Visiting the "Promised Land" part 1

     On June 20th, we took off for Alaska where Daddy spent six years of his single life.  He has always promised to take us there for a visit, so what for him is the "great land" has become the "promised land" for us.  Our stay lasted about 16 days and was filled with visiting his old friends and favorite spots.  We will be posting a series of posts, so in this one, I'll share the basics of what we did.

June 20:  Arrived in Anchorage, got to bed at 4:00 our time back home.
June 21:  Attended birthday party brunch for Lynea Lenamond, helped with wedding preparations, set up RV at Chapel By the Sea where we stayed for a large portion of the trip, took a short walk to a beautiful view.
June 22:  Walked on an Anchorage beach, helped decorate church for wedding, watched rehearsal, attended rehearsal dinner and practiced dancing.
June 23:  Helped decorate and prepare food for reception, attended wedding, attended and helped with reception.
June 24:  Attended Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wasilla (same name and denomination as our home church), hiked Bodenburg Butte, drove by Daddy's old house in Palmer, ate a waffle dinner at McCalls'.
June 25:  Drove to Seward in RV stopping on the way at Portage Glacier, Wittier, Hope, and an ice cream place.
June 26:  Walked on beach, visited Richardsons and heard all about 1964 earthquake, hiked to Exit Glacier, ate supper at midnight.
June 27:  On the way from Seward to Homer: toured Seward Sea Life Center, Jason, Jeannine, and Julia became Junior Rangers, Daddy, Jessica, and Jason tried to fish for salmon, Mommy, Jeannine, Julia, Janelle, and I attended a program about sled dogs and the Ididerod, watched salmon running, visited an amazing knife shop, visited a chainsaw carving place, got a snack at The Moose Is Loose Bakery.
June 28:  Toured shops on Homer Spit, drove to a beautiful view.
June 29:  Took a boat ride to Saldovia where we stopped at a coffee shop and took a short hike.
June 30:  On way back to Anchorage: shopped at Homer Farmers' Market, visited the Norman Lowell art gallery and homestead, ate at The Moose is Loose again, stopped at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
July 1:  Attended Chapel by the Sea, had lunch and spent the rest of the day with the Lee family.
July 2:  Hiked Flat Top with Bethany Lee, rode bikes with Bethany and Mrs. Lenamond.
July 3:  Ate brunch at Gwennie's, moved camper to Powells' driveway, hiked Baldy, had campfire on a river beach and watched fireworks.
July 4:  Hiked at Hatcher's Pass with Lenamond family, had Independence Day cookout at McCalls'.
July 5:  Spent time with Powells, packed up, cleaned up, flew out of Anchorage airport at around 11pm.