12/12/09

The sun has temporarily returned to Juneau and with it amazing views! Our daylight hours have decreased to somewhere around 6 hours. Today we took advantage of the weather and headed out the road to see the views. We explored Eagle Beach and watched the sunset. It is amazing the colors that you see. At one point it looked as if the water were bright orange...beautiful!

Our other fun adventure of the day was Breakfast with Santa hosted by the Coast Guard and Military Family association. The kids got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted.

The sun visits Juneau

So after 3 weeks of short days with rain, snow and heavy cloud cover we finally get to see some blue sky. My goal today was to get the family out the road to take some pictures, Juneau is absolutely breathtaking with clear skies. Especially with all the snow capped mountains. Unfortunately mommy is not feeling all that well and totally crashed after Hockey this afternoon. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Well the Christmas decorations are up here at Casa de Versaw. We even have some presents under the tree. I am hoping to wrap and ship all of our outgoing gifts this week. Hope everyone is doing well. The picture of the day is Little A racing Santa at the ice rink, very fun!

The snow has arrived

We woke up this morning to everything dusted with snow! The snow continued for most of the day but we only got about 1 -2 inches of accumulation because it was 34 degrees. The wind was pretty amazing too. There were times that between the snow falling and the wind howling you couldn't see very far. As darkness fell the snow sort of turned to rain, although I think there are still snowflakes falling. The stuff on the ground is definitely starting to melt. We drove downtown this evening which was totally challenging, slippery, wet, and super windy!! Wonder what the rest of the weekend will bring, it is forecasted for a little bit of everything. Gotta love that Juneau fall!

Big A has horse class/camp tomorrow. The local 4-H club is doing a program. She will get to learn how to ride and care for a horse. Of course as are all Juneau functions, it will happen regardless of the weather...here is tomorrow's forecast

.RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN AND

SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. WINDY. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 2 INCHES. HIGHS AROUND 38. SOUTHEAST WIND 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 100 PERCENT

sounds like fun huh! And yes this IS on outdoor function.

7th B-day

Wow! I can hardly believe my Big A is 7! People always tell you that time flies and yet you never believe them but boy are they right. I must say she is entering a very fun stage. My memories of playground songs and games come flooding back daily as she tells me about her day at school. Funny how so many things can change so much and yet some never do. Happy B-day big girl.

pumpkins

G's favorite time of year, not only because he can show off his pumpkin carving skills but because he celebrates his birthday! This year he started the carving with a tribute to mommy's favorite football team! Tonight we had A & A draw faces on their pumpkins for Daddy to carve. Little A's turned out great, unfortunately daddy made some alterations to big A's design which brought tears to her eyes...no worries, we will get another one tomorrow and "fix" it. Just what Daddy wants to do on his birthday...

On to other news, the snow is coming. We watched it come about half way down the surrounding mountains today. Everywhere we went the kids would shriek, "LOOK!!" It really does look almost close enough to reach out and touch. I just looked up the forecast and rain and snow are forecasted for Sat. Imagine, this could be our first ever Halloween in the snow...COOL...I think...

Today's pic is the Packer Pumpkin. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some of the snow on the mountains. Have a good day/night!

Hockey

This evening we were finally able to attend one of Greg's hockey games. They usually are scheduled after 8pm. I must admit I am very proud of him. He played over half the game and did pretty well. Especially considering he hasn't skated much in the past 10 yrs and he has NEVER played hockey before. Unfortunately his team lost 4-1 but it was a lot of fun to watch. Here are a few pics.

Hike with hubby

Happy Columbus Day! A federal holiday but not a state holiday here in Juneau. This allowed G and I to take a hike together. After dropping the kids off we headed over to East Glacier Loop trail with D dog in tow. It was a beautiful but chilly morning, 36 F. Armed with hats and glooves we set out on the trail. It wasn't long before we came upon some bear tracks on an icy bridge. Wondering how far ahead of us he was and not sure what D dog's reaction would be we decided to put her on her leash. Thank goodness we did because around the corner a few minutes as we came to the end of the second bridge, I looked off to my left and there was a big black bear less than 20ft away. We slowly backed up over the bridge. The bear didn't really seem to notice us or care. He eventually glanced our way and SLOWLY meandered his way onto the trail and away from us. It was a very cool experience. I was amazed at the bears disinterest in us. G was super excited as this was his first real encounter with a bear. He had seen one at the glacier this summer from the visitors viewing platform where they are known to hang out and tourist can come and watch them.

