Alaska - Day 9

The trip is winding down.  Today, they were to:

• Continue your journey along the Sterling Highway up to the Homer Spit to board the vessel that will bring you to the Peterson Field Station.  Stop to view Gull Island along your journey.  
• On the shores, you will learn and see firsthand the diverse marine wildlife both in the water and on land during hikes with your local guide and a visit to the aquarium.  
• Your Coastal Studies instructors will help you explore the richness of Kachemak Bay’s extreme tidal changes and a coastal forest ecosystem on the edge of wilderness.   
• Overnight in a Yurt!

We got the following email from one of the leaders:

Just an FYI- we will be "off the grid" today and tonight so don't be concerned if you don't hear from the girls. If you need to reach them, you can try me first and if that doesn't work contact P2P.  See you at the airport!

Any idea what we are to do with all the minutes she didn't use on her phone?

Alaska - Day 8

Today looks like it may have been a cold day for the kids in Alaska.  They visited Exit Glacier.  There they were to "gain insight into environmental science and appreciate the beauty of Alaskan nature...as you explore the Exit Glacier, the only road accessible glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. Previously known as the Resurrection Glacier, Exit Glacier received its name when in 1968 it marked the exit of the first recorded expedition crossing of the Harding Icefield."

Today's plan:

• Lace up your hiking boots and participate in a ranger-led walk to Exit Glacier, where you’ll learn about the creation and movement of the glaciers in the Kenai Fjords National Park.  
• Board a vessel for your cruise to the waters of the Kenai Fjords National Park. Keep an eye open for whales, sea otters, sea lions, eagle, bears, and more. Your cruise will last four hours and explore Resurrection Bay. 
• Board your motorcoach and head for Homer, Alaska!  See spectacular scenery like volcanoes on the far side of the Cook Inlet, lush green valleys and an array of wildflowers along the way.  Homer is known to some as the Halibut Capital of the World.

Panning for gold:

Exit Glacier in the background:

Looks like they were worn out:

Alaska - Day 7

She called last night!  It was 9:00 p.m. here and she was heading out to dinner, then to the aquarium (probably what is referenced in the last bullet below), but she made time to call her mom for a couple of minutes.  She is having a blast!  I hope she'll want to come home at the end of this week!

Monday's activities:

• Travel to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center where you will get up close and personal with their resident animals including black bear, bison, and caribou. Learn about efforts to preserve and maintain Alaska’s unique large animal population. This is a great chance to take photos of the state’s iconic wildlife in case you missed the opportunity in Denali!
• Bring your binoculars and rise and travel south to visit the Potter Marsh. With its panoramic view of Turnagain Arm, it is one of the most accessible and scenic bird watching areas in Anchorage.
• Continue your journey along the scenic Seward Highway to the Trail Lake Hatchery where you will learn about Alaska’s iconic salmon fishing industry.  Learn about the process of catching wild salmon
• Enjoy an official welcome to the seaside town of Seward!
• Enjoy a special People to People moment when you visit the Seward Museum and interact with local longtime residents and hear their stories of life in this small fishing community.
• Continue south to the port community of Seward where you will be welcomed by a local town official and experience an in-depth look above and below the waters at the Alaska Sealife Center.

We Can Have Fun Here, Too!

While Liv is in Alaska, our lives continue here at home.  She can't be the only one having fun!

Tuesday afternoon, Heather, Joie, and I took in Epic at the movie theater.  It's the second time we saw it, but it is a cute movie.

On Wednesday, I went back to work.  Heather and Jo went to the Zoo with Grandma, Aunt Jessica, and cousin Gigi.

Thursday, nothing exciting happened, unless you count playing card games, playing toss outside, organizing shelves, and planning next year's school year exciting.

On Friday, Heather and Jo went to the farm where we volunteer.  After working there for a couple of hours, they headed home to pack for our campout that weekend.  Since it was with the American Heritage Girls troop, we got to learn about fire building and safety, cooking on the fire, and "leave no trace".  We also enjoyed s'mores, skits, and songs and got to participate in a flag burning ceremony.  The weather over the weekend was less than ideal, but we had a good time despite all the rain.

On Saturday, we hiked a trail and did a scavenger hunt.  We got soaked on the way back to camp in one of the deluges we experienced that day.  The girls played some games, did a craft, and cooked dessert on the fire.  We ended the night with a presentation at the Cincinnati Astronomical Society.  Unfortunately, it was still too cloudy to use the telescopes.  :-(  We definitely need to go back there when the sky is clear!  We decided to head home that night to get a good night's sleep (and we did).

