Our day in Petersburg

Welcome to beautiful Petersburg, Alaska:
We had the most amazing time in Petersburg last year going out to LaConte Glacier, getting billions of pictures of baby seals, learning about the different kinds of fishing, eating breakfast with the famous George Brett, touring fish canneries, etc. etc., so this year we decided to spend a more low-key local day in Petersburg. Oh, and also last year I promised my kids that "next time" we would go to the library because it is only open in the afternoons..
{Jessa calls to Raven}
Raven is Jessa's bird. She calls raven all the time, and is very aware of raven being nearby, not just here in Alaska, but at home as well. In my opinion, Jessa is much like raven, who in Tlingit stories is extremely intelligent and the notorious trickster.
Jessa put the sneak on Raven (look closely to see him on that branch) today after Emeline climbed amazing things at the Petersburg school playground. Jessa got really close before raven would hop to keep some distance. We hiked up the hill to the post office. Kate was very tired and rode in the stroller with Emeline, but Jessa sang songs and picked a beautiful array of flowers. We had our picnic lunch between two totem poles before making it to the promised library. Once again, the girls honed right in on the horses.Tried out all the puzzles, and Kate put on a rather impressive puppet show.
Our boat has been too big to stay tied up at any of the harbors, so we always have to take the skiff to shore:{Emeline's camera smile. She thinks she is hot stuff on grandma's lap}
Later in the evening the only thing we wanted to do was catch some herring to use as bait and finally catch some fish, fish fish. Well, after an hour or so, the only thing we had caught was this shot of an eagle, but then we got in the skiff and found a boat that WAS catching herring. The secret is to be where the fish are!....... at this point there is a lack of photos due to all the excitement of landing about 80 herring in the boat. Both Kate and Jessa had their own reels and were pulling in fish 3-6 at a time because there are 6 hooks on each of the poles. They had so much fun and Jessa said she was not going to be able to sleep that night because it was so exciting. It was the most fun so far! Catching fish is just so, so EXCITING! As exciting as it was, you can imagine we all slept just fine after such a full day!
{here is the next picture on my camera after the eagle....Kate and Jessa working hard to put up their catch}.

Rodeoing and Milk Partying our way to Petersburg

Happy June 1st!

The dall porpoises came out to play this morning! Yea! We are seeing more wildlife now that we are here in Alaska!

The girls have been having a grand time rodeoing out on the back deck all day. The boueys are the horses, complete with rope for a lead/reins. I guess you can take the girl from the horse, but you can't take the horse out of the girl. I really had no idea they liked horses THIS much, and Kate has continued to wear her belt buckle the entire trip. The girls had lunch and a little "milk, not tea" party out on the back deck as well. Emeline fell asleep in my lap while I was on wheel watch—she is such a momma's girl sweetie pie.

{the uninflated boueys made great chairs}

{silly jessa}
{grandpa joining in on the fun out on the back deck}

{i just though it was cool to catch this bird landing. Look at those wings.}

We traversed the always-exciting Wrangell Narrows today and made it into Petersburg. We went out to eat for dinner, which was a nice change. What did I order? Halibut-n-chips.

Ketchikan, Kate, & Dewey's

Welcome to Ketchikan, Alaska!

Horray! We are finally back in US waters. We cleared back into US customs in Ketchikan, Ak and were in town just long enough to get AK fishing licenses and replenish some groceries before we were motoring along once again.

Kate loves to co-pilot with grandpa.{kate getting ready to help drop the anchor at Dewey's anchorage}
The beautiful sunset at Dewey's Anchorage that evening (Tuesday, May 31st) brought us whale sightings and a gorgeous place to do a little tidepooling.
{a baby starfish for the baby}{the only proof so far that I am actually on this trip: we took the skiff out and I actually made it into a picture}

Sights

Some of the sights as are enjoying as we explore the Inside Passage:{expression! is she excited or what?}

I love the scenery as we motor through the final narrow reaches of Canada before reaching US waters. Cascading waters are falling into the ocean on both sides as we continue to motor up towards Ketchikan. There is no dishwasher on this boat, and the girls have found new favorite pastime: scrubbing dishes in the sudsy water! Jessa scrubs, Emeline perches on the stool nearby and splashes around, and Kate dries. I check in on them to thoroughly rinse and put away…I could get used to this!

{the girls scrubbing dishes together--the did a quality job!!}

A Girl and her Uncle

The girl:{I love this classic expression}

In which a girl gets to go on an adventure into the forbidden engine room:
starting the generator:

Uncle Brett finally took Jessa down into the restricted no-children allowed engine room. She was excited out of her mind and loved starting the circulation pump, a generator, the main engine, lights—basically pushing buttons galore. When Emeline saw the pictures of Jessa pushing buttons, she very sternly reprimanded, “No-no!”. Oh good! I can relax a little now that I know she does understand that we are not allowed to push buttons on the boat!

Uncle Brett is a homemade bread making monster. He loves to bake it, and then he loves to devour it! Friday (May 27^th) Brett and Jessa were kneading, patting, and rolling their way to four deliciouso loaves of bread! The next day we had the best grilled ham and cheese sandwiches ever!

In which a girl and her uncle bake homemade bread:
{a crazy team}


Yum. Yum. Yum. Learn girl, learn!

Canadian Customs

{this lighthouse is right on the US/Canadian border}

We cleared Canadian Customs at Bedwell Harbour and took a few minutes to check out the beach and get an ice cream since it was such a hot day. They have a swimming pool right there by the ocean, and the girls asked me why I didn't pack their swimsuits!... because I came to enjoy Alaska, not Canada!
{the crew, minus the photographer, stops for a snapshot on the beach at Bedwell Harbor}

San Juan Islands

{testing out one of the guest beds for comfort}
{my favorite "portrait" of Emeline so far this trip}

Grandma spent Wednesday evening at the Rocky Bay house on San Juan Island, so we motored as long as we could en route to pick her up before dropping a dead-tired anchor around midnight. Upon our arrival to Rocky Bay Thursday morning (May 28^th), we all took the skiff into grandpa’s dock to have a fun time at the house and make a trip into the town of Friday Harbor.

{taking the skiff into Grandpa's house dock}{the Rocky Bay house and dock on San Juan Island}

{bench at the house}

{this fox was on the paved road when we drove into Friday Harbor. he was not afraid of me one bit!}

Later that evening, after getting everyone aboard Debbie Sue, we cruised around to Roach Harbor to anchor in calm waters for the night. The next morning Uncle Brett, the girls, and I took a fun little trip ashore to check out some of the local history (mining lime) and play a dangerous game of Italian Bocce Ball on Friday before heading north (Jessa took a hard-core nose dive, and Uncle Brett caught footage of it on his I-phone!).{the girls having fun pretending to kayak}