ALASKA TRIP - MAY 2018 - A VISIT WITH GREGG'S SECOND COUSIN - SUNDAY, MAY 27TH, 2018

Second cousins meet today - Sunday, May 27th, 2018

It is 4.25 p.m. and Gregg and I are sitting in the main room of the hotel, with the elk's head staring down at us.  The fire is keeping us nice and toasty, and once again I am drawn to the wrought iron screen with the wonderful design of salmon, which I fancy are swimming upstream.  The flames in the grate are spurring them on.  No one has let the fire go out yet.  It has always been very welcome when we sit down, especially after coming in from outside.

5.09 p.m. and we are having an early cocktail in the bar while a basketball game is going on.  Several customers are in here this time, showing their support by cheering loudly.  Even my sports' loving husband isn't paying attention to the game.  

Way too noisy for me. We are sitting at our usual table, the one by the window, and we have been spoilt by the previous days of quietness after a busy day of sight-seeing.  We move down to the coffee shop downstairs and order an individual slice of pizza and a salad for dinner.  It is nice and quiet down there. 

From the coffee shop we go outside, have our evening walk and see the bronze bear that stands outside of one of the large windows.  

It is one of my favorite sculptures on the property.

There are a few flowers around but it is still too early for them.  I have read that the place is awash with colorful blooms later in the season, and the hotel is well known for them.

After a nice walk we sit outside next to the fire pit. It warded off the chill in the air very nicely. (This is actually the firepit in the front of the hotel, but the one in the back is identical.)

Now we are in our room after deciding to have an early night.  Before I fell asleep, I decide to jot a few more things down.

Earlier today we spent a few hours with Gregg's second cousin and her family on the outskirts of Anchorage.  Her grandmother and Gregg's grandmother are sisters.  They met on Facebook as she is part of their cousin's group.  

It was lovely meeting them, and also a friend of theirs. They cooked us barbecue, and we were treated to fresh wild salmon and burgers, with all kinds of delicious side-dishes. We enjoyed talking to the family and the next door neighbor's dog came over to say hello.  A few neighbors walking by waved.  

We want to thank Gregg's second cousin and her family again for giving us such a good time. We weren't able to give a lot of warning beforehand.  Our schedule had been hectic and though they knew we were in the area and might be dropping by, we weren't sure on timing.  Gregg called to say hello and we were invited over, they made us very welcome.  It was a lovely ending to our holiday. 

(I finally got a photo of the white whale sculpture as we enter the hotel.)

But, it's not over yet.  There is actually one more day tomorrow.  We are getting up early and going back to Seward.  You guessed it, to see the sea otters, one last hurrah.  And I do hope they are still there.  Even if not it will be lovely to see Seward one last time.

We will be ready to head to the airport the following day.  It has been an amazing vacation, but once you know it is coming to an end, the old homing pigeon instincts kick in and you can't wait to get going.  We will have been away for a month.  Time to go home.

But first, the sea otters...and they will be in my next post.