Sonny and Gloria in Alaska

Sonny and Gloria enjoyed their two-week visit to Alaska.  We drove down to Homer and over to Seward, and sometimes they were just hanging out with me in Soldotna.  They had a great time, we ate lots of good food together, and then I drove them to Anchorage to catch their plane home to California.

It’s funny, I am usually the person behind the camera so there aren’t so many photos taken of me.  But when I travel with Gloria, she likes to include me in the picture and sometimes they provide a good reminder of my own life and who I am.  Thanks, Gloria!  And I’m glad you guys had fun in Alaska!  We make memories together that last for a lifetime.

I finished sanding and prepping the old Airstream trailer before they arrived, and then Gloria and I worked hard to repaint the interior and I could finally move furniture and camping gear back inside, ready for summer fun in the woods.

Summer Visitors!

Sonny and Gloria at my house with my dog Cheyenne

Gloria and Sonny arrived on June 4 for a two week visit. We first met as over-60s Peace Corps volunteers in Romania in 2007, and have often traveled together since then. This is probably the only time they will ever be in Alaska, so I want to show them some of our beautiful places. Of course I also have a lot of other things to do, but they have been willing to help so that’s nice. Sonny and I mowed the lawn together, two asthmatics huffing and puffing, taking turns with the heavy lawn mower (thank heaven I managed to get it started!). Gloria helped me paint the old 1962 Airstream, so I will be able to take it camping this summer. I had already scraped and sanded all the walls and ceiling before they got here, and put a coat of Varathane on the hardwood floor. Unfortunately the polyurethane was very old and took forever to dry, so it gave us a few days to do other things before the painting could be done. Since I’m used to doing everything alone, having help like this has been wonderful.

We drove to Homer one day, and took a boat trip over to Halibut Cove. My friend Jane joined us, and we had a lovely time in this gorgeous place. It was sunny and the Kachemak Bay was calm so the trip was perfect. I’m sad that the day was too busy to wait around for the halibut fishing boats to come in, so we didn’t get any photos of my visitors beside the huge fish, but we know that you just can’t do everything. We did manage to get to the Pratt Museum before it closed, though, and enjoyed their wonderful display of whales that come to our part of Cook Inlet.

Jane with the infamous Clem Tillion, original homesteader and owner of Halibut Cove

We had such fun at the Saltry Restaurant, walking around the island, and taking pictures.

After returning to Homer, we went up to Jane’s house on the ridge above the city and relaxed before the drive back to Soldotna. Of course we got some more photos. Then on the way home, Gloria and Sonny reverted to being a couple of big kids, playing on my favorite tire swing.