"Summers Over"

“Summer’s Over”

One of my favorite John Wayne movies is The Cowboys. In the closing minutes John Wayne’s character gets shot up by a cattle rustler.  He says “Summer’s Over” to Mr. Nightlinger (stellar role played by Roscoe Lee Browne), the camp cook, meaning that his death is but minutes away.  Indeed, it was.  He got buried in the next scene.

I spend the last day or so of all vacations in a state of remorse, regretting our return to TX and the promise of its heat.  In this case, my state of remorse started after the depressing fishing performance with the Puffin charter boat in Seward.  It worsened greatly as Pop and Brek headed north to the airport to head home. 

Fortunately, none of us has been gutshot by cattle rustlers, eaten by a bear, died in a harrowing plane crash, or the countless other dangers we’ve exposed ourselves to over the past 8 weeks.  But dang, I sure have enjoyed it and don’t look forward to this vacations end.  I guess you can’t fish every day forever. Alas, continued exposure would eventually cause the snow covered mountains that lay just beyond the camper steps to become as un-special as the strip malls I see every day on my drive home from work on I-35. Hard to imagine, but that’s the human condition.  Different is what’s special.  Folks want what they don’t normally have and become unsatisfied with it once it’s “had”.  This has been the cause of many a failed marriage, for that matter.  The notion of returning to a 104F heat in TX seems particularly hard to like.  Seems like a chapter out of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes in this lesson somewhere.

A couple days before the trip was over, I asked the kids and wife “What have we learned about the world, ourselves, or whatever? And how are we different for having taken this trip?”.  Responses thus far: 

·         Erik – He has formally come out of the closet..... as a salmon fisherman.  He didn’t know this about himself before the trip (having never caught one), but those of us present at the time saw the birth of a salmon slayer on June 26, aka “day 24”. 

·         Lilly –

·         Victoria –

·         Matt-

·         Luke –

·         Shane – I have often dreamed of moving out west, and even possibly of Alaska, but this trip has convinced me otherwise (at least, on Alaska).  Closer inspection revealed that while Alaska is awesome in times (entertainment), it is also immense in size, and challenging in travel.  I’ve loved every part of it (maybe save Fairbanks), so I’d want to keep seeing all of it.  Accessing each location is a challenge, even if you’re already here.  Costs for anything from 2x4’s to fuel to PBR is about 50% over what you’d pay at home. Further, if “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, then surely continued exposure makes the heart less appreciative. I wouldn’t want that, so Alaska must remain an every now and then adventure, not an ongoing doldrum.

·         Deanna – having friends (Monsons, Lynn, Brek) to share the time made it more special than times without them.

·         Travis – when you live in Alaska for a month, it becomes your normal.  The dream becomes normal.

·         Amanda – Texas chops down too many trees.  Everywhere else, has trees, but not Texas.

This trip was so long in the planning (8 years) and so far reaching (6k miles, 19 camper setups, 7 states, 3 provinces, countless miles hiked, fish caught, etc) I don’t know exactly what to do now.  It’s hard to think about a future vacation, because I now see what COULD be done on a vacation.  Spoiled maybe?

Because I’m a spreadsheet geek, I ran a quick calculation, and determined that Travis and Amanda have spent 1.2% and 1.3% of their respective Earth days on this trip. Over 1% of their lives to date have been experienced in the ~57 day journey! That’s incredible.  With time, it’ll become a lesser and lesser portion of their life experience, but certainly, it’s a significant part of who they are now. Hopefully it impacts who they will become in the long run. 

I grew up in Texas and really didn’t leave it much as a kid.  My world was small, and my perceived “range” was limited.  After college graduation, I started travelling quite a bit with work and have worked on projects from Arizona to Florida, Pennsylvania to South Dakota.  I’ve seen the beauty and peril that other climates and populations have to offer.  I grew up believing (based on the feedback of my great grandmother) that Yankees were among the worst things you could encounter (next to fire ants or coyotes), but upon actual exposure…… found most Pennsylvanians to be quite pleasant.   Our kids have now had contact with folks all over this continent, and have used their passports several times (albeit, not without challenges of their own (recall day 13- Canada border crossing, “bear spray and fireworks, dad”)). 

