Our 4th of July

For the 4th of July this year, Andy and Lisa Brown and her mother joined Ben and I to a trip to Talkeetna, about half way from Anchorage to Denali National Park. On the way, we decided to stop at the Little Susitna River again to try to catch a King Salmon. No luck again, but Ben found a great "sport" to do in the river, "River Running". He conned Lisa Brown into trying it, and for the rest of the story, check out the video.

What you don't see at the end was Ben diving in the water when Andy yelled "Dude, save my wife!". Luckily Lisa managed to get to shore. Good laugh.
Here's the post-falling-in-the-river shot.
 

In Talkeetna, they were getting ready for the Moose Dropping Festival, where they drop hand painted and decorated wooden moose by the local businesses, onto a bullseye on the ground from a plane. People put money on which moose will hit the bullseye, then there's prize money. A famous Alaskan tradition. This was my favorite moose, a mer-moose, decorated by a local store.
We stopped by the Talkeetna River to skip some stones.
Here's a great shot displaying my weather geekiness.
Good friends, good times!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!!

It was Ben's 30th birthday on the 7th, ready....everyone!...."Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Beeeeeeennnnnnnnnn, Happy Birthday tooooo yoooouuuuu!"
It was a good one, Ben got a tool chest/work center to put all his tools in...
and some Superman pj pants!!!!! (He also got some more socially acceptable ones too to wear around other people, as to not give away his identity)...
He got the birthday poster greeting, started by his mom when he was just a wee one...
and then a dinner at Benihanna's and dessert at the Crow's Nest with our friends The Browns.
Then for another dessert, I combined his favorites...cupcakes and angel food cake...and made angel cupcakes!!!! Turned out a little strange (if any of your try this, DON'T use paper cups!) but still good none the less.

Now try to imagine the next two pics in action!!!!! Happy Birthday my love!

Fish fish fish fish fish....

Here fishy fishy!.... I have one thing to say, waders rock, except when you go in the river too deep!

Oooooops!
Our friends Andy and Lisa workin' it on the Little susitna river.

More fishing...

The water at the falls was really flowin! Salmon are nuts.
The long arduous journey up the river!
Kenai lake, hmmmm might be nice to be the guy with the float plane and the masion on the right eh?
We tried our hand at the King slamon, not much luck though, the run was weak and we are going to wait for the next one to come around, but catching a king is a must do! We had a blast anyway, notice the beer holder in Lisa's back pocket... Too much fun! 

We had so much fun on the first trip we went back to see the falls and catch a few more fish while we were at it! This is Lisa's first of the day, three before that were so huge that they got away!
The falls were awesome, the fish were packed in there like sardines, you could literally walk across their back to the other side of the river! It was truly amazing to see them swim up that falls. The water was really flowing fast and they made it right up no problem! I am going to try to post a video on here so you can get a better feel for it!
Great shot of a fish in the air!
See the backs of the fish in the water!

Fishing for Salmon!!!

Master fisherman Ben at your service! The salmon were running in the russian river on the Kenai just this past few weeks... I took the opportunity to check it out with Lisa Brown. We had a blast and filled our freezers with some of the best fish you could ask for!
The views in the area weren't all that shabby either... Alaska in summer is so beautiful!
Hard to beat this scenery... and the fishing to boot! 

Vanessa and Lisa Climb Alaska's Peak!!!!!!

Ok, well not "The Peak", but Flattop Mountain right outside Anchorage. :) We had a great time, good exercise and some time back in the snow (in June!!!). We were quite suprised how much snow was left, apparently some hikers were too since we came across a few with sandals on!


Vanessa with Anchorage in the background

This is a guy, who later we found out was probably in his 70s or 80s, doin it old style and ice climbing down the peak!

The "Do-It-Herself" gals!
 

More from Amber and Ty's trip

I know we already posted some pics from my sister Amber's and her husband Ty's visit, but I found some other great shots and thought I'd share!

Here is Exit Glacier on our way down to Seward. We decided to go check it out!
Ben, Vanessa, Amber and Ty trying to find a way around the glacier to a beautiful waterfall.
Amber and Lisa at part of the waterfall.
The glacier is so blue!
 

Wildlife

On our way down to Seward, we caught glimpses of a lot of wildlife (the first two were in a gated area for sick or injured wildlife, that would be crazy to actually be that close out in the wild!!!)


This bald eagle was soaring above Turnagain Arm.
 

Some other great shots from Amber and Ty's visit!

Sisterly love
Enjoying Turnagain Arm
Vanessa, Ben, Amber, Ty and Lisa in front of Portage Lake
Amber and Ty in front of Ship Creek waiting to see if anyone catches a salmon