The ones that almost got away

We are back in Kodiak now, and in less than 2 hours I will be back at work.  I need another vacation!  Anyway, since we got back I looked back over the pictures and stitched together some panoramics.  I also found quite a few pictures that I really liked that we never posted on the blog.  So here they all are - the ones that almost got away so-to-speak.

In the one above I am giving Stuey a ride in a small kayak.  Flat calm and very HOT.  You can see the thunderclouds reflected on the pond surface.

Leona, Stuey and Zoya walk ahead up the trail towards the 'maiden's cross'.  More on the cross later, but the hike up through the woods was beautiful.  Everyone asked us if it is true that Maine is a lot like Kodiak.  And it is - but Alaska does not have the diversity of decidious trees.  Living on Kodiak one of the things I miss most about Maine is the walks through the woods - especially when the leaves are turning color.

Finally done with the drive down from Maine!  We are at Logan airport in Boston with the Boston skyline in the distance.  All that is left of the trip is the flight home.  This went fairly easily with both kids plugged into their digiplayers.  Both even napped from Boston to Chicago.

A view of a stream under the trees during our hike up to the Maiden's cross.  This is a grove of hemlock trees.  I slowed the shutter speed on purpose to make the running water look like milk.

Here we are at Polly and John's place on the lake.  The kids are in bed and it is time to relax while the sun sets.  I thought it was funny that everybody plugged into their computers while the sun set slowly in all its glory.

This is the Maiden's Cross above Lake Megunticook.  At this spot in 1864 a girl named Elanora French fell off the cliff and died while chasing her wind-blown hat.  Quite a dramatic spot.  The similarities between Elanora's name with that of Leona and Nora spooked us a bit.

Sunset from the porch of Polly and John's deck.  I got off the computer just long enough to catch it as it set.

On a rainy we drove up Mount Battie above Camden Maine.  There is a little tower up there and a plaque with a poem written by Edna St Vincent Millet on the spot.  We thought it was funny driving our HUGE car up the mountain rather than walking.  We went and ate at Dunkin Doughnuts next.  Horrors!  Ugly Americans eating and driving their big gas guzzler around while on vacation.

Nora is actually very sad in this picture.  While Stuey is ecstatic as he gets to drive.  Soon after this picture was taken Stuey was the unhappy one and Nora happy when they switched places to drive.  Why is it so difficult to get both kids happy at once while on vacation?  Patrick