Hanging out with a couple of friends

Hanovi: Great Horned Owl and a Heavy Beast

Tilt: Western Screech Owl. My Fav.

Me ant Tilt Hanging Out at the Open House

Is it weird that this is what I do all the time these days? It has gotten so routine that sometimes I forget that everyone else doesn't spend all day hanging around owls.

Life After Alaska

Just in case you all thought that once Dr. H and I returned from Alaska all fun came to a screeching halt, I am here to set the record straight. The very same week we returned we went to a Neko Case concert at the Bing Theater, which was AWESOME! Such a talented lady. We also purchased mountain bikes, went on some epic rides (almost peed my pants riding along the super steep drop off on High Drive), made another batch of beer (Hefeweizen this time to celebrate the grand opening of our neighbor's new German-style pub in his garage), and went down to Portland to visit with some friends.

The weather here has finally started to feel summery, and my garden has absolutely taken off. We have already enjoyed the first zucchini of the season, we have lots of green tomatoes just waiting to ripen, our potatoes are almost ready, and our onions are getting huge! In fact, I just finished a delicious all garden omelet. YUM! More pictures to come in the next few days. Here is a little taster of life on the Eckenrod Homestead.

Chicks taking a nap in the grass

Skagway: The Disneyland of the North

Skagway feels much like Mainstreet in Disneyland. Cute, albeit touristy shops, quaint storefronts and lots of ice cream parlors. Dr H and I managed to find both a bike shop and a brewery in Skagway though, so our couple of hours in Skagway were well spent :) We also took the White Pass train from Skagway, and it was beautiful!

Engines of our White Pass Train

Note the little trestle bridge

View down from Trestle Bridge

Really old Trestle Bridge- We did not go over this thankfully

I love the way the background looks like a green screen

Dr H and an antique snow blower for a train. It is Huge!

Skag-Disney. This old storefront is covered in driftwood.

 Seriously some of the best fish and chips ever. Plus good beer.

Skagway lost some serious points when we found this little joke of a store. It's very existence kind of made me want to shoot myself in the face. I can't articulate just how little I respect this woman. Hate me if you must....

That's right. A Sarah Palin Store. 

Wishes Granted! Juneau!

Here is the Mendenhall Glacier we saw in Juneau,  and the trip through the Tracy Arm up to Steven's Glacier. Just beautiful!

Mendenhall Glacier

Yep, those are icebergs in a lake

So wish I was in that little canoe!

Glacial Waterfall

Waterfalls along the Tracy Arm

There is a glacier back there.

Steven's Glacier behind little island with iceberg

And a couple of photos just for fun. Even though they are a bit embarrassing.

Towel Elephant

Amazed Chipmunk

Long Time Coming... Ketchikan and Beginning of Cruise

Here are the much anticipated photos of our Alaskan cruise. The trip was awesome and the scenery idyllic. The southern Alaskan coastline is just gorgeous! Rather than make one huge photo journal, I have decided to break these posts up by site visited. So here is Ketchikan!

Best part of the Cruise: Room Service

View off of balcony north of Seattle

Ketchikan

Just what every red-blooded American needs

My future house

awww

very old brothel