Alaskan Sea-Duction: Little O and his 2nd Birthday!

Well Kay and I just got back from Alaska visiting our grandson Oliver, Jeff and Birdie. He hit his 2^nd birthday at full speed and nothing is stopping this kid. The first morning he saw me coming around the corner and he looked at me and made a face as if to ask: Who are you and why are you in my house? It didn’t take long especially after feeding him some of his oatmeal that he warmed right up to PaPa. Didn’t take long for Grandma Kay either. Jeff and Birdie have done a great job and I am so very proud of both of them.

The weather was warming in Alaska than most of the country, in the low 40s and 52 when we left. When we got back to Washington, we had high 40’s and mid 20s! I want to go north to get warm!

On Sunday we went over to our “other” family house Dick and Dawna where we had a great time. We brought fish with us and fed 15 people. Oliver was in heaven with all the attention he was receiving. We also dropped by an old friend of mine, Bill Harris and gave him a slab of Columbia River fish. It was really good to see them.

Kay and I were also able to participate in “bedtime” for Oliver. At 8 PM, he was told it was time for a diaper change and he knew it was bedtime. Once he was all dressed, he would pick out a book and the entire family would sit there as Kay or I would read him his bedtime story. What a neat tradition and impressed both of us.

The 5 days seemed to just fly by and it was time to come home. The entire family met at the old Windbreak café for breakfast. Then with all the good byes said we headed back toward Anchorage. We had the time, so we drove south along Turnagain Arm and boy was it windy. We thought this is going to be a fun right outta here and it was. The minute the plane turned south into the wind it got real bumpy until we reached altitude. We could see the remints of the Typhon that came through the Bering Sea, then when we were just about to Yakutat when the sky cleared and what w beautiful site!

I was hoping for this as I got Kay a window seat. She followed the “inside passage” as I was telling her in about 1 ½ years we would be in those waters! She seemed to get excited like I have never seen before, so I guess she has finally gotten the fever like me and cannot wait for our adventures there. It’s funny; we both asked each other if we had made the right decision by buying the boat and switching our retirement plans. We both smiled and said yes…..I can honestly say we are living the dream and best of all I am doing it with my best friend!

The pictures that follow are of family and mountains. Lots of mountains. Kay and I realized that we didn't get any pictures of the big feed! Dang. The last pictures are of Glacier Bay and the inside passage.