Mountain Shade

Summer is over...Fall is over...WINTER is here!

2008-10-27T06:13:00.010-08:00

Well, we had a great summer here in Alaska. Although it was short, cold and wet, it was still 'Summer in Alaska' and with that we had great fishing and friends and food! The last time I posted it was KING SALMON season here in Alaska. That was in June. Now it is October 27th, my daughter's 20th birthday and it is 7 degrees this morning. The leaves are all gone and a few inches of snow covers the ground. Last night there were NO clouds and the stars were so bright it was incredible to view.

This year I am trying to embrace the change of seasons here in Alaska. In doing so, I hope to be able to accept the bitter winter air and enjoy each step of the process. We are about 3 weeks away from the 'darkness' (our word for the time of year when the sun stops hitting our house) and 13 weeks away from the 'light' when once again the sun shines on our home! Once that day hits...fishing season is just around the corner! LOL That is the way I am going to look at it this year.

We did buy a 'SAD' light to see if that might help our energy levels this winter. We haven't started using it (feel like it might be giving in once we do) so it is sitting near our kitchen table waiting for one of us to open the box and set it up! There is quite a sigma with that light. Once we start using it we have given in to winter and we are admitting we need its assistance! So, today I am hoping to embrace the cold, dark morning...pull out the SAD light and begin the winter process here.

During the summer my business blossomed even though the real estate market is slowing here in Alaska. I am so grateful to the Lord and to amazing customers and clients. It has been a tremendous 1st year as a Realtor and I look forward to growing my business and client relationships this next year. Part of that growing process was receiving two awards last week. The first award was a Top Producer award. I was one of the top ten producers in our Wasilla Prudential Office. I was thrilled and surprised with the award. But, a few days later I received a much more important award. That award was directly given to me by my clients. I received the Prudential Wasilla Customer Service award. This award comes from comment sheets filled out by my satisfied clients. It is the most important award I feel I could receive and I am humbled and so thankful for wonderful clients who were so gracious to me with their comments!

October has been a great month for my business! I look forward to a wonderful winter in the real estate business.

Ralph took an adventure trip of a lifetime! He and his cousin headed to Afognak Island (which is attached to Kodiak Island) in search of some elk and deer. They took the boat from Homer, across the BIG WATER of the Cook Inlet and hunted and fished for a week. The returned home with no game, but plenty of ocean King Salmon and Halibut! He had an incredible time and I was really glad when he drove up the driveway! It was just a little too adventurous for me being out there with the Kodiak Brown Bears. They did not see bear but did see bear tracks. That would be too much for me! LOL

Beth turns 20 today! How can that be? Seems impossible that 20 years ago Ralph, Curtis and I were in Okinawa awaiting the birth of our daughter! We had a great surprise party for her on Saturday night and presented her with a cello! She has wanted to learn the cello for a long time, but always thought she couldn't find the time to learn. Well, now she owns a beautiful cello and we hope to get some lessons started soon. The sound is so beautiful and we can't wait for her to learn to play. She was so happy and is doing so well here in Alaska.

Kyle is studying hard this year hoping to be able to go ahead to Mat-Su College for his senior year of high school. He is learning the piano and doing amazingly well. He is still working on Tang Soo Do, but has slowed down his reach for Black Belt. If all goes well he may test in April for his Black Belt.

Curtis and Elizabeth are extremely busy in MN. Liz is working on her CPA at St. Thomas College and Curtis is teach again at Crown College along with leading the music at a church in Eden Prairie. Ralph and I travel to MN for Christmas at Crown College and then Curtis and Liz will be traveling here for Christmas! I can't wait to have my family all together again! I am already counting down the days!

So, that is an update on our lives since King Salmon seasons. Here are some pictures of our summer! Enjoy!

Kyle's mother manage to hook him in the face while they were silver salmon fishing! I know...I don't want to hear it!

Some fishing at Jim Creek! Silver Season was short this year, but we managed to fish on the 'good days' and had plenty of silver for the freezer!

I did plenty of fish grilling this summer. Take a look at this grill...three different kinds of salmon: King, Silver and Red. We had quite a feast this night!

Silver success! This is Ralph's brother and his friend Bill. They, along with Ralph's nephew came up for silver season. We had a great time and caught many fish!

The annual 'gathering of the wood' for our heat!

Our annual trip to the Kenai River to dip net! It is so much work, but more fun than you can imagine! Ralph and I went this year and came home with 26 fish. 1 King, 1 Pink and 24 Red salmon.

Ralph and I took a halibut charter out of Whittier, Alaska this summer. We were supposed to catch halibut! Although there were no halibut to be found, we did limit the boat out on ling cod. Here is one of the huge fish we caught. My goodness they are delicious. I had no idea. And they are so ugly you would think they would be horrible. It is quite a treat up here to have a freezer full of ling cod.

There are more pictures I would like to add, but I must head to work at this point! Hopefully I will get another quiet morning soon and be able to add a bit more. For now, have a wonderful October and stay warm!

The Kings keep coming!

2008-07-11T06:50:00.003-08:00

Well Ralph and I decided to try a couple of new fishing holes last weekend. We arrived at Montana Creek thinking we might be able to catch a fish. The creek was so packed with people trying to fish a very small area that we ended up leaving not even putting our lines in the water. We decided this year's trip to the north fishing creeks would just be our experiment and we would at least see how they fished and where. But, after leaving Montana Creek we decided to stop a Sheep Creek and I am so glad we did. It was a short hike down to the river and there weren't many people fishing. That is what we like to see. After being there a short time we saw two kings caught so we decided to jump in the line and see what would happen. In about an hour Ralph hooked into this 29 pound King Salmon! 20 minutes later I caught this 21 pound King. The people were great, the crowd was few, the Kings were plentiful and it was hard for us to leave. You see here in Alaska you get one of these fish a day, 5 total for the season, so once we caught our fish we couldn't fish anymore. But we did just hang out with the folks there and watched numerous other fish caught. It was a wonderful end to a beautiful day. Neither Ralph nor I expected to catch Kings and we just kept smiling and reliving the day together on the way home. I asked Ralph one simple question...'Will we ever leave Alaska?' His answer...a big smile!

Tuesday of next week we are going with a friend of ours on a fishing charter boat out of Whittier, AK for a halibut excursion! I hope to catch halibut, rock fish, ling cod and anything else that I can! We are of course praying for light seas and good weather and plentiful fish. I will update when we get home.

WE ARE HERE and WE ARE FISHING!!!

2008-06-24T06:15:00.003-08:00

Wow! What a different life I live now. I have been so busy starting my business that just having anytime at all to post to this blog has been impossible. Between having lots of clients (which I wasn't expecting so soon but am so grateful for) and the learning curve of being a new Realtor, I have been just keeping my head above water. I am so sorry about not blogging here. It certainly isn't for lack of things to blog about in this amazing state!

