Back in August (yes, I know, I'm very, very behind on my blog posts!), a friend of ours from back in our college days came to visit. Dan was teaching at BJU during the time Jim was a student there, and Jim worked for Dan for a while. About the time we moved out of the Greenville area, Dan's second child Jonathan was born. We saw him only once, I believe, until now. Dan brought Jonathan to Alaska on a father/son trip before Jonathan gets married this December.
I've never seen two people blitz the tourist attractions as devotedly and fervently as those two! Dan's quest for as much halibut as he could eat led them to some fine (and some, uh, local) dining establishments. They booked a halibut charter out of Homer and went salmon fishing on the Kenai River, both trips resulting in a nice big box of fish to take home with them. Hm, let me see if I can remember everything they did during the week they were here... They spent much of a day in Girdwood, seeing the resort and the skyway tram and the wildlife rehab center there; visited the chainsaw carver outside of Sterling; drove to Seward, hiked to the glacier, and went to the Sea Life Center; met up with friends-of-friends in Soldotna a couple of times; and took a flightseeing trip out of Anchorage.
I asked Dan for some photos he thought were memorable ones from his trip here, and these are the ones he chose. This brown bear is at the wildlife rehab park. The animal Dan and Jonathan talked about most, though, was the porcupine. Or rather, the porcupine's stinky smell!
I'm surprised Jonathan was so easily distracted... He's engaged to a lovely girl, but one pretty face at the chainsaw carver's park could sway him so! (click to enlarge)
Bears on the shore during their salmon fishing trip (enlarge this one, too):
And of course, some crazy local people they encountered somewhere:
It sure was nice to see them again. We hope they come back soon, maybe this time for the Fur Rendezvous!