So the trip overall was amazing, just what I needed and was looking forward to. I've loved to fish ever since I was a little girl and went with my grandpa for the first time, so fishing for salmon in Alaska was a dream come true. We left Fairbanks at seven pm and arrived in Valdez around 2am. Even though I slept a few hours in the car it wasn't relaxing, lets just say the sleep was forced as opposed to wondering when we would wreck :) My plan of getting up early to fish changed when I saw it was 2am. The boys went out a few hours before us but said the fishing wasn't good and asked if we still wanted to go out. Uh ya!! So needles to say once we got on the boat the mood changed. The fish we were bringing in were enormous and we ended up catching five more, seven in all.
The view from the boat was amazing, clear blue waters, giant mountains and surrounded by glaciers. If there was a moment when we weren't catching fish all we had to do was look around because they were jumping out of the water everywhere.
The next morning started off the same, the boys had caught only two small fish and we joked around and told them to pick us up when they were ready to catch some fish. Well it turns out that was truly the case. After getting on the boat we caught twelve salmon in a matter of hours!!! I also saw a bald eagle flying around the trees and eventually land in a nest where another eagle waited, beautiful.
I was excited for the drive home because I had heard about what a beautiful drive it was but was unable to observe that on the way there due to the darkness. Truly is was beautiful, if you've never been to Alaska you're missing out. Prepare to to awed, it is truly the epitome of nature. Everywhere you look you see something that takes your breath away. We first stopped at a little creek that held salmon that were spawning while all around them others were coming to the end of their mission in life. It's a fascinating thing to watch (hard to see in the pictures, but fascinating). I also couldn't help but take some pictures of the beautiful mountains that surrounded the creek.
This is the Alaska version of Bridal Veil Falls and I must say that it kicks the Utah versions butt. It's enormous, in fact I had my picture taken in front of it but I ended up just looking like a spec so I didn't post that one.
Then we stopped at the famous Worthington glacier, you were able to hike up the glacier if you wanted but due to our seven hour ride home we opted just to take pictures. Overall it was a blast and I'm so so so happy that I'm on vacation, not sure I can come back :)
I've never seen these before so I took a picture, sea lice. Yep strange I know .
At one point we thought we had caught a fish but we ended up with this.... A starfish arm? Hmm not sure but it had a weird growth or entity on the bottom of it so we're still unsure.
Oh did I forget to mention the huge halibut that I caught??? Ha ha ha well I couldn't resist taking my picture by this in hopes that one day I will truly get to catch one of those.
So you saw pictures of that huge huge garden and what comes along with that is canning!! This is not an easy task, it's so time consuming but the pay off is excellent. The fresh tomatoes are so so good but unfortunately our stomachs are only so big. 
The the salmon of course, we caught twenty in all so we decided to smoke some and freeze some. These were smoked first and then canned. If only I could open one of them and eat!! Six more days till I can eat fish and I can't wait.
Then their are the brussel spouts, man they are huge!!! Just look at em, mini Christmas trees. I grilled some up tonight with some olive oil and garlic mmmmm. It's funny how good veggies can taste when it's the only thing you can eat.
Below is cabbage but it's in such a unique form, not your typical cabbage. It looks like a rose bud only green. I think that will be my lunch tomorrow.
All the flavors you want, hot peppers, sweet peppers, peppers with a little kick. What do you like? We got it :)
Then after all that canning I made a hat, yep better start working on those Christmas presents when I'm on vacation because once I'm back to work I fear I'll have time for nothing once again.
I forgot about all the things I love to do. It's been great to really do the things that I've put on the back burner but that truly make me who I am. Making this hat just reminded me of how therapeutic arts and crafts can be, well to me at least. It's my outlet and I need it in my life. I will just have to work less and craft more, I can do that :)
What a beautiful close to a beautiful day, a full moon.
The view from the boat was amazing, clear blue waters, giant mountains and surrounded by glaciers. If there was a moment when we weren't catching fish all we had to do was look around because they were jumping out of the water everywhere.
At one point we thought we had caught a fish but we ended up with this.... A starfish arm? Hmm not sure but it had a weird growth or entity on the bottom of it so we're still unsure.
Oh did I forget to mention the huge halibut that I caught??? Ha ha ha well I couldn't resist taking my picture by this in hopes that one day I will truly get to catch one of those.
The greenhouse is full of tomatoes of all kinds, cucumbers, and the blank area on the left was full of corn only a few weeks earlier. The tomatoes are delicious, nothing beats a home grown garden tomato. I don't think I could ever get sick of them. Last night I ate mozzarella, tomatoes and basil drizzled with balsamic vinegar and was in heaven.
Below is the garden full of squash, pumpkins, lettuce, beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and probably some more veggies I've yet to discover. I've always like broccoli but fresh from the garden is so different, it's sweet and delicious even raw. There are fruit trees planted over to the right that you can't see in the picture but they've got a few years left yet before they produce, the greenhouse you can see at the top right. Then the beautiful beautiful house in the back ground. Heated floor, steam room shower, exercise room among everything else. It's so beautiful and green here right now but COLD. Strange to leave 100% weather in Utah to come to 50% rainy weather here. I did however get some new Ugg boots yesterday to help keep me warm :)
A vacation has never felt so good. Last night I realized I left my phone charger at home which at first I was a little concerned about but then I decided it was a blessing. Of course I can go get a charger but for a day wow, amazing. I've been reading quite a bit and have finished one of the four books that I brought. I'm excited to write a little about the first book The Witch of Portobello which I plan on doing sometime tomorrow. It's the first book I've completed since graduate school, I forgot how nice it is to read just to read. 