So, today I am attempting to resurrect this blog about Alaska. I hope to have time to post something here at least once a week, or when there is something wonderful to blog about.

For now...it is KING SALMON season in Alaska. The run has been very small this year. The Deshka River has been closed to all salmon fishing and the weir counts have been very small even as of today. The Kenai River is similar to last year and the Russian River is already full of salmon AND BEARS! I won't be fishing there this year. For Ralph and I, the proximaty of the Eklutna Tailrace is hard to beat. We can be there in about 10 minutes, it is just off the main road with parking and a port-a-potty! So, Ralph took last week off from work because traditionally the Kings are in the tailrace around the 15th of June. Well, because the run is late and little, it hasn't been as productive as we all thought it would be BUT...on June 19th (if you go back and read my blog from the last two June 19ths you will see this is a GOOD day for Salmon for me! LOL) Ralph caught his first King Salmon! It was a good day at the tailrace with about 30 fish being caught. I was so busy working I was unable to fish that day (can you believe it???) but Ralph kept the family tradition alive by catching a King on that day. The following day I was able to get out there (after lying in bed most of the night just waiting to head out there) and was fishing by 4:30am and caught my King at 5:30am! It was pretty funny. Had my fish, was back at home, cleaned the fish, vacuum sealed it and showered and was on my way to work by 7:30! LOL It was a great day! I rode on the adrenaline all day, even through an 8 hour class I had to attend! LOL

So, here are some photos of our King Salmon so far this year. The nets for the commercial fishermen in the inlet were lifted last night so there is still hope that in the next few days another great run of Kings will come through the tailrace! If so, we may end up with another few Kings in our freezer. Let me tell you...the taste of these fish are incredible. Ralph grilled some of his King last Friday night! Melt in your mouth freshness! Come on up and visit, and enjoy some of what we get to LIVE among! What an incredible place to 'grow up'! LOL

We have a WINNER!!!

2007-12-27T20:41:00.000-09:00

Well, after much debate (with my husband) and prayer, Ralph and I have chosen a slogan that we think fits ME as a Realtor. As most of you know, I am a pretty down to earth person who likes to tell it like it is. So, my slogan couldn't be something that is just all positive and cute! Just doesn't fit me! LOL We chose the following slogan:

'Knows the realities...Finds the dreams' sent in by Becca in Co!

We chose this for numerous reasons. Life is hard. I know it and so will my clients. Life is especially hard here in Alaska with lots of extra challenges, even the challenges of finding a home that fits your needs and your dreams. So, I wanted to be honest, but let others know that there are dreams available here in the amazing state of Alaska. This slogan just seemed to FIT ME! I don't know if it will be successful or not. Only a trial run and time will tell, but I hope it will be.

I have my first listing already and I am just loving this job! I have so much peace about what the Lord is doing in my life right now. I have no anxiety about getting the next listing because I know the Lord will provide the right person at the right time. I am just working hard to do my job to the best of my ability and trusting Him to provide the rest.

So, thank you friends and family for the ideas to help make my business a success. I want to give a few honorable or 'dishonorable' mentions to some other favorites! There are a few of them I will be using on some pages of my website, including the Military link I am working on.

Here are the slogans or thoughts I will be using, followed by the slogan ideas that were just too funny to NOT let you all in on:

First honorable mention goes to Corrine in TX. She wrote that she would have something like this on her military page if she were in my shoes. I completely agree!

'A military family always has longings to plant roots in their dream home and community one day...let me help you realize that dream in one of the most caring and intimate communities I have found in my 20 years of travel as a military spouse: beautiful Palmer and Wasilla, nestled amongst majestic mountain peaks, rushing salmon-filled streams and a warm, small-town feel where everyone 'belongs.'

Second honorable mention goes to Vonnie in MN. She sent this wonderful little tidbit that I will also be using on my Military page:

'Whatever your mission, there's always good fishin'~ Alaska

Third honorable mention was from Karen in Alaska. I almost used this one Karen, but decided to go a different direction. If my first choice doesn't work, I may come back to this one! LOL

'No slogans, just results!'

Now for the rejects...ummm...I mean those that didn't win but just had to be shared! LOL

Dody can carry your loady
Don't get treated like dooty get Dody
Dial Dody for Deals!
Your Dream home is Dody's Duty
Dody...it's not just a job, it's and adventure!

And my favorite 'reject' of all: Give me your money and I will sell your house

So Becca sweetie! You are the winner of a $50 gas card. Please email me privately at rfkettler@gmail.com so Ralph and I can get that to you asap!

Blessings my friends!
Dody
"Knows the realities...Finds the dreams"

Many more slogan possibilities...

2007-12-25T09:00:00.000-09:00

Well, I have received some pretty good slogan possibilities. Ralph and I are working this week to get my real estate blog and website set up and will make a final decision on the slogan contest. If you have been holding out on sending in your idea, this would be a great time to do so. We have typed them all up and are going to make a final decision by Jan 2nd! We will then announce the winner of the gas card.

Thanks to all of you who have sent in ideas, thoughts, compliments and encouragement. Many went to the blog comment section and I have received so many private emails of encouragement. Thanks for your prayers as Ralph and I develop this business. It is going to take lots of prayer and work to make a go of this, but I believe the Lord continues to open the doors for this so I will proceed, walking in faith!

May this Christmas day be a taste of what the Lord has to offer you in your lives. May you feel His presence today and each day of this new year!

Blessings~~
Dody and Ralph, Beth, Kyle, Jonas and the NEW puppy, Hatcher!

Slogans???

2007-12-03T05:17:00.000-09:00

Well I received lots of emails and comments as to the perfect slogan! Some were down right hilarious! One that sticks out (thanks Dan and Barb) is 'Let Dody carry the Loady' LOL

I thought about all the entries, but nothing just stuck out as the perfect slogan for me. There are a few insights and thoughts that may lead me to my slogan and of course those are all still in the running. I am going to keep the contest open for a week or so and see if I can get a few more ideas or actual 3-5 word slogans. At that point I will really work to make something from the ideas and thoughts that came in during all of this.

So, no winner of the gas card YET, but I am still hopeful and will send it out as soon as the perfect slogan hits! Come on everyone, I just know someone out there has the PERFECT slogan for me!

Thank you all for your time and care. It is so appreciated and your kind words were very humbling to this stay-at-home-mom moving into the career world!

Blessings~~
Dody

I NEED YOUR HELP!

2007-12-01T06:16:00.000-09:00

As of yesterday, I began a new career in real estate, working for Prudential Jack White/Vista here in Wasilla, Alaska. There is much involved in starting a new career in real estate and I am a bit curious as to how it will all come about, but so very excited to experience it as it unfolds.

