It's always nice when family visits!

At the end of July Dad, Mom and Brad flew to Alaska for a vacation. When they booked the flight way back in January Sean was supposed to be here but the Coast Guard threw a wrench in our plans. The Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore was at Buoy Tender Roundup in Juneau, Alaska and then they also had to work a few buoys on the way home. Despite this we had an amazing week and a half.

On the way home from the airport Brad saw the first moose of the vacation. We then saw this same moose in the same spot almost every day for just about the entire trip. I sure hope it wised up before opening day of moose season.  Here is a picture of the moose.

We hiked out to McKinley Lake and Brad and Dad went fishing for Salmon.  It was raining so Mom and I stayed in the cabin with the girls and played games.  The hike was about 3.5 miles round trip thru bear country.  We saw a lot of bear scat and paw prints but no bear, whoo hooo.  This could be in part to Mom yelling "Hey Bear" every 15-20 seconds the entire hike back to scare them away.  In Mom's defense we did have five salmon in our backpack that smelled pretty good to any bears in the area. Dad and Brad also rented a boat and went out Halibut fishing.  Dad caught one good size halibut.  They were also able to go explore waterfalls and fish in some fresh water streams.  They spent all day out on the water and had a great time.   Below is a picture of Brad and Dad carrying their catch back to the cabin.  They said the fish put up a good fight and each one took at least five minutes to reel in. 

One of the girls favorite things to do in Cordova is play in the tide pools at low tide.  Of course we had to bring Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Brad to do this while they were here.  We found many star fish, sea stars and many other sea creatures.  We gathered them in a bucket and them released them back into the ocean before leaving.  As you can see below, we found quiet a few!!

We took many rides looking for Bear during their vacation.  On the second day we drove out Whiteshed Rd. Sean and I have taken many rides out to this exact location and have only seen one bear in the past two years.  We stopped on the wooden bridge and mom looked out her window and saw a Black Bear and her THREE cubs!  It was amazing.  She brought them much closer than I thought she would.  They were only 20-25 yards away from where we were standing.  We were on a bridge and they were below us so we were safe.  When we were driving mom said "All I want to see this trip is a bear swimming and watch a bear catch a fish", my response "but you don't ask for a lot, do you?"   Well Mom got her request.  The mom and one cub swam across a river and caught a fish.  Then as the other two cubs started walking away they caught a fish before running back into the woods.  It was by far the best bear sighting we have seen to date and I was so happy my family was here to witness it with the girls and I.  SInce I took over 100 pictures of the 4 bear I will only upload my favorite picture of one of the cubs.  We also saw several other bear on different occasions but the cubs were my favorite sighting.  

We went to Child's Glacier which is always a beautiful sight to see.  On the day we went it was very active and calving a lot.  We went out on Mom and Dad's 31st Anniversary and grilled out.  We also had a bonfire while we watched the glacier.  The girls were picking salmon berries and bringing them back for us to eat.  The weather was perfect.  It couldn't have been a more perfect day.   Here is a picture of Grandpa and Grandma with the girls.   I'll also add a picture of Brad and I.

Brad and I went out to the Alaskan Bar a few times.  It was so nice to hang out with my brother again.  We had a good time catching up and I enjoyed a night out, I only wish Sean was with us too.  I think Brad had a fun time people watching since all the fisherman were in there having a good time.  For the last picture of this post, here is Brad and I next to a CGC Sycamore life ring that the crew signed.  
The afternoon that they were getting ready to leave the ship pulled back in port.  Sean was able to drive them to the airport to say goodbye.  It was not the way we had planned it but it was still a very good vacation.  I know fun was had by all.