Bonfires and wildlife cruises

After 3 weeks of steady rain (April was 272% above normal) we finally breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the month. We reveled in the spring weather over a campfire at Auke Rec with Mr. X's sister and brother-in-law.

We used the coals from the previous group and Mr. X had the fire roaring immediately. The pup learned to swim...begrudgingly. And I was a spooked by noises in the bushes -- while pack rafting two days earlier, we had seen our first bear of the season on this beach.

The next morning we took the Audubon nature cruise out to Berner's Bay. We were treated to black oyster-catchers, Bonaparte gulls, sea lions, seals, river otters, and humpback whales.

You should have seen us all leap out of our seat though when the captain spotted a moose on the shore. These animals are a rare find near Juneau. Bet you can't see her though in my picture -- she was far away.

The Chilkats were lovely and it was a great day to be on the water.

Ferry passenger

Monday at 4 a.m. my brother's ferry got in. I got a picture of the boat, but not him. Thankfully he asked us to pick his luggage up on the way to work so we just had a quick - "hey's there's where you'll be working. Here I'll take your suitcases. See you later." He apparently got to take a 3 hour wildlife cruise up Lynn canal.

Thursday the first cruise ship arrived.

We've been setting rain records all week. Yes. The day he arrived was the sunniest, most glorious day. Now he's seeing what it's actually like here. He's camped out on our floor. Here's to hoping he finds something better soon, otherwise he'll be camping in the rain.

Anchorage - Girdwood - Whittier

A few weeks before John was to arrive, Mr. X received an invitation to a Fisheries Conference in Girdwood. We decided to go and take John with us.

Wednesday morning we left Juneau early and arrived in Anchorage in time for lunch. We did a little shopping at REI - a treat for us, not so much for John - and a used book store. Then we headed south on the Seward Highway.

We made our way south on the Scenic Highway, passing through several avalanche areas until we reached Girdwood and found our way to the Alyeska Resort. It was still light out so we took some more time exploring the beautiful scenery along the Turnagin Arm. It was near zero and the wind was gusting like daggers. John got to see the country's two largest national forests - the Tongass in Juneau and the Chugach in Anchorage.

After nightfall we returned to the hotel in time for Mr. X to register for the conference.

Thursday morning, John and I found the only open ski rental facility (thank you Jim at Girdwood Ski and Cyclery) and ran out to get some X-country skis. John and I spent most of the day gliding around Moose Meadows, the Enchanted Forest and the New Nordic Trail. Of course since Girdwood is the home of some of the world's best Nordic skiiers, we definitely were out of place.

It was a beautiful sunny day and since the wind had stopped, quite pleasant.

Friday Mr. X was finished with his meetings. Before John got up, Mr. X and I took the skis down to Moose Meadows for a sunrise lap. I could really get used to a sunny, snowy, no work lifestyle.

We then took the highway south again to Portage to see Portage lake, Portage Glacier and Bryson Glacier. We also traveled through the 2.5 mile Anton Anderson tunnel to Whittier. This is the longest multi-use tunnel in North America. There is only one lane of traffic so cars and trains have to take turns in both directions. We quickly toured Whittier, awed by the view of the ice free Prince William Sound and the WWII era condominiums which house about 1/2 of the town's population and headed back to Portage.

We stopped at the Conservation Center to see bison, moose, elk, musk ox, eagles, Kodiak bears, black bears, and caribou.

From there we headed back to Anchorage. Found the temple, visited the Dimond Mall and returned to the airport.

X-Country Skiing

Yesterday was our first real snow. We have about 20 inches at the house (and expect 12 more in the next 24 hours). That meant John did some serious postholing all day (he says 12.1 miles) on the Nugget Creek trail. This also meant that I dragged him out the door for some night skiing at 7 pm. We skied out the door and soon found that the icy streets were better suited to skiing than the powdery sidewalks. We didn't make it far, 'cause the binding on my $2 skis kept popping open, but John didn't fall on his head so I'll count his first X-country ski trip a success.

Windfall Lake Cabin

After hiking down from the Dan Moller cabin, we grabbed some lunch and headed out to the Windfall Lake cabin. By early afternoon the fog had started rolling in so we had no view.

At night we stayed busy playing phase 10 and roasting marshmellows over candles. We also munched on junk food and eventually a real dinner of beef stroganoff.

In the morning, it was snowing. Of course, that meant that we grabbed the canoe and paddled into the middle of the lake where we laughed about being stuck in the ice ala Shackleton and the Endurance.

We then hiked out to the car and drove to the end of the road.

Dan Moller Cabin

Thursday Mr. X and I took the day off to hike with John to the Dan Moller Cabin. This hike has a 1800' elevation gain. It hikes through the Dan Moller bowl and Juneau's original ski area.

We hit the trail just before 11 am and arrived at the cabin less than 2 hours later. Thankfully John broke trail for us...since apparantly I was the sherpa. It was raining downtown but the snow level was about 400 feet so we were hiking in blowing snow.

At the cabin the snow was at least knee deep. We spent the stormy day holed up in the warm cabin playing skipbo, Uno and a modified version of 21.

The Dan Moller cabin was replaced about 18 months ago. This new cabin is bright and keeps out the winds. It boasts a wide front porch and deep balcony on the second story with views toward the Juneau icefield.