Here is where I need your help. My family and my friends are the people who know me the best. You know my personality, good and bad, and you know my likes and dislikes, etc. Because of this I am coming to each of you to ask you to help me come up with a SLOGAN for my business!

What I would LOVE for each of you to do is to either add a comment on the bottom of this post or email me privately with either a slogan idea or something you think may help me figure out a slogan, something about me, my life here in Alaska, etc that might spur me on to think of that perfect slogan. IF I CHOOSE your idea or slogan, you will received a $50 gas card!! I need to move pretty quickly on this, so you only have a few days to get your ideas or slogans to me. I have to have an idea before Monday morning training. You have until 9pm EST on Sunday, December 2nd to submit your ideas either in the comment box here or to my private email at rfkettler@gmail.com

Remember, I live in Alaska, I have been 'military' for 20 years as of yesterday so I do feel I can concentrate on helping military relocate here in Alaska, I love to fish and fishing is HUGE in Alaska, I am a Christian and I love music and organizing THINGS!

SO, if you have a little time to help me in this matter I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks and may the best slogan win!
Blessings~~
Dody

Okay, ready for the bears!!!

2007-11-02T13:47:00.001-08:00

After searching for bears in the park, we finally realized that we could locate the grizzly bears by looking at the snow and following the footprints. These prints were a little too close for comfort, but did eventually lead to this bear!
Wowza!
Here he is sitting by a tree!
Here he is scratching his back on a tree! These are REAL photos friends and family! I was amazed!!
So, I decided to be a little artistic. I believe this photo may be included in my Christmas Cards this year! Enjoy!

More animals...

2007-11-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

These are caribou but they were very far away. In fact, these were the only 2 caribou we saw the whole day I believe.
Dan and Sherry attempting to share the binos to watch the dall sheep.
The first bears! Triple cubs and a mom but so very far away that you can barely make them out. Click on the picture and you will be able to find them. Don't worry though! The coming photos of bear in Denali will make you cheer!
A nice, medium-sized bull moose walking pretty near the road. We were pretty excited about this moose and thought it would be the only moose we got to see! We were wrong!

Dall sheep and more dall sheep...

2007-11-02T13:27:00.001-08:00

Isn't this one of the most beautiful things you have ever seen? This is one of the 56 Dall sheep we were able to see inside Denali.
There are some BIG rams. They were pretty far away so the picture isn't great, but you can see the curls in their horns really well if you click on the picture.
More female sheep. These were on the side of a hill just above the road. TONS of cars were pulled off to get pictures of them. We were so close, the rocks that were falling due to them walking about, were hitting the cars that were pulled over (including ours!)

Driving to Denali and just inside the park

2007-11-02T13:20:00.001-08:00

Beth is taking a black and white photography class at the college so she was having a blast taking pictures on this trip. I think she took 3 rolls of film.
My dear brother. Please don't ask what he was doing?
Weren't the colors just amazing?
The first animals to greet us just after entering Denali were three moose, a mom and two babies. This is one of the babies. Notice the hair on it's back is standing up. It was getting pretty nervous with all the car stopping to look at it, so we quickly moved on down the road.
Here are all three of them from our car.

My brother's visit...

2007-11-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

What an amazing summer we had. Our final visitors were my brother Dan and his wife, Sherry. I can't tell you what a great time we had. It was two weeks of wonderful Alaskan fun and fellowship. If you don't know my brother and his wife you wouldn't understand, but they are just so fun and loving and YOUNG for their ages that you can't help but have a great time with them. Our visit started before Ralph returned home. In fact, just after we picked them up from the airport (well, the next morning) we headed straight up to Denali for the driving lottery. I was blessed by a wonderful lady in Anchorage with a driving lottery ticket and was able to share that experience with Dan and Sherry and Beth and Kyle. As you will quickly see, it was an experience of a lifetime! Here is just a sampling of things we were able to see on our trip!

Here they are arriving at the Ted Steven's International Airport in Anchorage!
Our first view of Denali on the drive up to the park.
A beautiful Ptarmigan changing over from summer brown to winter white.

The boys!

2007-11-01T15:52:00.001-08:00

What a difference a year makes. This picture was taken at Kyle's baptism in Sept, 2006. These are his best buddies.
This is one year later. Although they couldn't remember where they were standing for the baptism picture, this is them one year later, still best buds and still working hard to become black belts in Tang Soo Do. I think they have each grown 4 inches this year.

Blog updates?

2007-10-08T09:48:00.000-08:00

Where are they? Well...Did I tell you all that Ralph just got home 2 weeks ago?? LOL

Actually, the computer that is holding all of my pictures for my 365 days and our trip to Denali will not stay connected to the Internet. I have tried to figure out what is wrong, but can't seem to find the exact problem. So, I can post to the blog from this computer, but have no pictures to upload and because I am NOT a writer I would suspect each of you would find it rather boring to read about my trip without pictures. Pray I can figure out what is going on so I can upload absolutely amazing pictures of our last trip to Denali and some beautiful photos of our EXTENDED Fall season here in Alaska, although it is 23 degrees as I type this and the leaves are dropping 2 or 3 at a time as the sun hits them and they thaw from their very hard freeze last night. I suspect the trees will be bare soon. The fire place is roaring and the brisk air is refreshing. Winter is so very near here in Alaska.

Hopefully we will get this blog updated very soon.

COUNTDOWN IS OVER!!!!!! HOME!

2007-09-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

ONE!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-20T18:13:00.001-08:00

TWO!!!!

2007-09-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

THREE and holding...

2007-09-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well, this is our THREE countdown. We should have put up TWO today but Ralph's flight has been delayed a day so we are sitting here on THREE and holding!

FOUR!!

2007-09-16T09:51:00.001-08:00

FIVE!

2007-09-16T09:50:00.001-08:00

Termination Dust in our mountains and SIX!

2007-09-14T17:47:00.001-08:00

This is the first morning for termination dust, also known as snow, in our mountains. Pioneer Peak had some a few days ago, but this is getting pretty close to home now!
And Ralph's favorite snack honors his homecoming!!

My countdown continues...

2007-09-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

By now you have all figured out that this is my version of a countdown! Guess what day it is??? LOL

Fall in Alaska

2007-09-13T06:08:00.001-08:00

This is just under the base of Pioneer Peak. The colors are getting more beautiful each day!
This is the meadow near our house. Sometimes it is brimming with swans and moose and even the occasional bear, but lately it has been quiet except for two swans that should be nearing their migration back south. The colors are so wonderful.
This is another spot in the 'meadow'. I don't think it is actually a meadow, but that is what I call it!

The leaves in our driveway. I keep asking them to slow down so that there are at least a few on the trees when Ralph gets home, but with the wind like it has been I am not sure that will happen.

??

2007-09-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

??

2007-09-11T16:41:00.001-08:00

10 from a friend!

