Kodiak, AK (Yes, Kodiak . . . as in Kodiak Bears)

We hope you all had a nice Memorial Day weekend.  Here's what our weekend looked like:

How about yours?

We were in Kodiak, Alaska . . . a city of bluffs and ocean on the second largest island in the United States.  We were there exploring the area, celebrating the annual crab festival (an ironic celebration for us as Steve does not eat shellfish and Tammy is vegetarian), and sampling another delicious Alaska brewery (that makes 7/18 we've visited so far).

More pictures and information to come in the next few days.  Until then, we're at 68 degrees in Anchorage!  Warming on up!

Homer, Spit.

Hi, All:

Sorry for the delay in updating; the weather has gotten to about 50-60 degrees these days and we're at around 18 hours of sunlight . . . so outdoor activities have been taking precedent.

Anyway, we wanted to let you know about an exciting trip we took last weekend down to Homer!  Homer is a town located on the Kenai Peninsula that is known for its Halibut fishing.  (No, we did not do any Halibut fishing . . . but the town is known for it nonetheless.  You can tell how big these fish get by the fact that we keep capitalizing the "H" in "Halibut.").  The sign that welcomes you to Homer when you drive in should give some indication of how important Halibut is to Homer:

Homer is located on "mainland" Alaska, but as you drive through the town you can turn off to go onto the "spit."  The spit is a 4.5 mile peninsula that jets out from the rest of Homer into the ocean.  Apparently, it is the longest road into ocean waters in the world!  You can check out more fun facts, and images of the spit, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Spit

The spit is also a bit of a tourist destination as some cruise ships have started going there.  This, of course, has led to lots of gift shops and Alaska-related things.  Including Deadliest Catch.  For those of you who do not follow the show, one of the boats is called the "Time Bandit," and it is based out of Homer.  This has led to Time Bandit gift shops and pots galore:

For those keeping count, that makes 2 Deadliest Catch boats we've "seen."  We actually saw the Wizard in Seattle, and we saw this Time Bandit pot in Homer . . . which we're counting.

Because Homer is such a fishing village, the spit also has a memorial to those who have been lost at sea:

And, of course, there are lots, and lots, and lots of boats.

For those who choose not to go on the $250 fishing charters, you can also fish off of the rocky beaches.  See, we told you fishing was a big deal in Homer.

One of the best parts of Homer is the Pratt Museum, which is this small museum that contains a bunch of Alaska-related information (e.g., bears, the oil spill, fishing boats, Native culture, etc.)  One of our favorite parts of the museum was the "survival-suit" test.  These are the suits that people have to put on if their boat is sinking in the cold ocean waters, or else they will almost-100%-guaranteed die.  We were really looking forward to trying these on as we had seen them so often on Deadliest Catch.

Under the rules of the test, we had 30 seconds to get the suit on and ready to go.  Here's Steve:

And here's Tammy:

Finally, Homer has become home to tons and tons of bald eagles.  There were a number around the Homer area, but some of the best pictures we got was on our way out on the road back to Anchorage.  One decided to peak its head out of its nest just as we drove by:

So that's Homer for ya!  We should have another update early next week about our Memorial Day weekend plans.  Until then, we're going to go enjoy the weather!

The Rese & Jim Adventures Continue!

Hi, Everyone:

To continue on with our adventures of Rese and Jim (our current visitors), yesterday we drove down to Whittier to do some sea kayaking around Prince William Sound.   We were, once again, joined by the awesome company of Aesha and Bryn.

Whittier is this neat little town down by Portage Glacier.  The weird thing about it is that it is located on the other side of a mountain, and so there is a tunnel connecting it to the rest of Alaska.  This is no ordinary tunnel though; it is 2.5 miles long, it is one way, and it is shared between cars and trains (you literally drive on the train tracks).  This means that there is a set schedule for when cars can go into or leave Whittier depending on trains and when the other traffic is going through.  Needless to say, it's pretty cool.

Anyway, we got to Whittier and hopped into our 2-person kayaks.  Here's a view of the water from when we stopped for lunch:

We ended up using Alaska Sea Kayakers for all of the rentals and guidance, which was an amazing purchase.  We had two guides that did an incredible job showing us the landscape, pointing out wildlife, teaching us how to paddle and kayak generally, and giving us historical information about the area.  The lunch they provided was also delicious, and really well catered to us vegetarian folk (although the smoked salmon they brought was also really really good). I would HIGHLY recommend this company to anyone who is in Alaska and looking for a fun sea kayaking adventure:  http://www.alaskaseakayakers.com/prince-william-sound-day-tours.html (we did the passage canal tour).

We took some pictures while kayaking too.  Here's Aesha and Bryn:

Here are Jim and Rese:

And here's us!!!

