7/30 - 7/31/09 No Thrilling News Here

We're back in Anchorage getting ready for our friend, Dianne to visit. We're cleaning, cleaning and cleaning some more. We've been doing surface stuff since we've been in Alaska with all this dust but now we're doing big time cleaning. This dust has got to go. We're doing windows, shampooing rugs, washing everything, straightening closets and drawer and getting rid of stuff in general that we've been toting around with us and haven't used.

You just have to take time every once in awhile to take a few days and really do a thorough deep cleaning. I hate it, but it has to be done. I'm looking at it like early fall housekeeping.

At least it isn't raining! We've actually seen the sun for a few days in a row now and can be outside without a jacket. Not shorts & T's by any means, but nice outside all the same.

Emails have been sailing back and forth between Dianne and I about what she likes to eat, what she absolutely won't eat (eggs) and how she takes her coffee and all those sort of little things its nice to know if someone is going to live with you for two weeks. I'm sure as long as she leaves my Pepsi's and M & M's alone we'll do just fine.

Well, I told ya, not thrilling news from this front. We've got some fun things planned for the next two weeks and there will be lots of photo ops so I'll be sharing a lot more in the next days.

Gotta run! Later!

7/29/2009 What Is THAT????

We had plans of going to Whittier. We changed those plans due to weather. It was going to be a dry camping time for us in Whittier and with the rain predicted Bob just didn't want to have to deal with going out to keep putting gas in the generator so we had electricity, and he wasn't going to fishing, so we figured what was the point? So here we are in Anchorage. We're back on the Army Post.

Here we have full hook ups and all the conveniences we could possibly want. It works for ME us.

Once again the day started out gray and drizzly.

The further we drove north the better it looked.

We took notice that in this section of Alaska one could travel by roadway, railway or by sea....all side by side.

We saw glimpses of BLUE SKIES! Then we saw this big, bright, yellow thing in the sky! We didn't know if we should go run and hide or what! Then it registered, it was that thing we haven't seen in a quite awhile. The sun!

It didn't take us long to get to Anchorage as we were only about a hundred miles away to begin with. The Ft. Richardson FamCamp doesn't take reservations so we drove in with a hope of them having an opening. Luckily, they did.

After getting set up we decided to go to the Iditorad Dining Facility on the air base next door. (The two bases are connected and we can go back and forth freely) What a good meal we had! Neither one of us had eaten anything so far today so we went with good appetites. We each had the BBQ pork chop, two veggies, corn bread, salad bar, drinks and dessert for a total of $13.68 for the two of us. The meal was tasty, the salad bar fresh and the surroundings very nice! We'll be going back there again so I'll take the camera next time.

As I mentioned we are connected to an Air Force Base so this was a common sight. It appears they are flying so low because they are! We are close to the runway.

The sun doing its darndest to come back out again!

So it was a moving day but we just didn't move to where we thought we were going. It happens.

7/26 - 7/28/2009 The Last Few Days....

What a nice birthday I had! So many birthday wishes through email, Facebook, snail mail, the phone and let's not forget the in person one. Somehow Bob manages to always get the PERFECT cards for birthdays and anniversaries. Being in Alaska there isn't a Hallmark store on every corner and he even had a hard time finding a store in this small town that sold cards at all. Thank heavens for the local HARDWARE store! I do think this is the first time he ever bought me a card in a store of that type. I asked why even looked there and he replied, "I saw them when I went in there to see if they had the gas regulator and thought I'd better get one while I can."

We haven't had the best of weather this past week. It's been drizzly, cold and breezy for the most part. Doesn't really make you want to go out and take pictures, or sightsee, or explore or much of anything for that matter. So we really haven't done much these past few days.

We did get a short break in the drizzle yesterday and got out while we could. We took a ride to nowhere. A lookout over the river we followed.

Then we came back to the lodge and sat in the lounge for awhile and had some beers and sodas. I've already told you that we are in the RV park associated with the Princess Cruise Line organization. This is such a top notch operation. I would recommend anyone to stay here in the RV park, the hotel or one of the cabins.

We were out on the deck of the lodge for awhile.

Our view from the deck. Now is this a view or what?

We're going to be moving tomorrow to Whittier. This will make us that much closer to Anchorage where we'll pick up our friend Dianne at the airport on Monday. I can't wait to see her! We plan to be in Whittier just two days so that we can spend a few in Anchorage getting ready for Dianne's arrival. I want to get all the laundry done, shopping out of the way and make sure she has room for the all the clothes she is sure to bring and won't wear. I just know she is packing her entire closet!

I'm hoping this weather is getting all the rain out of its system so that we at least have dry weather while Dianne is here. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Next stop, Whittier.

An afterthought: Some time ago I wrote about www.restaurant.com . This is a site that you can get $25.00 gift certificates for $10.00. Put in your city/state or zip code and see what restaurants are in your area that are participating. You can change the distance in miles that you are willing to travel for even more choices. I would recommend that before you print out the certificate that you call the restaurant to make sure they are still in the program. If they have new owners they may not be. Make sure to read the whole description of the restaurant for any stipulations, some have them, most don't. For instance, alchohol may not be included in the certificate.

7/27/2009 73,000????

When I signed on this morning the counter was at 73,060. I guess whoever it was didn't notice.

Before I get the next entry written and posted it's a possibility that the counter is going to turn.

So, if you turn it to 73,000 please leave a comment letting us know it was you, how you found our blog and whatever else you want to say.

Thanks!

Snookie

7/26/2009 Today I Was Born..A Buncha Years Ago

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ME-EEEE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

7/25/2009 Bob is a Happy Camper..er..Fisherman!

Bob is absolutely on Cloud Nine! He made arrangements for a half day fishing trip with Alaska River Adventure's located in Cooper's Landing for today. He took care of getting his license yesterday and watched the clock all morning and early afternoon since he didn't have to leave until 1:15 for his two o'clock trip.

Dressed warmly, license in pocket, camera in a Baggie, out the door he went. I wished him good luck and thought about what I was going to do to pass the time.

I decided to bake Bob a chocolate cake. He works so hard around here keeping everything in good working order that I thought I'd show my appreciation by baking him a treat. Take it from me, baking a cake in a toaster oven is NOT like baking in a full size "real" oven. I made this cake just like I have every other cake these past 29 years. Nothing different, no "new" ingredients, everything was just the same. Two layers with icing in between. The. Same. So why, WHY, did these two cake layers come out not much thicker than a pancake? Granted, a thick pancake but a pancake all the same! Do you know how much icing you have left over when that happens? And just what does one do with a leftover quarter container of icing? Chocolate icing. Creamy chocolate icing. Delicious, creamy, chocolate icing. Delicious, creamy, chocolate icing that was screaming, "EAT ME SNOOKIE, EAT ME!" What would YOU do? Aha! I thought so. The exact same thing I would do! So,,,,I ate it.

The cake wasn't all that much to look at but I'm happy to say that Bob gave it two thumbs up on taste.

I had a nice long talk with my mom this afternoon. I caught up on all the news from home and I gave her details on what we've been up to.

I spent some time writing some long overdue emails and worked on my "farm" on Facebook for awhile. I even got a little reading in today. A relaxing day for sure.

Five hours later my water warrior came home grinning from ear to ear. This is why.

This was his first time fly fishing and it took him a little while to get the hang of things but as you can see, HE DID!

He was taken to the river in a raft and given boots to wear and he stood in the river with, literally, hundreds of sockeye salmon. The reds are running! He had on polarized sun glasses and could see into the river, kinda like Superman and his x-ray vision only Bob was looking at swimming fish. He said they were so thick one could just reach in and grab one. Of course that would take away the thrill of fishing for one and besides its against the law. Same fish, more scenery.

He was so happy when he came home and it was contagious! I don't know who smiled more, me or him.

Oh what the heck, one more picture!

So we both had a great day! We hope you did too.

7/23 - 7/24/2009 A Move for the Quinn's

On Thursday we didn't do much of anything. It was just down right crummy outside. That's right. Crummy. No other way to put it. Gray and drizzling. Damp and cold. A good day to stay inside. So we did, for the most part. I think Bob was going a little stir crazy there for awhile so he got out the ol' waterproof jacket with hood and walked over to see what the fisherman were doing. Of course it was during this time that Dan, Lin and Darlene stopped in. Isn't that always the way? Dan and Lin whipped out their camera's to show me the pictures they took of the moose that visited their yard after we left. We had been hearing about their neighborhood moose but didn't see them once in the week we spent there. We were beginning to wonder if the moose weren't just figments of their imaginations.

Thursday evening brought nothing more than taking our borrowed movies back to our neighbors and letting them know we were moving on. Gordon and Jane are certainly one couple we hope to run into again while we're here in Alaska and beyond.

Friday didn't dawn any brighter as far as the skies were concerned.

I took one last picture of our view.

I can't tell you how many pictures of kids were taken on this tree stump that washed up on shore. It seemed every time I looked out the window at our view, which was ALOT, that some little person was perched on it and mom was heard saying, "SAY CHEESE".

I wonder what the job of this boat is. I can't make out what kind of equipment its carrying.

While Bob was taking care of dumping our tanks I walked around and took notice of this building that I hadn't paid much attention to prior to today, its the laundry room. I wonder how the practice of hanging things on it started.

It seems that these are probably things that were left in the campground, left on the beach or maybe even things that washed up on shore. There's quite a few fishing poles! With the exception of the toilets of course. I can't even imagine the story behind them, but they do make nice planters!

There is a smaller shed like building on the grounds and I couldn't help but notice this old fisherman's creel.

There are lots of little kids in the campground and I have to wonder how smart of an idea this is.

Sharp and rusty. Now there's a tetanus shot waiting to happen!

We finally got on the road around noon. Once again we don't have too far to go. We're headed to Cooper's Landing about eighty five miles or so north.

Traffic on the way south was really heavy. Lots of RV's and trailer-ed boats. I think we're glad we're moving on, it was just going to be way too crowded.

Here's some scenery we had on the way. It just keeps getting better and better. I wish the color of the water could really show through on these photos, but its nowhere near what we actually saw.

We're staying in this campground for the next three days for sure, maybe longer.

There is a Kenai Princess Lodge on the same grounds and it is all associated with the Princess Cruise Lines. That said, you can imagine that this RV park is top notch....at a reasonable cost thank heavens! Here we are parked in our space. Our fifth wheel is on the left, big white thing in the lower third, center, of the picture.

Bob didn't waste any time in getting a river boat fishing trip scheduled through an outfit down the street. We checked out how the fishermen are doing and learned that the river is loaded with red salmon. I'm hoping he has a good day tomorrow.

Before I close this I want to send a Happy Birthday out to my friend Gail. Hope you have a great day Gail!

I hate it when Gail has a birthday. It means mine is just two days later. At least she's older than me!

7/22/2009 Come On SUN!

We need to see the sun! Cloudy days, day after day, is not a good thing. We need to feel the sun warm our skin, to give a different hue to our surroundings, to make things bright! We need the sun! TODAY!