2007-09-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

This was in my inbox this morning, sent to me from a very dear friend who is counting down with me!

??

2007-09-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

??

2007-09-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

??

2007-09-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

??

2007-09-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

Termination Dust and ???

2007-09-06T22:38:00.001-08:00

Okay, this is Pioneer Peak and it is September 6th! In Alaska we call this Termination Dust! Oh my!

River Update and fall colors in our Valley

2007-09-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

So, this is what the river looks like now. It has dropped dramatically in the last few weeks. Oh the changes that are near! In a way it makes me sad, but in another way it makes me appreciate the changes here in Alaska. They are so dramatic and drastic that it almost makes you excited to partake in them. So my dear brother Dan and sister Sherry (who will be here in September), I wonder what adventures are ahead for us during your visit! Click here for pictures of previous 'river update' pictures.
This is what I see each day when I drive over the hill to our house. The fall colors are just beginning to come out. Again, this will change so rapidly in the next few weeks. Don't be surprised if the next update is without leaves and that could be as soon as 2 weeks from now! Glad that wood is chopped and the woodshed is FULL! Have a wonderful fall!

A final sunset for the week...

2007-09-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

Well, words don't seem enough to express the week Marsha and I had, all topped off by this sunset on the way home. This could serve as my 'river update' but because you can't see the river too well, I will post an update with links to the previous river posts.

WOW! I can't believe I live here!

More local highlights...Alyeska Tram, Girdwood

2007-09-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

We jumped on the Alyeska Ski Area Tram. It was a gorgeous day in the Turnagain Arm.
Just at the top of the tram the paragliders leave the land and float over the Turnagain Arm. Only $175 to tandem glide...Curtis?
Here are the ski runs offered here at Alyeska...notice there are 5 double black diamonds...Caleb?
Okay, Marsha and I weren't expecting this sign. We have many avalanches and so you must watch for unexploded artillery. Below is the gun used to shoot down the avalanches. Interesting.

Local highlights...Iditarod Headquarters

2007-09-01T15:22:00.000-08:00

We decided to do a little local sight seeing in the Valley. We went to the Musk Ox Farm but I didn't get any good pictures. Next time. Here are some pictures of the Iditarod dogs and puppies. We did take a ride around with the dogs pulling us in a cart (not quite the same as in the winter!)
Beth and the puppies...always!

Trying to take a picture backwards while we were going around the curves! Beth and Marsha seemed to be enjoying the ride!

A little bit more wildlife from Seward...

2007-09-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Some little sea otters just floating along in the sunlight!
This picture just cracks me up! Doesn't it look like these Stellar Sea Lions are smiling? I just love it.
The King of the Bay!

The most amazing glacier calving EVER!

2007-09-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is the Aialik Glacier out of Seward. It is huge and amazing and wonderful and WOW! Here we are coming up to it. Soon we would be standing in the boat at the foot of the glacier watching the most amazing calving I have ever seen. Even some of the staff on the boat had never seen anything like it. If you look at these pictures closely you should be able to see a large crack that just falls. I have video of this section and I wish so badly I could figure out how to upload the video but because it was done on my camera and have not been able to get it on my blog. I will keep working on that!

Orcas and Belugas!

2007-09-01T15:07:00.001-08:00

A whole pod of Orcas.
Hard to see, but this is a Beluga whale in the Turnagain Arm on our way home from Seward. We saw many of them, but boy are they hard to photograph!

Humpback alert again!

2007-09-01T15:03:00.001-08:00

We saw a total of three humpback whale on our cruise of the bay. It is always a thrill to see whale and my friend Marsha was especially thrilled to see whale on her trip. In fact, she saw these humpback, the orcas and belugas that will be in the next blog post.

Birds of Resurrection Bay

2007-09-01T14:59:00.001-08:00

After our trip to Denali and Fairbanks, we were home just long enough to get a good night's sleep and then headed to Seward and a cruise of Resurrection Bay. Here is a Cormorant with babies on the nest.
This is a new bird for me. This is Red-Faced Cormorant with babies. It was exciting for me to see this bird.

And of course the resident favorite, Tufted Puffin!

The Creamery and Alaska Pipeline

2007-09-01T14:38:00.001-08:00

Here is what is left of the fireweed. Around here we watch the fireweed closely. It blooms from the bottom up and when the blooms are near the top we know summer is just about over. After they bloom, they turn to seed. So, you can see SUMMER IS OVER!!
It was the Sandhill Crane Festival at the Creamery in Fairbanks. There were thousands of cranes in the fields.

This is one of the viewing points of the Alaska Pipeline as it works its way from the top of the state at Prudheo Bay to Valdez.

Riverboat Discovery

2007-09-01T14:28:00.001-08:00

While riding in the tour boat, we got to stop and watch lots of 'Alaskan' happenings. One of these was a float plane taking off and landing beside the riverboat.
Another thing we did was stop and talk with Susan Butcher's husband who raises sled dogs. Susan Butcher was one of Alaska's favorite women, the first to win the Iditarod. She died last year of cancer. It was a treat to get to listen to her husband explain what they do with the dogs and to get some great pictures of him and his dogs. It was interesting how the riverboat tours did this. They pulled up next to these things and had microphones set up so that the guests could speak into the microphone and all the passengers on the riverboat could hear what was being said. Pretty cool.
Here they are getting ready to run the dogs. It is summer so they run them with a 4-wheeler.
After the dogs work, they play! As soon as they unhooked them from the run, the ran into the river.
Another really neat part of the riverboat cruise was the confluence of these two rivers. Taken from the Riverboat Discovery website: Nuchalawoya, an Athabascan Indian term for the "wedding of the rivers." The marriage of the clear waters of the Chena River and the silt laden Tanana River creates this unique demarcation line.

Fairbanks, AK

2007-09-01T13:48:00.001-08:00

We arrived the next morning, after a beautiful drive from Denali to Fairbanks. What a cute city. I was very impressed with Fairbanks (in the summer! LOL)
We had to make a stop at North Pole, AK to see Santa's house. Even did some Christmas shopping!!
The University of Alaska at Fairbanks is blessed with an amazing museum. Although we didn't have time to go through it on this visit, it will be first on my list for the next trip.

While in Fairbanks, we took the Discovery Riverboat for a nice look at the Alaskan culture and life in Fairbanks. Here is a working fish wheel.

The end of our Denali trip...

2007-09-01T13:38:00.001-08:00

We saw this nice rainbow in Denali.
We saw this double rainbow in Fairbanks. We actually saw MANY rainbows on the trip, but I only got good pictures of these two.
On the bus ride back someone else spotted this grizzly eating the soapberries.

This final picture is the moose and bear warning sign at the start of the trail Marsha and I walked just outside the visitor's center in Denali. Needless to say, the 'bear fear' I have was too great and we only walked the little loop!

Highlight of my wildlife viewing!

