Finally it was arrival day for Sami and Josh in Wrangell. Jeff and I spent the day doing chores like cleaning, laundry, blogging and provisioning in preparation for their visit. The town of Wrangell is so nice that when there were no taxis to take us home from the market the manager of the store offered to drive us back to the marina. He loaded our groceries in a work van, drove us to the marina, helped us take the groceries down to the boat and even helped us to unload them onto the boat. What a nice place and a nice store. Late afternoon Sam & Josh made their way down the ramp and to us at the transient dock. They had endured four flights from Los Angeles in order to get to us in Wrangell. We were all so excited to see each other and be together. We had happy hour on the back deck and got caught up.
Josh & Sam Arrive in Wrangell
Happy Hour
Everyone was tired from a long day so after dinner and some chatting we all went to bed early.
The next day Jeff had booked us all on a Stikine River tour. The tour boat arrived promptly at 10a.m. to pick us up and begin our day long tour up the river. We picked up another couple at the ferry terminal and made our way upriver. Our guide told us because of the difficulty of navigating the shallow silted river only 5 people in all of Wrangell are skilled enough to do it. We sat inside a little jet boat that she drove very fast in order to not run aground and made aggressive twists and turns that had me clinging to Jeff often. A very different type of boating then we are used to. The tour was interesting and drop dead gorgeous scenery. We took bathroom breaks in the woods and sat on a long log to eat our picnic lunches. Afterwards we got to see a glacier and even went to the tour guides summer cottage where she and Sam picked from the harvest of her garden. It was such a beautiful day.
Stikine River Tour Boat
Stikine River
Stikine River
With Tour Guide Brenda
Lunch Stop
Forestry Cabin
Float House on Stikine
Glacier
Stikine River
Glacier Stikine River
Josh Grabbing Glacier Ice for Cocktails
Jeff Drinking Cocktail with Glacier Ice
Captain Brenda & Captain Lindsey
Waterfall on the Stikine
Sam & Brenda Picking the Harvest
After a wonderful day Captain Brenda dropped us off at the dock and we hit the deck of the Stikine Hotel for drinks and dinner. The sun continued to shine and we talked about the days highlights.
Dinner at the Stikine Inn
Jeff and I were anxious to show the kids some of Southeast Alaska via our own boat. The next morning we threw lines and headed around Wrangell Island to Berg Bay. The cruise was scenic and gorgeous and we enjoyed exploring new parts of Alaska. When we arrived Sam volunteered to make us a nice vegan lunch with the harvest she had collected from Brenda's garden the previous day. There was even enough for her to make dinner as well. The day was slow and agenda-less much like our time here has been. We were glad to be able to share it with Sam & Josh too.
Cruising to Berg Bay
Berg Bay Anchorage
Forest Cabin in Berg Bay
Sam & Josh Making Lunch
Another Boat in Berg Bay
Enjoy the Day
Sunset Berg Bay
Berg Bay
The next morning not anxious to return to Wrangell immediately we launch the dingy and went for a hike on shore. The trail was a wood boardwalk that led us to a beautiful meadow. Afterwards we dinged around the area and soaked up our last bit of time there.
Dingy Ride
Shore Berg Bay
Tidings of Joy Berg Bay
Hiking Berg Bay
Meadow Berg Bay Hike
After a nice hike and dingy ride we loaded back up, raised the anchor and made our way back to Wrangell for some olympics and dinner.
Promptly at 6:45a.m the following morning Captain Brenda was back to pick us up for our second and final tour - Anan Bear. Jeff and I have been looking forward to this since arriving in Southeast and Sam & Josh had no idea what they were in for because Jeff wanted to surprise them. Anan is a protected bear observatory where every year brown and black bears come to catch spawning salmon in the stream. The boat took us on an hour ride to Anan and Brenda led us with her rifle to the raised observatory where we would watch for the day. As amazing as I thought it was going to be it exceeded what I had imagined. Bears were within three feet of us on the deck and we signed up for turns in the blind where we were inclosed in a cabin right on the river and were with in inches of bears feeding. We were all blown away by the day and the experience.
Tour Boat at Anan
Anan
Captain Brenda
Walk to Bear Observatory
Bear on a Tree
Anan
Observation Deck
Observation Deck
Brenda dropped us off back at the boat and we all took a long nap. I made dinner and then we all hit the town. We had been seeing signs for days about a band playing at the bar and Brenda had mentioned they were good so we walked to check it out. The band was a lot of fun. We all danced and sang and just enjoyed being out in Wrangell.
Sunset Wrangell
Walking to the Bar
Guitar Player & Us
The Band
The next day we had planned to take the kids to another anchorage but they said they preferred to stay in town instead. So Jeff whipped up one of his famous scrambles and Sam complimented it with a nice vegan coffee cake. The morning was slow and the pjs stayed on late. After much slothfulness we decided to move a bit and walked to town to hike Mount Dewey - the local mountain with nice scenic views at the top.
Mount Dewey Trailhed
View From Mount Dewey
Our Marina from Mount Dewey
Hiking
The next day would be Sam & Josh's last. Since we were staying in town we decided to check out the Wrangell museum which told a nice history of the city and it's roots. Afterwards we walked to the market where Sam got some ingredients to make us a special watermelon cocktail for happy hour. That night we watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and enjoyed our last night together.
Sam's Cocktails
Outside Museum
The next morning was a blur for us all. We went from lounging around to scurrying to get Sam & Josh up to their cab for the airport. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Jeff went back to the boat and I walked to the market to get new provisions to head out in the morning. What a great week it was.
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