Back from Alaska

As many of you know I spent the past 10 days in Alaska. Many people think that because I am originally from Oregon I should have been to Alaska before. Not true. Do you know how far away Alaska is? It's about 2200 miles from the Northern most point in the state of Washington. That's only 900 miles shorter than the distance that I drove from San Francisco to Boston. What I am saying here is that Alaska is crazy far away! But I think Alaska being that far away from the lower 48 makes it all that much better. There is something magical about this state, it's like no other place in the world. It reminded me a lot of New Zealand, less people, more land, and just a general respect for the beauty of the land. Although, in New Zealand, things are not as grandiose as they are in Alaska. I know Texas has the motto "Everything's bigger in Texas," but Texas has nothing on Alaska. I saw some of the most amazing scenery and have over 400 pictures to prove it. Yes, that's 40 pictures a day...

I can't wait till we can find a way to get back up to Alaska, maybe next time I will try for some world renowned skiing/snow boarding I keep hearing about.

We were in Alaska for Shane's youngest sisters wedding (see wedding spot below). She has lived in Alaska for at least 12 years now and has completely embraced a true Alaskan life style: simple and aggressive. It was so great to finally see this great place and share it with people who absolutely love it there. I was lucky enough to go white water rafting down Six Mile Creek. It's hardly a creek but thanks to an awesome guide (aka: the groom), we made it down safely. It was amazing, scary and exhilarating at the same time. Just awesome!

The day of the wedding Shane's dad treated us to a morning of Sockeye Salmon fishing on the Russian River. We caught 7 fish between 4 fisher-people. And I am proud to say I was caught the first fish. I know Grandpa and Dad will be proud. He fought for a while and as you can see from the picture he managed to get himself quite dirty flopping around on the ground. It was a lot of work pulling that guy in. Lots of reeling and letting him go, and then reeling and slowly walking him to shore so he could be netted by our guide Brian. It was such fun and super tasty. Shane did an excellent job preparing and grilling the salmon for all of us on Thursday night.

We also did some fun hiking, up Virgin Creek Falls, just a 10 minute walk from the house we were in and up Bird Ridge Trail a hike between Anchorage and Girdwood, we came around a slight incline to find this beautiful Bald Eagle on a tree about 100 feet from us- amazing! In case you have missed the sentiment, the trip was amazing. Huge thanks to Shane's parents for their amazing hospitality. They make an amazing house a home even if they are 3300 miles from Maine.