2007-09-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we are riding a glorified school bus with a full load of senior citizens and all of a sudden I see this grizzly taking a walk up the hillside. Of course I can't contain myself so I (kind of) 'yell' GRIZZLY! LOL There he was. Walking up to the top of a hill and then deciding to take a nap for all of us to watch. It was just incredible.

Make sure you click on this picture and open it up for bigger viewing. It is quite wonderful.

Denali Grande Lodge and wildlife

2007-09-01T13:12:00.001-08:00

Here is the beautiful Grande Denali Lodge. This is where we stayed the first night. After checking in, we caught the bus for an 8 hour tour inside Denali Park.
More views of the beautiful fall colors.
A Pika! I was SO happy to get to see one of these. All of the pictures of the wildlife were taken from inside the bus. So, they aren't the best pictures, but I was pretty pleased with most of them.
These are Willow Ptarmigan. They are just starting to turn white. Their feet have already turned. Later in the winter they will be completely white. Click HERE for a picture of the Willow Ptarmigan in the winter.
Snowshoe Hare. Again, just starting to turn to winter white. There were lots of Snowshoe Hare in the park.

Sights from Denali National Park and Preserve I

2007-09-01T13:04:00.001-08:00

Beautiful caribou feeding on the shrubs. They are in velvet at this time, but rut season has now begun. The ranger we spoke to told us the best time to be in Denali is the beginning of September as the caribou and moose go into rut and begin fighting with each other for mating rights.
Lots of Dall Sheep in Denali.
Even though it was the last week of August, the fall colors so far north were just amazing.
More of the beautiful colors.
And one more.

Majestic Mt. McKinley

2007-09-01T12:54:00.001-08:00

Well, during the month of August in Alaska, one comes to expect rain, rain and more rain. My friend Marsha decided to visit during our 'rainy' season. The next few blog entries will be of our romps through Alaska, to Denali and Fairbanks, to Seward and Girdwood. Take care to look at the skies! Other than late afternoon on the cruise in Seward, and an afternoon shower in Fairbanks, it was SUNNY the whole week. It was amazing. We started our travels heading NORTH into new territory for me. I had never been to Denali National Park or Fairbanks so I was very excited to experience this with Marsha. The first two pictures here are of Mt. McKinley, which is only supposed to be visable 20% of the time, from the south on our drive up the state. These pictures were taken on our drive up. Okay, what an amazing, majestic mountain. As I post more on the blog, enjoy the amazing sights from Denali National Park and Preserve.

This third picture was taken inside Denali looking at Mt. McKinley from the north. You can see the top poking through the clouds.

Spawning Salmon

2007-09-01T12:36:00.001-08:00

There is a small creek in our area where the salmon spawn and are protected from fishing. While my friend Marsha was here, we stopped for a look. This is really interesting. I thought this creek was full of Silver Salmon, but what you are looking at here are Sockeye or Red Salmon. They have already gone into the fully spawning stage with the dark green head and very red body. They will continue to 'spawn until they die', which is a favorite saying up here in Alaska and can be seen on bumper stickers and t-shirts! LOL

These are Chum Salmon. Not too good for eating, but they sure look cool spawning.
Here are some of both kinds.

Last GRAPHIC photo of Moose Kill

2007-08-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

Well, this seemed to be the most difficult part of the process. It took his entire family plus a friend or two to gut this moose. The smell was horrible and it was still steaming, but that is what has to be done if you want fresh meat taken to the butcher and good for your family. I am not sure about this Alaskan lifestyle. I have much to learn. I have much to think about and reverence for our native brothers and sisters who fought this wilderness to survive. I have much to be thankful for, for my life is so simple compared to theirs. I have much to be excited about, for if the Lord asks us to stay here, these are the kinds of things I have to learn to do and experience. I have much to ponder...

More moose kill photos again, WARNING GRAPHIC

2007-08-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

Our pastor's entire family helped with this moose. This is his daughter doing some of the skinning work.
This is his son working on skinning the neck so they could remove the head. The Butcher doesn't want the head! LOL
Here is Pastor removing the head. I won't show you that part. It wasn't pretty.
This is our pastor's wive doing her part. She is a doctor so I guess it doesn't bother her. It would take me a little bit to get used to doing this. The smell was tough for me to handle.
Pastor wanted to make sure I took a picture so Ralph would realize where the moose was shot. So, Ralph, here is a picture from behind with the church in the background.

WARNING: Graphic photos of moose kill

2007-08-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Last night our pastor and his son went moose hunting on the first day of cow tag permit hunting. They looked all over the mountain behind our church. When they finished they arrived at our church and what do you think was standing in the parking lot? A cow moose. So, being this is Alaska, you can shoot a moose just about anywhere. Our pastor's son shot this moose and I happened to be in a store with our pastor's wife when she got the news. I just had to join them to watch the process of getting the moose ready for the butcher shop. Ralph really wanted to see this done and since he is out of country still I thought I better take lots of pictures for him. Since this is an important part of Alaska living, and this will be my pastor's family's meat for the winter, I felt it appropriate to blog. If you are queezy about these kinds of things, please don't look at the next 11 pictures! LOL
The first step looked to be taking the legs off and then skinning the moose all except its head.
Two of the leg quarters, skinned and ready for the butcher.

Even the little ones joined in on the skinning process.

The final pictures of the cruise and this blog update

2007-08-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

If you made it through all of my August blog updates then good for you! Way to hang in there with me. Here are the last few pictures of the cruise. I rest a week now and then my friend arrives next Tuesday. We are going NORTH in Alaska so I should have pictures of new and exciting Alaskan adventures!!
So, our boat captain was a little bit adventurous. He actually drove our boat up onto a large iceberg and caused the iceberg to release from the bottom and it started to roll. I have no idea if this is something he does regularly or something he shouldn't do (LOL) but he did it and then backed the boat up really quickly and let the iceberg roll. I was freaking out because I thought it was way bigger than it was and it was going to just keep rolling and roll our boat right over! It was exciting though. The second picture here is a video of the iceberg as it was rolling. I am not sure if you will be able to view the video or not, but click on the picture and find out.

The melt-off of the huge glaciers cause huge waterfalls.
These kayakers seem to be enjoying the falls.
One last picture of a serene waterfall with lots of kittiwakes flying overhead. We were hoping they wouldn't deposit a surprise on our heads.

The Whittier Cruise

2007-08-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

Harbor Seals on an iceberg. They are so sweet looking.

The BIG glaciers of the Prince William Sound!

More adventures...