We continued on taking the left side of the loop, the "harder" side. We scrambled over some rocks and climb stairs and makeshift rock stairs. On this trail you climb for about 30 min before the trail sort of levels off. THEN you find "THE STAIRS"... Holy cow are these stairs. Somewhere around 200 of them. There are multiple platforms and they continue around a bend. As G so well put it, "just when you think you are done there is another set just waiting for you". Shortly after the stairs is a small trail that takes you to a look out point. This look out point sits above the Nugget Falls and looks out onto the glacier. It was such a fun hike. Even D dog enjoyed it. It took us just over 1.5 hours with a few stops for water and pictures.

Glacier Exploration (Tuesday 8/6 entry)

The sun was out in Juneau today and so were the people! It's amazing how many people emerge from their houses when the sun shines. Everywhere you go people are out walking the dog, the baby, riding bikes, playing on the playgrounds and just plain soaking up that vitamin D. Juneau is one of the only places I have lived where people truly appreciate the outdoors and the sun.

With the sun showing it's colors and the kids making me crazy, off we went to explore the glacier. I have to add that my children did NOT go willingly! They wanted to stay inside and fight. BUT mom was done! So with a few tears we loaded ourselves into the van. As soon as we got there they were super excited. We decided to walk down along the beach and over a few creeks to head to the waterfall. It was beautiful. There were dark rain clouds hanging over the glacier but sunshine and puffy clouds everywhere else. Also at 4pm the sun is pretty low in the sky so it was illuminating the glacier and the falls. VERY PRETTY! We found bear tracks, a big chunk of ice, sticks, rock piles, threw rocks into the lake and waded in with our rain pants/boots on. We even saw a rainbow!! I took way too many pictures but couldn't seem to stop myself. We never quite made it to the falls as we had to get back for dinner. The best part was as we were heading back the same kids who had resisted the trip were saying, "mommy can we come back again tomorrow?". I had told them they would have fun, I love it when I'm right.

Par-TAY

Today we hosted Little A's 5th birthday party at Mt Jumbo gym. A was so excited he could hardly wait, asking all day, "is it time for my party yet?" We had about 13 kids both from his old preschool and new one. They were able to run around and be crazy for 2 hours and painted pumpkins. Little A had a really good time saying as we left, "mommy that was a really fun birthday party".

Trails and local celebraties

I finally was able to make it to the end of a trail! We have started many but never had enough time with kids schedules. Today we headed out early to the Perseverance Trail near Downtown Juneau. This trail is an old mining road that leads through the Silver Bow Basin. The 1st part of the trail is quite a climb with a long cliff on one side. After that it levels out a bit, crosses several streams and has all sorts of debris/remnants from the mining days. There were quite a few hikers, bikers and runners out on it today. It is amazing to me to live in such a beautiful place! I imagine if it weren't for the rain and the lack of roads this would be a very popular place to live, especially with the hiking crowd. There are more than 250 miles of trails in Juneau and less than 200 miles of road.

After our hike I headed to the skating rink for Little A's hockey practice. He really is quite good, at least at the skating part. They do "superman slides" on the ice, chase eachother around, and "choo choo trains" with their hockey sticks. One of these days I will get a video to share.

This afternoon we had the pleasure of meeting Ted Sadler, aka "the mattress man". He is the owner of "The Mattress Ranch" and has the craziest commercials which I have shared with many of you through youtube.

Below are a few pics of the trail and one of Hockey, little A is the one in the back with the red socks.

birthdays and promotions

What a fun filled day. Little A turned 5 and Daddy got his long awaited promotion! Little A went to bed stating his favorite part of the day was the whole day and he didn't have a sad part. He was glowing all day, getting giddy every time we talked about him being 5. It was so fun to be around him today. If only we could harvest that innocent happiness.

Daddy put on another stripe today. Big A and I got to attend. I even got to participate, putting his new shoulder boards on. We have waited so long for this day! Congrats Daddy!

