August 2011

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Our photo summary continued…

Unexpected Bush Plane to Anchorage to Avoid FAA Fog Regulations, Valdez, Day 7

Brown Bear at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC), Near Anchorage, Day 7

Elk at the AWCC, Near Anchorage, Day 7

Pod of Orcas, Kenai Fjords Nat’l Park, Seward, Day 8

Horned Puffin, Kenai Fjords Nat’l Park, Seward, Day 8

Moon Rising, Seward, Day 8

Hike Along Exit Glacier, Seward, Day 9

Marmot Along the Exit Glacier Trail, Seward, Day 9

Hiking above Exit Glacier to the Harding Ice Field, Seward, Day 9

Grizzly Bear, Denali Nat’l Park, Day 10

Tundra Fall Colors, Denali Nat’l Park, Day 10

Mt. McKinley, Highest Peak in North America, Denali Nat’l Park, Day 11

Day Hiking Across the Tundra, Denali Nat’l Park, Day 11

We’ll start posting more photos of each day with a more detailed description of our daily adventures.

 

We’re back! We spent 13 days in Alaska for our honeymoon. We visited 5 cities, 3 National Parks, took 20 flights (some unexpected), 3,615 photos, and saw more animals than we can count or name. It’s going to take us a while to sort through the photos so we thought we would give you a preview of our first week.

Our trip began on August 8th where we arrived in Gustavus (Glacier Bay National Park)

Walking Along the Coast, Gustavus, Day 1

Mountain Goats (check out the two young ones in the top left corner), Glacier Bay Nat’l Park, Day 2

Tidal Glacier (the face is a couple hundred feet above the water), Glacier Bay Nat’l Park, Day 2

Flew to Juneau via Bush Plane, Gustavus, Day 3

Black Bear Cub Eating Salmon, Juneau, Day 3

Hiking to Flat Top Mountain, Anchorage, Day 4

Rolling Growler (small iceberg turning over in the ocean) in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Day 5

Harbor Seals Floating on Ice, Prince William Sound, Day 5

Sea Otters Playing, Prince William Sound, Day 5

Kayaking Through a Sea of Icebergs, Columbia Bay, Valdez, Day 6

My bridesmaid Melissa, who lives in Chicago, actually had 3 weddings to attend in SoCal this summer… So while she was out for one in June, she also visited me to help with some wedding tasks and, of course, throw us a party! (Remember how I said people like to use our wedding as an excuse to party?)
We had a great night with family and friends just hanging out. Melissa even adapted Jenga to be a great “embarrass the couple a little bit” game. It was a great way to forget the wedding stress!

Also, I should mention how much wedding stuff got done while she was here: we got all the invitations put together, addressed, and mailed out; I had my hair and makeup trial; we searched hard for shoes (unsuccessfully, but she never let me give up hope!); and I ordered my hair accessories. It was super productive… There’s no way to understand Melissa’s awesome energy and attitude except by meeting her, but I’ll just say that both Nathan and I appreciated her fresh energy and help with all the wedding chores!
Thanks Mel, we love you!

Melissa and I

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Well the wedding is over and we’re back from our honeymoon with tons of photos and stories to share, but first we would like to post about some of the pre-wedding parties that were lost in the whirlwind of activity right before the wedding.

Nathan’s mom organized a kitchen shower at her home in San Diego. The women enjoyed a nice afternoon together with lunch, games, and kitchen gifts while the guys went shooting.

The Wong side of the family was well represented at the shower, and Alex came down to celebrate too. I think we all had a great time, plus I learned some new cooking tips while playing something like pin the dress on the bride, which Linda did all the artwork for! On top of all that, I got some really nice kitchen accessories! Linda also worked really hard to put together a binder of recipes from her side of the family and including the recipes that I got during the shower in December in PA. I know it will be a great reference and source of inspiration for me- now I just need some more time to cook and try out all these recipes!

Special thanks to Linda for organizing the shower and to everyone who shared it with me!



Tracker

Follow us on our honeymoon in Alaska! We will be using our GPS to update the map occasionally during our trip.

http://spotwalla.com/embed.php?id=357c4e3f55130fc0e&width=600&height=600&scale=on&zoom=default