Avila Beach, CA

We have been in Avila Beach for the last 11 days. It is a beautiful bay that is active with fish, seals and we even saw a few whales. Jon & Cindy are joining us today and then we are heading north to Moss Landing.

Visiting more of our family

On Sunday, we went to Winchester to visit with Todd, Renee, Brittany, Jacob, Maegan, Starla, Sierra, Brendan, and Evan. It was great to see them all. The kids made us welcome home cards that were so sweet and unique. We visited for awhile and then went to the park. We are blessed to have such a wonderful family. Jacob is now taller than I am. (maybe I am just shrinking)

Back to Brea

Here we are back in Brea with Josh! We have missed everyone so much!!!! Josh was happy to have some of Mom's vegetables and salad, I think he liked the salmon too. I just loved being together. I think he has grown, was he this much taller than me 5 months ago?

Heading South

After leaving Newport we moved further south to Sacramento where we visited with Jeff's twin, Jenifer, as well as her lovely family. Angie was so kind to give Cindy and me facials which we throughly enjoyed. Jen, Ray and Jaynee put on a great BBQ for us and we continued to catch up on the family news. Tyson thought he was going to get to skip 1st grade and hot the road with us...maybe next time buddy.

Next stop Moss Landing. We love Moss Landing. We were here last year and once again we enjoyed the sea life as well as the beauty of Monterey. We ate at Phil's again and it did not disappoint. Jon and Cindy also fell in love with this great area.

From there we met our RV club in Paso Robles where we tasted a bit of wine and played some golf. What a great reunion. We have some really great friends and feel very blessed.

On to Long Beach, which was where our journey first began, May 1st ~ 9500 miles ago. Our son-in-laws fibbed to our daughters and managed to pull off a surprise dinner. It was so great to see them all. They all looked great and happy. Corey was still struggling with the crutches, but doing better daily.

We are back at the Canyon RV Park in Anaheim where we will see our other kids and most of the grandkids. I have missed them all so much!

Coming Home

We are in Grants Pass, Oregon. This is our last stop before crossing the state line into California. We are so excited to see our kids, grand kids and friends.

Since we got back into the lower 48, we have visited with friends and family and slowly traveled south.

Our first stop was Hayden, Idaho with Jim and Bev. I have known Bev for many years, but never had the opportunity to spend this much time one on one. We had a great time and it seemed each new subject that came up we found things in common. Thanks Jim and Bev for a great time.

Next stop, Snohomish for a mini family reunion. AJ, Isabel, Linda and Dennis flew up to visit with us. Ben, Megan, Keith, KJ and Gavin came to visit ~ Ben & Kathy, you have a great family. Jon & Cindy drove up and the 10 of us had so many laughs and a great time. We went to Hat Island to visit with Ben's parents Dwight & Claire. They have a beautiful home filled with Claire's incredible art. Ben, I can tell where you get the gentle side. It was great to catch up with family and to be with Jon & Cindy. Ben & Kathy are great hosts as always. We miss you already.

Jon & Cindy will be traveling with us from here to Paso Robles...I hope they can put up with us that long.

From there we went to Raymond, Washington to visit with Jon's Aunt Leah. She and her husband Dwayne have a great home overlooking the river. Leah has a unique vocabulary and a great laugh (not in that order). Thanks guys for sharing your town with us.

Then it felt like we were returning home. We went to Newport, Oregon where we spent almost a month last year. Scott was there to greet us. We cooked out and met some very interesting people from Malibu. Then, Anne and Ron joined us (we met them last year and have stayed in touch), Gary and Roxy drove up to be with us all. We had a great time, met some new people Carol, Jim, Tim and Kathy. Again we laughed until our jaws ached. So much fun in this incredibly beautiful place. I wasn't ready to leave, I think I could live here if it weren't so far away from my family.

At my age I cherish my old friends and feel it is sometimes difficult to make new ones, but Jim, Bev, Anne, Ron and Scott have proven that theory wrong. I feel so lucky to continue to grow as a person through our travels, but more importantly through relationships.

So, we are heading south and getting so excited to see family and friends that we miss so much.

As always pictures are available at http://web.mac.com/gibsononaroll and videos at http://papagibby.blogspot.com/

Stay in touch

Okanagan Valley

We discovered the Okanagan Valley in southern British Columbia. We really didn't know this area, so we were surprised to discover this beautiful valley. There are lakes all around with rivers connecting them. The valley currently has 77 wineries and over 40 golf courses. The hills are covered in grapes and the orchards are full of peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots. The gardens are ripe with tomatoes, squash and corn. needless to say this is a great place for us to hang out for a few days.

