ALASKA! LOTS OF PICTURES! Part 1

Well I have spent most of the last month with my family and mother and father in law in Alaska. It was a great vacation and we even got some fishing in. Great to be home though! Here are SEVERAL PICTURES! Hope you enjoy!
Here is one of the ice caps that Laikyn and I went to with strong opposition from her mother (my wife- Angie)
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Laikyn next to some fireweed...This stuff is a wild weed and grows everywhere out there. I think it is rather pretty.
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Alaska must be a LSU Fan because there are purple and yellow flowers growing everywhere out there.
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One of the many beautiful water falls we saw.
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The first bear we saw. Look in the middle just before the oncoming traffic. He was one camp site over from us.
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The gang fishing at one of the camp sites, didn't catch anything here.
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A cool picture of a float boat passing by.
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The Russian River ferry and yes the water was a very pretty green from the glacier melt off.
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A pretty view
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Devin and Laikyn with Wilson a 150 pound Newfoundland / lab mix. Beautiful dog.
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great post.....thank you.

Some of the mountains/volcanoes we saw.
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One of the several eagles we saw! For an old boy that loves eagles, this was a treat!
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This is where we caught our halibut and the boat we went out on.
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And our catch
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And this is at the end of Homer, at the end of the Homer spit. We caught pollock and cod and flounder here.
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A seal at what they call the fishing hole on the Homer spit.
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Devin with a Pollock
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Laikyn with a flounder
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An Eagle waiting for scraps.
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And yes Laikyn baits her own hook! Landon and Logan Lightfoot watching over her.
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My mother in law even managed to catch 2 at a time!
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Heck Angie even got in on the action!
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Devin cleaning some of the catch
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And yes Laikyn cleans too!
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Angie with another Pollock
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More Eagle pictures
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Angie with a HUGE dog that was just a big old teddy bear.
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Dwyane

Awesome post, I was curious where you have been. Alaska is so beautiful, couldn't imagine what it would be like living in a place like that. Thank-you for sharing. Reminds me of a Markham post lol!

Here is someone else's catch but hey it is fish so I took a picture!
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And I took these couple of pictures to show the dramatic tides they have. I believe they are up to 23 feet difference in tides. I guess I won't complain about the launches at Larto anymore!
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A swan we saw just between Homer and the Homer spit.
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Me, Angie and the kids on one of the glacier tours we took.
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A black bear we saw on the glacier tour.
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A nice view
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The Lightfoots minus the husband Darren. Kristi, Landon, Logan, Taylor and Randy. This is the family we have been friends with for years that moved up to Alaksa from Youngsville, Louisiana. Great people.
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This was on one of the trails that we walked. And we did see 3 bears on this trail, fairly close, with 50 feet. Makes me not worry about snakes on our trails as much. I sure had a better sense of my surroundings after crossing bears on the same trail I was walking on!
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My daughter and Logan talked me into walking the "experienced" trail, we had already left bothe her brother Devin and his brother Landon behind. I don't know what I was thinking!!
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Yes I made it! That is sweat in the middle of my shirt and it was NOT HOT!!!
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The 3 of us.
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The view was really pretty.
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WOW....you just blew me away with all those beautiful pictures......Didi keeps saying...I WANT TO GO....I WANT TO GO....she loves the pics...........

Thanks for sharing Dwyane, a once in a lifetime trip, love the grizzly bear advice... :ThumbsUp

This was in Seward where we went snagging for salmon. I hooked 3 but didn't get any to the bank. Do you think she is cold?
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Devin manned up and went across too. Of course I went before either of them!
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Laikyn caught our only fish there. Man that girl like to catch flounders!
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Another beautiful view.
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Devin caught a rainbow trout out of a stocked pond near a camp site we were staying in. He caught 2 and they were both this size.
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Portage glacier tour.
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This was a cool glacier that you could walk to down a trail. I believe it was called Byron's glacier. And yes Angie didn't want us to go up here but she followed after we all went!
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I think she got over her anxiety!
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All of us with my mother in law.
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The only good picture of a moose I have. He was at the Native Heritage Center and no he was not a part of the show. I don't think they (the natives) cared for him much because they were talking about eating him. He did disrubt their show.
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Saw these on Lake Nancy where our friends live and thought they were cool.
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Yes they do swim in Alaska.
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I am going to help yall out here, they say that 70% of the people that go to Alaska to see Denali or mount McKinley (Denali is what the natives call it and it stands for "The Great One") do NOT get to see it because it is raining or overcast or the weather isn't just right.
Here are pictures of Angie and myself with Denali in the back ground. Denali is the taller mountain on the right. We are on Lake Nancy where our friends live.
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This was in about 6 foot of water off of their dock, crystal clear water.
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Another view of Denali
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A beautiful sunset on Lake Nancy.
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My family with Denali in the back ground.
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Angie wanted a picture of a train the entire time we were there. We finally got a good on in Talketna.
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More LSU flowers! Sorry Mark, I just had too!
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A caribou on one of the free trails we walked.
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We saw a porcupine on this same trail.
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More LSU flowers.
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The kids jumping off a 12 foot platform they had help the neighbor make. Yes we all jumped off except for my mother and father in law.
Landon
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Logan
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Devin
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Laikyn
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The Lightfoots at their home
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King Salmon at the hatchery. They are in a natural river that runs right next to the hatchery.
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More LSU flowers!
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Laikyn with her rocks!
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I saw this sign and like it even though I don't drink anymore.
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And one last picture. I took this picture and took another one immediately after and they came out completely different. This was the better picture. Hope you all enjoyed the show!

