A Visit From My Family

We're enjoying a visit from my parents and sister here in Alaska. They flew up here to Dillingham all the way from West Virginia. It was a very long flight. They left very early in the morning on Wednesday from Charleston, West Virginia, flew to Cincinnati, then Seattle, from there to Anchorage and finally to Dillingham. They arrived at 5pm our time, and were plenty tired from the trip.

I took them for a quick trip around the town, and it didn't take long for them to see most of Dillingham. They've been enjoying the stay. But of course, the most exciting part is the sightseeing outside town.

We took a trip down to the end of Wood River Road for a view of the Wood River, the fishing boats and the mountains.

There was a boat unloading some fish there. And Natalie immediately wanted to take some pictures of the mountains.

We had a pizza for dinner at the Windmill Grille. It's not the best pizza ever, but the pizza is one of the better options on the menu at the Windmill Grille. Samara and Dad both enjoyed an Alaska-brewed beer.

The next scenic stop was Kanakanak Beach, to see if any folks had caught fish in their nets. We didn't see many fish, but we did get some nice pictures of the family at the edge of the Nushagak Bay.

Kanakanak Beach also gives a slightly different view of downtown Dillingham.

I think one of the best sightseeing trips we've taken since my family got here is up Snake Lake Road. This is where Anthony and I started our hike when we saw the brown bear. Natalie especially wanted to head out there. We drove up Snake Lake Road to the lookout point. Everyone was pretty impressed with the view.

These are some pretty good pictures of the mountains around Dillingham, which don't usually photograph well.

It has been pretty cloudy for the whole trip, but at least no one is getting sunburned. We went farther down Snake Lake Road and got a good view of the lake.

Our next restaurant trip was to the Muddy Rudder. It's a favorite of mine, and I think everyone else liked it as well. Natalie really enjoyed her milkshake.

Dad had a seafood alfredo, Natalie demolished a cheeseburger, Mom had the grilled halibut and Samara and I both ordered the fried halibut sandwich. Definitely a recommended dining experience in Dillingham. Too bad they're only open in the summer. I miss it all winter long.

The family have all been taking pictures as well, but those are most of the pictures I've gotten. We also went down to the beach at Snag Point, below our apartment, and collected a ton of sea glass. It all seems to wash up there when people throw their glass bottles over the side of the boat. You can find lots of rock-tumbled, smooth pieces of glass all along the beach. We picked up a bunch!

I also introduced everyone around at the courthouse, which was nice. They got to see my office. Natalie, Mom and Samara went shopping at the gift shop at the airport. We also took a tour of the Sam Fox museum. It had some neat history of the Alaska Natives, local fishing and prehistoric animals native to the area. It's a small museum, but not bad.

We also checked out our new digs. Samara and I are moving to a cheaper place to live, out by the airport. (It's quite a bit cheaper--it's free!) We'll be managing the property for the absentee owner. The place we're moving into will take some work to get into shape. I might even be able to get dad to help me out a little while he's here.

Natalie has been keeping her eye out our window for a bald eagle that lives on the bluffs. We saw him out the window one time, but since then only dad has been lucky enough to spot him again. I took a few pictures from the bluff tonight, but all I could see was boats and seagulls.

More pictures as we have time. The family is here for another few days--they don't leave until Thursday. We haven't even gotten out to Aleknagik Lake yet, so I can guarantee a few more pictures then!