Sitka, Alaska

Group Photo on the last day - Unfortunately Oleg left a day earlier!

Over this labor day, my parents and friends, Oleg and Jeremy, and I, decided to go to Sitka, Alaska. My mom was always telling me stories about Russian influence in Sitka (since I speak a bit of Russian) and she likes to travel. My Russian friend Oleg likes to travel too. My friend Jeremy likes to kill animals, so we'll go on a gigantic fishing trip tomorrow in at attempt to catch ridiculously large fish. My dad and I wanted to be good sports, and to play handball today at a rec center.

Getting to Sitka was a pain. We left our place in Albuquerque at 6:50 a.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2015, to catch an 8:00 a.m. flight to Phoenix. In Phoenix, we had to walk to a completely different terminal, go through security again, and then head on a plane to Seattle. In Seattle, we took another plan to Ketchikan, Alaska, stayed on the plane, and then got to Sitka shortly afterward. It was about 6:00 p.m. Sitka time (8:00 p.m. New Mexico time) when we arrived.

It was breathtakingly beautiful when we arrived! The air smelled really, really fresh and good. My skin started feeling all the moisture in the air. Below are some of the pictures that Jeremy and Oleg took (they have MUCH better camera phones than I do.)

The above two pictures is the view from outside the Harbor Heights Penthouse apartment we rented on the third floor, overlooking the bay.

Friday Oleg, Jeremy and I went on a kayaking tour around the island after Jeremy made some delicious breakfast pancakes. This tour was a great way to see much more of the waterfront. Jeremy and Oleg were paired in a double kayak together, and I was paired with Brianna, another tourist, and her two female friends were paired together. We didn't know the femme fatal troika before the tour. 

The sun was actually in my eyes, despite how dark this photo looks! 

My friend Oleg - the tree hugging hippy... 

We stopped and walked around some abandoned World War 2 gunnery pylons. Apparently, Sitka was a heavily defended site against the Japanese in World War 2.

The below three pictures came from the guide. 

Oleg and Jeremy kayaked in the lead ahead of everyone else, including the guide.  

Brian and Brianna.

I caught a gigantic kelp crab, and then let it go. Unfortunately, they aren't good to eat.

Overall, I'm happy I went on the kayaking tour. Oleg asked everyone about 25 minutes before the tour began if they wanted to go, and both Jeremy and I agreed. We saw some sea lions, crabs, a few fish, and a bunch of the beautiful Sitka shoreline.

Other than the above, my dad, mom, Jeremy, and I played handball at the Sitka rec center, and ate a very nice home cooked meal my mom made.