more catching up

July 8th
This was the big arrival day for our friends and family. Steven left Portage to pick up Athan, Reagan and Josh Davis in the late morning and then all of us drove to Cooper Landing which was about 1 1/2 hrs away. This was our home for the next 5 nights.
At about 5 Pm my dad, brother, cousin and uncle arrived and drove down to Cooper Landing to their bed and breakfast. After checking in they met up with us at the campsite. It was a relaxing day and it was great that all of their flights were problem free. We all enjoyed a grill out together that evening.

July 9th
On this day we all (8 adults + Athan and Ava) drove to Seward, Alaska for an 8 hour cruise of Kenai Fjords National Park. Before going to the cruise we stopped to see Exit Glacier, but we did not have time to hike up to the ice. The cruise was a great time on calm waters. The food was delicious and the views were wonderful. We saw all kinds of animals including a humpback whale who even gave us a view of it's tail. The puffins, in particular, were neat to see in both the water and flying overhead. The highlight of the trip was getting to see Holgate Glacier calving into the sea. We were fortunate to be there to see large iceburgs fall into the ocean. The thunder of the ice cracking is impressive each and every time you hear it.
After the cruise Reagan, Josh, Athan, Ava and myself went back to Exit Glacier to hike to the ice. It was about a 2.7 mile trek that we took the kids on, and they both did really well. The glacier was great to see and the photos of the 2 kids in front of the ice are super funny. The best part of the trek was when out of nowhere a black bear crossed our path about 30 feet in front of us. It took a few steps towards us and then walked back into the woods. We snapped a few photos and shared a few laughs. It was an unexpected surprise.

July 10th
This day was the big halibut fishing day for dad, Brian, Randy, Matt and Steven (and his dad, Steve). They drove to Ninilchek to spend the day fishing. They caught the maximum limit of fish possible and were able to have 150 lbs (also the max allowed) shipped home. There were 7 foot swells, so needless to say there were some green faces out there and one who threw up a couple times. Yuck!
Josh, Reagan, Athan, Ava and I drove to Homer which is where the road and land ends on the western part of the Kenai Peninsula. The drive included some cool moose sightings... 8 to be exact. Two of those moose were twin babies with their mother. The craziest thing happened this day, though, because we randomly stopped down a gravel road to look at a river to see the king salmon swimming up stream when all of a sudden I hear "Jod" being yelled at me numerous times. I look out into the street to see all of the guys riding in the back of a boat being towed by a truck. The guys had just finished fishing and were stopping about 2 blocks from the random place we had parked. It was cool to see their halibut and get some pictures of them in front of the fish. The largest was 92 lbs. Not to shabby for a bunch of first timers! :)