May 4-June 7: Abacos to Altamont to Alaska and back.

May 4:  Still in Marsh Harbour awaiting parts for the exhaust elbows.  To review, parts needed to be made and were eventually mailed to us (an arduous task in the Bahamas).  They didn’t fit – not our bad – so new ones had to be made.  The company then sent just one – their bad again.

So we flew home on May 11th, still awaiting all the parts.

Got home (Altamont) in time to enjoy a very pleasant Mother’s Day.

Met fellow Loopers Paal and Betsy aboard M/V Eleanor at the Albany Yacht Club.  We first met in Wisconsin (where they live) and followed them on and off to Panama City where they have a condo.  They are on the home stretch now to completing their Loop.

We took them to nearby Washington Park in Albany, NY and enjoyed the remains of the Tulip Festival.

The Erie Canal opened for the season so I joined them in Waterford, NY to go through the first 6 locks.

We were all set to go at 9:30am but had to wait over 2 hours for the owner of this boat (and another one) to move their boats so an exiting tow/barge could exit the lock.

It all worked out.  I jumped off at the end of the sixth lock.  Farewell Eleanor!

Back in Altamont our grandson Clark helps out with watering pansies.

Steph drove down for the weekend of May 17-19 so the 3 grandkids got lots of cousin time in, plus we celebrated Steph’s birthday.

Morning fun with Aunt Jessi.  A few days later we flew to Anchorage, Alaska to visit my sister Deb and her friend Jim.  Jim owns rustic cabins he has built and rents out.

Nice beginning to our trip.  We rented a car in Anchorage and drove 3 hours down the Kenai Peninsula to Soldotna.  We saw this moose halfway there.

View of “A Walden Pond” (name of Jim’s place) from our little cabin.  This was about as dark as it got.  Otherwise lots of daylight!

At the end of the road leading to Jim’s place are two resident eagles.  Got a close up of one of them.

Took a scenic 18 mile dirt road off the Sterling Highway, Skilac Road, to check out the amazing scenery.

Another photographer enjoying the scenery. Spent the next day helping Jim and Deb with some of their building projects.

Bob cutting some planks for the Lincoln Cabin siding.

Jim standing inside on the floor in need of flooring.

Deb inside what will be the bathroom.

A group effort, but by the end of the day, the floor was in!

Memorial Day weekend decoration on the tool shed.

Deb in front of our cabin to the right.

View from our cabin, a bull moose across the pond.

Bob and Jim working on the board walk.

Deb’s turn to cut planks. Next up was a trip with Deb to Steward for a 5 hour boat tour of Resurrection Bay.

Hearty sailors.

Saw lots of whales.

Deb the rebel.

Birds, sea lions, loons, harbor seals and mountain goats, oh my!

And glaciers of course.  Great trip!

Next day we drove to Homer to take a float plane tour.  Stopped several times along the way to check out the scenery.

Checked out the marina on the Homer Spit first.

Someone has a sense of humor….

This boat is actually inhabited.

And on to our adventure.  Basically we went up the Kachemak Bay to the west, veered east and then south over glaciers and then circled back over the Homer Spit to the man made lake adjacent to the airport that is a dedicated lake for landing float planes.

And back to the dock.  Amazing trip!

Scenery on the way back to Soldotna.

Visit to Kenai where our brother in law Bob has cousins.  Small world – they live about 15 minutes away from Jim.  They fed us a delicious salmon dinner (that cousin John had caught of course) and then took us to see the sights around Kenai.  This is the mouth of the Kenai River.

Bob with Bernie and John.

A Russian Orthodox Church dating back to the 1870s since being used for services today.

Got up at 4:30am to capture the sunrise – but alas – fog!!!

Saw three moose on our way back from errands on May 30, a mom, son and daughter.

Then they wandered over to Deb and Jim’s place.

The inside complex of boardwalks connecting the cabins.

Sadly we had to depart.  On the drive back to Anchorage we stopped at a game preserve and enjoyed seeing the animals there.

Not to worry, there was fence between us.

The end point of Turnagain Bay.

Farewell Alaska!

So back to Altamont.  Clark really enjoyed his hat from Alaska…

And helping Ga’Bob out with backyard projects (a storm blew over this tree which didn’t hit anything!).

Took a day trip to Concord, Mass (which is ironically where the real Walden Pond is located).  Steph’s grandmother in law passed away last month and a celebration of life was held at the church she and her late husband went to. I took the girls to a local playground during the actual church service since it was going to over an hour long.  We were the best dressed folks at the playground.  Good to see Steph, Byron and Byron’s family even though it was a funeral.  Elinor Malcom was a wonderful lady and it was a pleasure to have known her.

And back to the Bahamas on June 5.  The second, rebuilt exhaust elbow had arrived. The clamps didn’t fit but Bob and our mechanic Andy found a way to make it all work.  Finally – engines running on June 6!!

Fueled up on June 7 before heading out.  There was a ferry boat to Baker’s Bay next to us.  The tall gentleman on board (not a great photo) is Michael Jordan!

June 7:  Spent the night off Lynyard Cay (near Little Harbour where Pete’s Pub is located).  Nice anchorage.  Next up:  Our trip to the Berry Islands about 70 miles away.