My mom had a great time here last week. We did all the typical touristy things, like drive down to Seward for a wildlife cruise and take a dog sled ride on an ATV. The cruise was wonderful, we saw lots of creatures, even though most of the birds, like Kittiwakes and Puffins, had "flown the coop" by then. I especially enjoyed the Dall Porpoises, which swam right next to the boat. The tour guide said that the Porpoises are the only animals that actually "interact" with the boat. They're definitely difficult to photograph, the timing has to be just right. The dog sled ride was up at Vern Halter's place. He has run the Iditarod over 20 times and has won the Yukon Quest. I have worked on a few tv shoots at his place in my other career in television, and he's just a great guy all around. I highly recommend his tour, which you can check out at www.vernhalter.com. It's fun to do touristy things in Alaska!

Oh! And we saw a buoy tree, which was a first for both of us!