The guide made sure to take us into these neat little coves along the way.  I think one of the most amazing things to see is how quickly the landscape changes.  Around Whittier itself you have tons of mountains and rock.  Once we got into the Sound and off onto the beaches, it quickly turned to temperate rainforest.

Although we didn't get pictures of it, we also saw lots of wildlife, including cute seals, otters doing the back-float, and a few bald eagles.

After a fun 6-hour tour (not 3 hours, as Jim would say, because that is just itching for disaster -- who would go out on a boat tour for 3 hours after Gilligan?!), we headed back to Whittier for a beer before the tunnel changed to the "out-of-Whittier" direction.

So there you have it; another bucket list item crossed off: sea kayaking.  Today Jim and Rese went for a bike ride where they ran into 5 moose along the way.  Pictures may be forthcoming . . . .

Flattop CLIMBED! Another thing off the bucket list.....

Hi, Everyone:

Sorry for the delay in updating; not much has been going on the last few weeks (aside from Steve's sister graduating from Michigan State University . . . hooray, Leah!)  But, for those of you keeping track, we are currently at about 17+ hours of daylight and the temperature is in the 50s.  In other words, Spring has sprung in Anchorage.

Anyway, here was a recent visitor of ours:

Spotted.

We have two even-more-recent visitors: Jim and Rese (our friends from college).  They got into Anchorage last night and are spending a few days with us before heading home.  Although they've only been here for 24 hours, we've already had a ton of fun with them.  Last night we went to Bear Tooth (a local movie theater/restaurant pub) for micro-brews and some delicious burritos.

Then today we decided to hike Flattop mountain.  This is a hike that we have been wanting to do for a while (it was on our bucket list) and we decided to take care of it with such great friends.  It takes you up to the summit of the 3,510 foot mountain, which provides awesome views of Anchorage, Mount Foraker, and other surrounding mountains.  There are also two ways to climb it: a well-defined path on one face of the mountain and a steep-climb on the backside.  We decided to do the latter with Steve's co-clerk Aesha and her sister Bryn (who is also in town).

Here's a picture of the mountain:

Anyway, the hike started out totally devoid of snow.  However, it was pretty steep:

About half-way up, the snow became only partially melted.  This left for some needed navigating to try and avoid the pockets of 2-foot deep snow that remained.

As we expected, the views at the top did not disappoint.  It's still an incredible feeling to get 20 minutes outside of downtown Anchorage, and within the hour have hiked to the summit of a mountain.

You can see downtown Anchorage in the distance:

Here's Rese standing at the top looking over:

And then, of course, the requisite picture of us taking it all in:

The views on the way down were also cool.  We got to spend some time looking at (what we think is) Wolverine Peak.  This is one of our favorite peaks in Alaska, mainly because it is named "Wolverine."  GO BLUE!

The hike down was a bit painful on the knees given the steepness but we made it and it was amazingly beautiful.  Thanks to Aesha for the "backside of the mountain" recommendation.  Tomorrow we're trying kayaking in Whittier!  Hopefully we'll have another post for you by early in the week!

Celebrating Passover In Alaska!

Hi, Everyone:

Sorry for the delay in writing, but there hasn't been much to report . . . until now!  For those of you who don't know, this past week was Passover!

We went to two official seders.  The first was at one of the synagogue congregant's home.  It was beautiful and we really appreciated the invite.  The second was a community seder at the synagogue (note: Steve wants to keep writing Shul, but Tammy gets mad at him because she says it sounds too much like a disgusting word in hebrew).  Anyway, the seder was alright . . . although a bit less warm.  We ate and then pretty much booked it.

A number of Steve's co-clerks had mentioned that they had never been to a seder before and wanted to give it a go.  So we decided to try to fit everyone into our small 2-bedroom apartment for our own seder.  

Unbelievably, it worked amazingly.  We put tables together in an "L" shape and we were able to fit 20 people in for a great seder.  Here are some pictures of the set-up and everyone around the tables:

 We take particular pride in our finding "Pepsi Throwback" up here.  As you may imagine, the Jewish community is small in Alaska (although we do belong to a synagogue: frozenchosen.org).  With such a small community, there is not a lot of need for Passover food.  We were both raised in a highly-Jewish area with tons of passover-safe options, but here you have to sort of make do.  So we do the typical grocery shopping, making sure that everything we pick up is high-fructose corn syrup free (because we can't eat corn on passover).

Pepsi recently started making "Pepsi Throwback" which is sugar-based Pepsi.  It is delicious.  And, though not officially so, kosher for passover :)

We also did a full on afikomen hunt.  Our friend, Elena, found it and won the dollar.

