This entry is brought to you by Megan. I apologize in advance because it will not be as great as Abs entries. Ok, here we go....Monday started off with a fabulous bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and 2% milk (I like skim but beggars can't be choosers). Anyway, Ab and I got dressed and headed to Blue Lake for a wonderful morning hike. The weather was beautiful....blue sky and sunny. The trail leads you to two different lakes that were covered in about 3 feet or more of snow. It was great! We hiked for about an hour and a half and made our way back to the car. Then since we were out on that side of town we went to the chocolate factory for the second time! On our way back from there we spotted a WHALE! Of course, we both just about jumped out of our skins and pulled out the camera. We got out of the car and realize the whale dispapeared and of course I had the brilliant idea to run along the street while Abby drove like Cruella Deville to catch up with it. If this doesn't describe our excitement I don't know what will. We finally saw the error of our ways and got into the car together and drove to Whale Park. where we had to plow ourselves thourgh SO MUCH snow in order to make it to even see the whale. We finally make it to see the whale and then it dove deep. We stayed in our same spots for about 30-45 min and didn't see our whale friend again. Ab and I finally end up leaving and on our way back to the van (which by the way has more smells than anyone would know what to do with) we see yet another whale. After whale watching we make our way into town for some lunch at a little Italian resturant named Roma's. Roma's had the greatest service and when I say greatest I really mean hilarious. We had two different servers one woman who was the loudest person ever and then another woman that was so soft-spoken/hard of hearing. Who knows the one who was hard of hearing could probably thank the other lady that yelled instead of talked. It was a great experience. After lunch, Ab and I went shopping for the fam. I think we hit every shop in Sitka that sold something.....if that doesn't give you some perspective. When we were finished shopping we headed to what's known as Sandy Beach or what I like to call Rocky Beach because I saw no sand. We made our way down to the "beach" and took a million and one pictures of course of ourselves jumping off a huge rock. This was the best Monday I have ever had. Not only to spend it in a beautiful state but to share it with by best bud.....nothing could be better! Thanks for letting me share our Monday with you. This is Megan signing off.
It's true! I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Megan (I've had a count down for about 3 weeks now) and IT'S FINALLY HERE! She got here late on Friday night and have seen and done just about everything so far. We got up on Saturday morning and I showed here around Sitka. We drove to either ends of the road and went to Totem Park. It has snowed everyday in March and Saturday was another day full of snow. She saw her first eagle and acted like a 5 year old, she says. We were both so excited and having her here has made more aware of the beauty around us....it's crazy how quick you can take things for granted. After a snow filled stroll in the park we went to lunch at the Bayview (my favorite restaurant) which overlooks the harbor. After lunch we went cruising out Sawmill Creek Road and found ourselves a pack of sea lions. So I pulled the car over and we jumped out to get a better look. THEN we saw some whales way off in the distance and we both just about peed ourselves and then they disappeared. Just as we were about to leave...little did we know they had swam closer to us and we snapped pictures like there was no tomorrow! Megan has dubbed herself the "paparazzi". It's perfect! After watching the whales until we couldn't any longer we took a little trip to the Theobroma Chocolate Factory of Sitka. We got ourselves a couple of bars of chocolate and went back to see if we could find our whale friends again but we didn't. We came home and took some cat naps and then went to the grocery store to get some groceries to make dinner at Annie's house. Kristen (Annie's roomate) and Pat joined us for some quesadillas and David Bean came over and entertained us with some fun stories. And that was day one of Megan's Alaskan Adventure.....
....AND for day two....we arose early today to catch a boat for a whale cruise! And did we see some whales! We climbed aboard a mini ferry with about 50 other people and got some breakfast that they served. We sat down and ate as we made our way into the Sitka Sound. We quickly came upon a pod of 4 whales. Humpbacks...we learned some fun facts about them...can grow to 45 feet and weigh 45 tons, they usually stay under for 4-9 minutes before coming up for air but have been known to stay under for as long as 20 min., they go to Hawaii to have their babies and stay there until the baby is "beefed" up and then they come to Alaska, they carry their babies for 12 months (crazy!!).....those are just a few! We just about jumped out of skin and OF COURSE snapped more pictures like there was no tomorrow. But this time we were a bit closer to them. It was unbelievable...pictures just don't do it justice!! The captain of the ferry kept our boat in the area of the whales for about an hour so we just watched them do their thing! Then he took us to see some sea otters and then some sea lions....pretty amazing creatures. We got a pretty great view of Mt. Edgecumbe while we were out there and the "paparazzi" got some sweet shots of that. It's been pretty rare because visibility has been so poor. It has snowed everyday of March so far and TODAY was the first day that it didn't!...the LORD is good! Sitka a broken their record for snowfall day after day this month...pretty crazy but fun for us! After our excursion out to sea we went to lunch at the one and only Hermanos....pizza, mexican and american food. Pretty fun and a great crowd pleaser. Then we came back to the house and hung out for a little bit to rest up for the hike we planned. We headed out to the other end of road where we hiked a little bit to get some water from the artesian well. Then we made our way to the Mosquito cove trail which is almost 2 miles. There was tons and tons of snow which made the hike about 10 times harder but made for one heck of a sledding hill at the end! And that was a wrap for the second day of Megan's Alaskan Adventure!
It's been a while! Sorry..it has been kinda crazy around here. Cheston (the dad) came home to surprise us all from the Bering Sea and what a surprise it was!! It was extremely weird at first but it is getting a little more comfortable. I think it's been a great thing because i've had to completely seek comfort in the Lord. He is working in my heart in some neat ways I believe and stretching me beyond my imagination!! Cheston brought home king crab and lots of other kinds of fish...so that's what we've been eating just about every meal. The kings are incredible, they are HUGE! His boat took about 2 weeks off and everyone goes home to see their families. So he has to go back on the 18th. When he first got here I had about 4 days off. It was great. I got to hang out a lot with friends and it snowed more..we got about 2 feet of snow. So we played in the snow quite a bit. It has been snowing off and on for about 2 weeks now. I love it...it makes it so beautiful! Things here are pretty good. Megan is coming this Friday and I don't know that I could be more excited! It is going to be so great and something that I need badly!! These are some pics of our house because I'm sure many of you are wondering what it's like! I miss everybody!