2007-08-14T21:27:00.001-08:00

Okay, after Kinzie caught fish and Brian didn't, he wanted this picture just to make sure everyone realized that he caught fish one day and Kinzie didn't. She was a great sport about it! LOL
There are LOTS of salmon carcasses on the beach at the fishing hole. Brian decided he might want to taste one of them. Brian is quite the comedian!
We opted for the cruise of Whittier this time instead of the cruise in Seward. It was an absolutely amazing day with blue skies and warm temperatures, unlike the usual weather in Whittier, Ak.
In order to get to Whittier, you must go through this 2.6 mile long tunnel cut into the mountain during WWII. It is narrow and runs one direction on the hour and another direction on the half hour.
This sign was posted on the Whittier harbor! We thought it was hysterical.

Company galore!

2007-08-14T21:04:00.001-08:00

How wonderful it was to have part of Ralph's family here with me for the last week. It was somewhat difficult for them because of Kelly's death, but the Lord was with us and the beauty of Alaska helped them to relax and heal just a little. Of course the first thing they wanted to do was fish for salmon...so off to the fishing hole we headed. After a little practice casting they were ready to go and jumped right in the combat fishing line like pros.
Kinzie was the first and only person to land a fish the first night fishing. It was a proud moment! Girls rule!
The next day all of us EXCEPT Kinzie caught fish. Of course the guys had to have their pictures taken with ALL the fish, not just the fish THEY caught! LOL

One of the beautiful days the family let me rest and Beth joined them for a hike up the Butte. They had a great time seeing the 360 degree view of the mountains and the glacier.

All good Alaskan visits come to an end.

2007-08-14T20:58:00.001-08:00

It was a sad day when Kat had to leave. Here is Beth and Kat and Kat and I at Earthquake Park with the skyline of Anchorage in the background.
We can't wait for Kat to come back to Alaska again. Thank you Kat for being such an amazing friend!

The end of our cruise

2007-08-14T20:46:00.001-08:00

The eagle near the mountain goats.
Here is a better shot of another mountain goat.
Puffins were EVERYWHERE on our cruise! It was so much fun to see them.
Nearing the end of our cruise. Kat and I were trying to take a picture of ourselves when a nice gentleman offered to take our picture. It was so warm and just perfect outside. Notice the BLUE skies...a rare thing for Seward, AK.
As we approached Seward again we were able to get a nice shot of the Alaska Sealife Center

Our cruise

2007-08-14T20:36:00.001-08:00

Kat and I chose to cruise with ReNown cruises. This was our ship. It was a wonderful cruise. Here you will see some of the wildlife we were able to see.
Sea Otters are everywhere in the Seward area. Isn't he cute?
This was the most amazing experience. Dall Porpoises started swimming with our ship. These were right near the bow. I was actually hanging over the bow getting these pictures of them in the water. Amazing!
What does this look like? Kat and I both called it Lion's Rock.
This is a nanny Mountain Goat with a baby. It is hard to see and a little blurry, but hopefully you get the picture. It was WAY up on the mountain. Near it were two eagles. The naturalist on our cruise told us the eagles will actually knock the baby goats off the mountain and have them for dinner. We were so glad this momma goat was doing a good job protecting her baby.

Kat's birthday trip on the train and cruise in Seward

2007-08-14T20:22:00.001-08:00

This was Kat's birthday! I planned our trip to Seward on the train and the cruise ship for this special day. What a day we had. Here is Kat getting all settled in on the train for a wonderful birthday!
Here was her birthday breakfast on the dining care of the train. We had eggs and reindeer sausage! It was great.
The Alaska Train and a beautiful glacier. Lots of fireweed in bloom right now.
As we arrived in Seward I pointed out Mt. Marathon. Each year on July 4th, crazy people come here and race up and down this mountain. The record is 1 hour 42 minutes, with lots of scraps, bruises and some broken bones. You can clearly see the trail they take.
A fishing charter boat had just arrived back from what looked to be a really good salmon day! Those are some big silver salmon.

Our black bear run in and other traveling tales...

2007-08-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Kat and I go to the Wildlife Conservation Center and see all these bears right? Soon after that we left and headed to the Portage Valley. It is a beautiful valley with lots of places to stop and look around. We decided to stop at a salmon viewing area. We were a little too early for the salmon in that area, but we decided to stop and enjoy the view anyway. As we were walking up to the lookout boardwalk I was getting a little nervous about black bear. We were, after all, in BEAR COUNTRY. I wasn't too nervous to go ahead with our walk though. As we were enjoying our view from the salmon viewing area, things started to get interesting. It all happened so quickly we weren't sure what was going on! We heard a large splash in the water to the right of us, we turned and saw something big and black in the water. Kat backed up into me, I grabbed her shoulders and neither one of us could actually form words! Soon the laughter began because we quickly realized that the thing we just KNEW was a black bear, was alas a big, beautiful...black LAB! We laughed and we laughed and we almost wet our pants and we shook a little because we were really scared! Had it been a black bear I am sure we would not have known what to do or how to act. It would not have been pretty! So, Kat and I will forever tell our black bear story for all to enjoy!
After our 'bear' encounter we stopped at another stop. Here is Kat reading the BEAR WARNING sign posted at the stop. Evidently a young black bear had been stealing food from the picnickers and was probably going to have to be shot. WE got back in the car and left! LOL
Another site on the way to Portage Valley was the fishermen lined up on the banks of Bird Creek! You can tell the salmon are in at Bird Creek!
The picture below is the Portage Glacier Cruise boat. It was a little cold, can you tell? The glacier was extremely blue due to all the cloud cover.

Moose and our view from the fishing hole...

2007-08-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a set of moose twins near our house while Ralph's brother was here. Aren't they just so adorable?
While Kat was here we got to enjoy this bull moose just near our mailboxes. He kept getting closer and closer to our car and I had to keep backing up! I got some better pictures of him, but I really loved this one. It was about 11:30 at night so it was starting to get dark!
This is the view we all see from the fishing hole! What a hard life huh? Well, someone has to do it!

More pictures from the conservation center

2007-08-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

In 1964 Alaska was hit by a 9.2 earthquake (the largest in the US) that shook the area for more than 4 minutes. During the earthquake, much of the area near the coast fell anywhere from 6-14 feet. Because of that and the tide and tsunami that came in afterwards, much of the town of Portage was destroyed. The town has since been moved many miles inland, but there are a few cabins that remain to show the devastation. There are also 'pickled trees'. The tree's root systems were inundated with salt water which has preserved them. They will take many, many of years to actually die off. I don't think I have a picture of the trees, but the next time I am along the Turnagain Arm I will get some pictures of them.
Check out these caribou! The picture below are of some of the Elk.

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

2007-08-14T19:22:00.001-08:00

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is a wonderful place to take visitors. They will have an opportunity to see our native animals in their natural settings. Every time I go I am reminded of how much I do NOT want to run into these animals unless they are behind fences! LOL These grizzly bears were having a great time playing together on this beautiful Alaskan summer day.

He played too hard and had to rest.
This black bear was just relaxing in the shade.

