Wow, the time finally arrived. Chris and Annie, Wendy and Justin arrived to visit and see AK!
We had such a great time. Here is a little rundown of the events....
First evening we went downtown to check out some hairy men who were in town for the World Beard and Moustache Championships that were being hosted in Anchorage. Guess what
--"The United States is the world's new facial hair super power, having captured twelve world championship titles out of eighteen categories plus overall at the World Beard and Moustache Championships in Anchorage, Alaska on May 23, 2009. Possessing home field advantage, the USA was able to dethrone Germany which had dominated this competition since its inception." The second day we headed south to the town of Homer, Alaska it is one of the most beautiful drives in the nation. Above is a picture of the beach in Homer. I really like this community.
Then the big adventure began, we took a water taxi out to a
yurt and camped Alaska style with no water or electricity for two nights. We washed our dishes in the ocean and stored our food in a bear container. We did not see any bears but some people that were camping just a ways up from us did. We hiked in to see a glacier and took a hand tram across a glacier creek. Unfortunately, it was too muddy to get to that glacier.
The next day we set off in kayaks and explored the coast and paddled over 12 miles. We kayaked into
Halibut Cove for lunch. Lunch was $$ but incredible. We were able to meet the couple that settled the community of artist years ago and had drinks at their home. She is a Nobel Laureate and an internationally known artist. Absolutely amazing! We made it back to camp in rough waters--landing on the beach was so exhilarating and seeing every one pull it off was awesome!
Then it was back to Homer and on the way back we stopped at Portage Lake to see a bit of Portage glacier and lots of Portage Ice!
The time went sooo fast we had a fun night at Ken and Sue's and did get in a game of Settlers of Catan--a new version that Chris and Annie had not even played!
This was a vacation that required sleep afterwards--so much to do and not enough time for all of the fun that we had!
