Feb. 28th, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Still getting better. We woke up pretty early this morning (6:45 a.m.) and walked down to the lodge for breakfast. The light is so pretty early in the a.m. It rained last night, which magnified the sweet Alaska smell. After eating (nothing too remarkable - just your average breakfast buffet), we met our kayaking group - only one other older couple from San Diego. I love the small tours. A gentleman from the lodge drove us to the lake put-in a little bit early since the group was ready to go. We skipped rocks and marveled at the mountains until our guide, Mike, arrived with the boats.
We set sail around 8:30 on the incredibly calm, clear, neon teal lake (glacier-fed and about 48 degrees). We rode in a double kayak, which Justin and I had never done. We weren't sure how much we'd like it, but Mike recommended it since the singles are much narrower than the singles we're used to. Not wanting to experience any part of the freezing lake, we went with his recommendation. It was actually a lot of fun and not hard to get used to (other than the fact that we had a rudder to control our direction and didn't have to use the paddle for manuevering).
We spent the first hour or so paddling out to a beach about 2.5 miles away. We saw two bald eagles about 50 yards from each other, sitting on top of spruce trees most majestically. One flew away, and we saw him eating a salmon on the shore very near us as we paddled by. They are BIG BIRDS. Despite yesterday's forecast for today, it never rained on us. In fact, the sun even peeked out from behind the clouds a few times, illuminating big swatches of land on the colorful mountains surrounding us. Said mountains are carpeted with huge areas of wild berries, lichens and spruce trees.
We stopped on a little stretch of beach peninsula for snacks (trail mix, Babybel cheese and crackers) and hot chocolate. Mike also pointed out fresh berries we could eat - rose hips, cranberries, red currants and black currants. After hanging out on shore for awhile, we headed back.
Like so many things here, I just can't describe the scale or beauty of the place we're visiting. I'm so glad to be sharing this experience with Justin. He understands how this place makes you feel, how it smells, how the moss quiets your footsteps, how clear the lakes are and how you can see your kayak paddle three feet into the water. It's not really something words were made for.
Anyway, after kayaking we came back to the lodge. I changed quickly and went to church with a small van of other Catholic mass-goers. We went up to a beautiful little local chapel - a log cabin church with big windows behind the altar. Mass was short - only about 45 minutes. I'm glad I could make it this week (there wasn't one on the boat last week). So after mass, I found Justin and we got some lunch in the lodge. I got the bison chili again (SO GOOD) and he got fish and chips. We decided to walk down to the Cooper Landing Cemetery a mile from the lodge. Apparently anyone can be buried there for free, and you just have to inquire at the post office.
Weird, no? Okay, when I kick the bucket, this is the kind of place I want to be buried. It is without a doubt the most serene cemetery I've ever seen. Graves are somewhat informal and accessible by small hiking paths. Most have headstones - some fancier than others - and many have huge mounds of moss and flowers and plant life over the grave area. It's so natural and peaceful. Justin found it slightly creepy, but the only thing that put me on edge was the possibility of surprising a bear or moose. One of the lodge staffers was mauled by a bear about a month ago near the lodge. She survived, but we've caught gruesome tidbits. It was bad enough that she's had to have skin grafts and a bunch of surgeries. So needless to say, I'm wary of scaring a bear into eating my face. Especially since we know there's a mama with cubs nearby.
After our trek to the cemetery, we played horseshoes (Justin schooled me) and shuffleboard (I won in an epic comeback) outside on lodge grounds for a few hours.
This is SO RELAXING! We're just chilling in our cabin now and are heading to dinner shortly. Ahhhh
***
Dinner was mahhhvelous. Justin got a chicken caesar salad and a new brew - the Denali Red. I got the Kenai Princess salad. Wasn't sure it would fill me since my stomach has been stretched roughly to the size of a small whale's over the last week. To my relief, not only did it fill me up, it tasted as good as any deliciously decadent creation from the ship. It included mesclun greens, big hunks of gorgonzola, a cinnamony sliced pear, walnuts and white balsamic vinaigrette. After our last dinner at Kenai, we headed back to the cabin for fire and sleep. I could get used to this life.
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