Fish, goodbyes and more sight seeing Alaska!

2007-08-14T19:10:00.001-08:00

Okay, I don't want to brag but as Kat and I were cleaning our fish after her first day of fishing I happened to notice the difference in sizes of our two fish! LOL Okay, maybe I do like to brag! LOL
After Kat had been here for a few days we had to say goodbye to my mom who was here with me from June until August 2nd. I don't know what I would have done without her here with me. She is an amazing woman and Kat and I were both so very sad to say goodbye to her. See you in November Mom!!
While Kat was here I got the privilege of singing with my trio from church. We sang for a retreat for all the Interact Missionaries and it was just wonderful to be able to sing with these talented ladies. In case you are wondering what we sang, it was 'We All Bow Down".
So, if we weren't fishing we were sight seeing! Here is Kat looking at the great waterfowl at Potter's Marsh. It is an important marsh for migrating birds. Click on the link for more information.
We continued on to the Portage Valley. More about this in a little while. I will tell you all about our bear story, but I need to show you the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center first.

Kat's Alaskan Vacation!!!

2007-08-14T18:55:00.001-08:00

Well, Kat finally made it up to Alaska. I thought she would never get here! We had a wonderful visit. The next few blog entries will be of her visit and then Ralph's brother's visit which came on the heals of Kat's visit. Enjoy Alaska through mine and Kat's eyes!
This is what fishing was like Kat's first time to the river. She joined right into the combat fishing line just like a professional. WE thought there were lots of fishermen there at that time. As you will see in the next few pictures, we were wrong. The lines continued to grow and grow and even got worse when Ralph's brother was here. BUT...we all caught plenty of salmon! Who says we can't 'Alaskan combat fish' with the best of them!?
Kat's first fish. One medium and one well, little one??
Here she is in the line the next day. See her in her pink jacket (my pink jacket?)
NOW...that is more like it. This was her BIG fish! Nicely done Kathleen!

In memory of Ralph's niece...

2007-08-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

THORPE-ESTRADA, KELLY Age 36 of Highlands Ranch, CO died Aug. 6, 2007. Beloved mother of Marly and Milo. Daughter of Sheila and Pat Thorpe, sister of Tom. Time of service is pending. Please go to www.Newcomer Family.com for more information. Memorials may be made to the Kelly Thorpe- Estrada Memorial Fund in care of Grand Mountain Bank P.O. Box 749 Grand Lake, CO 80447 Attn: Tim Thorpe.

This is the obituary of Ralph's niece. Please pray for Ralph's family as they deal with the tragic death of Kelly. She was murdered by her husband who then killed himself. Join with me in praying for the Lord's comfort for our entire family.

A few more sites from Kyrgyzstan

2007-07-27T16:14:00.001-08:00

Lunch out with the boys.

Catching a monster fish!

2007-07-27T16:11:00.001-08:00

Now how about that? I think after catching this fish, Ralph will be ready to be back in Alaska catching King Salmon! LOL He said he was the only one to catch anything and THIS was it! What a hoot!

From Alaska to Kyrgyzstan

2007-07-27T16:07:00.001-08:00

Ralph was able to take a fishing trip in Kyrgyzstan a couple of days ago. Here are some photos of the area. Isn't the cowboy great? Ralph says the cows and goats roam free around the streets and the houses are just horrible, little shanties. A good reminder to pray for the Kyrgyzstan people.

Sailing on the lake...

2007-07-17T10:05:00.002-08:00

Curtis and Elizabeth in the sailboat. Pretty romantic for the newlyweds!

Sunset on the lake

2007-07-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Just another beautiful shot of the sunset.

More kayaking

2007-07-17T10:04:00.001-08:00

They had a wonderful time and even took the kayaks out to a floating platform for a little 'cool' water swimming!

Sunset and kayaking at the B & B

2007-07-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here is Curtis, Kyle, Jessica and Josh out in the Kayaks at sunset (or near sunset at 10:30p). It was a beautiful place to stay and we are so thankful to Tess and her cousin for arranging and allowing us to stay with them!

Jessica's fish in the net

2007-07-17T10:03:00.001-08:00

Here is the one and only Sockeye for the evening. Kyle and Jessica would work together the next day to pull in a HUGE sockeye and save yet another fishing day. Only two fish caught all weekend, with about 4-5 hours of fishing. Here is Curtis' description of the weekend:
1 river, 5 fishermen, 4 dipnets, 5 hours of fishing...2 FISH! PRICELESS or EXPENSIVE whichever way you want to look at it!LOL

Jessica gets her fish!

2007-07-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

So Jessica saved the day for our group! We call this the $400 fish, since this was the only fish caught that night on the river. It was a medium Sockeye Salmon and we were so proud of Jessica for landing this one!

We need a fire!

2007-07-17T10:02:00.001-08:00

Here is Elizabeth so wonderfully gathering drift wood for a fire. I got a little colder than we were expecting out on the 'river', but Elizabeth and Glenda were the wood gatherers and the younger boys started a great fire with my box of kleenex!

Line of dip netters

2007-07-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here is a small amount of the MANY dip netters along the river. There was every kind of dip net imaginable!

In the WATER!

2007-07-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

So Kyle and I pushed the huge net into the ocean (I mean river) and waited for our fish to swim into our net. Guess what? It never happened! At least not for Kyle and I. The fish just had not arrived in the 'river' yet! Maybe in another week or so they will be there in abundance!

Let the dip netting begin!!!!!

2007-07-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

So this is how the dip netting began...putting this huge net into the 'river' (it was actually the ocean, but they pretend it is the river since the river and ocean meet in this area!)

River Update

2007-07-03T07:18:00.001-08:00

The river continues to rise. Click here for previous photos.

Our friendly neighborhood moose on display!

2007-06-25T20:04:00.001-08:00

Cow in the meadow
Twins on the road near my house

Bull in the meadow. My husband thinks this might be a legal moose by hunting season! Of course at that point he will be nowhere to be found.

Black bear alert!

2007-06-25T19:57:00.001-08:00

While on the train ride home from Seward, Stacey was standing between train cars in the open air and spotted this young black bear cub sitting in the grass just next to the train. These are a little blurry because we tried to blow them up as big as possible and because we were moving down the train tracks while she took the pictures. BUT, they are wonderful none-the-less. Enjoy!

Humpback whale alert!

2007-06-25T19:51:00.001-08:00

A highlight of our cruise! The pictures speak for themselves!

Kenai Fjords National Park cruise

2007-06-25T19:29:00.001-08:00

Have you ever sat at the foot of a glacier and listened to it talk? How about watching it calve? Well we have and I can only tell you it is absolutely breathtaking!

My wonderful mom on the boat at the foot of the glacier.
Icebergs in the water near the glacier.
Sea kayakers. Maybe I will have to try this soon! Marsha or Kat...are you game??? LOL

Can eagles swim? You bet!

