Seward and 76 Degrees... in May!

This weekend the weather was in the 70s and it was gorgeous and sunny all weekend! For us, that meant a day trip to our favorite town of Seward.

We started off the morning early and hiked Exit Glacier outside of town. This is one of my favorite Alaska hikes, and was also my first Alaska hike back in 1998 after moving to Alaska. My how the ice has receded in the last seventeen years!

After a hot hike, we had to stop at our current favorite eatery - the Railway Cantina. They have the best blackened halibut burritos. This trip, their special was a pear salsa on it - it was amazing!!!

We then did some walking around town, and stopped at Sweet Darlings for the usual gelato.

Then we headed over to a new spot, down Nash Road to try some salmon fishing on Resurrection River. We didn't have any luck, but I enjoyed the sun while I read a book.

It was a wonderful trip in this gorgeous weather - out enjoying Alaska!

Graduating in Juneau!

This past week, we flew down to Juneau to celebrate my commencement at the University of Alaska Southeast. I received by Bachelor of Business Administration in Management. While there, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather down there and had quite the Alaskan vacation!

Our first full day there was Saturday, and it was sunny and in the upper 50s (it was actually this nice all week we were there)! That evening, we decided to fly out to a beach on Admiralty Island (nicknamed Blacksands Beach) with our friend Joe in his plane, and his parents. It was both of our first beach landings (Joe has done many of these), and we had king crab, green beans, and king salmon for dinner, all cooked on the beach!

  

On the way back, we flew over parts of Admiralty Island during sunset - it was gorgeous!

Sunday, was the big day - and boy did the weather come out for it! During the ceremony, I not only received my degree, but was also recognized as the UAS School of Management's Outstanding Graduate, receiving the Bob Ellis Award.

That evening we had dinner at my favorite pizza place in the area, in Douglas and walked Sandy Beach there.

Monday night, brought another beach picnic, this time at Admiralty Cove on the same island.

Tuesday, we drove north to the Shrine of St. Therese.

We then stopped by the UAS campus, so I could receive my award as it had not arrived in time for Sunday's ceremony. I met the SOM Dean and some staff and then went over to the UAS Development Office and met some coworkers there - including a family friend who Andrew grew up with in Ketchikan.

Photo by Seanna O'Sullivan Photography

Photo by Seanna O'Sullivan Photography

Wednesday we flew up to Skagway. It is a cute little town on the water. We had some ice cream and popcorn and walked around town.

  

Afterwards, we landed on a sandbar on Evelyn Lake, in Berners Bay and stopped for some photos.

Finally, we flew back over Herbert and Mendenhall Glaciers!

All in all, it was a wonderful trip - with gorgeous weather!!!

***All photography is property of the author of this blog.***