If I Had to Pick . . .

Living gratefully today, I appreciate the wonderful trip my husband Darcy and I recently took to Alaska. I give thanks for safe travels, and the endless splendor of the Alaska landscape.

I give a huge thank you and shout out to my sister Aileen and her husband John. They were wonderful hosts, guides, drivers, fellow walkers and conversationalists. The welcome and hospitality was a real treat. And I will just add, so were the fresh raspberries from their yard.

We traveled 5,000 miles by air to get there and back, and well over 500 miles by car while we were there. Water and mountains everywhere. Stunning, majestic, untouched, untamed, awe-inspiring. A check of my phone tells me I took 250 pictures on the trip. It’s hard to pick favorites from such a collection, but if I had to, I would pick these two:

I am keeping them Alaska-sized for amplified effect. The first one is the view overlooking Homer, on a treat of a weather day. The unique Homer Spit is visible in the water in the distance. We spent the night there, enjoying fresh halibut and a walk on the rugged beach. The water you see is Kachemak Bay. Homer is on the Kenai Peninsula.

The second one is Surprise Glacier in Prince William Sound, one of 26 glaciers pointed out on the glacier cruise we took on another glorious weather day. Our cruise began and ended in Whittier, another unique place, accessible by car only via the two-and-a-half mile Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel.

Some of our days in Alaska were gray and rainy, so we were very fortunate to have sunny and clear weather for these locales. We stayed at Surprise Glacier longer than the typical cruise does. We witnessed several calvings (when pieces of the glacier fall off into the water) as we floated among icebergs and got a view of some harbor seals. The captain of the catamaran and the park ranger on board both noted that they hadn’t seen the glacier this active in years. Surprise!

There are millions of untouched and protected acres of wilderness in Alaska. It somehow heightened the intensity of my view as I looked out and considered that fact. There was also evidence of climate change. Concerning evidence. It motivates me to do my part to protect what we have.

It was my second trip to Alaska and Darcy’s first. The pictures will help keep our memories fresh. Thank you again Aileen and John! And thank you Alaska!