Back from Camping

A few land otters hanging out on the rock. There were about 5 or 6 more in the water.

Checking out my grilled cheese. The maiden voyage for our little camp cooker. Very handy and very delicious!

About to set out on our hiking/fishing adventure. It was super gorgeous. I had my bathing suit on underneath just in case we could catch some rays! By time we finished fishing and pulled up for our picnic the sun had gone away and the temp was back to low 50s...

So we are back from camping, and it was a huge success for my first time. We stayed at a beautiful cabin. Ventured over to some hot springs, boated around and fished. Saw lots of wildlife, including a whale breaching and a baby seal crying (which sounds like a devil baby-it was really crazy!). Thanks to our friend, Bert, who is a hunting guide, we hiked across another little island that I would never have thought to do by ourselves! I felt like a true Alaskan! This morning a group of otters swam by while we were sitting outside, so I took the kayak out for a closer look and got a few pics before I turned back (didn't want to disturb them too much!). Lots of fun and can't wait to do it again. :)

Smith Update

So I have been pretty bad at updating the blog! We've been keeping pretty busy here in Sitka. Had an awesome getaway in California Wine Country with my sister in May. MC and I also just got back from Vegas. It was really cool because MC's parents were able to meet us there!

Time really just seems to fly by. I cannot believe we will be leaving here in less than a year. So much still to see and do! Sitka is an amazing place with so many cool activities I never would have thought would be here. A couple of weeks ago they had a Texas Country concert with Kyle Park and Cory Morrow for a fundraiser for Autism Speaks. Who would have thought that would be happening up here? We definitely stay busy on this little island. Just wanted to post a few pics of what's been happening lately here. We are going camping this weekend, so I'll have lots of cool pics to post!

March in Sitka

The weather here in Sitka has been cold but beautiful for the past few weeks. It's been sunny almost every day (which is why our city power is about to switch to emergency generators because our source of hydropower is at dangerously low levels due to no rain!), which has been super nice but has been threatening to end any day now (which is fine with me at this point because I highly value my electricity!).

We were lucky enough to enjoy at least one last nice weekend before the next round of liquid sunshine. MC went out camping on Friday at one of the cabins off of the island and had a great time. I didn't go because I already had tickets for a whale watch cruise for Saturday morning, which was awesome. Perfect time of year because the herring fishery is about to kick off here in Sitka, which brings in a lot of whales. Weather was nice, waters were calm. Saw lots of whales (none breaching unfortunately), tons of sea otters and sea lions. Very cool. Here are a few pics from our weekend adventures. MC went out fishing with some friends last weekend and they caught lots of rockfish and halibut so I had to throw a pic of that in too.

Indian River Hike

Went out to enjoy the snow today on a hike on Indian River. So beautiful that I had to post some pics. And yes that is Deuce swimming in the river. He just loves the water-no matter how cold it is!

Winter Fun

It's been nice weather here until the past few days. Our snowy weather has turned into rain and more rain. Here are a few pics from when it was nice, including when we took Deuce out onto Swan Lake when it was frozen. He really didn't know what to think about it. I also took the dogs to the beach to get that pic of snowy Mt. Edgecumbe, but I couldn't let them go down to the rocks because it was sooo icy. All of the water trapped in the rocks was frozen solid. It was really beautiful. There is nothing as beautiful as winter weather to this Texas girl!

Christmas break

We were lucky enough to go home for three weeks at Christmas this year. It was so nice being with family. We have the two cutest nieces in the world, Annalee and Kate (very soon to be joined by a third, Allyson), who kept us thoroughly entertained. At the end of our trip, MC and his brother Jim, went to Arkansas for a duck hunt. Here are a few pics from our Christmas break.

Alaskan Adventures

Some friends took us out on Sunday to recover a HUGE bear they shot the night before but couldn't move because it was too big. We had a great day. Saw the sunrise and sunset on the water. Saw orcas, humpbacks, otters and even caught an octopus on our skiff anchor. And of course the huge bear. The top pic is the recovery effort of getting the bear out of the low area it was in to a flat spot. What a day!