Alaska Continued

Friday, July 31st

George and Joe (aka Larry and Moe) went float fishing today on the Kenai River with our host, Everett. This fishing trip was "catch & release" so all they came home with were pictures of their catch. Laurice and I hung out around Soldatna while they were gone. We spent the evening at the house relaxing.

Galveston Weekend

The family was in Galveston over the weekend. Laurice and George had a couple of condos at The Victorian and they made reservations on Saturday night at The Olympia Grill at Pier 21. 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 and Alaska Continued

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 mountainsides 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.

Catching and Keeping Up!

Well, our trip to Alaska has come to an end. My body is slowly getting re-adjusted to the heat, humidity, pollens and the longer nights. It's amazing how tired you can get while on vacation! I'm just glad it didn't hit me until I got back home : )

I've been busy catching up with family since returning. I spent Friday with Deve having lunch and getting pedicures. Then Joe, me and O.C. went to Trey and Brandi's to watch the girls while they went out. Joe and O.C. went to the ranch Saturday. Donna came over and George and Laurice drove up to get their fish (four huge boxes delivered on Thursday). But before they loaded the fish, we all went to see "Julie & Julia" (loved it, btw) and we had dinner. Donna stayed the night with me. We took Deve out to breakfast on Sunday and Becky came in later in the day. It was fun to hear about Becky's trip to Germany and Ireland and see her pictures. It was a great weekend.

Now, back to the Alaska story...sorry I stopped writing in the middle of the trip. My only excuse is I was having too much fun!

I'll try to keep up and catch up from here...

July 29th, Wednesday

The guys went King Salmon fishing. George came back with one...Joe didn't.
Laurice and I went to Kenai (a small town about 45-min. from the fish camp) for lunch. Then we came back to Soldatna to do some shopping. When the guys got back, I made Maple-Soy Salmon and Laurice did new potatoes and a salad. The salmon recipe is even better with fresh-caught salmon! The sisters did laundry and watched a DVD downstairs while the guys watched a movie upstairs.

Laurice and I decided George and Joe reminded us of the Three Stooges (minus one)....so, George became Larry and Joe was Moe. In retaliation, the guys decided we reminded them of a couple of crows. I became Heckle and Laurice was Jeckle (technically, they were magpies). At the end of the Heckle and Jeckle show, they closed with "Tallyho and away we go! See you next week for a brand new show"!

Hope it won't be a week...but I've gotta go....