Valdez and Columbia Glacier

We were able to see sea lions on our way to Columbia Glacier

Valdez is notoriously rainy and cloudy most of the time. A bit of blue sky popped out and we were excited. It's amazing that we now think 60's with partly sunny is "good weather"

You can see Columbia glacier (the striped area in upper right portion of picture) about 11 miles away.  Columbia Glacier is the second largest tidewater glacier in AK, moving more than 80 ft per day. We kayaked through the icebergs calved by the glacier.

They wouldn't allow us to kayak too close to the really large icebergs.
Frequently, the icebergs break or flip.

You can see the different levels the tide has been at. It creates shelves.
The water melts the ice faster than the air.

On our way home, we stayed at a Princess Lodge.
Of course, we could not turn down a good game of shuffle board.

A view of Mt. Drum from our hotel

70 Degrees in Alaska!

Today we went to Girdwood, just south of Anchorage, to take the Tram to the top of the mountain.  There we sat in the beautiful sunshine and watched para gliders take off and fly over the valley.

We also had a good time taking batting practice by hitting rocks into the Turnagain Arm.

Our Fearless Visitors

 

My sister, Shontel, and her husband Joel with their 3 kids made the 6 hour flight to come and visit us

We rented an RV which was the brunt of many of Kurt's jokes. 

The 24 hour daylight and the time change was a unique combination. On more than one occasion, it would be almost bed time and the boys would be wondering when lunch was!!

 Fishing, frisbee, and throwing stones were some of our most frequent activities

Seward

Peter (10mo old) took his first steps and started crawling in Alaska. Kurt and I think we inspired him. If he sticks around us, he will do great things!

 Homer Beach

 Homer

 Exit Glacier, Seward

 Mt. Redoubt

 Clam Gulch Beach

 The boys went out clamming. All they found was lots of mud

 Hiking in Denali, NP

 Sled dogs at the park

 They are part of the 30% club! We were able to see Mt. McKinley. On average, the mountain is only visible 30% of the time

 Vacationing is hard work!

 One out of 3 looking at the camera is pretty good!

Joel and Shontel kayaking in Whittier.

The house is much quieter without 3 little boys... a little sad to be sure. We had a great time. Thanks for coming!

Beautiful Alaskan Weather!

We could not have asked for better weather the last few days.  Last night we went to our favorite spot in Anchorage to watch the planes and the sunset.

The wildflowers are in full bloom!

Today was a day that Alaskans would call "hot."  It was like 65 and sunny, so Trish soaked all of it up.  She started and finished a book today (something that I would know nothing about).

Happy 4th of July!

It doesn't quite feel like the 4th of July without parades, fireworks, and friends (and of course warm weather)

 But, we were able to take off our coats today, so that is a gift in itself!

On our bike home, we saw this rainbow over the Chugach Mountains.
Alaska is beautiful!!