Blog Neglect

When I initially started this blog I thought I would be updating it at least once a week.  Then came the winter, which was more uneventful than I thought it would be.  I blame it on the dismal snow fall this winter season.  We bought lift tickets to Alyeska which went to waste due to timing and lack of snow.  However, on the bright side we got to travel more than ever this winter.  In April, Ryan and I were lucky enough to meet my parents for about two weeks in Maui and Kauai.  It was such a great experience!  It was fun to be able to spend alone time with my parents and my husband and we had a blast.

Isn't my dad so cool?  It had been 30 years since he was in ocean water!  We did a lot of snorkeling and I received my PADI open water diver certification.  We saw lots of sea turtles (close enough that I was nervous about getting bitten!), various eels, an octopus (it even shot out ink), different amazingly colorful fish, and the best part was that we could hear the whales singing underwater.  It definitely blew my mind!

Isn't Kauai so lush?  I could definitely see why it's called the Garden Isle.  This was on a road called Jeep Trail.  Coincidentally, it was identical to the Jeep Trail here in Alaska.  Driving over streams on a bumpy dirt road.  It gave me flashbacks.

 This is Waimea falls featured in the opening of Fantasy Island.

Us at the Old Lahaina Luau in Maui.  It was a very fun time!  This past weekend one of Ryan's colleagues took us out on his boat for an overnight fishing trip.  We were accompanied by his two little adorable girls and Zephyr.  We spent the night on the boat in a cove and fished in Kachemak Bay.

 We set sail (is that the right word even if it wasn't a sailboat?) out of the docks in Homer.  It's the same dock that the Time Bandit from Deadliest Catch sets out from.  We even got Zephyr a life jacket in case the water loving dog jumped ship.

Sunrise over the mountains from where we spent the night.  It was very cozy sleeping on the boat.  

 We started off fishing for halibut but Ryan caught lots and lots of cod.  The boys threw these back in the water because they are not good eatin'.

Ryan's first ocean king (chinook) salmon!  He was very excited to have caught one.  We had it for dinner and it was really, really good.  Sorry about the not so pretty picture!

 We caught 2 halibut.  They are so heavy to reel up.  I had to hand it the rod over three quarters of the way up because my arms were getting so sore!  This guy was 120 feet underwater.

 We saw a lot of tufted puffin.  I love these birds!  I wish they would get closer so I could get a better picture.

 We also saw two groups of sea otters, which are called rafts.  Sea otters are generally loners but sometimes rest together in groups.

 Ryan talked me into taking Zeph on the trip, he loved being on the boat.  Enough so that he didn't want to go to the bathroom!  The poor guy held it for 24 hours.  He didn't seem at all traumatized unlike his mama.

The Kenai River in our backyard has almost completely thawed.  The days are getting longer (sunset around 9:45 pm) and warmer.  I can't wait until it gets green again!  It'll be fun to see the river level rise in the next few weeks.

With warm weather brings our next round of guests!  Ryan and I love having our friends visit because it gets us out doing things we normally wouldn't do.  We hope that we can talk someone into flying over the inlet with us to do some salmon fishing near grizzlies!  We want to try to experience everything in the next two months before we head back to San Francisco.