A few weeks ago, we had the good fortune of being able to visit friends in Sitka, AK.  I had never been to Alaska before, and I didn’t realize that there are coastal islands with considerably more mild winters than we have in Chicago. The scenery was every bit as breathtaking as we had heard. While we lounged at their beautiful home, we saw bald eagles soaring outside the living room windows with rainbows arching across the coastal waters in the background.  If we looked out the window on the other side of the living room, we had great views of the volcanic mountain range.  We went to wildlife sanctuaries where we got to see a variety of birds of prey and bears.  We took hikes through the forest and walked along the beaches at low tide to admire the plethora of marine life in the tide pools and along the shore.

The best part of the trip though was enjoying the opportunity to visit and catch up with our good friends.  They have three kids in close age to our two daughters.  With the sun still up at 11:00pm, the romping and ruckus never quite seemed to settle down, which was somewhat okay, considering the adults got a couple of nights out on the town too.  My daughters are still talking about what fun they had, and we will treasure our memories of Sitka.