We ended the day with our favorite Juneau family and Mr B. for a family birthday celebration. So fun! Thanks guys!

wrong way

Yesterday my buddy E and I found the East Glacier Loop trail. We climbed steps and rocky switchbacks, saw incredible waterfalls and views. Unfortunetly we were limited on time and couldn't do the whole trail. So we made plans to meet again today. In the meantime I had figured out there was a "hard" way and "easy" way to do the loop, we had embarked on the "hard" or so I thought. Anyway today despite the temps in the 40's and the constant rain we started out to find the "easy" way. We walked and walked and hit several dead ends. After about an hour we came upon houses....not the right direction. Obviously we had missed our intended trail. All was not lost though we found some very interesting sites. One was a bunch of scrap metal and rusted cans. We found a deserted tent and truck cab in a small meadow. And of course the random waterfalls, pools and gigantic boulders. After about 2 hours we finally did find our intended trail however wet, tired and under a time crunch to pick up preschoolers we were unable to climb. I am attaching some pics from the first day where we made it part way around. I am hoping to add an entry later this week with pics from the entire hike, hoping we are able to do it Friday. Although I must admit the "warning confirmed sightings of brown bear with cubs at the top of Glacier Loop Trail" sign has me thinking twice...

Sunshine

Beautiful day yesterday! A little brisk in the morning but the sun was shinning. My friend E and I hiked around the glacier. We actually got right up next to the falls. It was quite impressive. I was surprised at how small the glacier looked from that angle. We then headed over to the ecology trail. As we were crossing the street to check out another trail we spotted mamma bear and her cubs racing across the parking lot! They managed to get themselves onto the protected walkway for tourists. We waiting with a few other locals to see where they would head. Somehow they crawled over the railing and dashed through the woods. We caught a second glimpse of them as they ran under the salmon spawning viewing platform. It was very cool. The babies have gotten so much bigger than earlier in the summer. Today we hope to hit the trail we were headed for before being distracted by the bears.

In the afternoon the kids enjoyed riding their bikes. I am guessing the days they will be able to do this are quite numbered. Little A is getting to be quite brave and good on his.

I will post pics of our walk soon.

snow

Yep you read that title right, I saw snow on Mt McGinnis this morning! And it wasn't even just the tippy top, it came about 1/4 of the way down. I hear there is a wintry mix in the forecast for us next week but haven't checked myself. We thought it was crazy last year when the first snow fall was before Big A's birthday, it will be totally insane if it comes before Little A's!

Speaking of Little A, he started hockey today. So fun! They crawled, rolled, slid and skated around on the ice. Even I wanted to be out there playing. He enjoyed himself and is glad to finally have his own sport and not be on the sideline waiting for his sister. Planning on bringing a video camera next week.

Return to the Rainforest

Well I have truly returned to the rainforest and it is not letting me forget it. I arrived last night to a light drizzle and actually stopped to think about it before walking out of the airport door into the drizzle, something that normally doesn't phase me. As for right now it is coming down in buckets, I could even hear it over the shower! C'est la vie.

It was wonderful to see everyone. I enjoyed being back in Va, the weather was beautiful. However a part of me missed my mountains and the simple life of a small town. Now to unpack...

A visit home

I am enjoying a visit to the east coast thanks to my wonderful husband and Alaska airlines miles! It has been so nice to see and hang out with my friends. Today L took me to Target, oh how I miss Target! I managed to control myself but only because I know I have a trip to Dulles Towne Center and Tyson's Corner on the schedule. Tonight I got to meet 2 beautiful babies born this past spring, it is amazing how time flies. I hear the kiddos are doing well with daddy. He took the swimming and I am told they both swam across the pool! The movie outing didn't go so well though, G tells me Big A didn't make it past the "enjoy your popcorn" part of the previews. I hear they will try again tomorrow.

West Glacier Trail

Today I got to do my first real climbing hike.  My buddy E and I, dressed in our rain gear, dropped the kiddos off at preschool then headed to skaters cabin to the trail West Glacier Trail head.  At the head of the trail we stopped to view a memorial for a teenager that fell and died earlier this summer from the Mt McGinnis trail which is joined to the West Glacier trail.  It was quite sad.  

The beginning of  the trail was wide and relatively flat, a very gradual climb.  We crossed several rushing streams and some bridges.  Then the trail started a more steep climb with lots of rocks.   There was even a rocky part that was so steep and slippery it required handrails.  Although I didn't need them much going up, I was quite thankful for them on the trip down!  E and I walked about 55 min before having to turn around, not sure how long it would take us to get back down with my foot and wanting to make the 11:30 preschool pick up.  We stopped where the trail made a VERY steep climb up a rocky staircase.  It was a very fun hike.  I was ecstatic that my foot could handle it and even surprised myself at the ease of the decent.  I am very much looking forward to doing the whole trail next time and hopefully it won't be raining.  I was pretty wet by the time we reached the car.  Here are a few pictures of the trail and the views.  I tried to get pictures of the steep rocky parts but don't think they came out that well.

