Seward

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend!  Steve and I spent ours (well, at least Sunday and Monday, those were the only days Steve had off) in Seward together to celebrate our third wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it has already been three years since we said "I do"!  Time flies when you are having fun I guess.

Our trip was exactly what we needed.  It was our first time spending two consecutive days together since Memorial Day weekend!  We drove down Sunday afternoon in the pouring rain and checked into the Seward Windsong Lodge, which was charming, cozy and just what we needed for the night.



We went to dinner at Resurrection Roadhouse, the restaurant connected to the Lodge, and then borrowed a movie from the front desk to watch in our room.  We were both asleep by 9:30, it was so cozy and relaxing!

We got up early the next morning and went to the restaurant for breakfast.  It was delicious!  After checking out of the Lodge, we drove into Seward and spent a few hours at The Alaska SeaLife Center.



It was great to be there again, and Steve really enjoyed it.  The SeaLife Center is home to countless great memories for me.  I spent many weekends there when I was a girl scout working on my Gold Award, which we received by developing a Rehabilitation Station Education Program for kids at the center.  We got to spend the night there quite a few times, and it was such an amazing experience for me.  We also were the recipients of the Coastal American Partnership Award in 2001, and received a plaque and a handwritten and signed letter from the President commending us for our work.

Anyway, getting back to our weekend getaway, we then left to Center and headed over to the Harbor to catch our tour boat, and went on a four and a half hour tour of Resurrection Bay with Kenai Fjords Tours.  It was very, very wet, but amazing!   We saw five different humpback whales, including one that breeched, or jumped completely out of the water.  Unfortunately I was only quick enough to get pictures of two of the animals, but I will have the memory of what we saw forever.  I have seen quite a few whales in my life, but it never fails to amaze me.  They are such beautiful, awe inspiring, creatures that demand attention and respect.    Overall it was a fantastic trip, although it was tricky trying to get my raincoat zipped up.  I think from this point on it will never happen again as Riggs gets even bigger.  It was definitely a two person job! lol.  

Here are some pictures from our trip.     

Some nice big prawn...seeing them live just reinforces to me why I don't eat shrimp...

 Beautiful

Leaving Seward

did I mention it was rainy?

 The Harness Family

Fox Island

Humpback Whale, extremely close to our boat

 there were Lord of the Rings style waterfalls everywhere

On the way back, it got even rainier and mistier,

until everything looked like it was in black and white.  

It took our breath away it was so beautiful.

First real summer weekend....

mileage: 6/25 4.1 miles; 6/27 8.2 miles

total June mileage: 67.2

I'm proud to say that I finally had my first real summer weekend (yeah I know it's already practically July but whatever), where Steve and I went out together to explore Alaska and have fun.

Friday I just rode to and from REI for an interview that went really well. I should hear back from them before Wednesday, so for now it's just a waiting game. If I got the job I would be working in the cycling dept in the summer and the nordic/downhill ski and snowboard dept in the winter which would be perfect. Obviously I'm really excited and am hopeful that I'll get the job. I'll be sure to include some news in a post when I know more.

Saturday Steve and I headed to Seward to meet up with his brother and sister in law.

We stopped on the side of the road like tourists to take this picture of a cow and her twin calves, but it was a sight we don't even often see - and it seemed so perfect and tranquil. We got there about 45 minutes ahead of them, so we ate and then headed down in the beach to let the dogs out and enjoy the typical rainy Seward weather.
(It was beautiful. I am always taken aback by how breathtaking the green hills surrounding Seward are, every time I come here. I think the rainy/misty weather is my favorite.)

We headed down to the beach in the light rain and let Pepper run around a bit. She needed it after being stuck in the Jeep for so long. After Ben and Mercedes got there, we kept walking on the beach for 40 minutes or so.
It was good to see the brothers together enjoying a chance to just talk and not work on a project together, ect. Whenever we get together Mercedes and I usually branch off and go our seperate way while the " boys" (they aren't really boys I guess but we always call them that when they are together). Mercedes and I drove out to Millers Landing and parked at the Lowell Point trail head. We hiked about 5-6 miles and it felt great.
(About a mile into the hike, we came to spot where a spring flood had inundated the trail with huge boulders, branches, and other debris. It was amazing to see the aftermath of what had obviously been a raging summer flood.)

We spent about two hours talking about everything and anything that came to mind and it was thereputic. Mercedes is 30 weeks pregnant and I don't get to see her often enough. It's funny because when I actually lived in Homer, she and I weren't actually friends. We were "family" and therefore saw each other pretty often but nothing ever really went beyond the "fam" label. Over the last four years, we've actually become close friends and I think of her now interchangeably as family and great friend. I am so excited for their baby to come, and wish that we lived closer.
The trail was great, wide and rocky with the feeling of a leafy "ceiling" caused by the overhanging trees. I think we gained only 600 of the 900ft of elevation before we turned back, but two hours of steady uphill is a lot of ask of a pregnant lady! :) We then met up with the boys for a delicious din din at Rays. Steve and I actually ordered too much food, so we brought half of my burger on the drive home with us.
(the glacial lakes and rivers visible on the drive home are always so awe-inspiring. They looked even better to me in the subdued light of a rainy day.)

We got back to reality around 10pm, and the whole trip already felt like a distant memory. That's the worst part about summer activities, you always have to get back to reality at some point, whether at the the end of the day or week.

We woke up Sunday to the cozy sound of the pouring rain outside our window. We went to church in the morning. After a pretty eventful hour in the nursery (lots of vomit and subsequent cleaning while trying to watch four other mobile boys under 2) we rented a bunch of movies and headed home for lunch.

I felt sluggish and completely unmotivated to do much of anything. After sitting on my bed for 20 minutes staring at the wall, I finally decided to go for a bike ride. I could barely muster the energy to pull on my biking clothes let alone climb on my bike, but my attitude perked up considerably as I flew down the hill past the lagoon and realized that the weather had kept the usual Coastal Trail crowd home. I didn't go for too long (Ride time: 30 minutes. Actual time in the saddle: about 25 minutes) but I rode as hard as I could the whole time. I figured as lazy as I had been feeling I couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy the empty trail.

(I stopped at the ridge just above Pt. Woronzoff, where I always seem to stop. The rain had started to come down a little harder at this point, and there was no distant horizon to be found.)
I managed to hover around 20 mph the entire ride and it felt amazing. I returned home covered in mud and with burning muscles/lungs and a huge smile on my face. I actually felt energized enough to lift weights for a bit and then settled in to watch an old western with Steve. Pretty good Sunday if you ask me...