My hope and prayer for my kids has been:  1. Their salvation (of course), 2. That they become responsible, contributing, taxpaying adults someday, 3. They achieve their life potential.  #1 has been secured already. They can recite the hope and truth of Jesus Christ better than I can at this stage.  #2 is still an ongoing project.  We ain’t there yet…. But this trip has been all about #3.  Letting them know that there is more out there than Bob Wills Music, Lone Star Beer and 104F heat.  If and when they graduate from their final classes, I want them to take a job and start a life/family in the location of their desires. If that turns out to be in DFW, then so be it, but if it turns out to be in Jasper, Wyoming then good on ‘em. Godwilling, Deanna and I will see them often in either location.  Especially during elk season…..if Wyoming….  I don’t want their umbilical cord to limit who they become later in life. 

My all in budget to execute this trip was about $16k.  Final tab ended up being just under $20k due to the transmission work done in Fairbanks and Kenai.  To put that in perspective……  My next truck will cost less than this trip did, but I still say that this is some of the best money I’ve ever spent.  Our kids will someday bury us and Amanda might say…… “You remember the summer they took us to Alaska”.   Travis might just reply…… “Don’t forget the bear spray and fireworks”.  J

I must offer a series of thanks to all the folks that helped this dream become realized:

·         Erik and Lilly – for being “all in” and meaning it, from day one.  Y’all seized the trip……. “Carpe Salmon”?? immediately and made it an excellent time for all of us.

·         Pop, Kim- for the encouragement to go, and taking Winston to “Camp Grammie/PawPaw”

·         Jimmy and Cindy – for also helping manage Winston while we were gone

·         Josh and Rachel – for watching our chickens, who now won’t want to return to the City life having spent the summer in the deluxe country setting of Nocona

·         Lynn and Brek – for getting on the plane, understanding that opportunities like these are rare

·         Tammy and Matt, Kent (AND GLENN....DONT FORGET GLENN, and the fireworks dad) and Corey – for allowing me the extra time off

·         Brandon, Ryan, Garrett, Nathan, Fonseca, Hoelting and the extended team - for filling in the gap at work

·         Mary and Scotty- for your thoughtful gifts toward our trip

·         Erinn – for managing the house and dealing with the antics of the Young Adults group (forking the yard) while we were gone.

·         Drew, Erinn, and Nathan- for carrying Deanna’s load while she was away

·         For anyone else whom I’ve forgotten, thank you!

To any blog followers who’ve read along and suffered this foolishness, let me take a minute to encourage you to dream big and execute bigger.  Rather than spend more time on the couch letting life pass you, think long range.  Imagine the world you want, and build it. Find dependable friends and be one to them.  Train your children to be the adult you wish you were.  Be the man your dog thinks you are.  Also, know this…… vacations don’t define us, or they shouldn’t.  Our lives define us. Make yours be something you won’t regret.

day 57 - flights to Dallas

Saturday July 29 – day 57 flights to Dallas

We got to the airport WAAAAY early (8:45pm) for our 12:59am flight, and checked our bags.  The guy who checked my firearm box not only was okay with the way I’d packed my pistols with the fish, he congratulated me for it, saying it was the first time he’d seen such a move.    On to TSA…..  now bear in mind, I sold a pickup on this trip, so I had to clear all the cubbyholes and stuff. All that stuff went into my backpack, along with all the other non-clothes stuff I’m bringing back, along with a wooden goats head art decoration we got in Kenai.  I wasn’t entirely surprised when the TSA folks pulled my bag for “closer inspection”, but I was a bit surprised when the lady doing the inspection said she’d seen a “gun barrel” in the bag. Gulp……  once she started digging, the “gun barrel” turned out to be a 3/8” torque wrench.  J