My hiking buddy posted some pics on her blog of our hikes here is the link with the pics.

http://greetingsfromthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2009/09/exploring-new-paths.html

Hike x2

I finally got to get on some of the trails today.  One of my buddies and I managed to hit 2 today, unfortunetly I did not bring my camera so don't have pictures of any of the fun stuff we saw.  Our first hike was on the Auke Lake trail which turned out to be much shorter than we had thought.  BUT it was a neat trail.  Up and down small hills, in the woods.  There was a cool fog hanging over the lake when we started that burned off by the time we finished.  Ready for more we headed to the Dredge Lake maze of trails.  And what a maze it was.  We were quite thankful for all the maps posted otherwise I am afraid we would have been quite lost!  My favorite part was a narrow trail that followed the shoreline.  Everything was moss coated, the ground was even squishy in places from the moss.  We also saw quite a few trees that were down from river otter's gnawing on them.  Very cool to see the teeth marks.  We got to test our Keen's several times as we had to cross a stream and ventured down a trail that was flooded.  We ended up have to reroute and turn back.  All in all we hiked for about 1.5 hours.  I am very excited for our next adventure and next time will be certain to bring my camera!

As for the kids, school is going well.  Little A LOVES pre-K.  The poor kids had to get 2 shots today and has been limping around complaining about his leg ever since.  

We are all happy that football season has started.  Even the kids are into it.  Last night we had little A was jumping around celebrating the packers last minute touchdown with mommy!  Both kids are very upset they couldn't stay up to watch the 2nd game tonight. 

I'll get some pictures posted soon, and I know I still have a few days of the AK RV trip to blog. 

Daisy meets Moose

I am taking a break from our RV trip tonight to tell you about Daisy's encounter with a "moose".   Our neighbors recently came home with a 5 lb Boston Terrier puppy who they have decided to name "moose". I must say this name fits him quite well.  He and Daisy have been getting acquainted over the past few weeks.  Tonight Moose joined us and his family for a spaghetti dinner.  The dogs were too funny, itty bitty moose was attacking Daisy Dog!  This little 5lb dog would stand on his hind legs boxing D Dogs face, biting at her lip and ears.  Daisy LOVED it.  She even got down on the floor with Moose and would roll over when it got to be too much.  These 2 were hysterical, Moose jumping in and out of Daisy legs, over her back and Daisy either laying there rolling around or trying to walk with Moose weaving between her legs.  I am sure the picture and the story don't quite do the actual event justice but I just had to share.

Oh and Big A FINALLY lost that tooth that has been hanging on by a thread for weeks.  It literally just fell out of her mouth.  No hint of a root.  Of course it was still a traumatic event! Not quite as many tears as the last 2 but we still had to have a wet paper towel in our mouths for over 2 hours...DRAMA!

RV trip across Alaska part III

Day 5: We awoke early, left our awesome campsite behind and headed up to Anchorage to meet up with the Virginia half of the family.  The kids were super excited to see their cousins!  We arrived at the motorhome rental place to switch out our RV (long story as to why) and were greeted by 3 very excited cousins.  We even got to see uncle C again as he was in Anchorage for a part for his airplane.  After several hours of switching RV's, loading up RV's and grocery shopping we were off.  We headed for Denali National Park taking the Parks Hwy north.  The first hour took us through the Mat-Su Valley, Wasilla, and Houston kind of the "suburbs" of Anchorage.  After that we were pretty much "in the boonies".  I found this drive to be not nearly as pretty or entertaining as the Kenai Peninsula.  The road was flat and straight and there were pine trees on both sides.  We did still find amusement in reading our mile by mile account of the hwy in "the Milepost".  We arrived in Denali around dinner time in the pouring down rain!  After finding our campsite we cooked dinner for the masses.  The kids were exhausted and went to bed early but the adults toughed it out in the rain next to a campfire.  

