we spent the 4th of July.  We stayed at a great B&B and spent the afternoon walking around town (which didn't take long), checking out the Alyeska Hotel, and then waiting to be seated and eating at a restaurant called the Double Musky Inn (I wouldn't recommend it.)  

Then next day, before leaving Girdwood, we wandered over to the Girdwood Forest Fair.  It's a great event with booths featuring everything from marshmallow shooters made by 5 year olds to beautifully crafted furniture.  We even knew a few people there: Leah and Nick, who ran on the Klondike team last year, had a tent for their organic seed company, Foundroot.  It was great to see them again!

After the fair we turned around and drove back toward Anchorage and then continued north, our final  destination being Healy, just north of the Denali National Park entrance.

At the Denali South View Point...

Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,320' Mount McKinley. Wild animals large and small roam unfenced lands, living as they have for ages. 

Solitude, tranquility and wilderness await.

The only way to really see the park other than hiking/biking is on a bus tour, which we did for my birthday.  It was quite incredible.

Mama grizzly and her 2 cubs…from the safety of the bus.

We were told to consider ourselves lucky that day - only ~30% of visitors see the entire mountain.

20 weeks pregnant...

…on my 33rd birthday.

On our way back to Anchorage we stopped in Talkeetna for some pizza and to have a taste at the Denali Brewing Company.  The pizza was great, the beer was fine.  In Anchorage we collected our little buddy and got ready for our flight the next morning to Juneau…