Well, it didn't happen but at least it wasn't raining. It was just a cloudy and overcast day. It looked like it trying to come out but it didn't quite make it. Maybe tomorrow. (Taken from the kitchen window)

We went for a ride just to get out of the house. We stopped down by the waterfront to see what the fishermen were doing. I couldn't help but notice the seagulls.

Boat going out of the harbor.

We took a ride through the business section of Homer and turned right. Here's the views from there.

That bright section, just barely left of center is a huge glacier.

Another view of glacier, taken just up the road.

Some pictures taken on the way back.

Its this thin five mile strip of land that is known as the Spit.

We stopped at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center to pass some time. What a nice surprise this was.

Our first stop was this....

It was set up much like a science room in Any School USA. There were eight stations and each table had someone there to explain what was going on there.

For example we stopped at this one table where a man sat with a computer showing where earthquakes had taken place over the past 40 years in any section of the world. Each dot represents an earthquake and depending on the size and color of the dot determines the magnitude of the quake. We had him focus on the Mid-Atlantic states and not even a handful of teeny tiny dots showed up....but then we knew that anyway.

Another station showed how volcanoes erupted by mixing baking soda and vinegar. That station just made me want a salad.

Another station had the kids make a volcano out of paper-mache.

I was most taken with the aquariums around the room.

Done here, we moved on to other areas of the visitor center.

There was a mock up of a cabin of years gone by and the "man" in the doorway gave a talk on what life was like in the life of a trapper.

A closer look of the "man" in the doorway. I think these things are called holograms.

This is a jacket made from Arctic Seal intestines and sewn together with grass. Uh, I'll stick with my hoodie from Gap, thank you very much.

More scenes from the center.

We watched a short movie about the boat in this picture below. It is a floating laboratory that studies the ocean, the birds and the wildlife in the Aleutian Islands. It is here that the health of oceans the world over is determined.

There was some beautiful metal work that was done around the building. Here the elevator was surrounded some of this handiwork.

A wall sculpture...so intricate.

Done inside we took a walk on the trail.

It looks like its the end of the season for this plant.

Yet, it looks like the beginning of the new life for this one.

We got home and had the roast and fixin's that had been cooking all day in the crock pot. Evening time brought TV and computer time.

This was our day.

7/21/2009 Rain & Wind, Wind & Rain

We didn't wake up to the rat-a-tat-tat of rain on the rooftop this morning. Instead, we woke to a combination of sounds. One sounded more like a herd of buffalo running across the roof because it was raining so hard and the other the insistent ring of a telephone! And it was just 7 a.m.. Now I really can't fault the telephone for waking us, after all, the caller from a business in Georgia didn't know we are in Alaska and 4 hours behind her in time. Yes, it was late morning for her, but for us a dark, rainy day,,,,well, it should have been a great sleeping in day. Luckily, we slept through her first call at 9 a.m. her time and 5 a.m. our time! To make matters worse it wasn't even an important call, just a follow up to make sure I am a satisfied customer with regards to an earlier service call.

It rained and the winds blew all day. Our 5th wheel swayed a couple of times when the wind gusted. I think we feel the wind more here on the Spit with water on both sides of us. We looked out and the waters of the bay were choppy and cold looking and the day itself was gray. I wouldn't want to be out on this boat today.

It was a good day to watch TV. Movie after movie. After movie. After movie. We took turns on the computer just for something different to do. I tried reading my book and although I'm enjoying it, it couldn't hold my interest today.

Bob had read on the Internet that we're supposed to have rain for the next 10 days! I heard on the local news this morning that it was supposed to clear tomorrow. I'm hoping and Bob is hoping that the forecast from the local people is the right one!

Around eight tonight it actually started clearing. We didn't even notice the rain had stopped until Bob got up to get something to drink and looked out. I had to run outside to get this picture.

Patches of blue sky even! The sun came out for awhile and I noticed that it was shining on the land across the bay,

This little fellow must have been cooped up all day and couldn't wait to get out and fly his kite.

I am just lovin' this view!

Maybe by Noon,,,,My Time

Our friend, Kathy from Quail Run was the one who hit the 72,000 mark. I do believe this is the second time she's hit the magic number. Thanks for letting me know Kath, and more importantly, thanks for continuing to follow our journey.

As I type this it, it is just a few minutes past 7 a.m. (I'm not up by choice, more about that later) and its possible that the counter will turn to 72,000 by noon. My noon that is. The counter has about 41 more hits to go.

Did YOU turn it? If so, please leave a comment to let me know it was you. While you're typing, It's me! It's me!, tell me how you found the blog and whatever else you'd like to say.

Let's see if the one who turns it, notices.

Have a GREAT day!

7/20/2009 Oh, the Irony of it All

Our time with Dan, Lin and Darlene came to an end today. At least the part about staying at their house did as we'll see them again before we leave this area.

We took our time getting ready to hit the road as we only moved a total of twenty miles today. After hugs and handshakes and thank you's we drove to the Spit.

We were going along, a nice steady pace, no traffic, the rain had stopped and then all of sudden we were in the middle of this....

We went from perfectly clear to pea soup in a very short distance and it got worse as we went along.

We slowed down to practically a crawl and just inched our way towards the lower lying land. As soon as we turned the final curve everything was clear again. Of course it was still overcast and there some low clouds but the pea soup fog was gone.

A bank of clouds that has settled in.

Homer is a little town, famous for its halibut fishing, that sits on Kachemak Bay. Made famous as "The End of the Road" in Tom Bodett's tales, Homer is at the end of the Sterling Highway surrounded by the ocean and lots of wilderness. It sits on the shore of the bay surrounded by mountains and glaciers and active volcanoes loom in the distance.

Homer is the jumping off point to the vast remote area accessible only by plane, ferry or boat. With its deep water harbor for cargo, Homer is the commercial hub for the area and the bay provides a safe harbor for seagoing craft during stormy weather.

Homer is also the headquarters for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and lies within the boundaries of the Kackemak Bay Research Reserve. This bay also provides pristine conditions for ecological research.

Homer is also the place where the land ends and the sea begins.

We knew we wanted a place that had electricity, especially if its going to rain all week like the weatherman is predicting. We also wanted cable. Well, cable wasn't to be unless stayed in Homer but not on the Spit or if we stayed on the Spit in the Heritage Campground. That was not even a possibility at $88.00 a night!

So we decided on the Homer Spit Campground. Now how's THAT for a catchy name? I went into the office and was surprised at the price we were going pay! High for getting only electric. We had to get water in our holding tanks before we went to our space. Ok, its only half of Heritage's price but still a little pricey to me. Of course there is our view, I'm sure we're paying for that too. This is what we see out our kitchen windows. How's this for a view?????

Oh wait, it gets even better. Remember yesterday I wrote about Jean Keene the Eagle Lady? Look at what site we're in.

Oh, the irony of it all!

Here's what's outside our side kitchen window.

The eagle perch! Oh, the irony of it all!

We are sharing her large site with another 5th wheel. But wait, it gets even better! We have already met the couple next to us! We stayed a few sites away from them when we were in Fairbanks. Bob and Gordon had talked several times when we were there. I'm sure we'll get to know Gordon and Jane much better this week.

Oh, the irony of it all!

And it still gets even better! We have five television channels just off of our antennae! I'm not done yet....Gordon and Jane carry 300 DVD's with them and gave us their list of movies so that we could pick out what we wanted to watch. And we were so worried about getting cable!

Oh, the irony of it all!

The only thing that could make this any better is that Bob catches fish while we're here this week.

Yep, that would make it perfect.

So we get set up and Bob tells me we have to make a beer run. OK, let's go. That errand out of the way we stopped to see what the fisherman were bringing in off the charter boats.

This group had a good day! These are ling cod....UGLY FISH!

I don't know if you can see the really unusual fish they brought in. I'm talking about the one all the way on the left. So that you don't strain trying to see what I'm talking about I got a close up (or two) for you.

Hmmm....still can't make it out? Then look at this one.

They brought it up with a fish in its mouth!

Oh, the irony of it all!

7/19/2009 The Eagle Lady

She moved to Homer Spit, Alaska back in seventy-seven and lived in a campground as the winter caretaker, in a park model much like we have in Arizona, called Eagle Spot, until her death this past January. "She" is Jean Keene. From all I've been able to find out about her she must have been a real character. A nice character. A lovable character. One special lady.

Arizona has the Grand Canyon, Wyoming has Yellowstone and Florida has Disney World...Homer had Eagle Spot, the site that Jean lived on, and people came from the world over to see the eagles and to meet Jean.

It all started shortly after she moved to Homer, that first winter when she fed two eagles all winter long. She had secured employment with Icicle Seafood Cannery and was granted permission to load up the waste from the processed seafood to take home to her beloved eagles. She was also afforded the opportunity to take the excess and the freezer burned fish.

Thirty years later the number had grown from two eagles to around three hundred. Every winter, starting in late December and lasting through mid April, 300 eagles came to the Homer Spit for breakfast every day. Jean cut the daily 500 pounds of excess fish and freezer burned fish into more manageable pieces for the eagles to hold. The eagles trusted her. Some even let her get near them. She knew when one wasn't feeling well or was hurt and made sure someone came to get the bird so it could be nursed back to health. They instinctively knew that she meant them no harm.

Many townspeople wanted the practice of feeding eagles and other birds stopped and an ordinance was passed. It didn't apply to Jean as she was "grandfathered" into the ordinance and was permitted to keep feeding the eagles until the year 2010. As controversial as the eagle feeding was it was beneficial to the community. People came to Homer in the winter to see the three hundred or so eagles and the tourism helped the town. Motels rented rooms, restaurants fed the tourists breakfasts, lunches and dinners, local bars sold drinks and whatever stores were open sold.... well whatever it was they were selling.

It is estimated that 80% of all published photographs of eagles were taken on the Homer Spit and many were taken right at Jean's "compound".

The tourists not only came to see the eagles, they came to see Jean too. With her flaming red curly hair, her very large glasses and unique jewelry, she stood out in a crowd. She had a special booth and parking spot at Land's End Resort cafe where she held court to all those who came to meet her. She was definitely one of Homer's finest good will ambassadors.

In her younger years she was a rodeo trick horse rider until an accident broke her leg in 80 places. This was just the first of several life-threatening incidents that she would bounce back from. She was a breast cancer survivor and was involved a very bad auto accident as an example of some of these incidents. She had been a truck driver and a dog groomer in later years after the rodeo accident.

In 2003, a book named The Eagle Lady was published. It was Jean's life story. The author and photographer, Cary Anderson summed it up like this: "Lots of people write books, but rare are those people who lead such remarkable lives that they become the subject of a book. Jean's ruggedness, friendly character and her incredible relationship with hundreds of eagles won't be forgotten."

When it was apparent that Jean would be departing this life for the most beautiful aviary of them all, her friends and family spent time at her side. They weren't the only ones standing vigil. Another friend sat just outside her window. It was reported in the Homer News that long time friend, Peggy Chapple made this statement. "From her bed, she could look right out the window and there was an eagle, almost like it was watching, guarding over her," "It was awesome. That's the way she wanted to go. At home, at peace and with her eagles guarding her."

