Thanksgiving With Great Friends

Thanksgiving, November 2010

A group of military friends....

Jessica Cabe – Merritt Island, FL

Kayla Kelly – Bayou Chicot, LA

Brock Roehm – O-H-I-D

John Oosting – Lynchburg, TN

Michael Baxter – Oregon

Matt Htlin – Iowan

... decided to find a getaway from our busy lives and jobs and we found Nancy Lake Villa! We loved it! It’s an amazing place to call a home away from home. We love the view and the surrounding areas. Thanks so much for sharing your home with us. Thanks and God Bless – we’ll be back!

Serenity

September 29, 2010

Thank you for opening this beautiful place to us. The weather has been amazing, the lake was beautiful, and it has just been the most relaxing and serene place to be.

We took advantage of the canoe and paddle boat, didn’t catch any fish, but also didn’t really care because I was just happy to be on a quiet lake taking in the scenery and enjoying “getting away” from “real life”!!

We are sad to leave, but I’m sure we’ll be back!

Austin and Katie Olah

Australia

Lovely Restful Spot

September 16, 2010

Thanks for a lovely restful spot at the mid-point of our Alaskan vacation. Well equipped with all necessities and things not so necessary too. We especially enjoyed our grilled halibut!

Cliff and Jeannie Larson

Jack and Virginia Blakeney, Texas

Explore Alaska

August 29, 2010

We had a wonderful time and the cabin was a nice place to return to after exploring Alaska.

David was very helpful and Dante became our honorary member of the family. Thanks for sharing your home. We had a great time and hope to return!

The O’Donnells – Pat, Jackie, Emily, and Alyssa

Chicago, IL

Trip Highlights in Alaska

August 17, 2010

The Nancy Lake and cabin was wonderful! It served as home for our week long stay exploring the Anchorage area. Some highlights of our trip:

Mt. Alyeska: we hiked the North face and enjoyed the tram ride down

Nova in Chickaloon: fantastic outfitters who we hiked the glacier with and took a rafting trip

Thunderbird Falls: just outside of Anchorage -- offers a nice one mile hike and waterfall

Fishing in Whittier: although lots of rain, we managed some great catches

Our trip is headed on for another week in Kenai area. We can only hope the next house is as great as this one!

Aaron, Kristin, Penny, Philip, and Austin

Milwaukee, WI

P.S. This place is wonderfully stocked with everything except an iron :).  Most people probably don’t need one but we were here for a wedding.

Enjoy your stay – we hope to be back soon!

The Great Alaska Adventure

July 11, 2010

LOVED THE PLACE!

The villa was a great place to stay at the tail end of our Alaska adventure. Before coming to Willow, we explored the Kenai Peninsula, deep sea fishing for halibut, cod and silver salmon near Seward and then fishing for King Salmon in the Kasiloff River. It was a lot of fun!

The Nancy Lake Villa served as our home as we explored from Anchorage to Denali. We took a day trip up to see Mt. McKinley and then hit the cute little town of Talkeetna. That night we cooked up a bit of that king salmon. Delicious!

The next day, we headed back south to Girdwood to take the tram up Mt. Alyeska and then check out the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage. We finally got to see those moose and bear we were looking for!

In between trips, we made good use of the villa. We made S’mores out at the fire down by the dock one day (and then inside on the stove the next time it rained.) The kids took a spin round the lake in the canoe and then we all took turns in the tub to relax. The reading selection here is great, too!

We will be returning to Alaska again. We kept busy the whole time, but there is so much to do. Thanks for the memories!

The McCowans (Dave, Leslie, David, Matt, and Melani)

Sheffield Lake, OH

Iditarod Splendor

03/03/10: What a great house. It's a home away from home. We had company up for the Iditarod and loved being here for the week. Thanks for the nice pans, dishes, and other quality items. Hope to come back some day!

--Smiths, Rich and Shannan

Lots of Snow!

1/18/10: Had a great three-day weekend! This space was comfortable and our time out here was fantastic! We hope to come out in the summer time to see what the views look like with no snow. Thanks so much!

--Shannon Monahan

Cross-Country Ski and Snowshoe

1/10/10: We had a lovely weekend girls getaway - loved the coziness and all the amenities - thanks for having nice, good-quality equipment. Really, it is appreciated! You have a lovely cabin and the setting is beautiful. How lucky are we to have found you - how lucky are you to have this space! We went out on the lake for a ski and snowshoe, and the sky could not have been better! Thanks again.

--Kep Border, Lynn Dewey, and Heather Atkinson

Nice Trails for Snow Mobiling

01/03/10: We thoroughly enjoyed the cabin and the accomodations! Thank you for stocking every possible thing we could think of! Nice trails for snow mobiling too...had a blast :) Happy New Year! 

--Ben Beyt Betti Haylor Anchorage, Alaska

Sledding Thrills

12/26/09: This was the perfect place to bring our family visiting from out of town. The house is perfect for a larger family and very comfortable. The weather was nice and the kids loved the snow/sledding hill. The great atmosphere and wonderful scenery made it so easy to relax. We look forward to coming back when we can get more family to come and visit.

--Campbells

8th Annual Girlie Trip

9/18/09: Our 8th annual “girlie trip” was spent at Nancy Lake Villa. We enjoyed unusually warm sunny fall weather, played cards on the deck, roasted weenies and marshmellos in the fire pit, and had a wonderful time exploring Nancy Lake in the paddle boat.

Four ladies, playing cards, drinking wine, eating Kahulua brownies, and laughing until our sides ached! If we could can the laughter and good times we had here, we could heal the world. Thanks so much for the great place to get away from it all!

