Talkeetna for Lunch

After what seemed like weeks of rain, this weekend we had some gorgeous, sunny weather (albeit, the mornings definitely felt a bit chilly)!  Andrew and I decided to take advantage of the great weather and our last weekend of freedom before classes started up for the fall semester and drive to Talkeetna for lunch after church on Sunday!  Talkeetna is about a two hour drive from our house and is the base for most folks heading to Denali National Park, where North America's tallest peak, Mt. McKinley is.  We can see "The Mountain," as we call it, from our hometown, but on clear days like Sunday, its nice to get closer.

One hour north of our house the views were spectacular - Willow, Alaska

Kashwitna Lake, north of Willow, Alaska

Wa-BAM!  Each turn on the highway showed us how huge The Mountain truly is!

We had lunch in the sun at our favorite restaurant in Talkeetna - Mountain High Pizza Pie

We, of course, had to check out the airport while in town

8-Year Anniversary in Seward

This past weekend we celebrated our eight-year anniversary early by camping in one of our favorite towns: Seward.  This town is so laidback and wonderful that it was so perfect for the occasion.  I used to work on the train to Seward in high school and for Andrew it understandably reminds him of his hometown Ketchikan.  It rained most of the weekend (with a brief respite Saturday afternoon of some windy sunshine), but hey - it's Seward!  That's what it does there.  It was nice and relaxing hanging out around town - rain and shine.

Friday evening we went on a sightseeing boat tour out on Resurrection Bay with dinner on Fox Island. It was pretty cloudy and rainy most of the trip, but we still got to see a lot.

On the boat - it looks sunny behind us, but it was all fog!

The view of a lagoon on Fox Island

The lodge on Fox Island where we had dinner

[Photo by Andrew Gichard]

I guess the seaweed reminded him of home

 

[Photo by Andrew Gichard]

A view of Seward when we headed back in - and of course it started to clear up!

Saturday was fairly sunny (but quite windy on the water), so we continued to venture around town - and of course took some pictures!

  

A view of Resurrection Bay from our campsite

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

Upper South Fork

This Saturday a bunch of friends decided to hike the Upper South Fork trail in Eagle River.  The hike itself is rated "Easy" and it was, it was just double the length we thought it would be!  The weather was in the 60's with a few sprinkles, some sunshine, and lots of clouds.  This turned out to be great weather for hiking as we were not too hot.  We did not make it back to the lakes we wanted to reach (due to the longer trail and winds), but the hike was a great way to spend the afternoon!  All in all, we hiked 12 miles in 5+ hours!  It was so great to get out and enjoy the awesome summer we're having with our amazing friends.