Day 6: I awoke to the sound of rain pounding the roof and decided to go back to sleep instead of walking up to the visitor center to explore.   The rain continued throughout the morning.  G and I did manage to take a short hike to Riley Creek while everyone was getting ready for the day.  I must say, I was constantly checking my surroundings for BIG BEARS.  We pulled out at 11am and headed for the park road to drive as far as we could.  The park road is only open to the public for about 15 miles.  After that you need to have a special pass or be on a tour bus.  The park road is 90 miles long.  The tour buses make stops along the way and stop for wildlife viewing.  The trips can be as short as 4 hrs or as long as 13.  We decided that the kids might not last or worse yet torture everyone on board so decided to do the short drive in our RV.   We managed to see several moose on our drive unfortunately it was too cloudy to spot Mt. McKinely.  We then headed to the visitor center and caught a bus to a sled dog demonstration.   The kids were able to pet many of the dogs and we got to watch a team in action and learn about their training.  After this the weather started to clear so we headed back out the park road to see if we could get a glimpse of the mountain, no luck but we did find a great picnic spot for dinner.  After dinner we headed north to Fairbanks spotting several moose on the side of the highway.  I enjoyed this part of the drive as there were lots of mountains and valleys with beautiful views.  We arrived in Fairbanks around 9 pm in total daylight.  Uncle D had found us a great campsite on a river with ducks!  The kids enjoyed feeding and chasing the ducks.  After putting the kids to bed we were able to enjoy some adult time.  We tried to hang outside but got too cold and headed inside.  

Day 7: Our first stop in Fairbanks was about 15 miles outside in a town called the North Pole.  We went to Santa's House, a tourist trap, but kinda cute.  The whole town had candy cane street lights.  Santa's "vacation" house, as we called it, was essentially a store.  Santa did make his appearance and delighted the kids with hugs and pictures.  We also were able to see some of his reindeer in the back.  After this we headed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to see the Museum of the North.  A beautiful campus and great views!  We watch a few short movies and explored the exhibits.  We then headed to Pioneer Park where the kids were able to play, ride a train and we experienced  -40 below.  BRRRR.  Big A didn't quite make it all the way into the large freezer they use to give you "the experience".  Little A, G and I however tolerated it for about 5 min.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I would have thought but my hands did start to hurt pretty quickly.  We watched hot water evaporate before hitting the ground and used a banana as a hammer.  Definitely a cool experience.  The Virginia V's decided to head back down towards Anchorage and we wanted to stay one more night in Fairbanks.  So after many tears we parted ways.  G and I decided to check out a brewery just north of town for dinner.  The Sliver Gulch Brewery had both yummy beer and yummy food.

Pictures: 1. Campsite in Fairbanks. 2. Where Mt McKinely should be. 3. Moose in Denali

a few more pics for you.  One is in the Kenai Fjords, the other is the "Dr. Suess" trees which I now want for my christmas tree and the other is the sea otters.  The previous post has a picture of the view from our campsite, the sea lions and the obvious feeding of the horses.  Enjoy.  More to come tomorrow.

RV trip across Alaska part II

Time to continue our story;

Day 3:  We awoke in the morning to quite cold temps in our "house car" as we had forgotten to turn the furnace on.  After figuring that out and discovering our coffee pot was broken we joined Uncle C for a walk down the street to the horses while Aunt C cooked us some breakfast.  The kids and the horses were sooo excited to see each other.  They fed them wild flowers and grass until they couldn't eat any more.  We then headed back to joined Aunt C for a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs, toast, watermelon and bacon!  

Next we headed into the town of Soldotna for some Go-Kart racing.  We were surprised to discover that both kids were big enough to drive the go karts with an adult in the car with them.  Little A and Uncle C beat everyone but I think everyone had a blast.  Uncle C then took us to the Kenai airport where he works.  The kids climb into some airplanes on display then they were allowed to climb into just about every single BIG truck you could imagine one would need to keep an airport running during the Alaska winters.  It quite a fun day.  Mommy and Daddy even got to see a glimpse of Mt. Redoubt peaking through the clouds from the airport runway.  We ended Day 3 by saying goodbye to our dear Aunt and Uncle and heading down to Seward.  

The drive was again another beautiful drive with lots of "dr seuss trees", rivers, and fisherman.  We arrived in Seward in time for dinner in our RV, then explored the camp ground.  The kids found a very large puddle which they proceeded to jump in for 25 min ignoring the big playground right next to it.  Too funny my little Juneau kids.

