Eklutna Lake

Last weekend, April, Joey, the dogs, and I took a little trip to Eklutna Lake. I've posted several photos of Eklutna in previous posts. We go to this lake a lot because it's beautiful and it's not that far from our house!

Even though I've been to this lake a lot, we actually walked to our part of the area that I had never seen before. There is a little bridge that goes over a nice babbling brook!

April was truly amazed by this place!

Joey really enjoyed the view of the lake too...from the back of his eyelids!

M.I.A.

Unfortunately, we have super crappy weather this summer. A lot of people tried to tell me that Summer 2008 was so much worse than this summer, but I wasn't so sure. However, I found an article in the Anchorage Daily News that made me feel so much better.

http://www.adn.com/2010/08/12/1407352/yes-says-weather-service-its-been.html#ixzz0wR2PhFZ1

Besides the crappy weather, we haven't been able to do to much hiking or camping because of Michael's super long work hours and having our first baby! With Joey getting older, hopefully, we'll be able to start getting out more. Although, August and September are supposed to be the rainy months here! :/

We only have about a year left up here in Alaska, so we have to take full advantage of our time here!

Thunderbird Falls

Right up the road from our house is a place called, Thunderbird Falls. It's a pretty mellow hike to the falls themselves.

Eagle River Nature Center

The Eagle River Nature Center is not that far from our house and is a great start-off point for some pretty nice hikes/walks. Even though there are many bears in that area, I have felt relatively safe walking alone with the dogs.

Last year when Michael and I visited the nature center, it was just me and Michael in the tree, but this year, it was me and Joey!


Notice the dogs are wearing bear bells, or "dinner bells", to let the bears know we are in the area.

This is Devil's Club, which you want to completely avoid! If the little hairs on this plant come in contact with your skin, you can develop a rash! This plant reminds me of the plant, Queen's Ann Lace back in Ohio.

Here fishy, fishy!

While Michael's parents were here in July, Michael and his Dad were able to take a fishing charter out of Seward. They were able to fish for halibut, lingcod, and rockfish.

Michael caught a pretty big lingcod that tastes oh so good!

Michael was also able to catch his limit of two for halibut. I am pretty sure that we have already devoured this halibut! :)

Michael and his Dad, unfortunately, did not get to spend a tremendous amount of time with each other, but they both were really glad that they got to go on this fishing trip together! Fishing in Alaska (twice) is a great adventure that they both will always remember!

Valdez

Over Memorial Day weekend, my parents, Michael, Joey, and me met some of our Anchorage friends in Valdez. Michael and I had explored Valdez over Labor Day weekend last year, but we were ready to see this place in the spring/summer.

We were getting ready to head into Thompson's Pass in the photo above. It was crazy that it was the end of May and this place was almost completely covered in snow!

Theses are the waterfalls we could see from our campsite. The waterfalls were much more intense in the spring versus the fall. This is due to snow and ice still melting from the mountain tops during the spring.

There's really not much to do in the town of Valdez, itself, but the town does have an amazing backdrop! You can see this view from pretty much anywhere in town!

I had just had Joey and major surgery three weeks earlier than this trip, so we went with a camper versus tent camping. We were able to rent this pop-up from base for a really cheap!

The weather was incredible over Memorial Day! We were so lucky to have made this trip with such incredible weather. Freedom and I decided to make the best of the sun!

Alaska has a lot of little roadhouses. If you ever come to visit, I would highly recommend checking one out! This is the Copper Center Roadhouse. This restaurant serves the BEST cheeseburgers...EVER! I would drive all the way back to this roadhouse (4 hours) just to eat one of those burgers again!

Seward

My parents came to visit back in May and June. This was mainly to see their new grandson, but they did still have some time to do a few things while they were here.

Michael, my dad, and the other AK Marine recruiters went out on a chartered halibut trip. Dad caught the biggest fish on the boat! 125 pounder! Go Dad!

They all caught their limits and had a really good time!

Mom and Dad saw a moose on their way home from Seward!


This is Exit Glacier. You can walk right up to it and touch it!

It was kind of warm in Anchorage, but once we got to Seward, it was pretty chilly. Brrr! But the trip was fantastic!