However, every OTHER member of the family also got detained for further investigation:  Amanda – for her rock collection, being smuggled home in Pringles jars, Travis – for having explosives residue (don’t forget the fireworks, dad!”, and Deanna got a closer pat down – for being the mother of the residue kid, and for being generally attractive.  Once we cleared TSA, the Jetblue flight was uneventful, except for the family of 4 in the loading area that had two hellion boys who were yelling, jumping, crawling, everywhere while their parents looked away and just didn’t care.  We all took Drammamine to help fall asleep while on the plane.  To our astonishment, the mother of the two hellions went to the convenience store and bought them SKITTLES!! Yes, that’ll help.  Alas, we were fortunate to get seats far away from them, and truth be told, I was asleep in minutes.  Heck, maybe the lady laced the Skittles with opium…..

The flight map showed that we were above Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Once we landed in Seattle, it was a bit of a rush to go get our checked bags, get over to the SW ticket counter and get them checked back in.  The lady with TSA in Seattle seemed FAR less impressed that I’d packed my pistols along with the fish.  This was a substantial break in protocol to her, and was looked upon with a suspicious eye.  I had to unpack it all, show her the (unloaded) guns and re-secure everything, but it ultimately worked out for our flight to Houston and eventually to Dallas. 

Above Seattle we saw Mt. Rainier in the distance

Arriving in Houston, we found that our flight to Dallas had been delayed, because the plane coming in from Chicago was delayed.  I guess it all can’t go perfect.

Erik is picking us up at LUV Field, and then we head home for much anticipated sleep in a house that’s probably hotter than blazes after having the AC turned off for two months….

day 56 - Anchorage to airport

Friday July 28 – day 56 –Anchorage to airport….

Wish I could have overslept intentionally, cause I know it’s going to be a loooong day, but alas, the bladder alarm clock has no snooze, and once awake, I’m awake for good. 

Final packing was pretty easy, cause we’ve had 3 days of practice and preparation.  We’re allowed one checked bag for free, but have 5 bags worth of stuff.  In an effort to economize (to avoid baggage fees) I put various misc items (rain gear, some shoes, other clothes, and both pistols) in the freezer then in the fish coolers (there were 2, because we caught too many fish) to efficiently pack. Deanna wins the stacking award, though, cause her bag weighed 50.4# (carried like 75) and the airlines were nice enough to round down. 

Amanda thought that the kitty should be part of her carry on luggage :-)

We left the AirBnB house around 1pm, and headed to Campbell Creek Science Center.  This is a ~700 acre park on the east side of town.  It is home to a lot of wildlife.  We saw some spawned out (ie dying) red/sockeye salmon, and the river stunk just a bit from other decaying carcasses.  On our hike, we also encountered about 30 kids under the loose control of 3 or 4 early 20’s teachers.  Kids were just running rampant, and it seemed like a stressful situation (having that many kids running crazy in bear country) but it didn’t phase the teachers.  Either they are locals, or just don’t care.  Or both.

Still fighting his way upstream

We saw one decaying salmon carcass up on a ridge above the creek. I’m not sure if it died of natural causes, eagle, or bear, but for sure, the fish didn’t jump 10’ above waterline and onto shore on his own. =P

Yeah... this fish looks like it died of natural causes up here on the bank

Fresh bear poop- at least it didn't have any tiny bells in it :-)

Continuing our hike, we came across lots of bear sign, including a very fresh stool sample.  It looked so fresh it looked like it ought to be steaming.  In no time, my kids were playing with it, trying to get bear poop on their sibling.  Sibling love is special like that…..

After that, we fiddled around town, hitting the local fur trading company, the berry/chocolate factory (home of the largest milk chocolate fall), then the Museum at Wells Fargo, which showed cool samples of local history/relevance.