Day 4:   On this day we ate a quick breakfast and headed into downtown Seward.  Seward reminded me somewhat of Juneau but on a smaller scale. We were very lucky to have amazing weather, like Juneau, Seward is often covered in clouds with rain.   At 11:30 we boarded a boat in the Small Boat Harbor for a marine tour of the Kenai Fjords.  We were headed out through Ressurection Bay through the Kenai Fjords and out into the Gulf of Alaska.  On the way out you could see several glaciers on the mountains.  We found some sea otters who were just hanging out cracking shells on their belly.  They let us watch them for quite some time, just hanging out doing their thing.  Then we came across some Dall Porpoise swimming along the front of the boat.  These porpoise are black and white and can be seen very well when they are just under the water.  All around us puffin were flying and floating.  We passed by Bear Glacier which apparently has created it's own barrier so we were not able to get too close.  It was at this point that we discovered our little girl gets sea sick.  She started crying wanting to go home and after a few minutes and questions I realized it was motion sickness.  She wasn't the only one.  As I took her outside to sit and watch the horizon I discovered on person "feeding the fish" and another alseep on a bench.  She definitely felt better outside and soon fell asleep in my lap.  She had no interest in viewing any of the wildlife after that, poor thing.  We stayed out in the Gulf for a long time looking for whales but never actually came across them.   We were ok with that since we had the opportunity to see them on the ferry ride into Juneau last summer.  We then started our trek back towards Seward.  On the way back we came across a bunch of sea lions sleeping on the cliffs.  Wow those things are huge and how in the heck did they get up on those cliffs?   We continued to see lots more puffins, sea birds, eagles and even some more sea otters.  Big A pretty much slept through all of it.  As we came back into the harbor and were getting off the boat G and I were surprised to hear her say she had a really good time.   Too funny. 

After the marine tour we went for some ice cream at a parlor in town.  MMMM yummy!  Then we decided to drive around and find a spot were we could enjoy the "beach" and the beautiful weather.  We originally had planned to go to the Sea Life Center but having just been to the Long Beach Aquarium and Sea World we decided to take advantage of the sun.  We found a gorgeous campsite right on the water with a fire pit and everything.  The best part, it was only $15/night.  So we parked and settled in for the evening.  The kids had a great time climbing on the rocks, making "cake" and other concoctions.  Big A even made herself a little see- saw with a piece of wood and a pointy rock. Daddy did some "snag" fishing with the kids without any luck but they enjoyed the experience just as much.

 We met a family who have been on the road in their RV since 2007, sold their house and started their travels.  They have a 10 yr old boy who is home schooled and the husband works "from home" for IBM.  Quite an interesting family to talk to and an amazing RV!  

We enjoyed a great dinner of burgers and hot dogs, with yummy smores for dessert.  After putting the kids to bed Daddy and Mommy enjoyed some QT by the fire, watching the tide come in.  Mommy even got a special anniversary present by the campfire! Thanks Daddy you truly are the love of my life. (our anniversary was the next day, Aug 18).  This by far was one of my favorite days of the whole trip!!

RV trip across Alaska

We had very little internet service on this trip so I was unable to access my blog.  I will still share our stories but in small spurts.  The 1st 2 days I had no battery in my camera so no pics to share but don't worry, I have plenty from the rest of the trip.  Hope you enjoy reading about our travels as much as we enjoyed going on them.

Day 1: We flew into Anchorage early in the morning and arrived to a mildly wet day.  We rented a small car and started our exploration.  As we drove through Anchorage I was mesmerized by all the stores!  And stoplights!  We even got stuck in traffic.  With the kids itching to get out of the car and "do" something our first stop was at the immaginarium, a kids science museum.  The kids were in heaven!  Mom and Dad were a little hot given the inside temperature was at least 80 degrees but the exhibits were fun.  We made bubbles around ourselves, flew a glider, learned about aurora borealis and climbed a giant ant hill.  After about 1.5 hours it was mommy and daddy's turn for some fun.  We headed for Glacier Brewhouse for some beer tasting and food.  The food was yummy but I hate to admit I missed my Alaskan Amber.  

We then went in search of Elmendorf Air Force base, our home for the night.  After being told 2x our room was not ready we headed out to visit one of my old college buddies and her family.  So fun to catch up after 8 years!  We ordered very yummy pizza from Moose Tooth and got to see a real live moose on the side of the road while bringing it home.  

Day 2: We picked up our 24' RV!  The kids were totally excited.  They called it our "house car".  We loaded up with groceries and were on our way down Seward Hwy.  Turnagain Arm was very impressive.  It is known for its high tides and large mudflats which apparently have lots of quicksand.  You could see spots that were sinking as the tide rolled out.  About 40 min outside of Anchorage is a wildlife conservatory.  Here we saw moose, elk, reindeer, buffalo, porcupines, bison and bears up close.  The brown bears were the most impressive, with their HUGE heads.  There were 3, 2 of which were wrestling in the water, WOW powerful animals!  I would hate to cross their paths in the woods!  We then continued down Seward Hwy to Sterling Hwy where we turned towards Soldotna.  The drive was beautiful.  We crossed the Russian River, Kenai River and several others.  All with fishermen lined up on the banks.  Thanks to my book, "the Milepost" we were able to read all about each river, town, and many of the businesses we passed making it a very interesting ride.  Our evening ended at Uncle C's house in Soldotna.  Uncle C and Aunt C have a beautiful home all built by Uncle C.  It even has a fire pole which was a huge hit with all "3" of my kids...