Overnight, the storm blew out and in the morning we made a run for the ridge to look down the backside of Douglas island over to Admiralty Island. It was nice hike, but I forgot to put my snowpants on so I was pretty cold. We saw martin, rabbit, and squirrel tracks.

We grabbed a quick breakfast and then enjoyed a leisurely hike back to the car.

Sheep Creek Hike

Wednesday, the Park and Rec holds a day hike. Since John had been entertaining himself with simple hikes more accurately described as walks, I hooked him up with these experienced hikers.

That morning dawned clear! John rode the bus downtown, and I shuttled him out to the trailhead in Thane where we met up with about a dozen retirees ready for their walk in the woods.

The first part of the trail is a 700' climb, then a walk through an old mining camp. He saw sled dogs. The next part of the trail following switchbacks up the side of the mountain. The "adventure" group - with John breaking trail - stopped at the 2000' mark due to snow where they ate lunch and then hiked back down.

John arrived at my office at dusk and just 15 minutes before quitting time - perfect.

Adventuring with John

My brother is here for two weeks. We have some grand plans.

So far we've taken him to hike to Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Visitor's Center (of which we know you've seen lots of pictures, so I'll spare you). Monday, he hiked the East Glacier Trail while we were at work. The weather's been terrible. We hope it improves soon. I can say the same about the head cold I've got.

At least my menu plan is delicious: chicken pesto pasta, lasagna, Middle Eastern, Indian halibut curry, enchiladas, pizza, pork roast.

Washington layover

After all our fun down south, I ended up with an 18 hour layover in Seattle - yipee! It meant that I was able to spend just a little while with my mom and brother.

Here's the boy all decked out for trek youth conference.

Mom showed me her new garden and fed me steak off the BBQ and fresh greens for lunch.

Summer Trip Stop 3: Indiana

Brown County State Park - elevation 1058'

Mr. X's other brother had moved to Indiana two weeks before we traveled down south which meant we needed to travel a little father south to see him and his family.

Shipshewana, IN

Mom drove us down, and since we didn't need to be in Columbus until the evening, I suggested we stop in amish country for lunch. Yeah, it's out of the way, but good grief we're the ones who drive three hours (after 7 hours on a ferry) for lunch at Whitehorse's Pizza Hut.

Fire look-out tower, Indiana sandstone shelter

In Southern Indy, we went swimming, mini-golfing, paddleboating, hiking, raptor watching. Mr. X was involved in some trampoline hijinx that had him holding his back for weeks.

Brown County was celebrating Smokey Bear's birthday. In honor, they held a Raptor show.

All in all a successful trip.

Summer Trip Stop 2: Michigan

We flew from Baltimore to Detroit Friday night and Mr. X's mom picked us up so we could be in Michigan for my niece H's baptism.


It was great to get out of the heat and humidity in D.C. and into the relatively cool temperatures in Michigan...heheh.

We spent the week relaxing, doing some small house projects, visiting the Friends of the Library bookstore and watching Harry Potter.


One of my favorite things about visiting Michigan, is the house, more particularly the view from the bedroom window.


We spent evenings watching dry lighting flash across sky and woke in the morning to the sound of orioles in the trees and a groundhog or rabbit in the yard.

Summer Trip Stop 1: Washington D.C.

Last fall when I started planning our 2011 travel, I plotted out an elaborate trip to D.C., West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan via plane, train and automobile. I'd even gotten a fancy Washington D.C. map at the Friends of the Library ($0.10). When I presented the plan to Mr. X, he good-naturedly nixed everything but plane and Michigan. (note: We have different vacation styles - I like to cram, cram, cram. Mr. X prefers down time.)

I was very surprised when two weeks before we were to leave for Michigan, Mr. X agreed to tack on a D.C. leg to visit his brother and family. Sweet!

Day 1) National Aquarium and Inner Harbor, Washington D.C. Temple

Day 2) Union Station, US Capital, US Botanic Garden, Museum of American Indian, National Air and Space Museum, Zaytinya restaurant, D.C. bike share, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, FDR memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, White house from Pennsylvania Ave, Old Post Office Tower, and since the headlines screamed: "Heat Index 115" and "Freakish Humidity" a water fight in the back yard.

Day 3) Library of Congress, US Capital, Senate Cafeteria, Post Office Museum

We enjoyed playing with our nephews - even if Mr. X totally ruled CandyLand- , eating fabulous food and I enjoyed seeing so many historic places.

Tracy Arm

Gram, Grandpa and Mom cruised to Tracy Arm on Monday. They had to be at the Marine Park dock at 8 am. I received a call at 7:40 am that the parking garage wouldn't take their credit card so I ran down and took the rental car to park it in another spot.

They boarded the Adventure Bound at 8:15 am and departed for the Fjords south of Juneau. Their destination was the South Sawyer Glacier. This tidewater glacier - meaning it is in the ocean itself - is impacted by tides. A high frequency of glacier calving - or breaking off of ice occurs throughout each day. The roar and splash is dramatic and thrilling.

Tracy Arm also supports a seal sanctuary so the travelers also saw seals and their pups sprawled out on many of the ice bergs.

Take note of the long pole in the first picture. This is the captain pushing the boat away from chunks of ice that pose a threat to the boat.

pictures from our trip in 2009

the fjord continues under the 2000 foot deep water

Dramatic cliff reminiscent of Lord of the Rings


Mama and her baby