North, to Alaska! (Part II--Juneau)

We had such a great time visiting Matt & Heidi and Kalei and Alea up in VanSickle Country. They are great friends and also great tour guides! We enjoyed hitting all of the hot spots with them--seeing Mendenhall Glacier, the fish hatchery, watching whales, fishing for salmon, grabbing a Breeze In bagel and a coffee at NOAA--and loved experiencing everyday life with them in Juneau. Now when they tell us stories from their summer up north we can picture exactly what they're talking about!


On our first full day, Jeff was itching to catch his first salmon, so the VanSickles took us out on brother Ryan's boat--our destination was the spit out in Echo Cove (for all of you Juneau people, this is located all the way out "THE Road"). This is Jeff in the boat with Heidi and Grace and I--I was too nervous to be responsible for the baby on a boat so I made him pack her. :)


The setting doesn't get any better than this! :) I can't post ALL of the pictures, but I also have some of eagles and seals that surrounded us during this fishing expedition...


Jeff's first salmon! I guess it's Gracie's first salmon, too! She loves this pack--she fished with dad for a couple of hours!


We weren't here for five minutes before the girls had their socks and shoes off and were exploring the treasures of the spit--beached seaweed, beautiful pebbles, cool pools of water... These girls definitely love the outdoors! (...and Heidi has invested in gallons of OxyClean stain remover!)


Kalei with her big catch...and her dad. (Notice the bare feet!)


Heidi and I held down the spit fort--stocked with PBJ's, granola bars, potato chips, and yogurt-covered raisins.


Matt and Jeff and Grace at Mendenhall Glacier--they have this new nature trail to follow as you look for BEARS. No luck for us, though. The next picture could explain why we didn't see any bears on this particular day...


Kalei and Alea with their cousins Abby and Luke...they had fun being bears themselves...running up the path and jumping out to scare us with their bear growls...


Family pic at the glacier...


Believe it or not, this was the view we had outside our bedroom window--from the new VanSickle Inn! Matt's parents, Joyce and Warren, just built a lovely home just down the road from the site of Matt's childhood house. They were so gracious to let us stay there!


The trees behind their house often have bald eagles in them...what a great place!


Jeff and Gracie in downtown Juneau--we'd just eaten fudge from the Alaskan Fudge Company...can you see it on Jeff's face?


I just love this picture of Kalei and Alea! They were running around in front of the library and cruise ships in downtown Juneau and I had them pose for me. Heidi and I think this pic captures their personalities.


On our last day we went for a hike to Lena Point--not far from the VanSickle home. It was a delightful Southeastern Alaska hike--complete with soggy trails and gorgeous views.


It was such a great vacation! Thanks for your hospitality and friendship, VanSickles!