August and HOME !!!!

August ... and Home !

Beautiful Summit Lake between Soldotna and Anchorage.

Well, here it is.. August 16th and we are home safe in Port Angeles. Once again , plans and circumstances changed.. and here we are. We left Soldotna on August 5th and after driving steady, an average of 450 miles a day, arrived home on Sunday August 11th. The trip home was uneventful but full of beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife, but it was long and hard and we were pretty worn out and glad to be done the long haul. Our first night we made it from Soldotna to just south of Tok, Alaska and stayed at a little old motel called Mentasta Lodge. The place wasn't much but they had a little cafe that served a delicious burger and the scenery was awesome.
 

 Mentasta Lodge, 45 minutes south of Tok, Alaska

 

Second night we went from Tok to Whitehorse, Yukon. The city was crazy busy and when we stopped at a motel there, they informed us they were full and after checking around , finally found us a room at the Ramada in downtown Whitehorse.. pretty much the last room in town.

A perfect example of the mornings in Alaska.

Twin Moose calves :)

The next day we traveled from Whitehorse to a beautiful spot along Muncho Lake on the northern boarder of B.C. / Yukon. It was so nice there, I think I would have been happy to spend a week just sitting by the lake. This stretch of road was full of wildlife.. herds of Bison, black bears and we even saw a wolf.

These two little guys were wrestling and boxing each other when we first saw them but just wasn't quick enough to capture a good shot.

 

I personally think the most beautiful spot along the entire Alaska Highway is Muncho Lake. I remember my Mom and Dad telling me how much they loved this spot, and you can see why...

 

Day four took us from Muncho Lake on a longer day, to Chetwynd B.C. Lots of long straight stretches of road, repetitive scenery and a lot of "speeding drivers". But the section of twisting, turning road thru the Northern Rockies is magnificent. And, we got to see a few caribou and another black bear.

We made it after a long day and found a small motel to spend the night before heading to Williams Lake in the morning.
There we spent 2 nights and visited with good friends before the finale pull home on Sunday. It was 100 degrees in Williams Lake ... way too hot for us. We were happy to head out Sunday morning and although the day was long, it went well, no hold ups at the boarder, no ferry waits and home in time for dinner. It was wonderful to see the kids, get lots of hugs, and be able to put our feet up. It's good to be home :)

 

 

 

Now back to what transpired to bring us home earlier than planned.......
As I mentioned in my last blog, we decided that the fifth wheel could not survive the return trip home, so we put it up for sale and within a week, sold it to a man from Anchor Point who was happy to get it... and we were happy to see it go. We spent the next couple of weeks rounding up totes from Fred Meyer and Walmart and packed up everything we own and stacked it in Bills Shed ready for the trip home.

In the meantime, we continued to enjoy the benefits of being on the Kenai Peninsula. More fishing for sure.. and then Don decided to take a charter trip across Cook Inlet to dig razor clams. It wasn't cheap ..$165. but we decided it would be worth it. It is a NO LIMIT dig. The boat takes you to the far side of the inlet.. approximately a 2 1/2 hour trip..(one way)... you get to dig on a remote beach for the length of the tide and you can dig as many as you can get in that time. And they are HUGE clams. As you can see... Don is a fast digger and he came home with 4 five gallon buckets full. Definitely worth it.

 A Great Days Catch !!!

 The trip across Cook Inlet was calm and beautiful.

 

 

We ended up buying a second freezer as well, and by the time we were ready to head for home we had two 7 cu. ft freezers.. one completely full, and the other about 1/2 full. Plus we canned 4 doz jars of sockeye, so all in all, even if you exclude everything else, we certainly came home with a bounty.

 

We had planned to stay in Alaska until close to the end of August, and also stop over in Anchorage to do a bit of work for a friend there.. but instead headed home a lot earlier than planned. When our little grandson Liam, who is just three, wound up in Seattle Children's Hospital, we decided it was time to head south. He spent over a week there, and is now home but being very carefully monitored after fighting a kidney abscess. He seems to feel pretty good and is full of his crazy fun energy most of the time, but is on serious antibiotics and will make another trip to Seattle again next week for a follow up. Thank god for the wonderful doctors at Children's.

So..... home, but still homeless. Ha ha. We have purchased another 5th wheel. It is a 2006 Jay flight 27 foot with a full slide, lots of room, and most importantly a walk around bed that I won't have to climb up into.. or wake up poor Don when I need to get up in the night. We intend to live full time in it for the next year or two for sure. Next summer our plans, hopefully will include a trip to see the canyon lands.. Bryce, Grand, Arches etc. A little closer to home and a whole lot more relaxing. For the winter we will park ourselves at a local RV park probably ( still working on that one ). We will take possession of the trailer by Sept 7th, so until then we are staying with our daughter. I admit... it feels weird... usually it has been the kids staying with us.. now here we are staying with them.

Not a great shot... but our new 5th wheel.

It's funny how things turn out. We left with one plan.. sure that was set in stone, so to speak, and here we are home, after a summer of fishing and have a whole new plan set in motion. This will be the last blog entry on our Alaska Adventure.. but not my last "blog" entry. I think I enjoy this. As soon as we get our new plan in motion.. I will be back here to keep in touch. Thanks for following along with us.. and to close off, I'v added a few extra  photos of the last 3 or so weeks and the trip home. Its been a great summer !!!!!!!

 

 So.. apparently in the Yukon they can't afford too many "real" police cars..  Found this plywood, painted life size one along Kluane Lake.

