Well, we went to California and Alaska, anyway. And, It. Was. COLD. Cold for our thin, Mexican blood. We did see 90-degrees (F) in Los Altos at the beginning of July, but a lot of the time in Anchorage we were in pants, hoodies, and socks (and mosquito repellent). It was poor preparation for Thailand (except for the mosquito repellent), where it will be hot and rainy and sticky and buggy. But all of this is beside the point. The point is, we’ve had an absolute blast in the month leading up to our month in Thailand, but we’re woefully behind on blogging. So, this post, similar to several others before it, will be quick and dirty and flooded with photos (the vids will have to come later in a separate post).
Here goes: As previously posted, we left our floating home in La Paz and headed to San Diego for a few days, where we spent most of our time preparing for travel to Alaska, San Francisco, and Thailand by going shopping at REI and getting immunizations (ouch) for various tropical diseases. In SD, we did manage to squeeze in a few visits with new friends and folks we’d missed during our last couple of trips home. Of course, we still have others to see on the back end of the trip. Mostly, we ate lots of food.
First din din with Pop and Jer at Soupy
A day with the crew of S/V Adventurer
Balboa Park 🙂
Meeting up with new friends we met in Mexico, but live in SD – Eddie and Guinevere
Happy Grandpa
Kurt!
Pizza Port with the Sacketts
Monte!
Noms with some of our favs, Erin, Mariah, and Simon
And Lily
Brekky at Franco’s with Nobisan and Mel – YUM!
One of the main reasons we went north (at the beginning of tropical storm season, no less) was to go to Anchorage for Annie and Vanessa’s wedding reception, scheduled for June 16. This was the culmination of their various marriage celebrations, which began in February at a courthouse in their hometown, followed by a beautiful ceremony in March on a beach in Mexico, then, finally, a big party at the Writer’s Block Bookstore in Anchorage, with music by Annie’s favorite local band, the Hope Social Club. It was a fabulous time, especially since Jerry, Courtney, Spencer, Leanne, and Stacy all made the trip. Here are just a few photos from the party (click here to see the complete wedding album on my FB page) – enjoy!
Hope Social Club with the brides
Annie’s crush
Family
The reception loot
On the days (about 14 of ’em) surrounding party day, A LOT of fun stuff happened. For example, Pride Day; strolling on the Coastal Trail; day trips to Whittier and the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center on Portage Lake; Hatcher Pass, Girdwood, and Eklutna Lake; outings to the Anchorage Museum and Live After Five; watching a friend’s cute 6-yr-old kid play soccer and watching the more physical, but often less mature, FIFA World Cup; a glorious side-trip to Denali State Park and the NP visitor center; lots of hiking despite the rain and mosquitoes; and finally, packrafting down the Portage River despite the wind and rain. Of course, there were trips to Double Shovel, King Street, Palmer City Alehouse, 49th State, Glacier Brewhouse, Denali Brewing Company, and other lovely eating establishments. Yes, a lot of beer was ingested and a lot of food was eaten (and pounds gained). How’s that for a summation of two weeks in June? Now for the photos. Good luck getting through them!
On da plane to ANC
Snow City for the first of many group noms
First of many group walks – this on the Coastal Trail
Selfie at the cider house on a rainy day
Selfie at Pride!
Beluga Point overlook on the Turnagain Arm
Can’t tell here, but it was blowing about 25 kts
Annie and Bruno
Tunnel entry to Whittier
Tunnel time
A gloomy day in Whittier
Rand’s got big…
Bruno and his entourage
The Whittier marina
A stop by one of the raging rivers in Whittier for some droning
Spencer (drone capt.) and other loverlies
Ummmmm
Oh deer
Begich, Boggs Visitor Center
Hmmmmm
Moose Flats
More droning
Gloomy but gorgeous
🙂
Vagabond Blues noms in Palmer
Selfie on the Little Susitna
Doesn’t look so little, does it?
Paying dues at Hatcher Pass
Out for a stroll to the Independence Mine site
Selfie in the snow
Who walks whom?
Happy papa and kidlet
Outbuildings at Independence Mine
The view from the top
Relaxing along the Coastal Trail
Mosquito factory on the Coastal Trail
Selfie on the Coastal Trail
Selfie at the Winner Creek trailhead
Selfie on the Winner Creek trail
Very fun hand tram
Lea enjoying the view from the hand tram (PC Stace)
Capt. Rand and Jody on the crossing (PC Lea)
One of the bridge crossings on the Winner Creek trail
Huh? Who left behind this cigar?
