It's Been a Whirlwind!

We arrived back in Anchorage (from the Crow Pass Cabin) last Wednesday afternoon and then had some good friends from CA, Ryan and Martha, arrive in Anchorage Wednesday night. They were here for only a short time so we were on the go quite a bit! We had a great time, though. Last Friday night, we stayed in a yurt overlooking the Eagle River. The sounds of the river were so relaxing. Cooper came along with us on this trip and, as usual, enjoyed all of the sniffs and smells of the outdoors. On Saturday, we drove down south to the Kenai River/Russian River area for a few days of camping and fishing. On one of our days of fishing, we caught sight of 4 bears!! Bears are known to frequent the Kenai River/Russian River area because they know that fish are being caught and they can find some carcasses. They also know that people usually have food in their backpacks. (In the past, fishermen left their backpacks/bags on the shore while they were fishing and the bears have gotten into them.) There are now rules that you need to wear your backpack and have your fish (that you've caught) on you at all times. That may mean hanging them from rope from your waist. Anyways, a grizzly bear and her cub were the first 2 bears to make an appearance. The little cub was, actually, pretty cute. They got pretty close to the people on the river but as long as you don't bother them they won't bother you. About 5 minutes later, 2 black bears came down to the river. This was only the 2nd time I've seen bears from such a close distance and, let me tell you, it gets your heart pumping. Our friends from CA were lucky to have seen both types of bears within minutes of each other. Overall, we all had a fantastic time and are now awaiting our final visitor of the summer--my sister!

Here are some photos of our latest adventure:


Our friend, Joe, performed at a local bar one night. While there, we ran into a local celebrity. If you watch "Deadliest Catch" you'll recognize the guy in the middle as Captain Jon.


Ryan, Martha, Me, Andy and Cooper in front of the yurt right before we started our 1.5-mile hike back to the truck.


This is one of the grizzly bears we saw at the Russian River. The little cub is behind the mama bear and, unfortunately, did not make it into the photo.