Fall In Maryland

Paul was chosen to attend some work training in Maryland for twelve weeks this winter, so I chose to go along with him.  The first weekend we rented a car and visited Annapolis.  It’s a cool looking old city.  The streets are really narrow and curvy.  The buildings are old and fun to look at. 

  A wedge shaped building that I thought was cool.

      

                                                        

Paul at the state capital.

The harbor

The chapel at the Naval Academy

We also planned a stop at the Washington D.C. temple.  However, because of my lack of planning, we didn’t have a chance to go in. (I forgot to pack my reccomend. Thanks Avery for sending it.) We did get to walk around the outside and visit the visitor center.  I am looking forward to going back and actually going in.  I’ve also heard the lights they put up for Christmas are fantastic, so there may be more pictures of it coming.

It’s been great having another fall.  The one in Alaska went really fast this year.  It ended over a month ago.  I’ve been enjoying the reds, oranges, and yellow.  Not to mention weather I can go out in without bundling up.

Aleutian Chain Ferry Trip

     For the week of my birthday, I decided to go to work with my wonderful husband and take a trip out to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.  I’ve always been fascinated with the history of the islands and thought a free trip out would be the best way to see them.  Plus, it enabled me to spend my birthday with Paul.  It sure bet spending the day alone, or worse, working.

We left Homer on Tuesday the 18th of September.  The first few days, the weather was beautiful.  There was beautiful scenery and lots of wild life to see.  We saw literally hundreds of otters.  Later in the trip we saw a pod of whales.  I was watching the whales through the binoculars and didn’t get any pictures, but it was pretty cool.  There were lots of them.

The villages were also beautiful.  Some were fishing villages and looked almost empty.  Most if not all of the seasonal residents were gone and they looked like boarded up ghost towns.

Even though Chignik was pretty deserted, it was still a beautiful setting.

Along the way, I got to spend a bunch of time on the bridge.  I didn’t get to steer this time, but I did get to sit in the captain’s chair.  The bridge had the best view on the ship.

However, after a few days it did get a little repetitious. Luckly I had a few good books along with me.

Once we got out on the islands, there were no more trees.  Even without the trees, it was still beautiful.  However, I can’t imagine living in a place again with no trees.

There was also a lot of cool mountain/volcano scenery.

Castle Cape

Aghileen Pinnacles 

When we arrived on Dutch Harbor, Paul had rented me a car as a birthday present so I could get out and see the island.  Dutch Harbor/Unalaska and the surrounding islands have a huge military history.

 The islands are the only part of the United States that have been occupied by enemy troops.  Parts of the Aleutian Islands were occupied by the Japanese during WW II.   Dutch Harbor is full of left over military relics. As you drive and hike over the island, you see them all over.

The Greek Orthodox Church also has a great presence on the islands that dates back to when Russia owned the area.

While the first few days were beautiful, the last half of the trip wasn’t quite as nice.  The wind and the waves picked up on Friday night.  I was OK with the 6-8 foot waves on Friday night, but Saturday night was a different story.  I was OK when I went to dinner, but after dinner I think I did a bit too much reading with the waves, because my stomach got a little queazy.  I got to taste dinner twice.  I have to say it was a lot better the first time.

The next few days the waves got worse.  At one point we got a few 30 foot waves.  Anything not fastened down was rolling around.  The funny thing is I didn’t get sick after the first time.

Even though I got sick, I would still go out again.  It was great to see a part of Alaska that I hadn’t seen before.

Caribou Hunt

Paul put in for a caribou permit this year for up around Denali.  We went with some friends on the 10th of September.   We left home early Monday morning and met up with the Yeckleys in Eagle River that afternoon.  From Eagle River, we headed up toward Cantwell about 4 pm.  We went 30 miles down the Denali Highway from Cantwell.

 

The mountains and scenery was beautiful on the trip up.

We got to camp about 8:30 at night.  It was getting dark, so we hurried and set up what we absolutely needed for the night, roasted some hot dogs, and turned in for the night.  It’s a good thing Paul and I bought some new sleeping bags that go down to −10 F with our wedding money, because it was 18 F when we woke up the next morning.  The ground was covered with frost.  It was warm in the bag, but I really, really, really did not want to get out of it.  However, eventually I had to go visit the bushed and was forced to get out of bed.

 The next day, Debbie and I fixed up camp a little and arranged it to be there for the next few days.

After fixing up camp, we went exploring a bit.  We walked down to the stream that was close by.  On the way, we ran across a bunch of blueberry bushes that were covered with berries.  They were extremely ripe and would squish as you were picking them.  They tasted delicious.

We didn’t get to enjoy the camp we’d fixed up for long, because Paul shot a caribou in the first two hours of the hunt.  He got a cow that was about 180 lbs.  

While the boys put away the caribou, Debbie and I headed out for a ride.

It was fun to cook over an open fire.  We ate tin foil dinners and roasted hot dogs.  I had forgotten how good tinfoil dinners can be.  Besides hamburger, we put in summer squash, zucchini, red pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, and onion.  It was really tasty.

The next morning it was warmer.  It was about 38 F.  We had a slow morning and cooked a lot more hotdogs.  Then we packed up and headed to Eagle River.  The Yeckley’s helped up butcher the caribou at their house Wednesday night and Thursday day. 

I was proud of myself.  I hate the feel of raw meat, but I stuck my hands in it anyways and got them all slimy and bloody.                           It was really gross!!! 

 However, I am really grateful for the help.  If it had been just Paul and I it would have taken quite a few days to get it done.  especially considering I had no idea what I was doing.

Commercial Fishing

Paul is commercial fishing this summer.  He leased this boat for the summer.  Isn’t she a beauty?!  He had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find her.  Her name is the “Heron."

Avery on the boat.

The net out in the water. 

 One fish decided to do a head stand for us once he got caught.

Paul getting ready to work.

 Picking fish.

The seals decided to have a snack.

Avery found a new friend.

The final test.  Which fish is which type of Salmon?  Good luck!

Off Loading the fish.

Fishing on the Keani River.

Avery caught a heavy one.  Mine wasn’t as heavy but looks a little better to eat.