Shortly after Jean passed on her home caught fire and was removed from the site. All that remains is the perch that was erected there. I was lucky enough to get a picture of it. (And it doubles as a dead tree pic for LaVon - I guess you could call that "killing two birds with one stone" - ooh, that was bad, especially in this story!)

I wonder what will happen this coming December. The eagles will surely come. Will they stay? Will they instinctively "know" their friend is no longer there? Do eagles mourn? Will they take their places on the perch and just ....wait? This all remains to be seen.

If you are interested in more information on the book about Jean Keene, The Eagle Lady, click here.

Well, on with our day. It rained. We woke to the rat-a-tat-tat on the roof as the raindrops fell. It would stop for awhile, then start again, then stop and it went on like that for all the day long.

I visited with the girls for a short while but we mostly watched movies. Thank heavens we have a VCR/DVD player or one of us (he)would surely be dead by now otherwise.

I've had quite a few inquiries about the pictures I've been posting for the last several days. No, I don't have a new camera, or a new lens and I'm not using the camera I fished out of the toilet, although it works, I could. I found that I could enhance our pictures by clicking on these magic buttons on our camera's computer program. They've been there all the time, I just never paid any attention to them. I don't know why I started playing with them but I'm really glad I did. I get really orange-y oranges now, ice cool blues and vivid reds. I SATURATE my photos with color now. SATURATE, that's my new favorite word. I SATURATE my photos with color... I am lovin' this! Really, its about time I made use of this camera the way it should be used. After all, it's not just a point and shoot you can pick up for fifty or a hundred bucks. Wow, maybe I should even read the book that came with it now!

I'm so confused! We have a new reader on the blog. One of the stat readers tells me this new reader is from Winchester, Kentucky. Another that I use doesn't list Kentucky at all but instead shows me that a lot of reading is going on in Atlanta...a lot more than usual. I don't know how these things work. I know for a fact that my cousin in Virginia was doing some heavy duty catching up on the blog, actually, she started reading it from day one, and no activity was shown in Virginia but the numbers for Livingston, New Jersey were going through the roof. We used to blame wrong phone numbers on "crossed telephone wires", I guess I'm experiencing "crossed satellite beams". Regardless, welcome new reader! I hope you enjoy the journey.

We had hoped to moved down to the Spit today but the rain quashed those plans. In fact the weatherman says rain for the next week. I am hopin' he's wrong! We were going to try our hand at dry camping again, depending on our generator for short times of electric, but if we are facing a week of rainy weather not only are we going to a campground with electricity but one with CABLE! The hell with "camping" we are changing modes back to RV'ing! There is a difference.

That's it for today. More from the Spit.... tomorrow.

7/18/2009 The Girls Go Shopping

Today was the "GIRLS DAY". We left to go to Homer around 11:30 I guess. Main thing on our list of things to get was corn on the cob from Safeway. The corn we had from there yesterday was so good we're hoping to get corn from the same batch.

Dan was pulling "first mate" duties for his brother Fred today and Bob decided to stay home since it was an overcast, drizzly day anyway.

Our first stop was the outside Farmers Market going on in Homer. It wasn't a huge market by any means, heck it wasn't even a large market. In fact, by most outdoor Farmer's Markets this was, well, to put it bluntly, damn small. Maybe 20 booths all totaled. Several booths of hand crafted jewelry, fresh veggies were sold in a couple places, homemade jams and jellies filled another booth, hand knitted items filled yet another as did a leather goods stand. One booth in particular caught my eye. When you see the picture you'll understand why.

Lin and I both bought butter crunch lettuce at a very good price so I was happy with that. Darlene bought a bag of kettle corn and I believe a souvenir for a loved one back home.

From there we drove out to the Spit and started going through the little shops looking for souvenir T-shirts for Darlene, Lin wanted to buy another blanket and I was most interested in taking pictures.

A wood carving of fisherman and halibut.

We noticed a crowd gathering down the boardwalk in front of a shop called the Time Bandit.

As I got closer I was excited to see why! Time Bandit is the name of one of the crabbing boats on the TV show Deadliest Catch. Its a Discovery Channel show about those that work the crabbing boats off the coast of Alaska in the dead of winter hauling up those huge crabs. If you haven't ever tuned into this show I would highly recommend it. Its just good entertainment and you really do have boats and crews that you root for. It is a competition between the boats to see who brings in the most crabs but that is secondary to the comedy and drama that plays out every week as you watch these guys do this cold, dangerous job week after week. It turned out that Captain Andy Hillstrand was there! In the flesh! He's my favorite Captain out of all of them. I got to meet him and even had my picture taken with him. I'm kicking myself now for not buying a T-shirt and have him sign it as he was doing that time and time again for others.

Our next stop was the Salty Dawg across the street. We didn't stop in for a drink or something to eat, we were in need of the ladies room and I wanted to take pictures.

This is another one of those bars where thousands of dollar bills are tacked to the walls.

The building has served many capacities over the years since it was built in 1897. It has served as post office, a train station, a grocery store, a school house and office space for a few different companies. For the last 52 years it has served as home to the Salty Dawg Saloon. A world famous landmark on the Homer Spit. It has been featured several times on The Deadliest Catch. I think Bob and I will have to make it a point to have lunch here. Or at least a beer and a soda.

The outside of the building.

The lighthouse attached to the building on the opposite side. Actually this was built to cover up a water tower but the light in it does work so I don't know if this really a functional lighthouse or not.

Some random shot around the building.

A few inside shots.

There's a lot of money on these walls and more is added every day.

A sign that just stood out.

A look at the harbor.

Random shots from around town.

Of course there were some flowers I just had to take some pictures of.

So that was a peek at Homer. Bob and I are moving there tomorrow. We want to experience Homer up close and personal and there's no better way to do that than spending some time on the Spit.

So today I got a quick glimpse of what the Spit has to offer and I noticed dozens and dozens of photo opportunities when I have the time to stroll the main drag while Bob fishes the lagoon.

7/17/2009 About 60 To Go.

Well, I typed the part below at approximately 3:20 this morning. When I got on here at 9:30 it was at 71,056. I didn't get any comments or emails so whoever turned the counter didn't notice it. Maybe next time.

There's about 60 more hits and the counter is going to do the turning thing again, It was just a few days ago that my cousin, Beth in Virginia, turned it over 70,000 and here we're heading towards 71,000.

Many of you know this by heart, but with new readers every day I'm afraid I have to put it out here yet again.


If YOU are the one who has turned the counter to 71,000, please leave a comment letting us know who you are, how you found our blog and anything else you'd like to say.


Nothing special will happen, we're just curious.


Snookie

7/17/2009 FISH ON!

The call of the day was.....FISH ON!

Bob got to go fishing today and what a good day it was! He and Dan left around nine and headed to meet up with Dan's brother and a few other's who were going fishing.

Meanwhile, us girls did laundry, read, got some computer time in, took care of some tasks concerning dinner and just generally hung out waiting to hear the fishermen did.

It was mostly overcast today with some short glimpses of blue skies. A little on the chilly side so it didn't take me long to change from shorts to a pair of pants.

I guess it was around two to two thirty when we got the call to meet the guys at Fred's, Dan's brother. Since his other brother, Don was here dropping of things for dinner, he drove us over.

Here come the fisherman!

Off loading the fish.

Getting them hung up and washed off for picture taking.

Everyone caught their limit today. Here's Bob standing next to the fish stand with all that were brought in.

I watched Fred clean the fish and he was so darn fast! In no time at all he had 15 fifteen halibut filleted.

He couldn't have taken more than 2 minutes per fish. If that! He'll take care of getting it vacuumed packed and frozen and Dan & Lin will put Bob's share in their freezer and get it to Quail Run. (Although Bob and I are discussing purchasing a small chest freezer to put in the closet anyway. It just makes sense to have one since we can really stock up at the commissaries)

I came back to the 5th wheel when Dan & Lin had to return to meet up with someone. After all I can only take so many pictures of dead fish. Bob hung around a while longer and caught a ride with Dan when he returned after his meeting.

We had a good dinner tonight with Dan's brothers and a sister-in-law joining us. We had corn on the cob for the first time this summer and it was excellent! We're making a run tomorrow for some more! Now if we could just get our hands on homegrown tomatoes!

Even though it is only mid-July there are signs that fall is just around the corner here in Alaska. The leaves are turning already.

This evening we sat around the campfire and told jokes and solved all the world's problems.

Here's our fire-tender for tonight.

If it got any better than this it would be against the law!

7/16/2009 We Don't Ever Want to Eat Again!

Bob and Dan got up and out to go fishing but before we knew they were back. Turns out the seas were so rough that it was thought better to stay on dry land today. What a disappointment that was for Bob.

It was a pretty lazy day all around. It seems the five of us just laid around, watched TV, got some computer time checking emails and the such.

Bob wasn't feeling 100% late this afternoon so he opted to stay home instead of going to the local senior center for the dinner they put on for the community every Thursday evening.

So the four of us took off in Dan's truck and in no time at all pulled into the parking lot of the Anchor Point Senior Center.

For dinner we had a salad bar, a large homemade biscuit covered with turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, macaroni salad, Jello w/fruit and for dessert a choice of homemade blueberry pie or sweet potato pie. All this for the sum of $10.00. Was it ever good! If the truth be told, all four of us made complete pigs of ourselves. You never heard so many groans of "I'm stuffed" and "Oh, I ate too much" and "Oh why did I have that pie and the ever popular "I ate so much I'm uncomfortable". Darn those senior center cooks for being so good at their job! Its their fault we kept shoveling in,,,yeah, its their fault!

Every one was given a ticket for a chance to win one of four door prizes and I'm sorry to say that no one in our group walked away with a prize. Not a one of us even came close to the 50-50 drawing winning number either.

For their fundraiser this year they are raffling off a 2 + ounce of gold.

This nugget was taken out of a local mine about 30 years ago and the mine owner has donated it for the fundraiser. It has a value of about $6,000.00. I was surprised at how heavy it was. I was also surprised at the shape of it. I guess I never gave gold much thought because when I think of gold I picture that shiny gold bar in my mind's eye, never in the raw state like here.

Dinner done, we waddled out to the truck and Dan decided to take us for a ride in search of eagles. We headed towards the coastline and on one of the roads we came across these very old buildings.

Can you imagine how many stories these walls could tell? Can you imagine how many "you shoulda seen the one that got away" stories these wall have heard???

I wonder who built these? I wonder who lived here and died here?

We looked inside and found the ladder that takes one to the loft.

It was while Dan and I were looking inside this building that Lin and Darlene went nuts in the truck trying to get our attention. It seems that while we were paying attention to what was in front of us we should have been paying attention to what was going on above us. It seems a bald eagle had swooped low right over us and we missed it. The girls couldn't believe we didn't hear the "whoosh" of its wings. They said it was just mere feet above us. The perfect eagle picture and I'm looking at old wooden ladder. Sheesh! We did see it sitting on a tree top just over the roof line.

We went down on the beach again. Remember I told you yesterday that Bob and I wouldn't attempt a particularly steep hill going to the beach? Well, here it is. Can you just picture what your cabinets would like after going up or down on this?