2007-06-25T18:46:00.001-08:00

I had a feeling these would not post in the order I wanted them to. While we were on the riverboat we spotted this eagle. It has a large salmon in it's talons and was attempting to fly with it. Because the salmon was too big it was unable to go any distance at all and eventually got pulled almost under the water and started swimming with the fish. It made it to the sand bar and got smart and started tearing off pieces and flying those smaller pieces to the nest. I wish these were in the correct order, but hopefully you will be able to see the progression from the water, then swimming, then to the sand bar and then eating the salmon.

The fire near Talkeetna

2007-06-25T18:41:00.001-08:00

This fire started the night before we went to Talkeetna. It was and I guess is still growing. The smoke covered any view of Mt. McKinley and eventually settled over the city of Talkeetna. We decided we better head home because there were rumors of some highway closings. None happened, but we didn't want to be stuck in the smoke. It actually formed a huge storm cloud over the fire. I wish the picture was better. Looking at it was incredible.

Mahay's Riverboat in Talkeetna, AK

2007-06-25T18:30:00.001-08:00

We drove to Talkeetna to see if by chance Mt. McKinley was showing, but since it wasn't and was completely covered by a fire in the area (pictures will follow) we opted to take the Mahay's Highspeed Riverboat upriver out of Talkeetna. It was fun, but nothing I couldn't live without experiencing. My mom had a blast, even when the riverboat did 360s in the middle of the river. You should have seen her! Here are a few pictures. The first is the damage to the trees done by the huge Alaskan beavers in the area. Some are up to 100 pounds!
This is our guide. Along with the ride, we stopped to look at a replica of a trapper's cabin. In order to keep us safe from the things that are higher on the food chain than we are, she had her shotgun with her. She said she had never had to use it. I was certainly glad she didn't have to use it on our tour.
Furs that had been trapped by local trappers. The Otter pelt was just incredible.
Mom getting ready to ride the boat! Can you believe she will be 80 in November??
Stacey modeling a young black bear fur!!

Trip to Portage Glacier

2007-06-25T18:22:00.001-08:00

This is Portage Glacier, one of the smaller glaciers in the area. The drive there is so wonderful. On our trip we saw the following, along with many other sites:
The World's Largest Dandelions!!
A beautiful waterfall just near the glacier in Portage Lake.
A young Dall Sheep ram and lots of other Dall Sheep.

More sights on the Knik glacier

2007-06-25T16:57:00.001-08:00

These are two shots of the grizzly we saw. Again, VERY far away and the photo is blown up as big as I can get it.

Some of the icebergs that have calved off the glacier.
I will let you all guess what this is!

Knik Glacier airboat tour

2007-06-25T16:45:00.001-08:00

One of the first things I did with my friend Stacey and her husband was to take the Knik Glacier airboat tour up to the glacier. You can see the airboat here in the picture. This glacier is very near our home and we have ridden four wheelers out to it, but never boated up the river. The river is sometimes as shallow as 4 inches so it requires and airboat to go all the way up to the glacier.
Knik Glacier with the ice field.
On the river going up, with the sweet peas in bloom.
While sitting at the camping area at the foot of the glacier, we scanner the hillside for bears. Along with these 3 black bear (a sow and 2 cubs) we saw 2 grizzly bear also. They were too far away to get a picture, as are these bear, but hopefully you can see them just a bit.

The kids going to and coming home from Tanalian Bible Camp at Lake Clark, Alaska

2007-06-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

They were pooped, but really happy and had a great time serving the camp in many different ways.
And a week later here they are returning to Anchorage's Merrill Field.
This the plane they flew in. A 9 seater.
Here they are leaving for camp.

My wonderful fishing mentors

2007-06-25T16:28:00.001-08:00

This is Richard, our friend and the one who taught Ralph and I how to fish for salmon in these Alaskan waters. Richard caught his 5 King Salmon yearly limit in 5 days! Not many fisherman can say that.
This is Jim. He and his wife Mikey, pictured below are good friends of Richard's and have become my friends and fishing buddies. They are wonderful people and so much fun to hang out at the fishing hole with!!
Mikey, who caught a King Salmon last week also.

MY KING SALMON!

2007-06-25T16:06:00.001-08:00

My fishing buddy Richard and I weighing my fish.
Okay! I did it! On June 19, 2007 I caught my second King Salmon! Last year on June 19, 2006 I caught my first. My first fish was 25 inches and 11 pounds. This year's fish was 41 inches and 25.7 pounds!!!! You have no idea what a rush you get catching a fish like this unless you have experienced it. I think it took me about 5 long, arm burning minutes to land this male King Salmon. Tomorrow I go on the hunt for one more before the season dies out and the Silver Salmon season arrives. Yippy for ME!!!!!

More birds from the area

2007-06-25T15:31:00.001-08:00

These pictures are of a Red Necked Grebe family. The dad was giving the kids a ride on his back and the mom was hunting underwater for food. She would come up and feed the kids and dad would just ride them around. They are beautiful birds.
I have wanted to see an American Dipper for YEARS. They are located in many different areas around the US. I finally saw this one at the salmon viewing area near Portage Glacier. I was very excited to be able to get some a nice shot.

Potter's Marsh birds

2007-06-16T22:36:00.001-08:00

These young gulls were just right off the parking lot. I hope they will be okay.

The momma gull came with fish in her tummy and regurgitated them up for the little ones. It was pretty gross, but really cool at the same time.
I think this may be my favorite picture this summer. This is an Arctic Tern. If you don't know much about them it would be worth looking up. They love to hover over the water watching for things to eat in the water. This one hovered for a good minute and allowed me some great photo opts.

What is a Bore? Bears and Berniese

2007-06-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

Not sure you can read this, but if you click on it you might be able to read about a Bore Tide.

Momma and black bear cub twins! This was REALLY far away so you can't really tell what they are, but I promise you they are a black bear family! LOL
This beautiful Berniese named Princess was also enjoying watching the bore tide (or maybe the other dogs there!)

The Bore Tide of Turnagain Arm

2007-06-16T22:27:00.001-08:00

It is a little bit difficult to see, but this is the Bore Tide that comes up the Turnagain Arm. It varies in size from very small, just inches, to about 6 feet. This one was about 1 foot but looked more like a wave because there was no wind to push it up. The inlet was perfectly calm and this bore tide just came straight up the inlet and took over the sandbars. It was pretty cool. Some visitors were a little disappointed in the size, but big or little it was pretty amazing watching it come up the Arm.

Back to the Talkeetna Airport

2007-06-15T17:39:00.001-08:00

Arriving safe and sound on plane number 3. What a day, what a glorious day!

A few more of the flight

2007-06-15T17:35:00.001-08:00

The Susitna Valley where three rivers come together. The beginning of our flight back to the airport.