July 30, 2004 Alaskan honeymoon
We're back from Alaska and have some highlights of the trip in the Gallery. What an amazing place, we started out in Anchorage hiking around the Chugach State park which most trails overlook the Cook Inlet, then took a trip down to Whittier and cruised around the bay and we were able to see a pod of amazing Killer Whales, some Sea Otters, a big beautiful glacier, and lot's of sea birds. It was a great day. Then we headed up to Denali National Park and stayed at Camp Denali at the very end of the only road in the park. We had a great view of Mount McKinley and even took a flight seeing tour around the mountain. Our days were filled with hiking through the tundra and learning about some of the native plants and wildlife that live in a very harsh environment. Then it was back to Anchorage for more day hikes including Flat Top mountain, where we had a great view of Anchorage and the Inlet and we were visited by a family of Dahl sheep grazing on the side of a cliff. One of our day trips took us to Katmai National Park and the Brooks Lodge by float plane (the only way to get there) to see the Grizzly's chasing salmon at the waterfall. I don't think I have ever shot more pictures in such a short amount of time in my life. What a great place to see the bears in action and the salmon jumping up the falls. Then we went off to Juneau for the last couple of days and did a great hike from downtown up Mount Roberts with a great view of the Mendenhall Glacier and the bay as well as the many cruise ships that go in and out every day. What a great trip. I hope to go back soon and see some other parts of Alaska as I'm sure it won't disappoint.
P.S. We want to thank Maribeth for everything she did to help us in and around Anchorage, Steve and Anita for the boat ride in Whittier and the great steaks, and Laura for our stay in Juneau. It was a memorable trip.
Feb 15 2005 Palau & Yap
Just back from a 2 1/2 week trip to Palau and Yap with a group from Mass Diving. We started out at the Palau Pacific Resort for a couple of days to recoup from the flight and did some short hikes, a little snorkeling and of course some lounging on the beach. And yes B&S we saw were you got married. Then we were off to the Palau Aggressor to suffer through 8 days of diving on the beautiful 108 ft live aboard dive boat. We did some amazing dives on sites like Matt's Wall, New Drop and of course the famous Blue Corner and Jellyfish Lake. Finally saw my first Cuttlefish and a Crocodile fish (very cool!!). The eat, sleep and dive motto is right on the money except for a beer or glass of wine on the top deck to finish off the day. At the end of our week on the boat we jumped on another plane heading to Yap. Someone needs to change there flight schedules because we were always flying out at 1:00 in the morning, but it was a short flight and we ended up at The Manta Ray Bay Hotel for another 5 days. Yap is best known for there Manta's but had some other very nice dives as well. First dive was the Manta dive though and there were plenty to see. They take you to the channel were there are a bunch of cleaning stations and you just relax on the bottom for a minute and here they come swimming right over and around you. After the dives the hotel's restaurant is actually an old ship by the dock that has a restaurant and bar and a nice sundeck on top for eating lunch or maybe even having a cocktail or two (not us though...). There was also a nice hike that P,P,K,J and I found (once we found the bakery) that started up a stone path, by some roosters, up a hill past a water tower and on up to some radio towers that gave a nice view of the channel. A good leg stretcher. Can't wait to see the flowers of Yap poster. The next day we went out to a couple of walls and had a bunch of Spinner Dolphins cruising around the boat. We dove the Yap Caverns that had a lot of swim throughs and a nice wall. I can't believe it's the end of the week and it's 1:00 in the morning again and heading to the airport for that short flight home. Beautiful diving and good company makes for a very nice trip. Hope to see you all soon.
Good Times