We are also keeping an eye on our buckets of vegetables on the deck.  Not bad, considering these all started with organic soil and seeds.  We've got the following:

• 6 Sungold Cherry Tomato plants
• 3 Pink & Green Tie-Dyed Tomato plants
• 5 Dill Plants
• 4 Thyme plants
• 3 Basil Plants + one still left over from last year (we kept in the kitchen over the winter)
• 1 Sweet Banana Pepper Plant

More fun planned for this week, too!

Alaska - Day 6

Short post for yesterday's events (since we never seem to hear from our daughter).  She has texted us a couple of times and has called once and she's been gone for six days already.  She must be having a lot of fun!

This is what was planned for yesterday:

• Hear experiences and stories about farming in Alaska on a family farm whose owners go four generations back. Learn from a real Alaskan farmer about which produce grows well and about Alaska’s own “Alaska Grown” program, encouraging Alaska resident to buy local.  
• Travel the scenic Parks Highway and stop to explore the Indian Burial Ground at Eklutna. 
• Enjoy a special People to People moment when you learn about the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the area. Meet Father Mikel (if Available), who will join your group to share about the history and grounds of the Russian Orthodox Church.  Afterwards, enjoy some time to explore and read about the Russian Orthodox in Alaska.

Hay ride:

They also went to an open air market.  Livvi's doing something on the ground here (behind the girl in yellow):

Alaska - Day 5

We hadn't heard from Liv in a couple of days and were wondering why.  We knew she was doing great based on the pictures we saw and the update we got from one of the leaders, but it's nice to hear directly from her, even if only a text message.  We speculated she may have lost her phone or they were out of range of a cell signal up in Denali Park.  Turns out it was the latter.

Livvi sent us the following text on Saturday afternoon:

Sorry I've been so busy, but I'm having a great time.  Now on way 2 kennel :)

Saturday's activities included:

• Leaving Denali and traveling to the town of Talkeetna, which began as a trading post when gold was first discovered in the Susitna River. 
• Meeting a local bush plane pilot who will share tales of flying climbers on to the face of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in the United States!
• Continue on your journey to Palmer in the Matanuska Susitna Valley, where world record monster size vegetables grow in the 24-hour daylight. 
• Meet a real sled dog musher! Stop in at the official Iditarod headquarters before visiting the sled dog training kennels of four time Iditarod winner, Martin Buser.   
• Learn about the Last Great Race and the life and art of mushing dogs in Alaska. You even get to cuddle with puppies (no, you can't take one home).

I'm just guessing, but I have a feeling Livvi enjoyed meeting the puppies!

Alaska - Day 4

I'm a day late in posting this one (and possibly others to follow). Heather, Joie, and I went camping over the weekend and I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. More on the camping in another post.

They were to set out to explore the wilderness in Denali National Park. They were warned to be prepared for the area’s mosquitoes by wearing long pants, a long sleeve shirt, both light colored and mosquito repellant, with DEET as the main ingredient. Mosquitoes are most active in the late afternoon to dusk. However, preventative measures should be taken all day. 

Some of what was planned:

• Begin your day with the Murie Excursion, which will take you across expansive 30 miles of Denali Wilderness. This excursion into the park will provide a truly unique experience in Denali.  
• Along your excursion stop for hikes in the pristine wilderness and gain a deeper understanding of the climate through learning to use equipment including scopes and telemetry.  
• Explore the works of characters such as Adolph Murie and contemporary park wildlife biologists, and discover the reasons why humans wish to preserve this place 
• A park ranger will introduce you to the philosophy of environmental conservationism and how it applies to the millions of acres of preserved Alaskan wilderness. 
• This evening, relax and enjoy your dinner after you day of wilderness exploration.

The leader that went with her from Cincinnati sent us the following message:

We're doing well in Alaska, seeing and learning a lot.  I'm forwarding parts of an email sent by another leader that includes an update of yesterday's activities. 

Olivia continues to be her awesome self, always helpful, kind and interested in everything that we are doing.  She is making friends with the delegates from the other groups and seems to be having a great time.

Update: 

Here's what we've done so far:

1. Met new friends at the Alaska native heritage museum for a feast of native Alaskan foods and a presentation by storyteller Marge about growing up Alaskan
2. Swimming!!!
3. Drive to Denali national park with a few surprises
4. Stopped at Iditarod headquarters where we were supposed to just look at the museum and maybe buy gifts but were handed a handful of puppies! Ray Reddington began the races. We met his son, Ray Jr who placed 6th last year and whose son Ray 3rd placed 5th. Each delegate took a photo with a puppy so be sure to ask!
5. Saw a black bear climbing a fence in anchorage
6. Became part of the 33% Denali club (you'll have to ask)
7. Amazing dinner at the world famous Denali salmon bake
8. Adaptation presentation at Denali education center
9. Saw a moose
10. Mini tour of Anchorage

There are tons of things I left out, but these are the highlights.