This is a homemade vehicle for taking boats and trailers to the water and out again.

That eagle had taken flight again.

It seemed that eagles were coming out of the woodwork. Everywhere we looked we saw them. Sitting in trees, flying high above the bluff, flying just over the water.... (Look at right side of pic, just above gulls at the water edge)

Even the seagulls want to soar with the eagles.

At one point, we were back up off the beach and Dan saw an eagle sitting in the tree next to the road. Dan was not going to rest until I could get a good shot at one. He was determined! So him and I get out of the truck and Dan tries to throw a couple of rocks to scare the eagle into flight. I think Dan miscalculated the height of said tree. I'm sure the eagle just smirked at him and looked away. Dan then tried blowing the horn hoping to scare the eagle. Uh-uh, didn't faze the bird a bit. Then Dan got the idea that maybe he should simulate what he wants the eagle to do in hopes the eagle would follow suit. Now picture this. A grown man, running down a dirt road flapping his arms pretending they are wings. Personally, I'm glad the eagle didn't take flight because I was laughing so hard I couldn't hold the camera still anyway. I think that Lin and Darlene were laughing so hard and so loud that the eagle was probably afraid to leave its safe perch.

Finally, when Dan all but threw his arms up in a gesture of defeat, darn if that bird didn't take off! Do I need to tell you that us girls laughed all the harder? I'm sorry, but I had to go through a lot to get these pictures, you have no idea how hard it was to watch Dan go through all he did to make that eagle fly, so you are just have to endure picture after picture of a flying eagle. And wouldn't you know once this eagle took off it just kept circling us. I think it was in spite towards Dan if you ask me.

Then darn if the clouds didn't seem to magically disappear and the blue sky came through once again as this eagle did its acrobatic maneuvers for us.

You know, when I watch this symbol of our country soar through the sky, and that's what an eagle does, it doesn't merely fly, it SOARS, I have a such a feeling of pride and security and loyalty all rolled into one. A feeling that as long as the eagle flies, no matter what diversity our country faces, we're going to be ok, we'll come through it. So FLY, EAGLE, FLY!

One more pass past the beach and we saw the sun shimmering on the water this way.

On the way out we passed this fellow camping by himself and we couldn't help but notice that this EAGLE he had. Dan grabbed the camera and Darlene got out of the truck to play.

Darlene, Bird Handler.

Eagle stands on Darlene's head.

.....and we laughed.

7/15/2009 Another Day in Paradise

What an absolutely perfect day. Its was a shorts and "T" day today. The sun was warm on our skin, the sky the bluest of blues and we were with friends in a place we now call paradise. Yep, a good day, a very good day.

Bob started the day with chopping wood for the ever constant campfire we seem to have going. I didn't see where the logs came from but it seems we have several trees worth of wood now.

We had an early fire and sat around talking about this and that and life in general.

Dan wanted to make sure he got the very last chip crumb out of the bag.

Bob and Dan are going fishing tomorrow on Dan's brother's boat so we had to make a run into Homer again today to go to the bank and to get a fishing license for Bob.

There were no clouds today so the view was different when we rode into town.

Here is a view from down on the Spit.

I went into the tackle/bait store with Bob and was amazed to see that these are the hooks used to catch the halibut. I had no idea that they would be so big.

This fish caught my eye...its made out of washers.

On the Homer Spit is the Seafarer's Memorial to fisherman.

Take note of the bricks in front of the memorial. The townspeople, relatives and friends, of those lost at sea "bought" a brick to help support the Memorial. The fisherman's name and date lost are engraved on each brick. Although I didn't see any there are probably bricks that have been bought by businesses and residents on the Spit who bought one just to be in support of the memorial.

The bronze fisherman statue honors mariners lost at sea.

A bronze bell nearby is rung in memory of fishermen and others who played and toiled on the ocean.

Engraved on this pedestal is a poem entitled "The Sea" by Ryan Bundy

There was a flower garden nearby and this flower was just screaming at me, "TAKE MY PICTURE, TAKE MY PICTURE. What could I do? I took the picture.

License bought, banking done, pictures taken, it was time to head back to Anchor Point. We spent some time around the fire again, shootin' the breeze and our tummies started rumbling. We were determined to eat earlier today than we did yesterday.

Around nine Dan, Lin, Bob and I took a short ride to the waterfront to take some some pictures of Mt. Redoubt. Unfortunately, the sun was still too high in the sky and the lighting wasn't conducive to picture taking. However I did get one of the coastline.

We then took a ride down on the beach in the truck. There were some 5th wheels set up on the beach and Bob and I just couldn't imagine taking ours down there. The road down, and then back up, was extremely steep. Way more than we would be comfortable maneuvering. I could only imagine what shape the cabinets and fridge must be in after traveling this incredibly steep grade. Dan did say that on more than one occasion a wrecker had to be brought in to get a 5th wheel back up. Uh-uh, not us, not taking that chance.

From the beach we made another stop at a creek side walkway to see if we could see any salmon trying to make its way to the spawning grounds. We only saw two stragglers because its between runs right now.

On the way to the truck this caught my eye.

When we got back to the house a little after ten we all agreed to call it a night after the late hours we kept the night before. After all, God willing, we still have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day.....

7/14/2009 Is This HEAVEN?

Moving day again today. Our time in Kasilof has come to an end and its time to move on. We're going about 40 miles or so down the road to stay with Quail Run friends Dan & Lin at their place in Anchor Point. Darlene, also from Quail Run is there visiting.

On the way we passed Mt. Redoubt but it wasn't very visible this tme because of clouds.

This active volcano rises from the water like a sentinel guarding the great and varied resources of Lake Clark National Park. Having been inhabited since prehistoric times, the area remains sparsely populated and aircraft provides the means of access. Does this mean the few people who live here fly to work everyday?

We found Dan and Lin's place with no problem. They have full hook ups on their property, hereafter known as the Hackney's Homestead, or if I get tired of typing that......HH.

They bought this place last year, 3.5 acres with an A-frame house on the property, a shed, and a dome. Yes, a dome. A very large dome.

The dome even has an apartment in it, though I haven't seen it yet.

Their plans for this property include remodeling the A-frame into a guest house, building a house for them, removing the dome and landscaping.

As I said, there is an A-frame house and of course their motorhome which they are staying in while doing work to the property. Darlene is staying in the house.

This is the view off the porch in the back yard,

There is a river that runs through the property and it has SALMON in it!

Dan had already had a afternoon fishing trip planned so we sat around a day time fire catching up with our friends lives since we saw them last in the spring.

By later afternoon is was determined that Bob and I had to go into the town of Homer, 20 miles away, for a beer/Pepsi run so we took off for that and a short auto tour of Homer.

We came around a curve and goose bumps started on my arms so bad that they hurt. Bob and I could not believe what we were seeing. Is this heaven, we wondered out loud.

You've all heard the term "God's country". Unless, you've been to Homer, Alaska, trust me, you haven't seen it yet.

Look just above the tree line in the left third of the picture below, that is the Homer Spit.

Homer is known as the Halibut capital of the world and have a sign proclaiming that distinction.

The white strip in the picture below running from left to right is a bank of clouds.

A "Going Down the Road" picture.

Surely, this must be heaven.

With every hundred feet further down the road we drive, it just gets better and better.

Here we are driving out onto the Spit.

Take note of the RV's parked on the right hand side. Its "dry" camping, but if we fill our tanks with water, make sure we have gas for the generator and we're careful, we can spend several days out here enjoying this. They charge $15.00 a night and I truly believe it will be fifteen bucks well spent!

Have you ever........

The whole time we're driving the road Bob and I are just in total awe! This scenery is truly magnificent! Breathtaking! Incredible! You know, there just aren't words for this.

We pulled over into another campground to check it out and we it at just the right time because it was fish cleaning time.

Actually, the seagulls gave it away.

These guys had a great day fishing!

A good sized halibut.

Its not hard to feel like you are in the remake of the Hitchcock movie "The Birds" when it is fish cleaning time.

This lagoon in the forefront is supposed to provide some excellent fishing when the tide is in. Bob hopes to find out!

We finally tore ourselves away from the Spit and all it has to offer for further exploring at another time. We were on a beer/Pepsi run after all.

We went to the local Safeway, stocked up on our liquid refreshments, bought the fixin's for a salad for dinner and picked up a few other odds and ends.

When we returned to Hackney's Homestead, we got a fire going again and sat around talking. Dan had gone on a pre-planned golf outing and we waited for his return to eat dinner.

We were having salmon, (I was having a steak) potatoes, broccoli/cheese mix and a salad. Apple pie for desert. We figured we would eat around eight. That was the PLAN.

I wondered around the property taking some pictures. Nobody knows what these are, but sure are pretty! Anyone have a clue?

The shed.

Not quite sure what this started out to be, but Lin made into her garden.

Some random shots....

Dan returned, we sat around the fire and talked some more and decided it really was time to eat, after all it was now 9:30! Since it was still broad daylight, it seemed perfectly fine to be grilling steaks and seafood at this time of day...er...night. At just before ten we finally sat to eat. It was midnight before the fire burned out and we all returned to our places to sleep. Of course we were still wide awake and were up until 2, Bob watching a movie, me doing the Facebook thing and reading. We can't keep these hours like this!

So to answer our question of earlier today, "is this heaven?" we have our answer. If it isn't, its the next best thing.

7/14/2009 Moving Day for Us

We moved today, to Anchor Point, just 20 miles north of Homer. We're staying on the property of friends of ours from Quail Run, Dan & Lin. Also here is another friend, Darlene, also from QR. So its been like old home week all day. Its after midnite as I type this and we just came inside from sitting around the fire.

I'll write all about today in the morning. I'm just too tired right now.

Before I get it posted the counter will likely turn. If its YOU, leave your name in a comment so we know who turned it, tell us how you found the blog and anything else you want to say.

Until tomorrow....

7/12 - 7/13/2009 They Call It Organized Chaos

You're gettin' two-fer this post because I couldn't type last night due to lack of electricity.

Our electric was out for about 14 hours starting mid evening last night and finally coming back on by late morning today. You really don't know how much you miss electricity until it isn't there. Evidently, the campgrounds water runs by an electric pump, therefore we had no water which ultimately means.... no toilet! Do without that for 14 hours! It also means no morning coffee! Now that doesn't mean a hill of beans (no pun intended) to me because I wake up, open the fridge, extract a Pepsi and I'm good to go. On the other hand, Bob NEEDS his coffee. I absolutely hate it when Bob can't have his cup o' morning joe. He is no ray of sunshine until he downs that first cup of java.

We didn't spend much time around the house this morning because, well, it was COLD! It got a bit chilly last night and we didn't have use of our electric heaters. True we could have turned on the heater using propane but we haven't used that in quite some time and it seems if you go long periods of time without firing that bad boy up, well, the fumes will about knock you out. I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration but it does have an odor to it and we had an errand to run anyway so we just didn't bother. I think the other thing is that we don't know how much DUST and DIRT are in the ducts. Remember, Alaska is one dusty place! One thing's for sure, one didn't dawdle getting dressed this chilly morning!

