LorDaveUS: We're still here...we wish you were too!

Wow...time sure flies when you're having fun...or working...or...I guess time just flies no matter what. It seems to be the one and only thing there is NEVER enough of in life.

Rainbow Glacier

I can't believe it has been more than a year since the last post. Maybe it's because sometimes I feel like we haven't done anything cool or fun enough to share...but then, shouldn't we want to share every day we are still breathing with our family and friends? Let me make the time to share our last year with you all now.

Sea lions hanging out on Seal Rock.

The beauty of Alaska still has the power to stop you in your tracks and make you take the time to stop what you are doing and just soak it all in.

In fact, now might be the best time for any of you to take the time to come soak it in for yourselves.

Any time is a great time to come, winter, spring, summer or fall.

We have plenty of room now. We are blessed with a great house that has a spare bedroom or you can book a stay in the MLS which is parked in our driveway.

Rates are VERY cheap, maybe water Lori's garden or pull weeds, sit in a lawn chair and be a scarecrow or perhaps fish all day to provide meals.

You could even earn your keep by filling the bird feeder that hangs on the window. Yes, I know that's not a bird in there. It's "Todd the squirrel", Lori's new best friend who apparently either thinks he's a bird or he just really likes bird seed. He usually shows up every morning to have coffee with Lori and chase the birds away from the squirrel feeder.

One night we were awakened when we heard a loud crash against the house. I got out of bed to investigate but saw nothing in the black of night. We woke to find the squirrel feeder on the ground, broken. We also found these tracks in the yard and are pretty sure they were NOT made by Todd. There were also claw marks on the broken feeder. It seems that even grizzly bears might like bird seed...eh...I mean squirrel seed.

This might have been about the time we decided we should invest in an Alaskan security system and learn how to use it. You can watch this video of Lori using it for the first time.

If you do decide to come up and visit, we will even let you use our new boat. But you will have to buy your own gas and fishing bait.

Actually, the way true Alaskans fish is the way I did with my buddy Sean who was raised here and lives 30 miles from town.

First we launch his skiff into the Chilkat River. As we drift down river with the current, we set out the gill net and try to keep it spread out which takes constant attention. When the net floats start bobbing, you most likely have caught fish, or some sunken tree which is bad and not good to eat.

But if all goes well, or at least you don't shred your net, swamp your skiff or fall overboard, you can end up with some nice sockeye salmon like these.

This is more salmon than I've caught with rod and reel since we've been in Alaska and we caught these in about one hour (and I didn't lose any lures at the cost of $6 each).

OK...the truth is, that's not really our new boat and helicopter...SURPRISE!

But this IS really our new 4 wheeler. They don't have a dealer here in Haines so we bought it online and over the phone. They put it on the ferry from Juneau and when it got here, we walked on board, drove it off and loaded it on a borrowed trailer to take it home. Only in Alaska right!?!

Anyway...you all should come on up and let the good times roll.

Up on Flower Mountain

We did let the good times roll when my sister Kim and her husband Jade took the time to come up and visit this past summer.

Sean and Margaret teach greenhorns Kim, Lori & Jade to pan gold

After a great ride up to the Alpine tundra, we stopped at the Big Nugget mine to try and strike it rich panning for gold.

The Big Nugget mine is owned by my bosses family, the Schnabels. You might recognize it from the Discovery channels TV show Gold Rush.

Turns out, my pan was the only one of the bunch to strike it rich as you can see in this photo.

NO...not the quarter!

I just put that there to emphasize the sheer volume of all the gold I found.

Maybe now I WILL buy that new boat and helicopter after all.

This is why it is called "Glacier Bay National Park"

That is the peak of 15,300 Mount Fairweather in the background

We also had a spectacular time on a "flightseeing" trip over Glacier Bay National Park. We flew in the most iconic of Alaskan Bush planes - a superbly restored 1947 de Havilland Beaver.

The highlight may have been a beach landing on a remote spot along the Pacific coastline. We saw Grizzly bears run for cover in the brush as we scouted a spot for landing.

Our pilot and friend Paul has years of flying this area and in winter lands his plane with skis on the glaciers for all types of adventurers and expeditions.

Check out his company website Mountain Flying Service for more incredible pictures.

Glacier Bay National Park is a step back in time that covers 3.3 million acres! The only to get to the park is by air or water, there are NO roads.

It boosts some of the steepest geography on the planet with elevations from sea level to 15,000 feet in only a few miles.

At last count there are 1,045 glaciers within the park's boundary.

Soon enough it was about the time of year that the fruits (or vegetables) of Lori's labor were ripe for the picking and eating.

The 20 hours of daylight we get in the Alaskan summer help make up for the short growing season and gives you plenty of time to work in the garden.

I think Lori has hopes for next year of expanding her garden into a farm.

Jenny, Chad and the grandkids - Ethan, Cody and baby Tessa

Traveling to and from Haines is never exactly easy. Everything and everyone has to go through Juneau. The connection to Haines, only 80 miles away, is sometimes not very easy to make. Like the time our daughter Jenny and her family came this summer. Their plane to Juneau was delayed causing them to miss the last connection of the day to Haines.

We told them try not to worry, we will find a way. It seems you always have to be ready to improvise up here one way or another.

Maybe you recognize the plane by now.

We called Paul at Mountain Flying and surprised them by picking them up in Juneau in the Beaver.

Those faces say it all "PRICELESS".

Family time is somehow always the MOST priceless and cherished time

and getting the chance to help your grandsons catch their first fish ever halibut fishing in Alaska on a perfect summer day will surely be at the top of my list of great times.