We took a little time to pack away our Alaskan jackets, gloves and hats! We have a lot of space now to get out some summer clothes and get ready for some golf.

Terrace, B.C. CANADA

We are back on solid ground in Canada. We are very happy to be back in our rig, the berth was pretty confining. It was fun watching the whales and sea life and not having to cook or do dishes :) We are trying to decide our route back to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, if anyone knows the roads, please advise.

leaving Alaska

We are leaving Juneau today. We will travel by ferry to Prunce Rupert, Canada. We have had an incredible time and we are also really missing our family and friends. Here are a few of my favorite images from the last few days.

Juneau

We are in Juneau, we put the rig and car on a ferry and had a beautiful boat ride to Juneau. We saw whales and more glaciers. We are in Juneau for a few days before loading back on the ferry for two days, then arriving in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. We have seen so many bears and salmon. What an awesome trip!

Going to Valdez

I'm sure you have seen the photos and videos of Cooper's Landing and Whittier...we are so in love with Alaska. We are heading to Valdez and we hear it is like Seward but more dramatic. We will let you know.

Leaving Homer

We are leaving Homer today and going fishing in the Kenai River.  Homer has been amazing and we have enjoyed every moment.  The weather changes in a second and the ocean can be glass one moment and a very angry sea the next.  The glaciers are alive with changing colors and shadows that can only be captured in your heart.  Before we left home, I told Karen that I couldn't understand why people would visit Alaska year after year, I get it now.

A pair of eagles live nearby and come over to visit a few times every day, so we have watched them look for food and when they find it they share with each other, but not with the seagulls.

We ran into a crazy bar last night, the Salty Dawg.  This fun place actually gives you a marker and a cup of thumbtacks so that you can add to the THOUSANDS of dollar bills hung all around the bar with messages on them.  I didn't have my camera last night but it was great.  

To see pictures go to http://web.mac.com/gibsononaroll

Homer

We are currently staying in Homer on the spit.  This is a great park facing the Cook Inlet and the Kachemak Bay.  The view from the front of our rig is the ice and glaciers of the Aleutian Range.  It is amazing to think that on the other side of these mountains is the Bering Sea and beyond that Russia.  We watch eagles catching fish from the front of our rig.  Absolutely incredible.  This, again, is one of our favorite spots. 

Today the Talberts are leaving Homer and starting their trip toward home.  We will rejoin in Snohomish, Washington.  We have loved traveling with them and wish them exciting, safe travels.  We will also miss them.

Ninilchik

We visited a city named Ninilchik.  This city is a quaint fishing village that was first settled by Russians seeking retirement.  The Russian Orthodox church was built in 1911 and is still actively used by it's village.  The people still dress in the fashion of the Russians.  We found this beautiful fishing village to be a great day trip.

Eagle

Jeff loves Eagles so you can imagine how fun this was for him to discover an eagle nest behind our park. He captured this Eagle picking up a small fish from the stream. This is really cool to watch. Their vision is so keen and they are very quick.

Exit Glacier

We took a hike to see Exit Glacier, it is one of over 20 glaciers that make up the Harding Icefield. (named after President Harding) The expanse of the icefield is over 607,805 acres in the Kenai Fjords National Park. The ice here is several thousand feet deep. The colors change as the sun moves through clouds. The ice is very much alive as it recedes and advances.

Fishing in Seward

One of the top things we wanted to do was fish in Seward. We chartered a boat and departed at 6:30 AM. We wanted to catch halibut and silver salmon. We almost hit our limit on both and we caught a lingcod as a bonus. Lingcod grow at a rate of 1 pound per year, our captain estimated this guy was around 70-80#. We also caught a stingray, a shark, lots of pollock and black cod. The black cod and pollock we threw back but we kept over 120# of halibut and salmon.

Seward highway

We went to Anchorage for a few days mainly to restock. We did play a round of golf at Moose Run which was fun and Roxy shot the best round of her life with an 88.

Then we were off to Seward...the Kenai! Once we turned the corner and were on the ocean it was like a constant postcard. The mountains and ocean were incredible. The sky was a beauty of it's own. We have lots of pictures posted on the photo link but here is a sample.