To get into the festivities, Elena also made wine bottle covers.  I cannot describe how amazing these were, so we thought a picture was necessary.  These are simply incredible and Elena should go into crafts or event planning or something immediately.  We still cannot get over how cool these are:

Anyway, that's all for now!  Passover ends tomorrow night and then it's back to Mooses Tooth pizza and beer for us!  Although it's been difficult celebrating in Alaska, we did it and are proud to have made it through!  Next year in Jerusalem (but more likely Washington DC).

Backcountry Skiing!

Here's an Alaska post that has nothing to do with us, but that we thought you might enjoy:

Two of Steve's co-clerks, Rebecca and Henry, love to go backcountry skiing.  You may remember them as the folks we hiked with in the fall in Eagle River:

Anyway, backcountry skiing is pretty much what it sounds like.  You put these special things on your skis that allow you to hike/slide up the mountain.  Once you get up a bit, you ski down.  Then you go up some more, ski down.  Etc.  Or at least this is what we hear it is like.  We've never done it because Tammy prefers to have life take her up the mountain, and Steve prefers to ski on flat land.

Rebecca and Henry went out skiing last week and Rebecca got an awesome video showing the views you can get when you get off the beaten path and forge your own trail.  Steve begged her for it, and now we have it to share with all of you!



So there you have it, real Alaska beauty from a place unchartered.

We're hoping to hike this weekend!  Keep your fingers crossed for warm weather!

Steve's Parents (Were) In Town!

Hi, All!

As promised last night, here's the story of the last few days.  Steve's parents flew into Anchorage on Tuesday for a few day adventure through Alaska.  Although the weather was expected to be rainy/snowy and cold, it turned out to be quite beautiful and warm almost the entire time they were here.

We started our adventures with a drive back to Talkeetna (which you may remember we visited in November/October).  Steve's dad is a big "Northern Exposure" fan, so he enjoyed getting to see a town that is extremely similar to that small-town, moose crossing the road, feel.

As we drove in to Talkeetna, some clouds started to cover Mt. McKinley (Denali).  Steve thought that meant any views of the mountain would be difficult, but he called the local flightseeing operation anyway.  They said the cloud cover was low, and that the views of the mountain were actually gorgeous from above, so we quickly drove to the airstrip for a ride.

The company wasn't lying.  The views were even more amazing than when we went a few months ago.  The sky was totally clear and you could see Denali's summit.

It also looked totally different in the glacier valley surrounding the mountain than when we went before:

The next day the weather was a bit harsher: there were storm warnings in and around Anchorage.  So we spent the morning at the Anchorage Museum, which is a neat collection of Alaska-based science, history, culture, and art.  

The next day the clouds had lifted a bit so we took a quick drive up to the trailhead for Mt. Baldy so that Steve's parents could look out over Anchorage and Eagle River.

Tammy didn't work on Saturday, so we headed down along the Turnagain Arm for Portage Glacier, Alyeska, and the Wildlife Conservation Center.  Saturday was an amazingly beautiful day, so we stopped a few times along the way to take some pictures of the mountains and ocean.

Then we spent some time at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  This center focuses on taking orphaned and threatened species and rehabilitating them.  They have a lot of animals, including moose, elk, bison, and more.  Here's the local porcupine:

They also have 2 new bear cubs that they are training to be taken to Sweden (we think).  The bears were the cutest things ever.  The first bear cub had learned to sit (just like a dog!) upon hearing the word "stationary."  The second bear (seen here) help up its paw every time the trainer said "Ok."

Of course, being in Alaska they have a bald eagle.  Although these can be seen everywhere in the state, this one was found in 1995-96 with its wing shot (which is illegal to do in Alaska, but 2000 or so every year are still shot).  A really beautiful bird.

There was also the cutest young muskox, whose mother had been killed by a grizzly bear.  This thing was amazing.  It ran around and acted just like a 3-year old child.

The best part of the center, though, are the grizzly/brown bears they have.  There are 3 of them, all of whom made a showing for our viewing pleasure.  It was eating time, so they got to enjoy some cantaloupe that was donated by Costco.

Finally, following the conservation center we headed to the local ski resort: Alyeska.  One of the best parts of Alyeska is the tram that goes up the North Face of the mountain.  This tram is used by skiiers and snowboarders looking to go to the top, but it is also used by tourists looking for some amazing views.

This is the view from the top.  You can see the skiiers getting ready to go down.  It is amazingly beautiful and the day was perfect for skiing.  In fact, we ran into Steve's co-clerks Rebecca and Henry at the bottom of the mountain.

Here's the view looking up the mountain to the final chair lift.

And here we are on the observation deck.

It was an awesome 4-day visit and we really loved eating, exploring, and hanging out with Steve's family.  We really enjoy having visitors, so if you want your own unique Alaska experience, let us know asap so we can figure out vacation plans!  Hooray!