Ahh, yes, the errand. Another thing Bob wasn't happy about this morning. A couple of weeks ago Bob failed to put the gas cap back on when he finished pumping gas. For whatever reason he got distracted and we pulled out minus the gas cap. He stuffed a rag in the fill tube in the meantime to keep dirt and bugs out. We had checked several NAPA's and Auto Zones, as we came across them, for a new cap but all they ever had in stock when we asked was a locking gas cap which we find to be a pain in the butt to have and they cost $35.00 to boot. The rag was working fine! So SATURDAY while we were out and about we stopped at a local auto parts place and they had what we wanted! Hooray! No more rag hanging out of the side of the truck. Yesterday (SUNDAY) we filled the truck up with fuel and guess what? Yep, we lost the brand new, less than 24 hours old gas cap. This time it was my fault, more or less. Bob went inside the store and I was standing watch at the pump. There was some confusion about how much gas was being pumped into our truck and I walked halfway across the parking lot to talk to Bob who was now standing outside the store. I then shut the pump down, put the handle back in the pump and went inside the store too. When we came out I jumped in the truck not thinking about the gas cap and he thought I already put it on and neither one of us did, so we have a rag sticking out of the side of the truck again. Soooo,,,,back to the auto parts store only to find out we bought the last one they had on Saturday. And Bob still hadn't had coffee yet. Let's just say that I sat very still and very quietly on my side of the truck while we were in search of another auto parts store. We found a NAPA store and because the auto parts store gods were looking down upon me they had one in stock. Once again the rag was thrown into a tool compartment and hopefully never to be used again except for wiping hands on.

Our next stop was for COFFEE! Halfway through that cup, the Bob I know was coming back to life. Note to self: Invest in battery operated coffee maker.

Shortly after returning home the electric came back on, we turned on the electric heaters and warmed the place up and all was right with our world. So that's what happened last night and this morning. Yesterday afternoon was a lot more interesting.

We took a leisurely, northbound, 60 mile drive to see the Russian River Ferry. This ferry is located at the confluence of the crystal clear Russian River and aqua blue glacial waters of the Kenai River. This is THE hot spot for salmon fishing.

We pulled into the parking lot and drove up to the little ranger station/parking fee paying building and were told to fork over $13.75 for parking. WHAT???? For 20 minutes???? No, that would have bought us 12 hours which we had no intention of staying there for 12 hours. The ranger suggested we pull over on the side of the road and walk in. Yes, yes, that is much better, we'll walk in. I think that parking fee is outrageous even if it is for 12 hours! That fee doesn't include a ride on the ferry either, oh no, that's another ten bucks for all of a three minute ride! The Dumbo the Elephant ride in Disney World lasts longer than this ferry ride.

The current is so swift because of the merging of these two rivers. The ferry is attached to cables so that it doesn't float downstream.

While there were a good amount of fisherman out today I can't say that we witnessed "combat fishing". You know, literally standing shoulder to shoulder as they fished. This week is between salmon runs. While salmon are certainly still being pulled in, there are not thousands of fish in the river and not thousands of fisherman casting to snag them. Organized chaos at its best.

Each year, 60,000 to 100,000 sockeye salmon are taken from this area alone. I can't even imagine that.

The fisherman help each other when need be. Here's a fella helping net the fish on the line.

And here's that fish and the man who owns the freezer where this fish is going to wait in until its eaten.

One young teen was fishing right in front of us and caught this fish.

I thought it was pretty nice how the state, or Parks and Recreation, provide these fish cleaning stations right at the water's edge.

We watched this one fellow clean his fish.

Every once in awhile he would throw scraps to the circling seagulls. You better believe that piece of fish will never hit the water.

More and more birds were getting into the act.

These fisherman are happy!

I don't know these two but I'm assuming they are father and son. or even perhaps grandfather and grandson, but they seemed so happy to be fishing and together that I just had to snap this picture.

Every time we've been near water we've seen these signs. Bob and I think Lifejacket Loaner Stations are such a good idea.

This sitting seagull caught my attention.

...as did this one. What a contrast.

After 30 to 40 minutes or so it was time to move on. We stopped at a visitor center down the road and asked where we might view some bear at the waterside fishing for dinner. The young lady gave us directions and we headed off. What the young lady didn't tell us was that we would be traveling on a major-ly washboardy road that was so darn dusty.... Halfway through I would have liked to have wrung the young lady's neck!

We did see this pretty lake but no bear were in sight.

And then we saw this little brown furry thing. A mole?

Now, no offense is meant here, but it is what it is. Alaskan's are crazy drivers! No ifs, ands or buts about it, crazy drivers. There is very little, next to none actually, enforcement of the laws of the road. Take speed limits for instance. The signs are posted but no one pays attention to them. Bob was driving 65 miles an hour and we were being passed like we were sitting still. We had one guy jerk in back of us that was in a small pick up, towing a pop-up trailer with a canoe strapped to it that passed us with oncoming traffic coming at a pretty good speed. When he passed he had to whip in front of us to avoid a head on collision and that pop-up swayed back and forth so badly that we thought for sure he was going to lose control. Then within minutes he passed the next vehicle in front of him. Eventually, we saw this vehicle again when we were stopped by a flagman at a road construction site. Why? Why be in such a hurry that you put everyone else in danger? We have not seen a police officer patrolling the roads, or anywhere else for that matter, in WEEKS!

So that was our last two days. Oh yeah, the electric went out again this afternoon but only for about a half hour. We're glad we're leaving here tomorrow. We aren't traveling far, just down the road about 40 miles or so and we'll be staying with our friends from Quail Run, Lin and Dan and Darlene is there as well. It will be like old home week.

Until tomorrow.....

July 11, 2009 What is Dip Netting?

Since we had planned to be fishing today and that didn't work out we had to find something else to do.

Around noon we took a ride about 15 minutes away to the Kasilof River. (Ka-See-Lof)

We dressed warmer than we had been since we were going to the river. Once again, we're back in jeans, sweatshirts and windbreakers. It wasn't as warm as it has been the last few days, high 70's to low 80's, because it was overcast today.

We were going to check out the people doing the dip netting thing.

Just outside of the campground we saw MOOSE! A cow with her twins.

The Twins.

Mama Moose.

Dip netting is a form of fishing that only Alaska residents can participate in. Out of state-rs can't buy a special tag for it or a license, no exceptions, this is strictly an Alaskan privilege. A privilege that is anticipated as much Christmas, vacation, and your birthday,,,,all rolled into one.

This very special time of year last only about six weeks and you can bet the residents of this state put everything else on hold during this time. This is the time year that the residents fill their freezers full of SALMON! Alaska is the only state that allows dip netting.

Bob and I had heard of dip netting since we have been here but today we were going to see it up close and personal like.

We drove in on a washboardy dirt road through a wooded area and when we reached the clearing I think we were both a little surprised at what we saw. People! Hundreds of people. Every age, shape and size, babes sitting on mom's hip, to toddlers playing in the sand, to youngsters chasing each other and riding bikes, to teens hanging around with cell phones stuck to their ears. The adults had much more important things to do. There were hot dogs to be eaten and beers to be downed.

The place was jammed packed with RV's and tents, and vans. Little tent communities were set up everywhere. Tents of every size and color imaginable.

Rv's and trucks and van of all sizes, parked wherever they could find space. No organization to it at all.

Every few feet you heard a different kind of music. Country from the left, rock from the right and a little further up the road it might be smooth jazz.

Every "camp" had a fire or BBQ going and the smells were tantalizing. Hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling, potato salad being dished up, and sandwiches packed for a day trip were being devoured.

It wasn't until we got a little further down the road that we understood why there was so many people about. The tide was out. WAAYYY out. There would be no fishing until the tide came back in and that wouldn't happen until early this evening. Oh boy, we're battin' a thousand! We headed back to the campground.

We hung around, Bob walking about, talking to fisherman in the park, I read, watched TV and got some computer time in. Around 6:45 we headed back.

When we arrived this time there were a lot less people, RV's, tents and vans. The ones who were there were on the beach and in the water. Tide was in and we were going to get a chance to see dip netting.

The group of people I came to were not fishing at the moment but were cleaning their catch. They did it while standing in the water and the seagulls had a feast!

This is what everyone is after.

Dip netting equipment consist of the net. That's it, just the net. Its a long pole, usually 10 - 15 feet long and net on the end that can't be any bigger than five feet in diameter.

That's it, the net....oh and waders. In this cold water, waders are must. One stands in the water and waits to feel the fish in the net and then quickly turns it so that the fish can't escape. At that point it is brought to shore as quickly as possible and put out of its misery either by being hit on head with a club or killed with a knife.

Each head of household is allowed 25 fish and 10 for each dependent. Each fish caught has to be recorded on a special permit that each person fishing must carry with them. In addition to being recorded on the permit, each fish must have its tail fins cut off. I don't know why. Its dead, its not like it can swim away.

Further down the beach there was a more concentrated area of people.

These dip netters seemed to have all the room they needed. We had been told that during the daytime high tide, the fisherman stood elbow to elbow.

It is advised to wear a head covering during this time because of all seagulls flying overhead. I know it was something on MY mind while I was there.

This just doesn't work with a hole in the net!

I guess since this is really like Christmas in July, its time to break out the sleds!

We came, we saw, it was time to leave. Some parting shots.

On the way home we went over this bridge and the color of the water below caught by attention.

7/10/2009 Moving Today

SCROLL DOWN FOR MOVING DAY PART TWO

We moved today and it was one busy day! I have lots to share, but not until tomorrow afternoon. It's already quarter to eleven, at night, and I just don't have it in me.

So until tomorrow......take care.

Before I forget, whoever turned the counter didn't notice it. I didn't get any emails or comments saying, IT WAS ME! IT WAS ME!

A chuckle for today:


ADVICE FROM A RETIRED HUSBAND

It is important for men to remember that, as women grow older, it becomes harder for them to maintain the same quality of housekeeping as when they were younger. When you notice this, try not to yell at them. Some are oversensitive, and there's nothing worse than an oversensitive woman.

My name is Ron. Let me relate how I handled this situation with my wife, Carol Anne. When I retired a few years ago, it became necessary for Carol Anne to get a full-time job, along with her part-time job, both for extra income and for the health benefits that we needed. Shortly after she started working, I noticed she was beginning to show her age. I usually get home from the golf club about the same time she gets home from work.

Although she knows how hungry I am, she almost always says she has to rest for half an hour or so before she starts dinner. I don't yell at her. Instead, I tell her to take her time and just wake me when she gets dinner on the table. I generally have lunch in the Men's Grill at the club, so eating out is not reasonable. I'm ready for some home-cooked grub when I hit that door.
She used to do the dishes as soon as we finished eating. But now it's not unusual for them to sit on the table for several hours after dinner. I do what I can by diplomatically reminding her several times each evening that they won't clean themselves. I know she really appreciates this, as it does seem to motivate her to get them done before she goes to bed.