Bonnie, LeaAnn, Linda, and Sallie
Anchorage, Alaska

Hearing Moose and Howling Wolves

9/9/09: We arrived on August 27th. The minute we entered, we felt at home in your most comfortable lake home. And whenever we left on long drives, we couldn’t wait to get back to your comfy home.

For the most part, we have had “god sent” weather – sunny days and very mild temperatures and hardly no rain. The lake is wonderful and, as you said, it is definitely on the “sunny side” of the lake!

We didn’t see any moose here at the lake, but we could hear them at night off in the distance along with a howling wolf!

Thank you for your hospitality and a great house!

Steve Watson & Mary Barone
Sarasota, Florida

Glorious Sunshine and Fishing

8/20/09: Left a rainy Anchorage for 3 ½ glorious days here at the lake. Sunshine every day but one. Spent a morning catching salmon at Sheep Creek. Noah (age 5) hooked, ruled and landed at least a dozen humpies by HIMSELF! Granted, most were spawned out but he was still a champ. Lunch at the Talkeetna Roadhouse. The next days were lazy, just hanging out at the villa.

Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy this setting. It really felt like home. The opportunity to go walking in the woods and snatching sticklebacks in the lake made the days exciting for Noah. The selection of movies upstairs was quite a joy for him as well. Thanks again!

John Love
Anchorage, Alaska and Pueblo, Colorado

Golf, Glacier Cruise, Denali, and More

8/15/09: My husband and I enjoyed your beautiful villa very much. Went to Denali, Wittier (Glacier Cruise), played golf, visited Anchorage (beautiful city) and more. Alaska is beautiful and special if you have a nice place like your villa to come to. Hope to come back.

Theresa, thank you for being so undertstanding with my changes. I wish we could stay longer, but our time is running out. Long way back to Canada! Best wishes to you all.

Joe & Amma Krejcova
Ottana, Canada

P.S. If I knew your kitchen was so well equipped I would not have bought any food (just kidding). Thanks.

Best Friends and Many Laughs

8/8/09: Another Alaska vacation with best friends, many laughs and a whole basket full of new memories. Four of our six (three couples) are also from Texas – not looking forward to going back to triple digits. Caught lots of salmon, ate well. Great cabin for two couples, not really three couples.

Joan and Jeff Worder
Georgetown, TX (20 miles North of Austin)

Love Those Puffins

7/31/09: The Nancy Lake Villa is perfect! None of us want to leave. We will go back to 100 degree days in Texas. The weather was rainy and cool but that didn’t stop us from visiting Talkeetna three times. Twice with salmon fishing trips with Tri-River Charters. In two days they caught 35 lbs. of salmon. We also drove to Denali and recommend the Salmon Bake hightly. The Kenai Peninsula is spectacular. We went to Whittier, Portage, Seward (fished for halibut) and visited the Alaska Sealife Center. Loved the puffins. Stayed in Seward and Kenai then went down to Homer. It’s really a long drive so we stayed down there two nights, but couldn’t wait to get back to the Nancy Lake Villa.

The view from the balcony and the grill were great. We cooked hamburgers twice and steaks once. The kitchen is wonderful. One recommendation is a better wine opener, but we did manage. Thanks for a wonderful two week vacation at your villa. We all want to come back next year.

Norma Reed, James, Lori, and Heclsea Tucker
Montgomery, Texas (60 miles North of Harrison.)

Picture Perfect Vacation

The Nancy Lake Villa make our Alaska vacation picture perfect. Ya’ll ("you all" in our native Tennessee language) have thought of everything! During our stay, our travels took us to Palmer, Sutton, Glennallen, Valdez, Trapper Creek, across the Hatcher Pass, Trapper Creek, Talkeetna, Cantwell, Denali and Denali National Park. The day we visited Denali it was an extremely clear day, which allowed us to see Mt. McKinley, a true breath-taking sight to behold. We have seen two glaciers, Matanuska and Worthington glaciers. After we leave the villa we have one more day in Anchorge, our plans arew to go down the Turnagain Arm to Portage and on into Whittier should time permit. Words cannot justify how very much we enjoyed our stay at the Nancy Lake Villa in Willow, Alaska. It was our pleasure to meet you – again thank you so very much for such a lovely place to call our home away from home for our week in Willow, Alaska. Tim & Sheila Wayman Ahland City, Tennessee When God created Alaska he didn’t leave out anything, all the beauty you would ever want to see is here. Doris Craig Nashville, Tennessee (Sheila’s mom)

Beautiful Wonderful Wilderness

6/15/09   Enjoyed the paddleboat and the canoe. Tried for the elusive pike but to no avail. Scored on the Little Su. We caught 55 lbs. of King Salmon on the first try. Then 36 more on the second.  Loved the picture perfect view from the living room and deck. House is well-appointed and comfortable. Went to Denali and rafted the river. Walked on the Matanuska Glacier. We saw moose, bald eagles, beaver, and endless forests and rivers. The mosquitoes are endless…took some getting used to.  A beautiful, wonderful wilderness! --- Gary, Cindy, Tammy, and Dana Van Roekel (Mission Viejo, California)

Amazing Treehouse View

5/31/09   The Baxter family had a great time in Alaska! The cabin was so nice and cozy that we referred to it as “Home” during our four nights here. The view from the cabin is amazing. We especially enjoyed watching the plane take off from the lake! This place is so close to nature, you feel like you are in a tree house. This was our first time to Alaska and we are so amazed we are considering moving from our home state of Oklahoma (wanna trade homes? Ha ha!). -- Phil, John, Emma, and Kim Baxter (Norman, Oklahoma)