Then we made our final thrift store donation and headed to the iconic Mooses Tooth.  We arrived at 5pm, and the wait was already “55 minutes”, although it didn’t take that long to get us seated.  A couple hefeweizens later, we were staring down a large Carnivore, and a large chicken Rockefeller.  These pies were awesome.  The Rockefeller actually included “garlic” as a topping. Close inspection revealed that entire cloves were used to top the pizza, and they were fantastic. Probably not the nicest thing to order before settling in for 3, 4 and 1 hour flights next to strangers, but the pizza was awesome.  We ended up with 4 pieces for leftovers, to serve as breakfast later.  J

Day 55- Anchorage

We continued to sift our stuff to try and reduce the # of bags we’re hauling to TX.

Travis and I weighed the fish we need to transport, and it all won’t fit in a single cooler, and even if it did, it would be well over the 50# limit to avoid “heavy bag” penalty.  This is the very definition of “first world problems”.  J We’ll have to use two coolers (which, we have) and they will be partially full, so we’ll pack the excess cooler space with gear.  Since one of the coolers has a spot to “lock” it, I’m going to try transporting the pistols back in the cooler with the fish. Doing so would allow me to NOT check a separate bag just for the pistols, which had been my plan. J  Alas, the folks at the airport may or may not allow this. 

Someone asked me, “How many fish did you catch on this trip?”, and the truth is, I have no idea.  More than I needed to feed us, but less than I wanted?  J  Fish volumes shipped to TX so far as follows:

·         67# shipped via Alaska Air cargo from Juneau

·         80# shipped home with Erik and his family

·         72# shipped home with Lynn and Brek

·         50# (appx) going home with us on Saturday

Total of 269# of meat being sent home on this trip.  That’s about how much meat we got off the elk last fall.   In addition, I’d estimate we’ve eaten fish in some form just about every other dinner meal. Lake trout, all 5 varieties of salmon available in AK (king, silver, red, pink and chum), dolly varden, halibut, flounder, crab, shrimp, etc, and all of it, delicious. 

Then we went over to Harvest Motors and sold “Big Red”. Transaction was smooth, and suddenly, we found ourselves travelling in a minivan, as if we were just going across town to have dinner with friends. Our trip assets now will fit (somewhat) in the back of the minivan. 

Big Red's last trip with the White family

On the way back, we headed to Kincaid Park, which is on the southwest side of Anchorage, bordering Cook Inlet.  A search for “cheap stuff to do in Anchorage” identified a huge sand dune to play on at the park.  Just before getting to the park, I noticed a young black bear leaning against a tree in someone’s front yard.  Similar to the way I have squirrels in my yard, but bigger, and a bit more challenging.  Of course, there was a struggle for cameras and yelling from within the van, so he ran off.    This would turn out to be the last “big wildlife” spotted on the trip.  It was a bear, inside city limits, in the largest town in the state.  Last Frontier, indeed.  J

Kincaid Park is huge and covered with trails for mountain biking, hiking, dirt biking, ATV use, cross country skiing, etc.  it was just fantastic, and FREE! To use the trails, just park, get out of your car, take a hard look at the map, and go.  I do recommend taking a GPS though, cause of the parks size. It’d be easy to get lost if you didn’t pay attention to the trail map.

Deanna was more than a bit concerned with going on such a hike in clear bear country unarmed (poor planning on my part), but the trails were easy to follow, and we traveled in a pack.   Shortly, we came to the sand dunes. The dune was huge, and really cool to climb.  The view from the top was really nice. you could see a big dirt bike racetrack just south of the sand dunes and the shoreline tidal pool flats to the west.  A crew of 5 people was out in the tidal flats playing in the mud. In short order, an eagle flew over, searching the area for a late lunch.  It was a bunch of cool things, all in one place, and all for free to be used.  No tour guide, no fee charge, very few restrictions, and all of it just outside the largest town in the state.  Cool.   

