Coming back to Alaska for three weeks is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. I couldn’t have asked for better weather. This morning my mom and I woke up to blue skies and 80 degree weather. When you live in valley surrounded by lush green hills and majestic mountains having a beautiful days is just icing on the cake. We didn’t want to waste it so we took to the hills of Hatcher Pass for an easy hike with the dogs.

Mom and me in Hatcher Pass

We hiked up a little creek that flows down past the lower mine parking lot. There were quite a few people out today, but it wasn’t crowded at all. It was great to be able to do something fun and energetic with my mom while having a good heart to heart.

The dogs loved it too. It was hilarious to watch them bouncing through the alders. Jax took to water really well. He was running up the creek since it was easier than trying to go through the brush. Sophie, on the other hand, will never be a water dog.

Jax all tuckered out after our long romp

When Jim and I go on adventures we are always trying to take funny photos of us jumping or being contortionists. I miss him a lot right but my mom was a really good sport about standing in with the camera as I tried over and over again to do a cartwheel that wasn’t a complete crotch shot. I don’t think we ever accomplished what I was going for, but it’s pretty hilarious the way it is.

Mountain cartwheels and crotch shots

I have also been having a great time catching up with my friends. Yesterday Becca and I enjoyed the sun in her yard while drinking wine and eating cherries. She even made moose meatballs for dinner due to my special request. I love moose meat the most and wish that I could eat it a lot more!

Coming back to Alaska this summer has been a great idea. The weather is much better than last summer and it’s only June!

I flew in Wednesday night and then headed down to Homer with Matt and the dogs Thursday to score a sweet camping spot for the rest of my family and friends for the weekend. It wasn’t necessary though, between fuel prices and the economy tanking, tourism is way down this summer. It’s going to be especially hard on towns where tourism is their only game in town.

Needless to say, we scored a great place on the beach. Everybody else came down Friday night and packed it into the motor home. We had a great time hanging out on the beach, halibut fishing and then hitting the town Saturday night.

We went a little too big on Saturday night and the guys ended up spending way too much money and Clay lost his jacket in the process, which happened to have his car keys.

Everybody headed back to Anchorage Sunday morningish, but Matt, Clay and I stayed in Homer to go on the adventure of tracking down Clay’s keys. It wasn’t all work, we stopped by the meadery and winery along the way. After five hours of driving from The Alibi to Down East and calling all the cab companies about a dozen times each, we conceded defeat and left Clay’s car down there. Not entirely sure how we are planning on getting it back to Anchorage. There has been talk about a suicide run down to Homer sometime this week, which is crazy talk!