I actually can't see Russia from my House

Hello Grandma and Family!

How's everybody doing? It looks like Uncle Pat's BBQ was pretty fun. I'm bummed we weren't able to make it home for that, but I'm heading to Nik's wedding and then the 'burgh during the second week in September.














So, Shannon and I arrived in AK about two weeks ago. Shannon is the newest professor at the Environmental Studies and Geography department at the University of Alaska at Anchorage!








We drove up through the Canadian Rockies and Banff. It was gorgeous...the mountains were just immense. Lots of wildlife too (bear, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, wolves, chupacabras, sasquatch, etc.)



































Then we jumped on the ferries for a couple days. The ferry was a pretty rad way to see all the islands. Plus we saw beluga whales, porpoises, mermaids, Sirens, and several Hydras.








The ferry is a very social scene. For example we met this younger Australian naval guy who taught us how to string a trip wire around our tent with claymores to protect us from bears!











We also saw cousin John Archambeau in Juneau. It was super fun, we toured the town and went on a tram ride (owned by the hotel he works with) to have some great views from about 3000 ft above the Juneau coast line. He also hooked us up with about two pounds of halibut that he caught, which was very tasty the next couple of days on our baby Weber.






Finally after about 10 days from Moscow, ID we rolled into Anchorage Alaska. As you drive down from the Interior, you pass the Mat-su glacier which fills a valley with beautiful blue and white ice covered by clouds that disect the peaks from the glacier. Anchorage has a great trails/park system that makes it easier to use these than actually drive around the incredible sprawl that fills the Anchorage bowl.



As we didn't have a place to rest our heads when we arrived in Anchorage, Shannon's colleagues had arranged for us to stay in the dorm for the first couple of nights.


Cody, our canine love child, felt right at home. In fact, the first night she was there she stayed out a little too late, and slept until about noon the next day. Typical college kid! Since Shannon is faculty, Cody can take classes for free. She has enrolled in underwater basket weaving and moved back into the dorms.







Right now we're in a temporary condo, but will be moving to a very small house that is pretty close to the University. Shannon should be able to cross country ski to work every day once the snow falls...which is probably going to be next week. Until then though, we're enjoying the greenery and having more than just 3 restaurants at our disposal. We've already met some good folks here. We were out at Shannon's Department head the other day and saw our first Grizzly bear which was way cool....especially since it didn't try to eat us....
Well, I should get back to work. Hope you all are doing well. Sorry, about the format of this, it looks like I need a little more practice. Love you all!