Hawaii!

Aloha! As we write this post it is 0 degrees outside, two feet of snow cover the ground, and the sun only creeps above the horizon for five hours each day. The warm, sunny, colorful, and cheerful islands of Oahu and Kauai seem so very far away and long ago!

We had been planning a trip to Hawaii for about five years, but school, work, or lack of money always seemed to get in the way. In fact, when we bought our tickets last October, we had originally planned to travel in March, but had to postpone our trip an additional nine months. We left Alaska on Thanksgiving and spent four days on Oahu and five on Kauai.

Some of the highlights from Oahu include riding cruisers along the North Shore, watching some pro-surfing, paddleboarding, snorkeling, and logging some quality beach time!

At Hanauma Bay before a day of amazing snorkeling!

Jennah on a morning walk along Waimanalo Beach

On Kauai, we explored the "Grand Canyon" of the Pacific, kayaked the Wailua River, paddleboarded the Hanalei River and Hanalei Bay, rode cruisers along the coast, and got plenty more quality beach time!

Waimea Canyon

Jennah and the Hanalei River valley

Nate paddleboarding Hanalei Bay

Jennah kayaking the Wailua River

Paddleboarding to Hanalei River

   

We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation to Hawaii and we hope to make it a regular destination during Alaskan winters. We'd like to send all our friends and family, near and far, some happy Aloha spirit and we wish you all a Mele Kalikimaka!

Late Summer and Fall in AK

We are back again with another blog post! Its been a very busy last few months. We enjoyed visits from Jennah's mom, Kathy, and Nate's parents, Bobbie and Rick. Jennah made a short trip back to Colorado and had her third knee surgery, and Nate has been back and forth from field work. Now we are awaiting the first snow fall in Anchorage and preparing for a long, dark winter (with a short reprieve in Hawaii!).

The weather in June and July was great up here, and lucky for Kathy, it was warm and sunny for her entire visit. Jennah and Kathy visited Seward and several points in between.

Sanuk and Jennah have been doing a lot of biking in the hills and forests around Anchorage, here they are near Glen Alps.

This is Sanuk from one her and Nate's trail runs, this is up at Rabbit Lake, just outside of Anchorage.

We spent a nice day at Alyeska where we rode the tram up and back down. Later in the summer Nate and his parents did the same thing, but hiked up, and took the tram down with Sanuk.

One hot weekend in July we went to Talkeetna and enjoyed some much needed lake time. We  swam and paddleboarded, and so did Sanuk!

In early September, Bobbie and Rick visited. The weather didn't cooperate very much, but we still all had a great time exploring south-central AK, doing some fishing, and hiking. Here they are at Harding Ice Field and fishing at Carter Lake.

South of Anchorage, the Portage Valley is surrounded by glaciers and towering peaks. The following pictures are from a bike ride the three of us took there one weekend.

And now for the obligatory Sanuk jumping photo!

Just this weekend we took a trip back up to Hatcher's Pass where there is lots of snow already! We did some skiing and Jennah tested out her new fat bike (bike with really wide tires made for floating on top of the snow).

Until next time, lots of love from Nate and Jennah (and Sanuk) in AK!

Heatwave in Alaska!

This is Jennah finally sitting down to write my first blog post!

June has surprised us with warm temps, blue skies and lots of lush greenery here in Alaska. I'm even succeeding in growing a small urban garden on my porch (which is a first).  This month, according to many long-time Alaskans, has been the warmest June "ever"; I just keep hoping that this is the new norm for the next few years!

I recently took a trip to Hope, AK which is located across Turnagain Arm from Anchorage. It's about an hour and a half drive, but only an 11 minute flight!  I had the opportunity to take my first flight seeing tour with friends in a small, "single engine" plane. The views were absolutely spectacular, and I now know what a "midnight sun" looks like with the fantastic sunset that lasted hours.

I enjoyed camping in Hope that night, and learned that the bear fear factor is much reduced when it never actually gets dark. 

Nate recently returned from 2.5 weeks in the field, at an undisclosed location north of Talkeetna. He had perfect weather and enjoyed bush-whacking and surveying for various bird species, starting at 2 am every morning. He had views of Denali the entire week; other highlights included hiking near waterfalls, seeing bears and not getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (yet).

Speaking of mosquitoes, I've learned that even going for a short and simple bike ride requires gearing up for battle. Even a few miles from our house,  I bring lots of bug spray, a bear bell, bear spray and of course my hyper-aware dog, Sanuk!




This weekend, Nate and I took a short trip north of Anchorage to Hatcher Pass, and stayed in a cabin at Hatcher Pass Lodge. We were treated by spectacular views of clouds rolling over the mountains and into the valley below where Palmer lies.

We had the place practically to ourselves and enjoyed relaxing and then going for a short walk to Independence Mine. On our way home, we stopped at Gold Mint Trailhead for a short bike ride and scoped out skiing for next winter