Proof that a cake can be frozen for almost 2 months before the wedding. Thawed. And frozen again for a year and still taste delicious!
Jules & Adrian: saving a large piece would have been plenty! but now we have the entire top tier to devour ourselves.. oof! I think we're going to try to share it with friends down here. Rebecca: it tastes just as good as I remember it! Thanks again guys!
fish in brine for the smoker
ready for canning
and fillets ready for vacuum packing
slowed down and checked out the Steller's Sea Lions around the Cape.
Didn't get to the cabin until ~ 4pm but we decided to go for an evening paddle and check out Aialik Glacier. We were supposed to spend 3 nights out there but ended up with only 2 nights. We lost a day and 1/2 because of weather.
The boys wanted to fish for some rock fish for dinner.
Josh and his trophy class walleye pollock.
Dave and his trophy class rockfish.
The agenda for the next day was to paddle over to Pedersen Lake across the Bay and check out the same named glacier. On the way, we paddled towards the glacier and checked out Slate Island.
A nice view of Aialik Glacier from the cabin
a little lunch break before heading into Pedersen
Yes, that black mound is a black bear. I think we saw 3 while we were there.
Pedersen glacier! Absolutely breathtaking. I've made it into the lagoon with Yumi & Erica to do some beach seineing for work but we never took the naiad into the lake to check out the glacier.
Josh & Anna in their matching outfits
I guess we're in matching outfits, too... dorks!
I love the intertidal
at low tide, there are beds of mussels everywhere. it's hard not to step on them when they are covering the rocks.
low tide
this reminds me of the marine bio field course that I took 3 summers ago in Kasitsna Bay out of Homer. Of course, I don't remember any of the scientific names for anything except 'Fucus garderneri' and 'Pisaster....'.
On the way back to Seward our boat captain found some Dall's porpoises (they probably found us) and he lowered the bow on his landing craft so we could take a closer look. They swam around the bow for a really long time. I've never been so cose to them before. MAGICAL! below is a video.
Anna driving the boat
So nice to be able to spend some quality time with really good friends.
yes, that is snow. there is still snow in the mountains. usually it's mostly gone by July!
Emma, very focused on a stick, mentally willing me to through it for her
In between patches of snow are patches of jungle.
And eventually we wound up in Winter where we had lunch. We had a great view of the bowl until the fog socked us in and also blocked the view of Seward and Resurrection Bay.
The hike down was steep and slick. Nice to get out, stretch the legs and get some air after spending 2 weeks on a boat with no exercise.
hmm. we have quite a few photos of Josh with babies...are you sure you don't want any kids? :)
Mark gave a seminar and workshop on Program MARK on Monday. Needless to say my brain was a little fried after that but it was an excellent crash course on mark-recapture analysis. He's a fantastic instructor (He was Dave's MS advisor at UAF).
Tuula & George hosted a BBQ for us that evening. Tuula made some tasty lox for appetizers! and the halibut was yummy as well. I got a chance to talk to Maggie a little bit about juggling motherhood and a career.
Here is Dave, contemplating parenthood while making sure Zane doesn't fall down the stairs.
Tessa is starting kindergarten this Fall! I had a blast interacting with her - she's grown up so much! and I was impressed that she remembered so many details of our wedding. Mark & Maggie took turns hanging out with the 'big kids' upstairs at the house in the evenings. It was wonderful to see them! Come back down to South Central and visit us again soon!
just call me Kenny.
looking a little more awake, including Erica who is driving.. ;)
a little beach seine therapy
sun came out for a good part of the time!
stuffing my face with pretzel while looking for Kittlitz's murrelets to photograph
Paul & Dave
I was a little drugged up on my anti-seasickness meds. I take a downer to help me with my nausea and normally I take an upper to help me stay awake when I'm working on a boat. I decided I didn't really want to take my upper and I needed some help reeling in my halibut.
Here's an incredibly funny video that Heather took of my fishing ordeal. I spent the rest of the day horizontal in the boat. Not the best use of my time & money. Lesson learned. I'm not fit for halibut charters.
here we are, getting some poor sap who was rightfully more interested in the bears to take a photo of us
Day 2: We met up with Tasha and biked ~9 miles out to Exit Glacier.
Stopped at the overlook for a look over.
Adrian - Dave just noticed that not only did you ride his bike and use his helmet, but that you were wearing his fleece. he he.
We then hiked ~ 1/2 way up the Harding Ice Field trail which was a first for me!
and there was snow...
and more snow...
and MORE snow!!
and marmots! frisky little chunkers. these guys were wrestling when we came upon them.
found a nice gravel knoll overlooking the glacier and hung out there for 2 hours. talking about weddings, weddings, weddings!!!
Tasha
yet another portrait of the 3 of us
more breathtaking scenery
and Adrian found a Wilson's warbler nest on the trail on the way back! these eggs were the size of large jelly beans!! What a spectacular day filled with amazing weather and fantastic company. Thanks guys!
