(This post is starting to get way over due and I know I have to do it but it's overwhelming to look at 750 pics, between my camera and the ones my dad took, and decide what to post.)
My family (Dad, Mom, Jonny and Conner) had the opportunity to come visit us the end of July for 10 days... man did we have a good time. My family is so chill and after I realized how chill they were I finally was able to relax (the first few days I was on edge trying to make everything perfect for them and it just caused more stress for me). And lucky for them the weather (which has been miserably depressing and rainy all summer) decided to be so nice and sunny. In fact I think we all walked away after 10 days with sun burns.
The first day we headed to Soldotna to do some fishing. The big surge of fish hit the peninsula about a week before they flew in so it was just perfect timing to go fishing.... until we were actually on the river. Unlike last year with Jeff's family, we had a rough snowy winter and the water level of the rivers was ridiculous. We were fishing in chest deep water at times and it makes me sad looking back that it wasn't as fun as when Jeff's family came. Just goes to show you can't plan the same vacation year after year. But we made some good memories.
Jeff showing my family how it's done in Alaska. Definitely a whole different kind of fishing than what anyone is use to.
Dad was the first one to catch a fish for the trip... sadly it was also his last. Not too long after he caught his fish he was trying to walk upstream, nailed a rock at his shins and took a dive into the water. It was the sadest thing ever cuz he came up for air and then disappeared again. He then told us later, "At first I thought, man this is freezing water. and then when I couldn't get my head above water I thought man I'm going to die." SOOOO sad but glad he is ok and at least caught a fish :)
JOnny thought he could whack the fish on the head to kill it while it was still in the net, don't think he realized that by doing that it threw it up into my dad's face. Pretty hilarious
Dad being a good sport, even if he is soaking wet in 40 degree water.
My mom was next to catch her first fish the next morning and boy was she excited. she sure was a trooper. She soaked up the fishing and it was hard to pull her off the river she loved it so much.
Jonny didn't catch a salmon at this point in the trip, but it sure thought it was fun to show off everyone else's catch and claim them as his :)
That night we grilled up our salmon we had just caught and Enjoyed it with some AMAZING dutch oven potatoes and peach cobbler. sure was nice to have my mom there helping us cook.
This pic catches me off guard every time, it looks like Conner's foot in the bears mouth. But it isnt/
Not a fan of the pic and my chunky mid section... only 15 weeks pregnant here but sure felt thick!!!
We then headed to Seward to spend the night camping and go on a whale cruise. Sadly no killer whales this year but we sure saw our share of humpbacks... 6 to be exact, and 2 with calves. We missed seeing an amazing glacier due to some intense thick fog but knew we would eventually take them to see one up close and personal.
Seriously, Alaska is so beautiful... even if it was a cold windy July day the beauty was amazing. I've lived here 2 years and still get awe struck by it.
We were randomly walking up the shore and my dad said to stop for a pic... I laugh cuz it looks like we actually posed on the rocks this way. Look how photogenic we are :)
My dad was obsessed with taking pics of wildlife... which I guess I was too when we first moved here. I sometimes forget this may be a once in a lifetime trip for some people.
On our way back to Anchorage after camping for 3 days we stopped to hike Exit Glacier. Jeff and I have never done this so it was fun to do something new. although being 15 weeks pregnant and severely out of shape, this hike was pretty strenuous to me. Then I realized I needed to buck up after I passed an 80 or so year old lady doing it with her walker!!!
We wanted to take the dogs on the hike but was told no dogs due to bear activity. They had just seen a black bear not 20 min before we got there. My dad was all about the hike now, his man goal in Alaska was to get "mauled" by a bear he said. Needless to say it didn't happen, guess he will have to make another trip up here.
Funny story, driving home my fam wanted to stop off at Beluga point and get pics. There was this girl there who offered to take a cool silhouette pic and told my family to spell out the word LOVE. Well they did but they didn't realize until later they did it backwards... oh gotta love them.
So I was feeling bad my fam didn't get to see Killer whales on the whale cruise like we did last year. They also didn't get to see any seals or sea lions which are usually in abundance in Seward. Well the Harris's didn't get to see a moose but my fam did... so again you can't plan the same vacation year after year. This guy was behind a fence literally off the side of the road. Sadly both my camera and my dad's had died earlier so we had to settle with our phone cameras with no flash. But this guy was a monster.
We sure gave my family little time to rest. After unloading and doing a bunch of laundry we got a quick nights rest back at our apartment then woke up early to beat the lines getting in to the Thunderbird Airshow here on base. I was so glad they were here the same time my fam was. Jeff and I missed this our first year cuz we moved up in August (they come every 2 years) and we definately will go again. It was sooo much fun and even I was amazed at all the stunts, airplanes, and shows going on.
I loved watching all the aerial shows with the skydivers. the art in the sky was incredible. I know sounds lame but you had to have been there to know what I mean. I was a kid in awe staring with my mouth open the whole time, looking up at the sky.
40 Parajumpers jumped from 2 planes... again another awe moment!!!
The army put on a mock war trial that was interesting to watch how they do invasions and bring in all there equipment. They even shot of artillary rounds and caught the field on fire, putting a half hour hold on the show for the fire department to come.
And here they are... the Thunderbirds. I did shutter burst to try to catch some good photos since we were front row and so close to the action it was hard to catch them on camera flying by.