Is it magic?
Don’t think so.
Oooooh my goiter!
Noms at the top of the tram
View of Turnagain Arm from the top of the tram
On the way back down looking for moose
Catching the end of Lucy’s soccer game – adorbs
Of course – V travelin’ again
Food truck noms
Just a cool pic in downtown Anc
Live After Five
Nice!
Glacier Brewhouse noms
An amazing trip to the Anchorage Museum
Selfie at Eklutna Lake
Ummmm…
Luckily, Mindy and Twila were there to protect us
Good friends with crazy dogs
A must after a long, arduous hike
Bruno enjoyed it too
The Denali Cabin in Denali State Park – home for a few days
Super cool interpretation at the park
Gathering firewood
More bear warnings
The Interpretive Center at the park
Demonstration hides – Bruno is interested
Gathering water from the deep well
Glamping at its finest!
Getting ready for the day
The wet, buggy (!) hike around Byers Lake
Byers Lake
Entrance to Denali National Park
Selfie at the Visitor Center
Very cool map
A dinner spot – more glamping at its finest
Bruno posing
Midnight at the Denali lookout in the campground
The fundamentals…
…for smores!
Left, right, center
Our journal entry
Last morning at the cabin
Off on the Curry Ridge Trail
Moose!
Stace enjoying the view
Awe…love daisies
The Capt.
Stace still enjoying the views
This shot offers some scale
A very large glacier across the valley
Talkeetna pot shop
On the shore of the Talkeetna River
Noms at the Denali Brewing Company
Ice cream!
Poor color quality, but Denali is showing in the background
A massive mountain
Beautiful views on the drive back to the cabin
Rand and Stace collecting kindling by the river, which is illegal, btw.
Moose! (PC Stacy)
Stace, Vanessa, and the Capt. getting ready to raft the Portage River (PC Lea)
A bit windy at the put-in spot (PC Lea)
Happy on the river (PC Vanessa)
Waiting for the bore tide (it never came)
The Turnagain Arm
The dinner party
Last night with Stace and Lea
Last stroll along the Coastal Trail with Chris and Allison
Last supper at Hearth
The drop-off
Ugh – the security line. Who knew so many people fly the red-eye?
Jumping for joy in the Denali State Park at the top of the Curry Ridge Trail. Notice, not one really good, synchronized jump – haha!
Time flew while we were in SD and Alaska, but we had one more stop to make before Thailand – San Francisco. It was yet another whirlwind, but so worth it to catch up with our family and buddies – but, again, bummed to miss a few. There was watching more World Cup footy, hiking, mountain biking, and bocce ball – and, of course, eating. Now we’re off to Thailand with the crews of S/Vs Adventurer and Danika. At the top of the things-to-do list is — wait for it — eating. Haha!
McR and Rogaski’s back yard
Warm hike in Los Altos
Among the mighty oaks
And poison oak (yow!)
A view from the top
A bit different from Alaska
Oh, those oaks
Old barn
From bears to cats
Indian noms – yum!
Sunset
A throwback from college graduation
McR being a bad influence
Sorry, Courtney!
So good
World Cup!!
Admiring the grapes in McR’s garden
Found a little Gumby on the street, so he’s going to Thailand
A visit with Auntie and cousin, Cathy
HH with Lorena and Stan
A mountain biking adventure
All the toys
The map
The crash
We ended up at China Camp
Gumby enjoyed the ride
Selfie on the old pier
The reward beer
Peruvian grub
Pinball at the coffee house
Sammie visits Mill Valley
Bocce!
Amazing shot
Love this girl
Whiskey’s parting shot
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What a trip! You guys are just super fun. Saw many familiar places in those Alaska pics.! Always feel relieved to know such unspoiled expanses exist. Looking forward to Thailand! Ride an elephant for me. Love you sweet kids!
So much fun! Hard to believe we were there just a few weeks ago and are sweating it out in Thailand now! Post to come soon! Glad you’re enjoying the blog 🙂
So much fun! I smiled a lot looking through all these photos. Miss you two!
Awe! Miss you guys, too! Hope to reunite this winter. Enjoy the PNW and being the big, bad captain! Squeeze your girl for us!