Hi all! Brian here bringing you tonight's blog from "Still Sunny @ 11 o'clock" Alaska. Today was my group's day to go fishing, but, as you can see from our photo of the day, last night's Super Moon ruined our tides for us. That mixed with 40 knot winds and 6 foot swells made it a little bit difficult to launch a boat and would have made for an unpleasant day on the waters. Anyone who has been on Alaskan waters knows that things can change quickly and not always for the better. So with the help and persuasion of our "Pole Bender" Greg, we decided at 7 o'clock that we should just get back in our pj's, put our lunches in the fridge, and head right back to bed. Hopefully the weather holds up for Saturday or Sunday and we will be going out then, so stay tuned for that everyone! Well, while my group was resting, the other groups visited the Pratt Museum for our last and final visit for Elmira College. That is where our picture of the day is from. The Pratt Museum has a beautiful boar Alaskan Brown Bear in its bear exhibit and as you can see (from left to right) Ryan, Moody, Jen, Heather, and Reese had a blast there. It was a pretty cool place to check out if you are in the area. Some of the group went to check out the newest addition to the Nicholas Sparks section of your DVD rack and went to the theatre in Homer to see The Lucky One, which I have to admit, they all said was a pretty good movie. Its not my style, but something tells me eventually it will come across my television unwillingly. Haha. We'll now for my favorite part of the day, dinner! Dinner was simple tonight. No...I know what you all are thinking.We did not have delivery. Instead, we had DeGiorno. Haha. After that we all met in the Bear Den and finished the night off with a fantastic flick, The Departed. Although it did not go over well with some of its viewers, it cannot be denied that it was a fantastic movie with a fantastic cast of individuals. Well, its time for me to write all of this again in my journal tonight. =D Until next time all! Goodnight! #AlaskaEC2012

Hello! This is Annie!  While the first group was out fishing, the rest of us stayed ashore doing all kinds of stuff! This morning outside the Moose Lodge there was, you guessed it! A moose! She was relaxing in the snow and we enjoyed watching her from the porch. Later, a few of us, including me, went down to the Anchor Point Beach. The tide was really far out this time and there was a lot to look for along the beach. Did you know the Alaskan tide changes are some of the most dramatic in the world?!  Dr. Bezotte spotted a half-eated sting ray in the tides and took it out for us to get a closer look! It was really cool to see it's jaws up close. Before we got to it, there were two eagles feasting on it! As we hiked along the beach, the tide started coming in. At some points we got our shoes wet and muddy in the wet sand that tried to pull them off! We hiked past some cliffs and saw lots of eagles along the way. After we got back to the lodges and had some lunch, we all piled into the van and headed to Homer for some food and gift shopping and for a tour around the Pratt Museum. There were some really interesting exhibits in the museum that pertained to our projects and a lot of information about the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After the museum we went for a short hike to the beach where we saw lots of dogs! Our group always seems to run into really nice dogs almost anywhere we visit. I can imagine our future trip to go dog sledding will be a favorite for most all of us (who aren't allergic ;-) ). We met up with everyone for dinner at the lodges and had chicken and yummy mashed potatoes along with some of the day's catch! I can't believe how fast this trip is going! Everyday is a new adventure and memory. There is so much to see and I hope I can come back here some day!

Hey everyone it's Jenn and Ryan!

For yesterday, today, and tomorrow we separated into three different groups.  One group goes to the Pratt Museum, one group goes fishing, and one group has the day off (yay!).

The Pratt Museum is a natural history museum that gives details about the wildlife and plant life of the Kenai Peninsula.  It sounds like fun, but Jenn and I didn't do that today.  We're told there's a lot of "stuffed animals."

The day off group is responsible for cooking the dinners, and tonight we had a traditional Italian cuisine.  Very delicious, but still boring.

On to the fun stuff.

Today we went FISHING.  Serious fishing.  Our group consisted of Dr. Bezotte, Alexis, Reese, Heather, and obviously ourselves!  Altogether we caught a whopping 33 fish.  There is a limit on how much Halibut we were allowed to catch due to fishing laws, and we were only allowed two each.  We also caught 21 Cod, which there is no limit for.  They are supposed be especially delicious this time of year, and we have had fish the last two nights with dinner.

Yesterday they only managed to catch one cod, one salmon, and one halibut.  We were met with a little more luck today, but never had a chance to fish for salmon due to the REALLY HIGH waves.

For me, Ryan, it was incredibly fun watching Heather reel in fish after fish.  She is small but fierce.  She caught something today that completely snapped the line as she struggled to hold on.  We are still all very curious what was on the line.  I am sure by the time we get back we will have an incredible fish tale to tell all you lovely folks back home.

For me, Jenn, I especially enjoyed how we reeled in the fish very frequently. It seemed as though someone caught another fish every ten minutes. As we sat out there rocking, laughing, and talking, I felt that this may have been one of the highlights of the trip for us all and we wish the fishing group tomorrow just as much luck as we had today.

That's it for today.  Stilts says "peace out."

Hey all! Reporting to you today is Alexis and Reese. Although today was not as adventurous as yesterday's hiking exploration, it was a day focused on education. It was a school morning for all of us, even back home in the "lower 48." We started the morning off Skyping our professor's daughter's fifth grade class at 9:30 am Alaska time...1:30 pm Eastern time. They were very excited to see us and they asked us plenty of questions about our trip so far. It was precious to see their faces light up when they heard things such as, how much snow is up here (17 feet at Exit glacier), how big moose are, hearing how we got flakes of gold during our gold sluicing day, and how late the sun goes down (10:30 pm) and how early it rises (4:30 am)! Sometimes you miss being that young, but nothing can beat the things we have seen up here. After lunch, we headed into town to get our fishing licences for the weekend of deep sea fishing. It was an interesting process, but we are all set and ready to go! Now we are hoping the weather cooperates for the weekend. 

