Wednesday-Tuesday

WEDNESDAY

*us girls went to some shops. Mom & dad have 11 grand kids and needed to find souvenirs for 9 of them. The guys went & did some fishing since shopping really isn't their thing.

*that evening we drove down to Cooper Landing and took an awesome float trip. It was so beautiful and we all enjoyed it.

The favorite part of the evening when we took a little ride down a side road and spotted some bears. It was so awesome to see them in the wild. One of them was huge! It definitely made me glad to be watching from inside the truck.

* Thursday we took the ferry to Cordova. This time it was the fast ferry so it only took 3.5 hours to get there. The people (Nate & Rebecca) we stayed with lived in a very big round house rite on the lake. They have 4 kids (6,5,2 and 9 months old) so Lance & Lexie had some buddies to play with. They loved catching minnows (baby salmon) out of the lake and play in the tree house, complete with a kid friendly zip line. 

* we tried our luck at salmon fishing but we were a couple weeks early for the salmon run. 

* Andrew & dad went out halibut fishing a couple times.

They caught a 65 lb and a 20 lbs halibut along with some creeping looking fish. One was a wolf eel and dad caught a spiny fish called an Irish Lord.

*the house on the lake was a perfect place to have bonfires at night. Everyone loved sitting around the fire. It was the perfect way to warm up.

Cordova is considered a rain forest so most days it rains and the temperature doesn't get super warm there. While it was in the 70's in Eagle River it only got to about 50 there. Mom wasn't a fan of the damp cool temperatures.

SATURDAY

Nate had the week off, and living in Cordova he has to cut lots of wood to get ready for winter. He also has to make sure he cuts it ahead of time so it can dry out some before winter. Dad & Andy were more than happy to help. Dad cuts wood all the time anyway. 

* mom & I took the kids to the beach during low tide to explore. It was so much fun!! We found lots of crabs, some nasty looking worms, lots of seashells, and a baby eel. The kids could have stayed forever. They love every minute of it.

* Lance and Ellie, who is 5, were the best  of friends. It was so sweet to watch him with her. When they were fishing he would bate her hook and even cast for her. He was so sweet!!

SUNDAY

*we woke up bright an early to catch the ferry to head back home. We really enjoyed our time in Cordova!! 

*once off the ferry we were headed back to Eagle River. We made a couple stops along the way though. The first stop was the Wildlife Conservation Center. They have lots of Alaskan animals. Most are animals they have raised there at the center. Some were abandoned as babies or their mother's were killed by hunters or on the highway. A few were injured and are there to be nursed back to health then released back in the wild when they have fully recovered. 

*our next stop was lunch at the Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ. I love the name and the BBQ is wonderful!!! The name comes from the location in the Turnagain Arm. 

*sunday evening was spent doing laundry. We had lots of smelly fishy clothes to wash plus I had to get Andrew ready to leave for Fairbanks on Monday morning.

MONDAY

*Monday was mom and dads last day in Alaska with us so we just wanted a nice relaxing day. Andrew left early that morning. 

*we did some fishing at mirror lake. I caught a small trout and so did Lance. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand more then they did fishing. That's ok. Dad, mom & I enjoyed ourselves just fine. 

*monday night we were all pretty tired and we had to be up super early to get MawMaw and papa to the airport so we all went to bed by 8:30.

TUESDAY

* we were up by 3:30 am to get mom and dad off to the airport 

* we sure will miss them, but next month we will be visiting them in Missouri for 12 days.