Another symptom of aging is complaining, I think. For example, she will say that it is difficult for her to find time to pay the monthly bills during her lunch hour. But, Boys, we take 'em for better or worse, so I just smile and offer encouragement. I tell her to stretch it out over two, or even three days. That way, she won't have to rush so much. I also remind her that missing lunch completely now and then wouldn't hurt her any (if you know what I mean). I like to think tact is one of my strong points.

When doing simple jobs, she seems to think she needs more rest periods. She had to take a break when she was only half-finished mowing the yard. I try not to make a scene. I'm a fair man. I tell her to fix herself a nice, big, cold glass of freshly squeezed lemonade and just sit for a while. And, as long as she is making one for herself, she may as well make one for me, too.

I know that I probably look like a saint in the way I support Carol Anne. I'm not saying that showing this much consideration is easy. Many men will find it difficult. Some will find it impossible! Nobody knows better than I do how frustrating women get as they get older. However, Guys, even if you just use a little more tact and less criticism of your aging wife because of this article, I will consider that writing it was well worthwhile. After all, we are put on this earth to help each other.

Signed, Ron

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Ron died suddenly on January 31 of a perforated rectum. The police report says he was found with a Calloway extra-long 50-inch Big Bertha Driver II golf club jammed up his rear end, with barely 5 inches of grip showing, and a sledge hammer laying nearby. His wife Carol Anne was arrested and charged with murder. The all-woman jury took only 10 minutes to find her Not Guilty, accepting her defense that Ron, somehow without looking, accidentally sat down on his golf club.

7/10/2009 Moving Day Part 2

It's time to say goodbye to the Army's Seward Resort. We've had a good time here and will return early next month. We still have lots to see in Seward as we laid pretty low this time around because we'll be coming back here with Dianne, our friend from Delaware, when she arrives.

We had an errand to run and passed this cemetery which I hadn't noticed before today. And its no wonder.

It doesn't seem to be kept up at all.

Some of these markers just have a last name and the year of death. The weeds are tall and some markers need straightening. Quite sad really that the townspeople don't put more care into it. Some of the years of death go back to the very late 1800's and the very early 1900's.

We took another shot of the bay to record how smoky and hazy it was again.

Errands done, everything put away, 5th wheel hitched up to the truck, bill settled,,,,,let's roll!

We passed lots of traffic traveling south, towards Seward. It certainly attested to the popularity of the town in the summertime.

We're heading to other side of the peninsula for the next week - week and a half.

We saw alot of people pulled over on the side of the road near a pretty large lake. We thought maybe some moose were getting a drink and that's what everyone was taking pictures of. Since there was room for us and we were ready to stretch our legs we pulled over too. I jumped out of the truck, camera in hand, ready to photograph what was holding everyone's attention. I got to the water's edge and looked....and looked....and looked. I didn't see what everyone was looking at.

Upon closer inspection I realized that while everyone had cameras and were clicking away, they weren't all pointing in the same direction. I didn't get the attraction. It was just an "ok" lake in my estimation, nothing spectacular, just a lake.

I did catch this little family of ducks.

I guess all these people saw something more here than I did.

By mid afternoon we had reached our destination for the next four nights. We're settled into the Crooked Creek RV Park. Nothing fancy, grass is in dire need of cutting and its a little pricey for what you get. Sometimes web sites can be deceiving. We're not here for the park itself anyway, we're here to fish!

The people in the office couldn't have been any nicer and were quick to answer any questions I had.

We got set up and Bob met some of our neighbors and was given some smoked salmon and something to be used as bait. He was also told the fish aren't here. They were, but they left. They'll be back,,,,after we leave. Ohhh,,,,this is gonna be a long four days.

7/8 - 7/9/2009 Not Much of Anything

We really haven't done too much of anything these past two days to speak of. We went for a ride both days but its so hazy with smoke it isn't worth taking pictures.

Bob puttered around doing small tasks that needed to be taken care of and I got our laundry caught up. We went to the local Safeway store to get milk and bread and that's where I refused to pay $3.25 for ONE green bell pepper. Hell will freeze over first! I am so missing vegetable stands on the side of the road like we have back in Delaware during this time of year when fresh veggies are in abundance. I am missing my own veggie garden too!

I had someone contact me about the camera I found. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same brand or have the same pictures on it. I was really hoping it was the right person, I hate to see anyone lose pictures from their vacation.

I guess the only thing special going on is that someone, very soon is going to turn the counter over 69,000. I know I don't have to write this out, you all know the drill by now, but you never know, there might be a new reader out there.... So if its YOU who turned the counter to 69,000 please leave a comment with your name, how you found the blog and anything else you want to say.

I'm thinking ahead here a little, but I think there is going be a prize for the one who turns it over the 100,000 mark! I promise it won't be a camera I fished out of a toilet.

7/7/2009 Mail, Whales and a Flag

Another spectacular day weather wise here in Alaska! Shorts all around for another day.

OUR MORNING

Bob started his day off by catching up on emails, reading his forums and such I joined millions of people around the world watching the Celebration of Life service for Michael Jackson. He truly was an exceptional entertainer. Rest in Peace Michael.

MAIL

We had called for our mail to be delivered so we set out to find the post office. Now I want you to understand that Seward is NOT a large town, truly small. Maybe two miles from one end to the other and maybe six streets wide. Small, tiny, probably everyone knows everyone else. As much as we had driven the streets we had not noticed the post office and had no clue where it was. It took us asking five people where the post office was before we were given the correct directions. We got answers like, a) one street over and down a bit, b) I know its on the other side of town but I can't tell you exactly where, c) turn left here and go a half mile, I think, d) wow, I never had to give directions to the post office before, I don't know what to tell you. I guess when you live in such a small place that you don't give it a thought on how to get somewhere, you just go. Well, we finally found it and collected our mail. Mostly junk and to think we pay to have it delivered to us.

WHALES

We decided to take a drive on roads we haven't been before. We were in the right place at the right time because the whales were playing in the bay.








WILDFIRES

The wildfires further up north in the state are starting to affect us down here in the southern section. Look how hazy it looks here. It's smoke! We can smell it in the air. We're hoping for the winds to come or rain to clear the air.





This is what it looked like several days ago.

A FLAG

Fifty years ago Alaska became the 48th state of our great nation. When it was bought from Russia in 1867 it was known as the Territory of Alaska and flew just the American flag.


In 1926, when Alaska Territorial Governor George Parks was on a visit to the U.S. Post Office building, he had noticed that, while there were flags for every state displayed, the territory of Alaska had none. It was time to remedy that.


It was decided that a contest involving school children, grades 7 through 12, would be formed for the design of the flag. The rules called for 8½ x 11-inch paper, color or plain ink. Each community formed a panel to select the 10 best entries, which were then forwarded to the final committee in Juneau.


John Ben "Benny" Benson was 13, a 7th grade orphan at a mission school in Seward, when he created his design for the flag for the Territory of Alaska in 1927.


Benny looked to the sky, choosing the Big Dipper and the North Star for his symbols. He described his choices this way: "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly of the union. The dipper is for the Great Bear symbolizing strength."


This young flag designer was born in Chignik in 1913, part Russian-Aleut and part Swedish. His father put him in an orphanage, the Jesse Lee Home in Unalaska, at the age of 3 when his mother died. The home moved from Unalaska to Seward in 1925.


Benny learned about his win in March 1927. “One day our teacher’s husband came in the room and he brought a telegram,” Benson recalled in 1971. “She just looked at it and her mouth dropped open. She was speechless. … And I darned near fell out of my seat, I guess.”


The only change that was made in his design was the removal of the “1867”, the year the territory was bought. His design was favored over about 700 entries from schoolchildren around the state. Many of the other entries had variations on polar bears, gold pans, the state seal, the midnight sun, or northern lights.


Benny's prize for winning the contest was a gold watch with his design engraved on the back and $1,000 that he later used for diesel-engine repair school. The watch he donated to the Alaska State Museum in 1963. The original flag, made of blue silk and appliquéd gold stars, was first flown July 9, 1927.


Alaska's Flag




On the 5th of July I posted a picture of a young boy riding an ATV in the mud bog race. I said that his mom must have nerves of steel or that she was.....home. Well, I heard from the mom. She was none other than Heather from Fairbanks that I also wrote about and had a picture of. In case you don't read the comments, here's what she wrote.

Thanks for the great pictures!!

Just a fun fact... the mother of the youngest racer on the 4-wheeler is also Heather driving Dirty Thrills from Fairbanks. Yes... it is a family thing. My husband was also there racing and my other son has a truck that we left home this time.

We had a fabulous weekend in Seward and a super time playing in the mud. The Seward Racing Lions are doing a great job and we appreciate all the Seward hospitality.

Thanks!
Heather Heineken
Dirty Thrills
Fairbanks Alaska

She googled "Mud Bogging Pictures Seward 2009" and was directed to this blog.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

7/6/2009 Bob Goes Fishing

Bob got up at five o'clock this morning to catch a resort provided bus to take him to the docks. I never heard a thing, he must have been really quiet or I was dead to the world. One or the other.

Today is the day he's been waiting for, he's going halibut fishing. He's been wanting to fish so badly he could have been going for goldfish and he would have been happy.

While he was gone I took a walk around the Army's Seward Resort.

The resort office and gift shop.

The breezeway.

There's a TV room...shown in this blurry picture.

This is the bar area with seating for dining if you don't want to sit outside.

I'm hoping I get to take a picture like this. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. That goes for the bear and the photographer!

This the Freedom Fighter's Bar and Grill kitchen and outdoor deck.

These are quarters available for rent if one doesn't have an RV. Though I haven't been inside one as yet I would bet they are each nicely furnished and well stocked.

To keep the little ones occupied there is small playground. This is usually quite busy but I must have hit it at lunch or nap time.

There are also yurts available for rent if one would like to go that way.

And then there is the RV Park. Nothing fancy but it certainly serves the purpose.

Here's our spot.

One of the most important buildings here is the Fish House.

This is where all the action is every afternoon.

Shortly after the fisherman are dropped off their fish arrive by truck.

The fish containers are off loaded by resort personnel.

And then unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

Each fish had already been tagged on the boat.

This is one of Bob's halibuts.

Bob gathers his fish. He caught the limit of two halibut and a ling cod. The cod is one ugly fish!

Now its off to the Fish House to clean these bad boys.

Let the cleaning begin!

One of Fish House hands gives some pointers on cleaning these flatties. Bob takes the opportunity for a swig of beer.

One down, two to go....

After the fish are cleaned and cut into portion sizes they are put into plastic bags and put into this machine so they can be vacuumed packed.

From this machine the packages get put into a tote and put into these large deep freeze freezers. The fish will stay here until you leave the resort or its shipped home. We're having this shipped home to a friend of ours who will take some to my parents, keep some for himself and take the rest to the Legion to be given out to the guys.

Bob is one tired fella as I type this but he wasn't too tired to share some of the pictures he took out on the boat.

The early morning sun.

Some whales frolicking nearby? Frolicking? Do whales frolick?

Heading out to sea.

He said the scenery was spectacular! I can't wait to see it when we go on our cruise to see the fjords.

Bob will go deep sea fishing again when we meet up with Lin and Dan around the 14th.

