Welcome Home

Well, we have no other excuse for not posting sooner but for the fact that we've been getting settled into our new Anchorage home!  We're pretty excited about this new opportunity and the beautiful wooded location.  They say once we clear out some of these trees, or at least branches, we can see Mt. McKinley.  Definitely looking forward to that!

Within our first week in the new house we hosted our first official guests: friends Sarah and Troy Anderson who made the trek from Iowa.  We had a great time with them watching the Belugas only 50 yards away, showing them the plentiful moose in Anchorage's parks, viewing spawning salmon, exploring glaciers, and just enjoying the beautiful weather!  Troy took some great Beluga pics and once he sends them I'll be sure to post some.  Oh, and I should mention that Troy was my 'salmon guide guinea pig'. 



My lovely wife braving the wind at Exit Glacier, Seward.


The first person I've salmon fished with where I was the resident expert.  Fortunately the fishing gods shined upon us as he limited on Silvers in the first afternoon we were on the water.



It wasn't long after Troy and Sarah left that I dove into demolition mode on the basement.  We're working towards a day when we can share half of the basement with some tenants.  The new house is MUCH bigger than two simpletons like us need!  Actually, if even half of you who claim they will visit us do we may need that extra space........hmmmmm.  In addition to demo and consulting with contractors, we've also been seeking out bargains on appliances and materials through..............yup, you guessed it, Craigslist!  As if demo isn't fun enough, we really enjoy scoring some great deals on quality items.

Bear hunting in the mountains of "my office". Sheep were
all over the peak on the left.

Last weekend while Cara was working, I snuck out of Anchorage to help a friend with his bear hunt.  We backpacked up into the mountains of the Chugach NF, stalked 2 bears, saw dozens of Dall sheep, spent time in the beautiful backcountry sunshine but came home with nothing more than sore bodies and priceless 'Alaska Bush Lessons'.  Lesson 1: Objects on hill are further than they appear.  Lesson 2: Don't be deceived by broad, seemingly passable valleys; you will surely be disappointed and impeded by alder-choked terrain or broad gushing streams.  Lesson 3:  Try to stick to the established trail whenever possible!

As we work to get settled, we're also yearning to establish our new social network here.  Our work environments have not resulted in meeting folks close to our age so we're really praying to find a good church community we can plug in to.  The church hunt has been a bit frustrating, due in part to the high bar that was set by our Spokane church (thanks CTR!).  This weekend we'll try church #4 and are optimistic that it will fit our needs and be a place we can grow and fellowship.

A majestic alpine stream, just below treeline
and draining a large tundra valley.

Finally, thank you to those who have left comments.  Leaving comments lets me know that people are reading the posts and help encourage me to keep regular updates coming! 

Congrats to Blair and LaShawna on the birth of their son, Branson!  Great job at the fair Trent, glad to hear you did so well with your showing, judging and tractor driving, atta boy!  Congrats to all our newlywed friends and family: Scott & Calli, Luke and Jenn, Mark and Lindy.  We were sad to miss your big days but are excited to see your marriages blossom into loving, lasting relationships.