SISTERS BIRTHDAY!
On Tuesday, August 11th, Deve, Becky, Donna and I went to Galveston to celebrate Laurice (August 7th) and my (August 14th) birthdays. We met and had dinner at a new Greek restaurant Laurice found named Olympia Grill at Pier 21. The food was really good and it was nice enough on the island so we were able to move outside for dessert and the gift opening. Afterward, we were headed for Laurice's house when we discovered live music outside at the Rainforest Cafe on the seawall. It was a really, really great day! On my actual birthday, Melissa brought me yummy tirimasu cake for breakfast and her family gave me a scrapbook for my travels. Later, Joe, me, Melissa with the boys and Trey, Brandi with the girls went to Red Lobster for dinner. Trey's family gave me a Woodwick reed diffuser in a wonderful fragrance.
ALASKA CONTINUED
Thursday, July 30th
Larry and Moe had a free day from fishing today and I had read about this intriguing-sounding place to visit and have dinner. The place is Halibut Cove and the restaurant is The Saltry. In order to eat at The Saltry, we drove 2 hours (again) southwest to Homer. From Homer we caught the Danny J (a private ferry) over to Halibut Cove (accessible only by boat or plane). Halibut Cove is a community of artists who have built a boardwalk for their studios, shops and The Saltry. Their homes are built on the mountain
sides that make up the cove.
This is Joe riding the Danny J across Kachemak Bay (about a 45-min. ride) to Halibut Cove. The Danny J is owned by the same people who own The Saltry. I suppose this works out well for them since they are assured there will be no more diners than their ferry will hold and all diners will eat at the same time.
Once in the cove, we were let off at the far-end of the boardwalk (not far...1/2 mile perhaps) so we could get a look at the art studios. This is George and Laurice sitting on one of the benches along the boardwalk.
This picture is of The Saltry as taken from the Danny J. The red building on the far left is a pottery shop. The restaurant makes all of their serving pieces there. Each piece is unique. The building next with the blue sign is a souvenir shop. Next (with the strange white roof) is the kitchen and bar. The pavilion-like structure is where we had dinner.
After dinner, we took the ferry back to Homer. Fortunately, the rain didn't start falling until we were back on the Danny J. It was a long, wet ride back. Fortunately, we were provided those cool yellow slickers to wear : ) Oh, the food at The Saltry was good but it wasn't nearly as memorable as the experience.
The Olympia has a Greek band and a belly dancer on Saturday nights. Joe and I went down Friday evening and the rest of the family arrived on Saturday. Bert and Betty even surprised us by 
driving over from Kerrville (where they had spent last week helping Teri get moved into her new apartment). Melissa and Brandi drove down for the afternoon with Emily and Kaylee. We spent a couple of hours on the Strand before they left to go back home. As you can see, the guys really enjoyed the entertainment at The Olympia!! Hey...looks like Larry and Moe may have located their Curley : )
SISTERS BIRTHDAY!
sides that make up the cove.
Is this an awesome view or what??? This is the view from the deck at the house where we're staying in Soldotna. We've spent the day relaxing here. Spotted my first bald eagle since arriving in Alaska. There's a pair with a nest in a tree across the river.
Saturday. We left the Alyeska Resort and drove to Whittier (about a half-hour drive) to take a Glacier Cruise. Whittier is an interesting little port accessible by two routes. You can either drive through the 2+ mile railroad tunnel (on the tracks) that goes through the mountain OR you can climb over the mountain. We decided to take the train tunnel. It's open to cars every hour on the half- hour but you must know on what half-hour the tunnel is open to traffic going in the direction you are going. Confusing, huh? Anyway, this is me and Laurice on the boat.
While we were at the glacier, a rare phenomenon occured...we got to see a very large chunk of the glacier drop into the water. This is known as "calving". And, this happened again when we arrived at Blackstone Glacier.
the colder it got. I almost froze before we got here because I wanted to stay outside to get my pics. And, my camera didn't like the cold any better than I did. I had trouble keeping it from frosting up (as you can see in the last couple of pics). We saw sea otters floating around on their backs and there were seals snoozing on the ice chunks floating around in the water. It was an awesome day! We drove over to Soldotna where we will be based until we go back to Anchorage to fly home.
This is a picture of Cook Inlet headed south from Anchorage to Girdwood where we are staying at the Alyeska Ski Resort.
We rode the tram up to the viewing deck. The hotel is 2300 ft. below. The view is absolutely magnificent from up there!
After the Musk Ox Farm, we headed up into the Talkeetna Mountains to an old gold mining community named Hatcher Pass. This picture was made at Hatcher Pass Lodge where we stopped for lunch. Isn't the view awesome?!? 
Joe and I along the way up to Hatcher Pass.
This is a picture of my first sunrise in Alaska! We arrived in Anchorage as the sun was setting at 11:30 PM last night! The sun was rising at 6:00 AM when I snapped this picture. I haven't gone far yet, but what I've seen of Alaska so far is beautiful. As I write this, George and Joe have gone to locate us a rental car and Laurice is having an after-breakfast nap.
We have just returned from the ranch and it's HOT! HOT! HOT! up there...and dry. At 7 PM on Saturday the thermometer on the back porch (the shady side of the cabin) registered 100-degrees. DISCLAIMER: The picture above was not taken over the past weekend...Houston County is under a burn ban (as are many other Texas counties).
Becky and I went to Galveston on Tuesday. We had lunch with Laurice and then we went to the Strand. The Strand isn't the same (yet) but they're working on it. The above pictures were made in a building that opened just two weeks ago. I loved the old elevator and Becky loved the metal flower sculpture on the balcony over my head. 
I took the picture above because I thought the architecture was really interesting. Once I got home and downloaded the picture, I noticed the blue line just above the man's head and written in black just in front of him is "Water Line". The 2009 Hurricane Season started June 1st.
Kaylee on the other hand felt this photo shoot was the perfect opportunity to give us a glimpse of her new "pearly whites".
The last time we were at the ranch (about a month ago), I snapped this picture of some old, retired farm equipment among the wildflowers blooming. I love how the new, colorful flowers make the old, rusty tools look beautiful.
A good portion of our "newest addition" to the ranch has been leased to Pennington & Sons Watermelons. This is their planting on what is now the highest point of the ranch. I hope they haven't harvested all the watermelons before we get back up there : )...I'm missing the place.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day! 
