visitors!!

alas! social activity and the company of friends!! sheila wins the hero award for coming many, many miles for a girls weekend. we packed in lots of sightseeing over just three short days.

day 1: jeff and sheila pick up jen (hero #2) who is in town for a cdc conference in anchorage. (there are a bunch of people converging in anchorage who study the plauge, sounds exciting, doesnt it?) jeff had a brunch with 2 beautiful girls-to snow city of course. (me, working-uggh!) then to girdwood and chairfive for some beers and to show off the beautiful "neo-hippy" community and feel the local vibe. (we'd live there too if we could).

day 2: sheila and i head to seward for a kenai fiords tour of aialik bay and glacier. (rich and leslie, you guys rock!) the 5 hour tour was beautiful and chilly with blue skys and glaicer ice. no whales but some dall's porpoises, steller sea lions and the token bald eagle. a lovely dinner with les, lydia and sheila capped off the day at yollies. 175 miles back to palmer, with a stop in anchorage to pick up jen and show her "the valley". whew!

day 3: we went for some breakfast (lattes, quiche, at our upscale joint in palmer) - vagabond blues, then we went to see the art train- check it out! (www.artrainusa.org) in the afternoon, jen, sheila and i headed up to hatcher pass to stroll along the little susitna. it was socked in and snowing lightly. sheila got stuck in the mud (hence the photo, we laughed and took photos before giving her a hand, what are friends for?) we had beers and nachos at the motherlode (www.motherlodelodge.com) then back home to veg out by the fire before returning the gals to anchorage.

it was so nice to have company! whos coming up next?! come on, its fall, (which doesnt linger here in alaska) in the 50's, still light out, sort of.. and beautiful.
thanks gals! it sure is quiet around here now.