Visit to the Wilderness lodge

Last night we joined some old family friends of the V's at a lodge they have rented for 2 weeks out the road.  They  have flown in their family from all over the states to enjoy some time in the wilderness.  Apparently they used to live here back in the 70's when there was only one grocery store downtown and they had a "party line" for phone service! Can you imagine!  I feel quite lucky.  This lodge is at mile 33, almost the end of the road, and sits on the water.  The views are spectacular!  There is a small creek that runs beside the house that was full of salmon, although because of the dry summer it was quite shallow and they weren't able to get very far. This creek is a great place to catch the bears catching their meals.  They have caught tons of salmon and halibut going out sometimes 2x a day to fish.  Apparently lost "the big one" when a gaffe broke while trying to bring him in.  The kids had a great time with all the cousins and fit right in.  One of the families lives right in Burke, Va and is friends with some of the same people we were! Totally a small world!  We had such a wonderful time hearing of their weeks adventures, hearing old stories about Grandpa V and watching the kids run wild.  Such a fun evening, we were sad to leave.

Family and Friends

We woke up this morning to an unexpected sunny Juneau day!  Such a pleasant surprise.  After working my ankle out at physical therapy we headed out "the road" to the Shrine of St. Theresa.  It was so pretty.  You could see the mountains with still a little snow and big puffy clouds drifting over the tops.  The kids loved the chapel which was quite surprising to me.  They both did not want to leave then wanted to go back.  It was a very simple chapel with wooden pews and a plain alter and tabernacle.   Around the outside of the chapel were stone monuments with the stations of the cross.  It was like a treasure hunt for the kids going from station to station.  Mommy got quite a workout on her foot as these stations were up and down some steep hills and over large tree roots.   After going all the way around we found ourselves in front of a prayer labyrinth.  We diligently walked it taking about 10 min to complete the 7 concentric circles in towards the cross.  It was quite fun and would be neat to do some day without 5 kids on your heels.  Once we had taken in the wonderful views we headed even further "out the road" to my favorite beach, Eagle Beach, where we just took in the sun and the views.

For dinner we meet our favorite Juneau family and some of their family from Mass out at Auke Village Recreation area for a picnic.  The rain did come make a brief appearance but no one seemed to mind.  The kids, as always, enjoyed exploring the woods, "road blocking" the stream, and throwing rocks into the bay.  And of course we made jiffy pop popcorn on the campfire and smores, mmmm good.   

It was quite a full day for us and now we are exhausted.  Tomorrow is the last day of P&G's visit.  We hope to hit the gold mine museum and the fish hatchery.  The kids are super excited because tomorrow is the first day the ice rink is open since May!  We will be headed there for the 1st open skate of the season!  I am hoping their skates still fit...

Bear poop

This morning we walked over 3 miles on the Mendenhall River trail.  This trail winds along the Mendenhall River through a forest of Sitka pines, white birch and mountain hemlock.  It was beautiful and green with moss and fungus growing all over the tree trunks.  Although we didn't see any bears we came across quite a few fresh piles of bear poop.  Amazingly Daisy ignored almost every single pile, not even a turn of her head to inspect it until just before our hike ended.  We crossed a very cool bridge that gave us a great view of the spawning salmon in the creek below.  It was a wonderful walk.  I was very happy that my foot held out and was only a little sore when we finished.

In the afternoon we hit the state museum and the Mt. Roberts Tram.  The kids did the 0.5 mile loop trail hike at the top of the tram with P&G.  It was too steep for mommy whose foot was already feeling the strain of a 3+ mile walk and wandering around the museum.  They did great and came running down at me as they finished.  I am told there is a great look out point that I hope to see one of these days.  

This afternoon we drove over to Douglas Island to show P&G (visiting for the week) our old house.  After seeing the "for sale" sign finally up and driving to the top of Blueberry hill we decided to head out to find the END of the road.  I had no idea that North Douglas Hgwy had the amazing views that it does.  It was a cloudy day but still the views were beautiful.  I can't wait to go back on a sunny day.  We found the Outer Loop trail which leads to a beach on the other side of Douglas but did not have time nor cooperating children to hike it.  I am hoping to go back and hike it one of these days.