These 2 planes are passing eachother belly to belly... it amazes me that we didn't witness a crash with how close they would fly past eachother going mock speeds.
OOPS, zoomed intoo far but I still love this pic... it was hard to see the white and blue with the clouds moving in.
The crowd was INSANE. Luckily we got there early and only had to wait at the gate oh maybe 15-20 minutes to get in. On the radio they said the line got so long it took some people 2 hours to get in... now leaving was another story, we hung out for a bit but since we were one of the first there out of hundreds... we were the last to leave. But at least we didn't miss a single moment of the show.
The next day was sunday so we laid low, went to church and then went to visit my Dad's sister, Aunt Pam and here family. We had a nice salmon dinner, visited and played some intense foose-ball (spelling?)
My mom was talking the dogs out early sunday morning for a potty break (in her pj's) and heard our neighbor trying to get here attention. We had lectured our whole family about taking the dogs outside (just while camping) without leashes due to the Eagles. So when my mom heard this man saying something she was looking up in the sky and panicing there was an Eagle around... until the guy then YELLED, "Mam, get your dogs there's a bear!" She looked up and not in our parking lot not 50-75 feet from our apartment was a good sized black bear in the dumpster. She tried to gather the dogs as fast as she could, ran upstairs to wake me up. I ran out and he had crawled out of the dumpster and was literally directly in front our our building (good thing we live on the 3rd floor or I wouldn't have gone outside) by the time I grabbed my camera and had Jeff and my dad come out he was already leaving the parking lot headed to the park next door. My mom's heart was about ready to leap out of her chest. My dad was pretty happy he finally got to see a bear (I kept promising him we would see some) but I didn't realize we would see it while at our apartent. Needless to say I check the dumpster every time I take the dogs out now.
The next day we took off back down to the Kenai Peninsula to hit up some fishing and more camping along the Russian River. and of course to look for bears since this was there prime location this time of year.
On our way down we stopped off at the Conservation Wildlife Center... sadly our beautiful weather disappeared for the day and we got rain but it cleared for the remainder of the trip so the sun hadn't left us completely.
We decided to camp at the Kenai Princess Lodge and boy will we definately be going back. It's a beautiful lodge with cabins and then they have a camp ground. All the campers get to enjoy the same facilities as those staying at the lodge... like Hot tubing :) So after we walked around, set up our campsite and enjoyed the gift shop the boys enjoyed a nice swim. Needless to say they did this everyday after fishing. We sure know how to rough it in Alaska :)
Jeff makes fun of my mom that she has so many Nutcrackers at our house for as Christmas decorations. What he didn't know was that she started giving them to use girls when we were in the Nutcracker ballet every year, so some of her collection is mine to add to my christmas decor someday. We of course we had to have the crazy nutcracker collector get her pic by probably the biggest one I've ever seen. :)
The next morning we hit up the Russian River. It was much better fishing for my family. My dad and I didn't fish this day (he had fallen into the river too many times at this point that he was content with taking pics and scouting for bears) Everyone caught today... even Conner. Jonny may not have caught any salmon himself but he landed 2 beautifull Dolly Vardens that unfortunately we couldn't keep cuz they were too big.(you can only keep them if they are less than 16 inches) Everyone had a blast on the Russian River.
I sure love when my honey catches fish. He sure loves fishing her in Alaska and has quite a knack for it. He was a great teacher to my family and was so patient and helpful when they snagged their line, lost their hook, etc. Sure love him!!!
Conner sure was proud of his fish. He was so cute, he thought he had a snag on the rocks so he went to pull back to un-snag it and he pulled a fish right up onto the shore, no one even had time to grab a net, nor did he have time to say fish on. Sure proud of him.
I love this pic... I caught the fish jumping in the air while Jeff was trying to net it for my mom.
I think it is safe to saw my mom nailed it this day... she was catching a lot of the Red's that had already spawned so we were throwing them back (their meat isn't too good) but she was catching and snagging them left and right. She proved to be a pretty good fisherwoman!!!
And last but not least, our BEAR STORY. Everyone headed down to the river to fish while my dad and I hung back on the bridge to watch. I mostly wanted to take pics and help net fish. My dad on the other hand took off with his camera and headed up river to find a bear. (Again, he was still determined to get mauled by one). Well not 30 min into fishing, I look down stream and not 100 yards away there was a grizzly walking along the banks. I had Jeff call my dad and he was so far upstream but he didn't care, he came booking it down river. We both sat and watched this bear for a good 30 min then he made a mock charge at some people (kind serves them right, they weren't giving up their fishing hole to the poor bear like your suppose to) so they pulled out a flare and scared him away... but he came back 2-3 more times. all he wanted to do was fish, and let me tell ya... we battle all day fishing and reeling them in and all bears do is swipe their paws and they have one. What good fishers they are :)
HELLO people, there is a bear around, don't you think you should give him more space... dumb Alaskans.
If you notice closely, the bear was just eyeing down this lady from the brush. Scary part is, this lady may or may not have known he was there.... only 20-30 feet behind her!!!
Needless to say we had an incredible time with family. I'm sad they had to go and I hate being so far away but it makes me feel good to hear my mom say she misses Alaska and my dad keep asking when he can come back. I hope we were good tour guides and that anyone who reads this will feel welcome to come visit and let us take you around. I sure enjoy living here, despite the rough winters and the distance from family. It's an adventure that I will always remember and be grateful for.
