August 28

What the?  More sunshine, clear blue skies.  Warm and all mountain tops are visible.  Denali, Forraker and Hunter are all clearly visible in the north, can’t believe how close they appear.  The Alaska Range is open showing their high elevation with heavy snow cover in the west along with Mt. Redoubt volcano along the inlet.  Brenna has a tummy bug and plans today are cancelled.  It’s Zack’s birthday so we are sorry dinner plans must be postponed.   So we decide to take a last hurrah trip on our fave road. We have wanted to attend the UMC in Girdwood about 40 miles from Anchorage.  We follow the Turnagain Arm once again.  One of the top ten most beautiful drives in the country.  The tide is out.  We can see Beluga whales waiting to follow the salmon into the Arm with the tide. They are medium sized all white whales, looking like ghosts riding the waves.  This particular pod is unique in Alaska, the furthest south and separate from the larger pods in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. The Arm and the surrounding mountains are always changing and beautiful no matter what the weather.  There is a very slight change for fall in the trees and undergrowth.  Very different from the 120 mile north trip we took yesterday where fall foliage is in full swing.  We drive up Girdwood Valley to the UMC church.  We were hoping to see Pastor Ward who married Brenna and Zach two years ago.  But she has moved to Washington and the new pastor is David Hall.  He is a graduate of the seminary in Dayton, Ohio.  He and his wife are from Nashville area.  He is ex-military who works part time as pastor awaiting ordination.  He also works part time for the VA . He and his wife have three young girls and they are very friendly.  He provides an excellent sermon and we are able to take communion.  The church is small with open concept.  Open beam and glass construction.  After church we go to Jack Sprat for brunch.  It has become our fave Girdwood restaurant.  We snag a table on the side deck with views of the mountains across the valley.  We sit in sun feasting on eggs benedict with smoked salmon and fried potatoes and a side of reindeer sausage.  Fresh brewed coffee and a carafe of mimosa’s top off a wonderful meal. We walk up to the artist’s coop and enjoy the wares at the old lodge.  Profuse flowers in large ground and hanging pots decorate the area. Then we stop at the Kobuk Jade Factory.  This has long been a favorite stop for us for over 30 years. They bring in Nephrite Jade from the Kobuk valley in the north.  An older couple ran it for years.  Now their daughter has taken over after their death.  It is closing for good next month and luckily we just happened in when it was open.  We have a nice chat and share memories of their years on the site.  The building will be sold along with all the remaining stock and huge jade saws that we enjoyed watching over the years.  Their displays of Alaska artifacts and native art are of museum quality.  A final purchase and we say good bye and good luck.  On our trip back north along the Arm the tide is coming in fast.  We can see the Beluga whales bobbing along, swimming the tide feasting on salmon.  We also see small black whales that we can’t identify.  We overheard a tourist telling a local they saw large black whales along the Inlet shoreline on their way down.  They already lost a humpback that ventured into the Arm.  It’s too shallow for them, so hope it doesn’t happen again.  Although now that we have seen the small black whales, we think they may have seen them instead.  We are able to see three Dall sheep high on the mountainside.  Brenna is feeling a little better.  We stop over with popsicles and ginger ale.  We take Zach his birthday presents and his parents arrive at the same time.  Dean is actively fighting sleep; he is quite the socialite and loves grandparent adoration.  Cute as can be.  We sit in the sun in the backyard and watch Zach open his gifts.  Time to go and let Brenna go back to bed.  She is due to start back to work tomorrow and it is unsure if she can go.  Back at the apartment we begin our packing.  After two months and purchases along the way it is a job to get it all in the bags.  Also we had left clothes from our February visit that have to be packed.  The day remains clear and warm with a beautiful setting sun.  We are now seeing darkness around 11PM, so daylight is fading as winter approaches.  Leaving Tuesday night for home our time is almost over.  Dean has grown from newborn who was unpredictable and unengaged to an active, responsive, bouncing baby boy.  His big blue eyes are endearing and he has captured our hearts.  Night.