Where Can You Get More Sun Than the Land of the Midnight Sun?

From the moment you dive into the warm, clear water of the Florida Keys you know you're in a special place. Dunking my head underwater I'm immediately immersed in another world. The colors seem too incredible to be real. The water is seriously aqua blue and deep jade green. Then you realize the world down here is swimming with life! aubergine sea fans wave in the underwater "breeze" and bright orange coral dot the sand. 5 torpon that were at least as long as I was zoomed by at the periphery of my underwater world. Soon and entire school of fish the size of paperclips surrounded me. They pulsed brilliant turquoise, yellow, green, and blue in time with each other as they moved in unison. What an amazing world. I truly hope it's not the last time I see these wonders!


Matt and I enjoyed the heck out of having the sun right overhead (even though it was 95 degrees by 9 am). For six days we snorkeled in pristine, aqua-blue waters, sought the shelter of a palm tree, or enjoyed the incredible invention of air conditioning. It was a nice change up from Alaska, and an entire world away, to be sure!

I also enjoyed seeing my niece and nephew, as they now live 3,000 miles away. At the ages of one and two they are changing too fast to keep up with from so far away. It was really nice to see them learning how to walk and swim. I made the car sound for Hunter as he plowed his car through the sand, he thought that was the best thing ever and kept asking me to "do it again!"

We also ate at some fabulous restaurants. Matt and I are passionate about food if we're passionate about anything!

We had an incredible night at the Islamorada Fish Company overlooking the bay and watching the sunset while we ate wonderfully cooked mahi mahi, scallops, and ahi. Hunter sat right next to me and was a wonderful restaurant guest, even if he ate his spaghetti with his hands!

Kaiyo had the best sushi we've ever had--and we've had lots lately. We took my dad there for Father's Day, and we all felt lucky to share that meal with him.

Because of crazy flight times, Matt and I ended up spending some time exploring Miami on our own. We discovered another great restaurant (Michael's Genuine Food and Drink--OMG! That's a meal we'll relive for awhile to come), a cute little B&B on the river, and found the glorious and somewhat crowded beaches of South Beach.

I came away realizing that even though I live in a city it's nothing compared to a "real" city like Miami. Just looking at those towering apartment buildings with people living on top of each other made me glad my city is so small by comparison.

As we traveled back to Alaska, it might have been the jet lag or the 16 hours traveling, but I was so, so ready to come home. Anchorage was a welcome and familiar sight as we came in for our landing, and it got me thinking. An anchor can be a source of security and stability, a sign that you want to stay put for awhile. Anchorage has definitely become that for us.

Enjoy some pics of the trip!

Updates coming soon!

Hello! I just wanted to drop a quick entry to say I've been busy adventuring! Matt and I went to Florida with my family, and then I went to Glacier Bay National Park with my next door neighbor and best friend, and am off again this week to tour Homer, Seward, Seldovia and the like with my best friend Ang. I am working on slide shows from the trips and promise to post updates soon!

Thanks for the support,
Jen