Glaciers, whales, and fish...

Wow. Alaska was amazing. I don't know how else to describe it. It was just freakin' amazing! I loved it! We got see glaciers and go whale watching. We saw some Beluga whales and Humpback. It was so amazing! Perhaps my favorite part was the deep sea fishing. Humor me for a moment as a tell the story of the time that I was the only gal on the boat and the one that caught the biggest fish. Yep. That's right. Sadly, I couldn't keep it. We had to stay within the bay area because of the storm rolling in. There were reports of 15 to 20 foot swells out on the open see and our captain decided it wouldn't be wise to tread dangerous waters. Which turned out to be fine by me when I listened to the other boats on the radio saying they were being tossed to and fro. We still had our own ride on that little vessel of a boat. It was almost like Thunder Mountain at Disneyland.

Because we had to stay in the bay we were only allowed to keep certain fish under regulations. The first thing swimmer by Josh's little bro was a Rock fish. Okay. Not so bad. The second, a 42 pound Halibut. Oh yeah. Our captain said that was really good considering the average Halibut caught within the bay was only 17 pounds. We were pretty excited about that. We got to bring home half of it. Josh's family took the other half.

The next items caught were Seaworld attractions. Josh caught a Mantaray (Alaskans call them "skates?") and a 13 legged starfish. You can go ahead and tease Josh over his trophies.

Then, it was my turn. I caught the mother load. I reeled in, by myself and my puny little arms, a Lingcod weighing in at approximately 50 pounds. It was a beautiful moment for me. If we had only been about 3 miles to the south, I would have that fish in my freezer right now.

Jason also caught a Lingcod of remarkable size but had to toss him into the ocean as well.

Poor Billy, another of Josh's brothers, didn't catch anything. The only one. He did however keep us entertained by wearing my wig.

I truly think that this Alaska trip was one of the funnest trips I have been on. I am a warm, tropical vacationer but this was too much fun to deny.

On the Prince William Sound Cruise, there were many many Japanese people. Jason, Josh's bro, served his mission in Japan and speaks Japanese very fluently. He explained to me that Japanese people LOVE american babies. They think they are very beautiful babies. It was apparant to me that this was, indeed, a fact. Ethan was loved by every Japanese member on that boat and was passed from one foreigner to the next. Good thing he is used to that. He was a great little guy and a trooper for being so good the entire time in Alaska.

After arriving at the airport, Jason threw my other wig on. We decided he looked like a bum. It was good times had by all.

I am now sitting here getting my chemo treatment. Only one left to go after this. I am very excited.

The doctor said my blood/cancer markers looked "normal." I am guessing that is a good thing. Sometimes I feel stupid asking him all sorts of questions so I will just take "normal" as good.

Sorry this one is so long. I just had to share my joyful triumph of fishing success .