Lake Eva Cabin Mother's Day 2013

Michael and I got taken to Lake Eva yesterday via Harris Air in the Beaver float plane. If you have never been in a float plane I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list. This was my first time and will not be my last. We actually came home and booked the cabin again for June 8 & 9th for our anniversary. The cabin was wonderful. Rustic but very comfortable. There is a small boat for guests to use and if you don't bring a motor like we did there are oars so you can row. The motor was nice. :) This cabin is new, it replaced an old one in 2011. It is handicap ready so it has a wonderful deck that also leads to the outhouse. There was a log book in the cabin that you can write your experience's in and it went back to 2007. Was fun to read. We added our adventure to it also. Was told that there doesn't seem to be a bear problem , of everyone that wrote in the log only one person had seen a bear.  We didn't either. Saw some poop and that was enough for me. Yes we took 2 guns with us anyway. lol Michael tried his hand at some fishing but after being unsuccessful we decided the water is still to cold and they were hiding on the bottom. Some beavers came out to play last night and they were fun to mess with. Beautiful birds were aplenty and the view spectacular.
On the way there we also tagged along past our lake to drop a customer off at the Baranof Wilderness Lodge so we got a quick tour of that. Beautiful also and the hot springs are there. Will have to put it on our bucket list. LOL

DeHaviland Beaver Our transportation to Lake Eva

Leaving Sitka

Arriving at Lake Eva

Cabin

See you tomorrow!

We are all alone now!

Instructions says remove plug so it doesn't fill with water

All bailed out, motor on ready to go!

Arriving

Rainier in hand, we are home

Red Solo Cup!

Time to relax see I have a bear whistle! Sounded like a train whistle, lol

Chopping wood

Got off the boat here but were to chicken to go to far. See next photo.

Does a bear shit in the woods? Yes they do!

Huge trees here

Horrible how unhappy I look huh?

Caution, beaver at large

Notice I am not setting my cup down. Michael said don't fall. lol

Hello everyone! What an adventure I am on!

Beautiful reflection

Inside cabin

Walk way to out house

Front porch

I loved the reflection

Hello handsome!

Time to go home! :(

First Cruise ship is here!

The first Cruise ship arrived today. Michael and I went for our usual walk and when we came around the corner where the bench we stop and enjoy the view is, BAM! Big ole boat in the harbor! This first one unloaded 1833 passengers into town. Town looked a lot different than it did yesterday!

Young Eagles in the tree across the street

Soaking up the sun at the beach

Eating some of the provolone cheese we made

Pretty mountain out our back porch

Look close, there was a deer crossing our daily walking path

See him hiding to the left?

Taxi Drivers when ships come in to port

Cheese 101 or 2

Into the molds, sorry the pics are out of order

So I thought you might like to see one of our cheese making adventures. This is a Farmhouse Cheddar Chive. I got a chive plant from the Co-Op we went and checked out and it is growing like a weed in the living room.

Draining the curds

stirring the curds

We use sauerkraut jars as followers to press out the whey

Into the molds

Ready for the brine

12 hours being pressed

Everybody in the brine pool!

After 8 hours in brine they dry for 24 hours

Ready for waxing, I used red

Bought a 4cu ft fridge to make into our cheese cave at 53 degrees

They can age anywhere between 2-6 months depending on what kind of flavor you are looking for. We are going on the longer side just because we think the longer cheese ages the better it will be. We are having a lot of fun with this. Definitely a winter hobby because it turns out to be an all day affair. Drinking and making cheese do not mix. We found this out by accident. You have to really watch the temp on your whey as you don't want it to get to hot.There are now 13 rings in the cave. Will have to eventually eat some so we have room to out more in! LOL

Just cruising around 2/28/2013

Went out for a bike ride.  Had just left the house and was down by Swan Lake. All of a sudden something was going very wrong. Took me a couple of seconds to figure out what it was. Next thing I know I am falling down a small hill next to the lake. In my mind I was still thinking what in the world is going on? Michael was behind me and his first thought was, did I just watch Martha have a heart attack and die? Nope, before I could realize that my shoelace was stuck in the spokes, it had wrapped so tight it actually pulled me over. After a few tears and Michael having to pull me up and we were back on our way to a 4 mile ride. We did have a nice man that was walking by asked if we were ok. Only my pride was broken, but luckily nothing else. A few bruises and sore muscles but I'm ok. LOL I will ride again!

There is an Eagle in the tree. Looked like they were seeing how close to it they could get.

Eagle hanging out in a tree across from us. I swear they pick the smallest branch to land on!

Woke up to this on Sunday, bike ride was Monday. Much different.

Just hanging out soaking up the sun

Stopped at the beach on our bike ride. Yes it was cold. LOL

Snow capped mountains still

Beaver Lake Trail Small opening in the rock to go through. You have to duck down inside

Beaver Lake Trail

Water coming down from Beaver Lake

Beaver Lake Trail

Can you picture a home here?

View of a lot we saw fore sale