It was a great day! Bob got to fishing and I had a ME day.

7/5/2009 Mud Bogging in Seward

What a gorgeous day we have today. We are moving to town, a whole six miles, and will be staying in the Army's Seward Resort for the next 5 days or so. I'll have pictures of the area later today.

First I want to tell you that the camera I fished out of the toilet...it works! I wish I could figure out how to find the owner of this camera. There are so many pictures on it from their Alaskan vacation and considering what they are of, they can't be replaced or re-done. Since it looks like some may have been taken in a RV park environment I'll post to the RV forums and who knows they could read it! And if they don't, well, we'll have a backup camera. I will have to buy the cord needed to download the pictures to the computer but that shouldn't be a problem. And an instruction manual! Definitely need one of those.

So we packed up, made the move and didn't do anything more than drop the 5th wheel. We didn't set up because we had a date a mud pit. But we didn't leave until I took in our view from our new campsite.

Oh yeah, I can look at this for a week!

So we headed to the MUD BOG RACES. Now I have never been to one of these before and had no idea what to expect. Bob and I used to go to tractor pulls way back in the day and they were held in stadiums or at least a place where there were bleachers and bathrooms and smooth walkways. Uhhh....not here. We pulled into dirt field parking lot, paid our $5.00 a piece and then made our way to the spectator's field.

I stood guard over the space we wanted and Bob went back to the truck to get our chairs. I have no idea why we didn't think to take them with us in the first place, but we didn't.

Quite a crowd was gathering. There were several hundred specators by the time it started.

The vehicles started lining up, waiting their turn.

The object of this race? To drive through this very deep pit of mud and water as fast as you can.....if you can without getting stuck.

Here goes the first one.

Mud just flies everywhere! Luckily, we were far enough away that we didn't have to worry about being covered in the brown stuff.

Here's what this jeep type vehicle looked like when it was done.

I wonder what this bride thought when she found out she was spending her honeymoon Mud Bog Racing?

They didn't make it through mud and here they are being pulled out by the dozer.

Another one who gave it a good try....

.....but ended up being pulled out. This is not as easy as it looks!

The spectators were really getting into this.

These next pictures are especially for our friend Lyell. Take note how this FORD makes it all the way through buddy!

.....and it returned under its own steam. This truck just seemed to float over this mud.

This truck/jeep type vehicle was throwing mud everywhere!

It made it through, totally covered in mud.

There even women in the mud bog race. This is Heather from Fairbanks.

This woman was moving! Evidently she's really into this and her truck is made for this! She went through the course so fast that she is definitely a contender for the first prize.

After the street trucks, the modified and the super modified trucks got done it was time for the ATV's. This is the youngest racer we saw. His mother must have nerves of steel....or she's home!

Covered in mud and lovin' life!

While all the scores were being tallied and there was a break in the action, all the little kids had a chance to enter a race. A foot race through this mud. Winner gets twenty bucks.

This was so much fun to watch! Keep your eye on the little guy on the right hand side of the picture. Red shorts, no shirt.

They're off!

This little boy wanted no part of this! He didn't even take a step and from the look on his face when his mom came out, he didn't like the feeling of mud squishing up between his toes.

This little was determined to finish!

I can see the bathtub rings already!

A pic of the trophies these racers are going for.

This is an annual 4th of July weekend event in Seward and it is well received by looking at the turnout today. They sell hot dogs, brats and hamburgers, sno-cones and sell 50-50 tickets to make money to support this event. We bought one ticket each for the 50-50, paid $10 to get in and for parking, bought one hot dog and two brats. We feel as though we did our part. But then it got even better. I won the 50-50! $270.00!!!!! Of course then we went to the store to buy lunchmeat and other stuff Bob needed for his fishing trip, a new small cooler, a book he's been looking for and a few things for me and there went $68.00.

Then when we got home and got set up it was dinnertime and I didn't have anything taken out so we went to the cafe here in the resort and there was another $28.00. I'm hiding the rest of the winnings!

On the way home we stopped to take these pictures of Seward from the other side of the bay.

What a great place to be!

4th of July, 2009 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

TODAY WE CELEBRATE OUR GREAT NATION'S 233RD BIRTHDAY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Seward has a lot going on today so we went downtown around 11:30 It wasn't too hard to find a parking place which surprised us. Of course we took the first one we saw. The town has a large municipal parking lot and they don't try to gouge the public. They charge $5.00 to park all day. A welcome change to some places we've been.

On the way into town we saw this sign. Wouldn't you like to see this sign on your streets?

So we stop at the restrooms before we walk downtown and you'll never guess what I found. A Nikon Coolpix camera! Floating in the toilet! (Yes, the water was clean) I found a stick pen in my pocket and hooked under the strap and lifted it out. I dried it off and took it out to the truck and sat it on the dash in the sun to dry out. I figured it couldn't hurt and if it didn't work, oh well.

This boat is heading out to sea.

We're going to try very hard to get in a front row at the city campground......

....... so that this is our view.

What a way to start out the day if you look at this.

Here's another one of those signs that don't give me the warm and fuzzies.

I like things to match. I want my two living room end tables to look alike. Nightstands would match in my world. I want my right shoe to look exactly like my left shoe. I like colors to match or to at least go together. When the kids were at home I loved Garanimals! You were assured that a shirt with a giraffe tag would "match" a pair of pants with a giraffe tag. Same as the gorilla tags and the lion tags,,,,everything would match. Actually, I would like Garanimals for adults! I like the way our 5th wheel graphic colors match the graphic colors on our truck. That was pure luck but I was a happy camper when we hooked them together and realized the colors were the same....or nearly so. I noticed this tow vehicle and tiny trailer today and I wanted to give the driver a color citation because they colors of these vehicles clashed so badly. One of these vehicles NEEDS to be painted! Ahhh, I feel better now, I just had to get that out.

Woudn't this be like the perfect way to spend a 4th of July? Or any day for that matter!

Seward is having a 4th of July parade today so we walked up to 4th street to see it all.

I've never seen a unicycle with three wheels before. Now that I think about it I guess it isn't a unicycle? What would you call it?

The town trolley got all decked out for the parade.

This Viet Nam vet has his a special paint job for his Vette.

A trailer carrying a truck advertising a Mud Bog Race the next day.

There were your usual parade staples, a fire truck, the mayor sitting in a convertible, Miss Teen Seward and all the other small town dignitaries that are showcased in the 4th of July parade.

The streets of this small town were quite crowded.

What I want you to take notice of in this next picture is the mountain. It's 3200 feet high and it played a major part in the five mile foot race today. Yep, participants have to race to the top of the mountain and back down again.

The trail in the center of the picture is the way up and trail to the right is the way down. Time to beat? 43 minutes! I couldn't do this in 43 HOURS!!!

And they're off!

All ages took part in this race. Twentysomethings to the most senior or seniors.

This guy looks tired before he even starts.

Up the mountain they go.... (dead center)

On the trail coming down you can see bursts of dust. That's the runners sliding down the mountain. We were told it was too steep to run down so they had to slide in places. (Dead center)

In this picture you can tell there are quite a few coming down at the same time.

Here comes the first one down! It is just 41 minutes when he passes us and he has two more block to go. Maybe a new record!

A race against time....

Everyone got cheers and clapping as they passed.

This little girl "slapped five" with almost every runner that came in and she was just thrilled with each one.

We found out later that the fella who was pictured as the first one down from the mountain collapsed about 100 feet from the finish line. He tried to crawl to the line to win the race but just couldn't make it. Now we know he was in the ambulance that went by shortly after he passed us. So close to the line and so close to breaking the record. We hope he's ok.

As we were walking back to the truck we strolled down by the water and saw this motorcycle.

We took a ride on some of the back roads before heading home. When we got there we got busy getting dinner ready. We celebrated the 4th with a nice steak dinner. Yep, a good day.

Its Gonna Turn....Maybe Today

New post below.....

This is happening faster than I can keep up with practically. The counter will turn another thousand, maybe today though I don't know about that since this is a holiday weekend and you are all out and about.

If you should be the one who turns the counter, please leave a comment and let me know who you are, how you found our blog and anything else you'd like to say.

Happy 4th of July!

Snookie

Well, no one stepped forward to say it was them to who turned the counter. They didn't notice. Maybe the next one will.

7/3/2009 It's All About FISH!

Summer has arrived in Seward. Jackets are not needed, at least not today. Kids are out in shorts and T's but they are running around so much its ok for them. Us adults are still in jeans and short sleeve shirts and it feels oh so good not to have a jacket on.

I have no tan. None. Nada. Zip. Zero. The first week of July and I'm white as a sheet. This is unheard of. Never in all my years have I seen the month of July come and me not have a tan. I don't even have a farmer's tan goin' on. Mom, I know you are laughing right now. Out loud no less and I'm tellin' you this is not funny!

So to enjoy the outdoors today I took a walk up to look at the fish jumping. Yes, you are going to be subjected to more pictures of jumping fish. Not many, but a few.

I talked with Kathy who works seasonally for the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association. This is private non-profit corporation that provides and protects the salmon resource of Alaska and more specifically, Cook Inlet.

Kathy has worked for this organization for eight seasons now and seems to thoroughly enjoy what she does and sharing her knowledge with all those who stop and ask questions.

When I arrived she was counting what I believe are called fingerlings. These are young fish that are ready to be let go to out to sea.

There is a large pool outside where the fingerlings have been for the past ten days or so. There only about a thousand left that have to be released.

Kathy explained that they are in this tank so that the young fish get use to the "smell" of the water. This will help them find their way back to the same lake they were born in to spawn in a couple of years. I'm not sure that she meant "smell" in the context as you and I think of it or if that is some kind of aquaculture terminology. She did explain that the water in the tank where they spend time before being released gets embedded into their ear bones. Some of the fingerlings will be harvested for testing in that they can tell by the ear bone if the fingerling was raised in a hatchery or in the "wild". Hell, I didn't even know that fish had ears! According to Kathy, they do,

She scoops them up with a net from an hole in the floor of the building that sit over the pools of water....

.....then each fish is counted, by hand.

I asked what the big green tubs were outside and she said to follow her and she would show me. Fish!

These fish were pulled from the ones who jumped up the fish ladder to be given to a local senior citizen centers for lunch meals and also to Meal on Wheels.

She keeps them iced down to keep them fresh until they are delivered.

When the fish jump up the fish ladder.....

(Am I gettin' good at capturing fish mid jump or what?)

.....they are held in this holding tank until they can be counted.

Yes, counted. Each one is counted here before it is released to proceed to the spawning grounds. It is also here that some females will be taken and her eggs harvested for fertilization and incubation at the fish hatchery. The goal is to get about 2000 pair of fish that will insure about 6 million eggs. The large majority of these eggs will never make it adult fish. The eggs will be eaten, the fingerlings will be eaten, they'll be eaten by bears, disease will get others and who knows what else can happen to them. Kathy knows right down to the fish how many have passed through here at any given day.

This whole operation, the pools of water, the building, the fish ladder, is called a wier. (Sounds like we're)

These little kids came to "go fishing". Because they didn't have real hooks on their lines Kathy said it was ok for them to "fish".

