The Hawker Hub: July 2013

Alaska Day #9 - July 28th, 2013

Well, we finally made it home. We went to the airport at 5 a.m. and got on the flight to Seattle. Then we finally got on a flight for Las Vegas at 12:30. The weather was bad in Vegas so we had to fly around for an hour before we could land. But it all worked out fine. Our luggage was there in security waiting for us. Stephanie picked us up and took us to their house and we had a yummy Sunday dinner, and visited with them and showed them our 400 pictures!!! We drove home to St. George and got here at 9 p.m. We are worn out, but we would do it all over again in a minute. It has been 9 glorious days. Alaska is beautiful and we are so grateful we had the opportunity to finally get there. I guess it is time to get back to real life, but I can't wait to see where our next adventure takes us!!! If you want to see all the pictures, click here!

The coolest clock ever:

It shows how many hours of daylight all over the world.

Flying Home!

Juneau in the distance....

Alaska Day #8 - July 27th, 2013

Well today has been an adventure! We checked out of our B&B in Girdwood and drove to Anchorage and turned in rental car. Our flight was overbooked (everyone is trying to go home from Alaska through Seattle this weekend...) so we got bumped off our flight and waited for the next one. When we couldn't get on that one, they put us on one that detoured us. We flew to Cordova, then flew to Yakatat, and then to Juneau. In Juneau they could only get 1 of us on, so we opted to stay overnight in Juneau. We got a hotel near the airport, and are hoping to get on a 6 a.m. flight to Seattle, then Vegas! I am so glad this happened because we flew over the most beautiful scenery on the planet. We flew over hundreds of glaciers for 3 hours. We took lots of pictures from the window seat, but they don't show the true colors. I cannot describe the beauty. More snow, clouds, mountains, and blue water than I even knew existed. We saw more of Alaska in those few hours than we had seen all week.

Glacier!

3 Glaciers!

Clouds!

Icebergs!

Clouds over mtns!

Juneau Airport at 10 p.m.!

Alaska Day #7 - July 26th, 2013

This is the first day that actually had a little rain. There were low clouds over the mountains. We went on a jeep tour to the Crow Creek Gold Mine. Doug tried panning and got a few flakes. We didn't go to the river, just in a barrel in the town. We saw where they have the shaker, and sluice boxes, etc. We went in buildings that were the original ones from the 1800's. We went 6 wheeling in a Pinzgauer, all over the mountain, and saw lots of trails, and waterfalls. We never saw any bears or moose (which have been at our B&B during the day) After the tour we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and saw lots of moose, elk, bears, reindeer (caribou) bison, etc. They are taking care of the injured ones there at the refuge. The sun came out and it was sunny the rest of the day. We drove 10 miles away, and walked to a glacier called Byron Glacier. I think this is probably the highlight of our whole trip. It was so blue and beautiful. Hard to describe. We were the only ones there for awhile. It is massive and so calm. We walked up on it as far as we dared. There is a warning to not go too far, because the ground could cave in under us. I will never forget the beauty of that place. It is forever engraved in my mind! Sadly to say, but we had to come back to our place and pack up. It has been a great vacation. Lots of memories. I took hundreds of pictures and will post them on Flickr soon.

Clouds covering the mountain where we rode the tram!

Our Jeep!

The original safe from the gold mine!

Doug panning for gold!

Elk!

Byron Glacier!

Standing on the edge of glacier!

Look how blue it is!