After dinner we decided to head out to the Glacier to see if the bears were around.  Well we certainly got what we wanted.  There were 2 black bears wandering around in the woods and under the viewing platform.  At first we watched one sleep then found the other fishing.  As he disappeared down stream we noticed the second had also begun to fish.   He caught and dragged a fish onto shore which suprisingly managed to flop itself back into the water and escape the bear who pursued it only for a few feet.  After losing the battle the bear returned to munch on some already dead salmon on the ground.  We watch these 2 bears wandering back and forth under the platform for a good 25 min.  It was very cool.  Eventually the 2 bears discovered each other and began competing for fishing spots.  One bear slowly chased the other.  There was lots of commotion between the onlookers quietly trying to follow and the two bears moving through the woods.  It was very exciting.  However once the ranger said, "make sure you have your children close by".  I decided it was time to go.  No need to put ourselves in the middle of a bear fight!  But WOW what a totally cool experience!  I know P&G enjoyed it.

smoky day

Well they weren't kidding when they said the smoke would be rolling in.  I noticed last night smoke along the bottom of the mountain and got a little worried there was a local forest fire but found out that it is from forest fires in the Yukon and British Columbia.  It is pretty impressive.  We actually can only see shadows of the mountains that are 2-3 miles away.  It is all you can smell.  The smoke actually is bothering my eyes and I took my allergy medicine today to stop the itching.  I am hoping the wind shifts soon and blows this stuff out of here!

I am posting a picture of our shadow moutain that is about 3-4 miles away.  Look very closely and you can see the shadow.  I will look for a picture that has the same view so you can see the contrast but am sure it is on the old PC.  Also posting one of the kids hiking at the top of the Mt Roberts Tram last week.  

Heat Wave

It was 81 degrees in Juneau today!  A great day for a picnic at Eagle Beach, so off we went with the office guys and their families.  The tide was out so the kids and dogs had lots to explore.  Daisy found a half dead fish to play with in one of the tidal pools then found a very dead fish that she proceeded to roll around in until every inch of her body was coated in its potent scent!  mmm yummy(she got to ride home with daddy in his car).  The kids played in the sand and water.  By the time we left they were so filthy there were actually a different color.  I had to scrub them, really scrub them 2x once we got home to get them clean!  We roasted marshmallows and made smores.  Even Big A enjoyed 2, although she much preferred the roasting to the actual eating.  All in all it was a very fun relaxing evening.  We are all hoping this weather holds out just a little bit longer.  The only down side is not having AC and getting the afternoon sun beating down through our large picture windows in the front of the house...guess you can't have it all.

 Well the sun decided to shine in Juneau!!  And boy was it a beautiful day.  The kids and I met our favorite Juneau friends at a the trail head of Brotherhood Bridge.  This is a paved trail that runs along the Mendenhall River.  There is a great view of the Mendenhall Glacier from the trail head and with the fireweed in bloom it was absolutely amazing!  We hiked just over a mile heading off the paved trail onto a "secret" wood planked trail for part of the trip.  We saw mushrooms, squirrels, a Tlingit carving in a tree, all sorts of flowers and even greeted some tourists as they rafted down the river.   The kids had a great time exploring in the woods and thanks to Daisy Dog and our loud voices we didn't have to worry about the bears...

A&A have really taken to bike riding and are planning our first family bike outing.  Mommy just needs to get permission from the physical therapist before embarking on this adventure.  Hopefully we will all be headed to the glacier before summer ends for a biking picnic.

It was 6:30pm and I was cleaning the kitchen thinking I didn't have a post for today, then Little A came bursting in the door saying "mommy mommy, you have to come see, I rode my bike all the way down the street!".  So I grabbed my camera and off I went wiping my hands on my apron as I walked out the door.  Sure enough, with a little help from Dad to get started, he was off and riding.  All the way down to the end of the street!  Then back!  Never once falling!  

As I snapped away I could hear my neighbor cleaning his boat and was vaguely paying attenion to Daisy who was VERY interested in the smell surrounding his boat.  As Little A and family began their 2nd trek back down the street, Mr. Don my neighbor walked up to me with a cleaned Dungeness Crab and said, "Do you want this?"  "OF COURSE!!  THANK YOU!" I replied.   After giving my congrats to Little A and explaining to Daisy that this was indeed NOT her dinner I went inside to cook up that crab.  The meat is cleaned and waiting to be made into a yummy dip/dinner for our next dinner guest...whose coming?  (for whatever reason the pictures posted backwards so you see him ending first...oh well)