Move-cation day 3

Time for our next "thank you" post.  We had a huge day of donations on Monday this week.

THANK YOU

Nate and Kim
Jeff and Jenn
and
Debbie and Stu

With your help, we have JUST about reached the half way mark to our goal of $5650 with exactly 2 weeks left.  If you've lost track, we are raising money until May 13th which is the day that the girls came home from the NICU in 2007.  You still have time to give but we're down to our last 2 weeks to raise another $2700!

In our attempt to catch up on the blog posts, we are now to day 3 of our move from Anchorage to Spokane.  This day we woke up in the most beautiful cabin to the most incredible view we've had the pleasure of experiencing.  The first couple of hours in the morning, we couldn't see much because of some thick fog on the water.  But during breakfast, the fog lifted and we were treated to an AMAZING sight!
Check out this view from the cabin. 

I really like this picture Lisa took of the view from the kitchen including me 

looking at bald eagles through the telescope.

As the fog continued to dissipate, the view got more and more spectacular.

The owners were very nice to walk out and take a picture of us.

Best cabin we've ever stayed at!  Please check them out when you go to Haines, AK.

One of the top 5 pictures from the trip (I say that a lot don't I?!)

One of the great attractions of Haines is a short river that connects a huge lake and the inlet that leads to the ocean...the perfect set up for fishing and bear viewing.  We did see a few bears the night before after the sun had set.  This day we saw plenty of salmon, fisherman, bald eagles, and blue skies.  

What a great combination!

Said bald eagles.

...and fishermen

oh yeah...and totem pole?? 

A short drive and we reached the headwaters of the river....Chilkoot Lake.

We sat in this spot and soaked up the scenery, the sun, and witnessed hundreds of salmon constantly surfacing.  Thinking back on it, it's one of those experiences that not many people have witnessed...seeing the water literally boiling with salmon.  Truly amazing.

The girls were pretty fascinated with the scenery and salmon too.  Actually, they found a few water bugs skimming across the surface that really blew their mind.  

Doesn't even look real!

So half way up the little river that connected the inlet to the lake was a weir.  With only this small slit in the weir, this guy's job was to sit there and count every salmon that passed by.  I have a picture of the white board where they keep a running total.  It said "cumulative since 6-3-12: 105,195"!!!!  WOW!!!

Driving back toward the town, this eagle was flying right over us and swooped down close enough that Lisa grabbed this picture...from a moving car!!  Nice job, Lisa!

Haines, AK

Our ride finally arrives!  We spent the day exploring Haines which included shopping, lunch, and finding a park at the elementary school where we tried to get all of our energy out...knowing that we would be aboard this boat for the next 5 nights and 4 days.

If you haven't been on the Alaska Marine Highway, there is a LOT of waiting involved.  You show up and get in one of 10 lanes and wait...and wait...and move 5 feet....and wait.  The order that they load all the vehicles is very crucial so that people can drive off where they want to.  Since we were going all the way down to Bellingham, WA (the last stop), you'd think we'd be the first car on.  Not quite.

What we weren't ready for when we finally drove on the ferry was there are actually TWO levels of vehicles.  The bottom level is all vehicles that were to get off sooner than Bellingham PLUS the RVs and semi-trucks!! And in the middle were 3 car elevators that took us up to the second level.  Completely blew our mind when we drove on the ferry, turned the corner, and saw the line waiting to go on the elevator.  Crazy!

By the time we parked the car, found our cabin, and grabbed a bite to eat, 

the sun was down and we were well on our way.  

On our way down Chilkoot Inlet, we passed this cruise ship heading the opposite direction.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I have.  This has been one of my favorite set of pictures to share on the blog....just stunning beauty and a really exciting adventure to go along with it.