 Spotted this little pond along the Fraser River between Quesnel and Williams Lake.. just reminded me a little of "Second Hand Lions"

 Wild Flowers and Cotton Wood seed in Bill's yard.

 

 A little last minute fishing in the Anchor River.

Misty August Morning along the Alaska Highway.

 

July 16th... Fish , Fish.. and More Fish.....

 

 

 

 

July 16th... Fish, Fish and More Fish.. and a side trip to Homer.

 

 

 Fish Fish and More Fish...


Well, the month of July is half over already.. hard to believe. I am sure the next 6 weeks will fly by even faster. This is an exciting time for Soldtona. The REDS are in !!!! For anyone unfamiliar with this expression.. the red's are Sockeye that arrive in the thousands in the Kenai River at this time every year. People come from all over the world to fish them and dip net them and catch them in any way they can. You would think that with that much pressure, they would not survive another year, but somehow they do. They will be back again next year.

Dip Netting at the mouth of the Kenai River.
 This is pretty exciting to watch. Every permanent Alaskan resident is allowed what they call Subsistence fishing. Each household is allowed to Dip Net so many fish for personal consumption. An average family is allowed 25 fish for head of household and then 10 additional for family. It is just Another way that Alaska helps their people survive the tougher climate and environment. And as you can see... it is a HUGE event.

 

 

The Red's are exactly that... Bright beautiful fish with rich dark red meat.. and they are delicious. The daily limit right now is 3 fish per person but as long as the numbers stay up, the limit will jump to 6 a day. You can fill a freezer fast at that rate. We are off to buy another freezer on the weekend... already!!!! Between the salmon , halibut, Cod and the Razor Clams, it is filling up very fast.

No complaints from us :)

After the Reds, it will be time for the Silvers... Coho.. that will make their way up the rivers and we will fish those as well. Thank god for vacuum sealers and pressure caner's.. and a truck to haul it all home.

Speaking of home, we have decided that spending the winter in Alaska is not an option for us after all. Lots of things have conspired to bring this decision together, but we think it is the right decision for us both. Lot's of things changed , both around us and with us.. and we think coming home this fall is a good plan. Of course, there are NO regrets to any of this trip. We had a few set backs on the way up, a few here as well, but.... all in all it has been a fantastic trip so far... and will .. no doubt continue that way. I would do it all, exactly the same, all over again.

I still love Alaska, but I think, maybe being 7 years older since the last trip... maybe some of the changes that have occurred in and around us... maybe just realizing how far from home we really are... well, I guess it just all piles up until you come to a finale decision.. even if it isn't the one that you started out with, it is still the right one.

So... there we are... come mid-September at the very latest we will be on the road home. We will leave Soldotna at the end of August when our Friend and Host Bill gets back from his short trip away, and we will be off to Anchorage to spend a bit of time with friends there. Don is going to do some work for them and then it will be southward bound. We plan on selling the 5th wheel before we leave. It has made it's last long trip and needs a good resting place. I have put it up for sale on the Kenai Peninsula Craig's list and I am sure we won't have trouble selling it. It will make someone a great little fish camp up here for their summer trips.

We will pack up everything in totes... seal them up safe and dry for the ride home. The truck will be loaded because we will have all that, plus 2 full freezers of seafood. Yummmm.

Anyhow, that is the latest news. .. But in the meantime... still loving this beautiful country up here and all it has to offer. .. and So glad we came back one more time. (next time.. we will fly)

 The view from Bills deck... Mount Redoubt.

This past week has been a good one for weather... beautiful blue skies, and warm. We took advantage and made a trip to Homer so that we could see the mountains in all their glory. It was a very pretty day, took lots of pictures, hung out on the famous Homer Spit for awhile and played tourist. Loved it.

View of Mount Redoubt along the way to Homer.

Homer

The famous Homer Spit.

 

 

 

I loved this abandoned ship..  it reminded me of a Pirate Ship.. maybe something Captain Jack would live on :)

 

On the way home we had truck trouble... ended up using our AAA once again to be towed home, but it all worked out good. Our neighbor and friend Russ happens to be a pretty dang good mechanic and he diagnosed and fixed it for us. It needed a new fuel lift pump and that only cost us $180 and he did the work. In exchange, Don spent a few hours yesterday helping him cut firewood for the winter. I love being able to trade services.. works out good for everyone.

We've also had a fair amount of Bear activity, which of course I have already filled you in on. There are still sightings nightly within a mile or two of here..( if anyone is interested in reading about the bear sightings in this area, there is a facebook page called.."Kenai Peninsula Bears" ) .. . but as long as they stay out of the 5th wheel I will be happy. I really don't need to get up close and personal with one. As a matter of fact... this is how we go to bed in Alaska.. when the Bears are in the neighborhood..

A great way to see and watch the Bears in their "natural" environment is to check out the live web cams on the Brooks River in Katmai National Park. If you are interested... just go to www.explore.org and check out the bear cams on the Brooks River. Awesome to watch.


The shots below are just a couple I thought I would ad in... they are pictures of the cabin here in Soldotna . Its a great spot to spend a summer.

Well, I guess that just about closes out this week. Not too much more to tell. I am sure that the only news for the next while will be "fish" related. I hope everyone is well and happy and having a great summer. Take care and keep smiling.

Our friends and neighbors.. Russ and Jan and our host..and good friend Bill... all say "HI" from Alaska.

 

 

 

An oil rig just south of Ninilchik.