Alaska Day #6 - July 25th, 2013

Today we checked out of Annie's Inn and got a ride to Avis car rental in Anchorage. When we left Seward, it was covered in a blanket of fog. I guess we timed it perfectly, because we had sunny skies all week. We rode the Seward Bus Line. It was the oldest and run down bus ever. We weren't sure we would make it there. The driver got out a couple times and crawled under the bus to check something... When we got to Anchorage, we rented a Nissan Sentra. We ate lunch in Anchorage and then drove to Girdwood. (about 40 miles) We checked in to The Girdwood Guest house. It is a B&B. We have the whole downstairs with private entrance etc. It even has a laundry room. The owners brought us freshly baked homemade bread. The full kitchen is stalked with everything we need to make a yummy breakfast. We went for a 2 mile walk to check out the area. It is a tiny ski town. We dressed up and then rode the Alyeska Tram to the top of the mountain. Once there, we had reservations at the Seven Glacier's Restaurant. It was very expensive. $120.00 for 2 of us. The view from our table was breathtaking. We are very plain eaters, so we didn't know what to order. Doug actually had Halibut. I had some soup and weird salad with my steak! Then we rode the tram back down. It is a very pretty resort. We were told by the owners of our B&B to watch out for black bears. They have been seen all around town this week. This is a very heavily wooded area.

Our Bed & Breakfast (and rental car)

Spikey plant!

Cynthia with friendly bear!!

Lilly pads!

Alyeska resort!

Doug on tram ride!

Trams!

Alaska Day #5 - July 24th, 2013

What a great morning we had. We went on a 4 hour kayak tour out on Resurrection Bay. We had a small group. 2 guides, a family with 3 young girls, and us. After an introduction for safety, and learning how to put on our gear, away we went. We saw Sea Otters, Eagles, and a Porpoise. The water was like glass. We were dressed too warm. We didn't need any of our rain gear. We paddled to Tonsina Point, and got out for drinks and snacks. Then we hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls ( I guess there must be one in each state....) On the way back they tried to take us up a river to watch the salmon run, but we couldn't get very far because of the tide coming in. But we did see 3 Salmon going down river! Our guides were great fun. They said this is the most beautiful weather they have been in all summer.

Beauty Everywhere!

Cynthia listening to instructions!

(guide Rebecca in back

Us practicing on dry land!

Kayaking in the bay!

Godwin Glacier in the background

Paddling in for snacks and hike!

Bridal Veil Falls!

All of us trying to go up river...

Paddling in to shore. We made it!!!

Alaska - Day #4 - July 23rd, 2013

I got up and went for a 3 mile walk along the ocean. They have a nice trail system that follows the coastline. Then we went on a 7 1/2 hour tour on The Kenai Fjords. The weather was beautiful and sunny. We had a great guide. He said this was the best weather they have had this season. The ocean was like glass. We saw humpback whales, sea lions, seals, porpoises, puffins, eagles, otters. etc. Because of Doug's birthday, we had our own private table with a huge picture window. We went to 2 glaciers, and it was so awesome to hear the sound when the ice was calving. (when big chunks of ice brake off and fall into the ocean.) They turned the motor off and we stayed and just listened to the silence. The scenery was magnificent. They brought Doug his own special cheesecake for his birthday. It is so hard to pick out a few pictures to share. It was such a great way to celebrate his birthday!!!!

Walking Trail in Seward!

Humpback's Tail

Porpoises!

Foggy Coastline!

Aialik Glacier!

Holgate Glacier!
(the floating ice reminds me of the movie "Titanic"

Doug & Cynthia

Alaska Day #3 - July 22nd, 2013

We got up early and took a taxi to the Alaska Railroad. It was almost 4 hours riding through some very pretty country. We saw several glaciers, waterfalls, and beautiful coastlines. The only wildlife we saw was a Bald Eagle. We got to wander all over the train, and we went to the rear car, and stood on the back steps. The only problem is that I took a Bonine for travel sickness, and it knocked me out. I am still in a fog 12 hours later. After the train arrived in Seward, we took a shuttle to our Bed & Breakfast, and then went to lunch. We shared a table with a nice couple from Alabama. After lunch we went to the Sea Life Center. I actually don't remember much about it, because I had to keep finding places to sit and fall asleep in. Then we took the city shuttle and rode to the Safeway store and stalked up on groceries for the next 3 days. Now tonight we are going to cook dinner and just relax in out cute little house that we are staying in.