Then we ran to the store to pick up some food..again, it is unreal how expensive things are up here, but as we have heard from the locals, food doesn't come cheap and a lot doesn't come fresh. It is tasty nonetheless, and we enjoyed a dinner of BLTs and tater tots; yum!

Earlier though, we attended a lecture at the Islands and Oceans Visitors Center. Lisa told us about the research that their 30 biologists  are conducting on the coastal islands all the way around Alaska involving seabirds and climate change. The lecture was very informational and after we used a computer simulation to give us an inside look on how talented these biologists are. We had to try and count how many birds were in a picture in 10 seconds and try to be within 5% of the total. This is the percent their biologists have to consistently be within in order to go out into the field. It was a lot harder than we thought it would be! Some students were better than others, but we all had fun and can't wait to go back on Monday. Until then, keep checking the page out and enjoy our pictures!

Alexis & Reese

Hey, this is Emma and Sam!!! Back from an exhausting but amazing day of hiking and kayaking! We started our day getting on the road at 7am. Ugh! We drove down to the Homer Spit where we parked and met our True North Kayaking Adventure Guides. We were all fitted with rain gear and rubber boots and boarded their two boats, the Bonnie Ann and the Harlequin. It was about an hour long boat ride out across Cook Inlet through many tiny islands and unique rock formations. We even slowed down to see some playful sea otters and their newborn pups! Once at the rock beach, we all unloaded our gear and started to prepare for our kayak adventure. We got a quick orientation from one guide Ben while we were fitted for life jackets and spray skirts.  We were paired up in double kayaks. Then we SHOVED OFF! We paddled out into open water and explored the numerous coastlines of the  Fox Islands. On our journey we saw many curious sea otters as well as a few porpoises and a harbor seal.  After arriving back at the rock beach, we packed up and headed back on the boat to our hiking trail. While on the boats we ate a delicious lunch prepared by a local bakery. We passed a huge rock formation with thousands of migrating and mating birds. We also drove through Halibut Cove which is a small artist community. Our guide gave us some cool information about the residents, both past and present.  Once we arrived at the start of the Glacier hiking trail, we started up the steep vertical stairs. Not even five minutes into the walk we encountered  a small black bear hiding in the brush. After everyone took his picture, we continued on for about an hour, encountering some rugged and icy terrain! We finally arrived at the base of the Glacier Lake  where we relaxed, had some hot apple cider, and took many a photo. There even was a nice little outhouse for everyone to use conveniently. After a lengthy rest we packed up and hiked back out to the ocean where our two boats were waiting for us. Then we made the final journey back to the Homer Spit. Everyone was exhausted, some even fell asleep on the boat ride  home. Once back on the docks, we said our final goodbyes and thank yous to our beloved tour guides before we all piled back into the vans to head back home for dinner. Pizza!!! Bedtime might be a little bit earlier than usual tonight! Thats all for today. See you all tomorrow!

Hey everyone! This is Amy and Stephanie! Today was a VERY interesting day. We began the day by visiting the Norman Lowell Art Gallery. He had over two hundred and fifty of his paintings displayed in the gallery, and they were all of Alaskan scenery. They all really captured the essence of Alaska. After that, we traveled to the local Russian village and had a true Russian experience with a woman named Nina. Nina prepared a authentic Russian meal for us, and also exposed us to many Russian customs. For instance, the men in our group all got larger portions because of their gender. After we finished eating, she had Dr. Bezotte and Macy dress in Russian outfits because they bought something at her gift shop. From there, we took a driving tour of her village. She explained what each building represented to the people and we also got some nice pictures of bald eagles. She was a very entertaining hostess, to say the least! After departing from the Russian village, we went to the Anchor Point Visitors Information Center and had the opportunity to listen to a local speak about the history of Anchor Point. We learned a great deal about its discovery and how people made homestead here. It was really fascinating. Overall, it was a great day and we are looking forward to many more exciting days to come!

Hello everyone! It's Katelyn and Lauren reporting today. Well this morning started bright and early with a 7 AM wake up call that put us on the road by 7:30 on our journey to Seward, AK. The three hour car ride was prolonged a little by our inner tourists' need to take pictures. We stopped at two locations that gave us great photo-opportunities; which is where the photo of the day was taken. When we finally arrived at Seward we had some extra time on our hands. Most of the group took this opportunity to visit some local shops and purchase some souvenirs for friends and family back home. At around 1 o'clock we went to explore the Alaskan Sea Life Center. We were split up into two groups that took turns going through the aquariums while the other group got to witness the behind the scene workings of the facilities. Here we learned about the various aspects of the center; rehabilitation and reintroduction of marine wildlife. After which we heard a presentation from John, who has been doing research for twelve years on the decrease in population of harbor seals. So, after such a long day, we were rewarded with another long car ride back to the cabins. After a delicious meal, we surprised Reese with cakes and cookies in order to properly celebrate her 20th birthday. The rest of the night will consist of journal entries and recovering from such a busy day.

Quote of the day: "my sea otter had to go to rehab, and I said no, no, no."