Alaska trip

Hello blog readers - this is Richard, taking over for a little while. Andrea has blogger's fatigue so I wanted to take on the posting after our amazing trip to Alaska. This state defies description, and I won't try to bore you with stats. Let's just say this it is big, varied, and sort of empty. Our excuse was the awesome wedding of my cousin Maddie and her new hubby Mike Olaire. Congrats to the happy couple! We were treated to so many treats that we would never otherwise have gotten to enjoy.

We flew to Anchorage arriving late but still in broad daylight. Drinks, snack, relaxing, got tired, went to sleep. All in daylight.

The next day we were treated to a beautiful drive south on Cook Inlet to Homer, which took us over the western-most drivable point in the US. (Other cities like Nome have roads, but you need to get there by boat or plane.)  Mountains, clouds, seashore, glaciers - wow.

That night we took a boat cruise across the bay and enjoyed great hospitality from Maddie and Mike's friends, ate yummy food, and ended up enjoying drinks in a big family group at The Salty Dawg (which incidentally was flooded in the Great Alaska Earthquake, a bit of American history I did not know much about.)

The wedding was a huge treat - Alaska style - laid back and a potluck. Beautiful setting that I can scarcely describe but the purple fireweed was magnificent.

We had a great time talking with the alaskans, all of whom had interesting things to share. Mike and Maddie were a very handsome couple and we were thrilled to share their day.

The following day Chuck, Jim, and I went out halibut fishing which was fantastic. Here is the man on the boat filleting the fish - he did roughly 40 without stopping.

The following day we kayaked on the south side of the bay. Unfortunately I don't have any photos easily available - we saw sea stars (can't say starfish any more), bald eagles, sea otters, seals, and had a ball learning about all the wildlife.

The next day (Tuesday) we drove to Seward. This was followed by a day of hiking on Exit Glacier which was an incredible experience - walking on very dynamic (daily changing) piece of flowing ice.

We loved learning about ice.

Finally we got back to Anchorage and enjoyed seeing the Alaska Museum with my parents on Wednesday. Thursday Andrea and I did the coastal trail bike ride around western Anchorage. As usual, it was hit. Also, we saw two big moose bulls but the blog software is on the blink so those photos will have to wait.

Alaska, you rule. We'll be back.