The fish did come and investigate their lines and the kids just got the biggest kick out of this.

The pool on the far side is where fish who are too tired to go on or have something wrong with them are kept so that they can rest and get well before going on their journey to the spawning grounds. Last year there was a problem with the bears getting in there and going after the fish. So far this year they haven't had the problem.

This complex is manned 24 hours a day, in season, because the fish keep jumping the fish ladder round the clock. Someone has to be there to count them and to open the gates to let them go through.

In addition to all of this, lots of data is taken and kept so that the habits of the fish can be better learned and therefore their needs as a crucial resource can be better protected and served.

We were supposed to go to town tonight to see the fire works from the shoreline of the bay. We didn't make it. We had heard earlier that this weekend, 4th of July weekend, is the busiest weekend of all and Seward is THE place to be. Population swells from a normal 5000 for a typical summer weekend to an astounding 40,000 for 4th of July. We just didn't want to deal with it. We've seen dozens and dozens and dozens of firework displays over the years. It isn't particularly dark here at midnight when they the display was to take place so who was to say how well they would be seen in the first place. We just didn't want to deal with the traffic. So we stayed home and that was ok with both of us.

7/2/2009 A Peek at Seward

If you travel 127 miles south, from Anchorage, you will arrive in Seward. I think it just might be the best 127 miles of this trip that we've traveled so far.

Today we took a quick peek at Seward, the town. What a delightful little town it is. There aren't that many streets, but oh the treasures these streets hold, waiting for us to explore them in depth.

The "main" thing in this town would be the river front. Actually, that should be bay front because this town sits right on Resurrection Bay. The harbor was busy today with holiday boaters putting their boats in the water, a cruise ship had come in to port, the campgrounds which are right at waterfront were jam packed with 4th of July weekend campers and the fisherman were out in force.

I watched this lady, a charter fishing boat owner, clean the catch of the day. King Salmon.

She was so fast she made my head spin. Just two or three minutes, literally, after I took the above picture I took this one below.

She was fascinating to watch! In no time at all she had this sitting next to her.

I know right now some of you are just salivating at the thought of this FRESH king salmon. Personally, it doesn't do a thing for me. As far as fish are concerned, I want mine in little round can with a mermaid on the label, that's as far as my relationship with fish goes. I've tasted flounder and I guess if I was starving, and that would have to be literally starving as in I'm gonna die if I don't eat something, then I could eat flounder. A little piece. Alls I've been hearing is, "Oh you just have to taste the fresh halibut, its out of this world". I wonder if they could disguise it,,,,coat it in chocolate or something. I want to like it, I really do. I think it would be great if Bob and I had fish once or twice a week. He LOVES fish. Poor guy rarely gets it though and when he does he has to cook it because I don't have a clue. Maybe I'll taste it..MAYBE.

I moved on, leaving this lady and her helper to finish up cleaning the rest of the catch. I think this fella took the phrase "cleaning the fish" to the extreme. He's giving them a shower!

They caught 34 when they were out today and they were allowed 36.

Here's the scales where the proud fisherman stand next to their catch so pictures can be taken....and the fish weighed of course.

I think the harbor will be very busy this holiday weekend.

The water is soooo clear!

A cruise ship came into port. The Princess line docks here, as we saw bus after bus with the Princess logo heading north towards Anchorage.

We walked along the area where all the gift shops, bait stores and day cruise businesses are located. There must be someone very handy with a chain saw in the area.

Otters in just this pose are a common sight in the surrounding waters.

More seating.

"What fish? I don't know nothin' about a fish."

This anchor, from a ship of long ago, is just H U G E!

Mural on a wall of a building on the corner.

There were lots of little gift shops like this one around town.

While we were in town we went to the Army's Seward Resort, you can check it out here. We'll be staying there starting on the 5th for three days. After that we'll staying in one of the town campground's right on the bay for a couple of days.

We made our reservations for Seward Resort again in August. Our forever friend, Dianne is flying in to spend nearly two weeks with us. We checked into a Kenai Fjord day cruise to go on while she's here. That's a must do! We'll also save seeing the Sea Life Center until she gets here. There's lot of other things to do here so I'm sure we'll keep busy.

We needed to get bread so we stopped in the local Safeway. You guessed it, sticker shock! I love this place, but I'm glad I don't live here. I don't know that I could ever get past what things should cost in comparison to the lower 48.

We took a ride on the road going out the other side of town and saw this.

You know I just had to get my "Going Down the Road" picture in.

We headed home after this and enjoyed a dinner of stuffed peppers, mashed taters and corn. It hit the spot!

Our campground is crowded! I think every space is taken. I keep forgetting its Fourth of July weekend, this has come much too fast. My mom always told me that after the 4th, summer just flies by. I hope your wrong this year Mom! I have my doubts though, especially this year because of where we are, the anticipation of seeing Dianne, actually having her here and trying to "show her Alaska" in a short amount of time will make the time fly by for sure.

I touched base with Quail Run friends who are here in Alaska too. We'll meet up with Lin, Dan and Darlene in a week or so.

It's quarter to twelve as I wind this up and its still light outside, not bright sunshine but definitely not dark. I will never ever get used to this. It sure beats being here when its dark all the time though.

Since I had those computer problems a short while back and thought I was going to close the blog down I'm wondering if my some of our faithful readers read that and have not returned. So Lou, are you here? What about our long time reader in BC who turned the counter awhile back? Are you still with me? Chris and Earl? Present and accounted for? I know Livingston and New York are still following our travels as is Jonesboro, Bakersfield, Reston, LA and Hazelton.

Question for Nancy in Virginia. What town in Virginia? And Jonesboro, GA reader, you've been following for quite a while, do we know you? I can see what towns/cities all of you are from and I have to wonder sometimes if the faithful followers are ones we've met along the way or not. Just curiosity on my part.

Ok, another day down. Not a real exciting one, but it was ours. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Oh, I do know what we'll doing tomorrow night at midnight. We'll be watching the fireworks. This should be interesting.

In case you are all busy this weekend and don't get a chance to check in, I'll wish you a safe and happy Fourth of July now. Be careful out there, on the roads, in the water, on the mountains, whatever you're doing, play safe.

7/1/2009 Snookie,Show Us Some More Scenery!

This is my 900th post!

Ask and you shall receive! Since it was a moving day for us I don't have much more anyway.

We had an absolutely beautiful day here today. Sunshine, blue skies, temps even in the high 70's low 80's. At least that's what our trucks temp gauge said.

We pulled out at ten this morning, ready for a relaxing drive. We're going to be spending the next week or so in Seward, Alaska. From all we've heard this is THE place to be if you're going to Alaska. I know I'm hoping I see the boats from the TV show "The Deadliest Catch" come into port while we're here. That would just make this whole trip all that much ....more.

So you want more scenery huh? I can fulfill that request. Look at what we had to enjoy today.

The day started out kind of hazy as we drove south on the Seward Highway. We drove along the shores of the Turnagain Arm.

Look closely in these next pictures, it looks like there is some shiny areas.

That is mud that the sun is shining off of. You can see where there is water and where there isn't.

I thought the water levels were just low but I have since found out that the tide is out. Now the amazing thing is when the tide comes back in, its called a bore tide and its phenomenal! The water will come back into this area at a very fast rate of speed. The waves can be and often are 10 feet high. We're going to check the tidal schedules and see if we can't witness this. If we're lucky enough to catch this, we may even see the harbor seals that will be ride the tide in and the beluga whales that will come into this area after the tide is in and the water is deeper.

You are warned to not get in the mud because you can sink down in it and then the tide comes in so fast.....many people have had to be rescued over the years and many have drowned.

Its hard to believe that this can be covered with water in a short amount of time.

The further south we went the more beautiful it got. Finally, the haze lifted.

We stopped at the Tourist Center for information about the area. While there the Alaska Train came in to pick up passengers.

This came in while I was inside so Bob was taking the pictures. Now ladies, if you leave the camera with your man what are you sure to have a picture of when you return? Yep, you guessed it.

His truck!

Now LaVon, I know I haven't had any pictures of dead tree for you in awhile now. And there's a reason for that my friend. I know that you have a discerning eye and the tree must have character in order for you to really appreciate it. Being in the land of Black Spruce does lend itself to impressive skeletons of trees. This is the best I can do for right now.

Or,,,,if you don't like that one, pick one of these. Work with me here girlfriend, the pickins is slim.

Since we had seen so many snow covered mountains I was a little surprised to see this one that is so green.

Another view.

Do you recall the pictures I posted here over the last few weeks showing an empty road in front of us and me explaining that we had the roads to ourselves? How we long for that again! The traffic here is HORRENDOUS! UNBEARABLE! NERVEWRACKING!

This next picture is shot of Canyon Creek. Hidden by the trees are two creeks that merge together to form this body of water. Back in 1904 there was huge gold rush in this area. Today, its just pretty to look at.

Look at the color of this water!

Truly a turquoise color.

All of a sudden it seemed the blue water was bouncing off the blue in the sky and vice versa.

We finally arrived where we'll be staying for the next four nights. We're paying more than we would like by quite a bit but we waited too long to decide where we were going to be over the 4th and where we wanted to stay was completely booked. Expensive lesson learned!

Our first impression was...."We're paying HOW MUCH for THIS? The place, the outside office area specifically isn't exactly, how do I say this? Neat? Yeah, that's it,,,it isn't neat and orderly like it should be. In fact, it looks like a pig pen. The lady behind the counter is very kind and nice and we get a free breakfast every morning and lots of hot water if we want to use their showers and they even lend you the boxes so you can pick up cable if you don't already have one and need one. They bend over backwards to accommodate your every need, it just isn't "neat".

After we got set up Bob sat outside with our neighbor and learned that we could see the salmon swimming upstream to spawn just a short walk away. So off we went. Sure enough after just a few minutes we could SMELL fish. I'm not kidding, we could smell them. Its just a small, shallow creek that runs through this area but it is FILLED with salmon. We saw only a hundred feet of this creek but it looked like this all the way. Jam packed with salmon. These fish are resting and waiting their turn to jump up the fish ladder which is a short ways up stream. I wonder if they know they are going to die after they mate?

Across the street, for us, is the fish ladder. I'll have more info on that in a day or two. I was just so thrilled to be able to watch the salmon jump the ladder that I didn't think to ask questions of the guy who works there. Now you are going to have to endure the next half dozen pictures or so. Catching pictures of fish jumping in the air is NOT easy! I had to take 56 pictures just to get 6 that had fish in them! Ok, so it took me a while to get the hang of photographing jumping fish. I learned it really helps to put the camera setting on "sports", you can take pictures much faster that way. So suffer through it, I have to post them because I worked so hard to get them. Don't you even think about leaving until you've looked at every one of them! You hear me?

Look in the lower right hand corner.

Here this one goes!

Is this cool or what???? Three in one picture!

I promise not to post too many more pictures of jumping fish.(NOTE: I will be the one to determine how many is too many.)

So that's our day, beautiful scenery, horrendous traffic and jumping fish. And what was your day like?