Merry Christmas from Alaska

Alaska had not received much snow, but that all changed today. Anchorage received almost 1 foot of snow over Christmas. Everyone was getting pretty worried about it. What's Alaska without snow? We had a relaxing day at home opening presents, talking to family and eating good food. My dad sent the dogs a toy ball, and as you can see Jake loved it!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

We took a drive up north, and ended up in the Mat-su river valley. It looks much different in the winter. We need to work on some target practice, since we have bears! I have no idea what kind of gun that was, but it was fun. We did not stay out too long because it was freezing!

Our Anniversary

Today, we celebrated out 6th anniversary hiking in the Chugach Mountains. We stayed at The Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. That's Alaska's big ski resort. We are hiking around Hope, AK which is a tiny community on the Turnagain Arm. Not many people live in Hope, and I heard they are going to shut down the school since there are less than 10 students attending. The day was crisp and cool, but it was nice to be out enjoying the scenery.

Watch out for bears!

Moose by the road

Trail closure due to bear activity. Eagle River, AK (You are fined if you go back there!)

A bear proof food storage container located at the public use cabin. Eagle River, AK

Eric and I went hiking at the Eagle River Nature center which is 12 miles from our house. The salmon are runnin' and so the bears are out in full force feeding on them. Some of the trails were blocked because of bear activity.

We hiked up to the public use cabin, and saw the food storage container. All food must be placed in bear proof containers, or you can expect an unwanted guest!

Biking along Seward Highway

Eric was in Bethel working, so I decided to pack up my mountain bike and head for the Seward Highway. It was another beautiful day, and 75 degrees. Alaska is a biking bonanza. There are trails everywhere. I took the trail that follows the Seward Highway and overlooks the Turnagain Arm. This shot was so awesome, I even impressed myself. The purple flowers are called fireweed. I biked for a few hours enjoying the sun and scenery. I even got a sunburn!

Our first boat outing

At the toll booth out side Whittier, AK

Eric, our rig and our new boat!

A beautiful day in Alaska!

Waiting in line to go through the tunnel to Whittier.

Eric did not have to twist my arm for this thing. Talk about living the Alaskan dream. We bought a 21 foot Hewscraft boat, and couldn't be more excited. Everyone here has a boat and/or motor home. We hooked up our boat to the truck, and headed for the port town of Whittier. It was a beautiful day. Whittier is about 60 miles south of Anchorage and is at then end of a long tunnel. The tunnel is only one lane, so everyone must wait until traffic flows in your direction.

We unloaded out boat at Whittier, and I waited until Eric parked the truck. Whittier is filled with serious fishermen, and I was a bit nervous. I noticed that the boat looked kind of funny in the water, but thought nothing of it. I got in after about 10 minutes or so, and realized the boat was filled with water!!!!! We quickly tried to get the boat out, and were totally embarrassed. Eric had not put the boat plugs in, and it filled with water! We were very upset with ourselves, and went home. We are now the joke of our friends! Great........

Salmon Fishing

This is the dip net.

Eric trying his hand at dip netting at the mouth of the Kenai River.

Karen displaying her fillet of red salmon. Eric catches them, and I cut em!

Eric is fishing for silvers in Bird Creek, about 20 miles south of Anchorage.

Here are some picures of our fishing adventures. Eric and I went to Bird Creek to fish for silvers. There were lots of people out, as well as brown bears. The brown bears hang out just up the creek, but usually stay away from the fishermen.

There is a technique to fishing, and we were trying to learn as much as we could. One guy helped us learn how to correctly cast among so many fishermen, so that was helpful. He was getting a bit cocky though, as he "caught" a young girl in the ear. Not many girls are out on the creek, so I was talking to another female fisherman, and as we chatted, the guy's hook caught her right in the ear! She ended up going to the ER to get the hook removed. I've heard that the ER is full of people with hooks stuck in various body parts during the summer months!

We then headed down to Kenai to try dip netting. This is only for Alaska Residents. You take a large dip net to the mouth of the Kenai, and scoop reds out of the water. It was a blast. A family is allowed 50 fish per year. The beach had thousands of fish heads along the shore. This is one of the largest salmon runs in Alaska. More than 1 million fish swim through those waters during the summer. It's amazing!

It took Eric an hour or so to get the hang of dip netting, but once he got it down, he was nailing them. We ended up with a cooler full of fresh salmon. YUM! Thousands of people set up "fish camp" along the shores. The dip netting season is very short, so people camp out. We had a great time, and can't wait to do it again next summer.