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Originally Posted by TreeFrog

Dwyane

Awesome post, I was curious where you have been. Alaska is so beautiful, couldn't imagine what it would be like living in a place like that. Thank-you for sharing. Reminds me of a Markham post lol!

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Brandon, I couldn't even come close to the great post Markham use to make on here but thanks for the highest of compliments!

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Originally Posted by 20watt

Thanks for sharing Dwyane, a once in a lifetime trip, love the grizzly bear advice... :ThumbsUp

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Yea we got a kick out of the part....If it starts to eat you, fight back!

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Originally Posted by prefers shiners

WOW....you just blew me away with all those beautiful pictures......Didi keeps saying...I WANT TO GO....I WANT TO GO....she loves the pics...........

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Thanks Bruce. If yall ever get over this way, we have a ton more pictures that Angie took with her camera. She has all the grizzly bear pictures from Denali because I had to loan my mother in law my camera for the trip, her battery went dead.

Ok, I don't know why some of them have the dreaded red X's but I will try to work on them later. It is late and I am tired.

GREAT pictures, Dwyane! I have had the good fortune to go there twice--once in the mid-70s when my father and brother were working on the Alaskan pipeline and once on an inland passage cruise a few years ago to celebrate my wife's retirement. We also lucked out and got to see Denali without the cloud cover. Alaska is a gorgeous place as your photos illustrate. The mountains, glaciers, and wildlife are just awesome.

Excellent pictures Dwayne! I really enjoyed them. Thanks so much for posting.

great pics Shadow thanks for sharing!!!!!

Absolutely wonderful Dwyane! I know that was a Great Vacation with the family. Thanks for sharing.
STEVE

PS No BAMA flowers? LOL

Awesome pictures. Alaska is a great place to go on vacation. How long we're you there. I went for 2 months on a deployment in 2004. I loved it though I didn't get to travel around much. I did get to fish on base and go around anchorage. When I was there they had like 20-22 hours of daylight. It was cool for a while then it got old. The tide is crazy there. All the marines flew there but our equipment went by ship. It took 2 days to unload and we had to keep mooring the boat because the tide.

PS, listen to your wife. Go to Alaska! Catch some giant flounder and maybe some salmon.

Dwayne, those pictures bring back some fond memories. Looks like y'all had a great time. Linda's itching to go back but I doubt that we will. All the pictures are great and boy could Didi have fun shooting the eagles. When we were there in 2005 they were as thick a blackbirds at home. Alaska is a one of a kind wonderland and anyone who has the opportunity to go better not pass it up. Thanks for sharing your family and your vacation with us.
"gene''

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Originally Posted by JKCCKC2002

Awesome pictures. Alaska is a great place to go on vacation. How long we're you there. I went for 2 months on a deployment in 2004. I loved it though I didn't get to travel around much. I did get to fish on base and go around anchorage. When I was there they had like 20-22 hours of daylight. It was cool for a while then it got old. The tide is crazy there. All the marines flew there but our equipment went by ship. It took 2 days to unload and we had to keep mooring the boat because the tide.

PS, listen to your wife. Go to Alaska! Catch some giant flounder and maybe some salmon.

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We were there for 19 days and yes we had alot of daylight! We have been back since Monday night and I am ALMOST back to normal, might even try to make it back to work tomorrow.

Sounds and looks like an absolutely amazing family trip! Thanks so much for letting us share it through your pictures. Lot of work to post, but we appreciate it. You're kids have sure grown up!

Appears to be a most awesome adventure. The icing on the cake was being able to go with your family. Please bring the pictures to the Toledo Bend gathering. I have been wishy washy on going to Alaska, but your pictures might have made up my mind. Been to a lot of places, but that would certainly be a highlight. Welcome home!! Danny

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Originally Posted by BamaFan

Absolutely wonderful Dwyane! I know that was a Great Vacation with the family. Thanks for sharing.
STEVE

PS No BAMA flowers? LOL

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What's Bama's colors again?!?!?!! Green, Blue, Yellow? Just messing with you buddy, I know they are Blue and Orange !!! lol Seriously though, I know DocWaldo doesn't like LSU so I took most of the flower pictures to mess with him but there really was a ton of purple and gold flowers there!

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Originally Posted by LouisianaFishNut

Sounds and looks like an absolutely amazing family trip! Thanks so much for letting us share it through your pictures. Lot of work to post, but we appreciate it. You're kids have sure grown up!

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Thanks Scott and yes they grow up way to fast!

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Originally Posted by dpisani

Appears to be a most awesome adventure. The icing on the cake was being able to go with your family. Please bring the pictures to the Toledo Bend gathering. I have been wishy washy on going to Alaska, but your pictures might have made up my mind. Been to a lot of places, but that would certainly be a highlight. Welcome home!! Danny

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Danny, if you have the chance to go, I would definetely recommend going! This same family had moved to Hawaii several years ago and had invited us to go but we never did. We have kicked ourselves ever since then so when they moved to Alaska, I told Angie to book the tickets. Yes it was expensive but it was also a once in a life time trip.
We went to Homer, Seward, Portage Glacier, very short time in Talketna (shopping only), and spent some time in Willlow with our friends. I told my father in law that I felt like a flower child, not knowing where we were going to stay next!

Homer was my favorite out of all the places we stayed. Kenai had great fishing for salmon from what we heard but we never stayed there.
Thanks for the welcome home, it is great to be back. Really missed the heat and humidity! :Doh:

Thanks for sharing the great pictures. Now I'm going to have to plan a trip to Alaska!