A beautiful view

The kids playing on the sand dune

The view from the top of the dune toward the shore

A photo taken at the bottom of the dune

Quote for the day?  “Goodbye, Big Red”. 

day 54 - Anchorage

Wednesday July 26 – day 54 –Anchorage

Woke early again, thinking about all the stuff we need to get done today to prep for launch on Friday:

·         Laundry

·         Clean camper for turnover to new owners

·         Donate clothes, misc gear to Salvation Army and/or Boy Scouts

·         Rent a car and pick it up

·         Meet with a potential truck buyer

·         Sell off camper to buyer this evening

If we can get ALL that stuff done effectively, maybe tomorrow can be a “fun” day. Today is all about production.  L

Deanna and I went and met with a guy named Joe who is a full time car salesman and part time preacher.  That seemed an odd combination, but he was a good guy, and agreed to buy the truck.  We’ll deliver it tomorrow to his firm, Harvest Motors. He’s up in Palmer/Wasilla area, and is also affiliated with a thrift store called Thrifters Rock.

We spent most of the day sorting our stuff, and trying to re-pack/re-organize all our gear into keep, sell, donate piles.  More folks came by and bought some of our gear. 

Amanda met some new friends at our Air BnB house :-)

Later in the evening, the camper buyers came by and paid off the balance on the camper and took it home. I hope they make as many memories as we did in the camper.  It really ended up being a good camper to us.  I was sad to see it roll out of the driveway, but wasn’t that sad to have the additional cash in my pocket….

day 53 - move to Anchorage

Tuesday July 25 – day 53 – move Anchorage

Woke early this morning for one last run at the salmon before heading to Anchorage and was rewarded with an early pink salmon.  I hooked one more, but lost it bringing it to shoreline. 

We packed and moved to Anchorage today. We had planned to "boondock" at Cabelas for a night, but the AirBnB place we're staying at was available a day early, so we moved directly there to start sorting out all the stuff we packed.

I called the Puffin Charter owner today and talked about the experience we'd had on Sunday. He was very apologetic and said he'd "make it right as possible". He's worked hard for nearly 30 years to build the business, and just a few unfavorable employees have compromised his business.  Again, a good lesson to learn and apply myself.  We all have customers.  

Road was beautiful, but bittersweet. Deanna saw the sadness in my eyes and asked what was up.  I replied “you know that feeling you got when a boyfriend broke up with you?  Well, that’s how I feel with this vacation ending.  I loved it, and had it, but I can’t keep it.  It’s moving on without me.”  To be fair, I guess if you don’t feel kinda like that at the end of every vacation, then you may have picked your destination poorly.  After 8 weeks of doing this, the camper feels like home, and the road feels like my front yard. The truck - my barkalounger… The 7' Ugly Stick and Abu Garcia 6500 my remote control....

The Seward highway (goes from Anchorage to Seward) is really, really nice. Road is in good shape, and you are continuously driving a valley floor, with timbered/snow covered mountains on either side. Mild hill climbs for the pickup.  River crossings are frequent, and there’s a “wild animal rehab” center about 45 minutes south of Anchorage, near the end of Cook Inlet. 

I was very happy to find the AirBnB place amply accommodating. Lots of space, and friendly owners. This is our first AirBnB renting experience, but won't be our last.

day 52 - Seward

Monday July 24^st – day 52 – Seward

Tough day today. Pop and Brek loaded and left a bit after noon.  We were all sad to see them leave.

Before they rolled out, we did a hike up Lost Lake Trail just north of Seward. The trail was surprisingly mosquito free (or at least, they left us alone) which was quite welcome.  We hiked in about three miles or so, then turned around.  Saw some cool sights, but no critters.

We had lunch at a restaurant that had 3 different store fronts. One was a “Crab Shak”, another a pizza parlor, and the third sold “Mexican” food.  None of us were brave enough to test Mexican food in Alaska, so Travis and I had pizza while everyone else had seafood.  My pizza had the following toppings:  smoked salmon, reindeer (caribou) sausage, onion, mushroom and black olives.  Brek ordered calamari as an appetizer and all of it was fantastic.

Spent some time packing up and preparing for the campers final moves. Sad days around here as we anticipate our own migration south to Texas.

Travis and I spent an hour or so slinging Pixies (not a rock band, it’s a spoon like lure) at the pink salmon but did no damage except to the seaweed population.  We didn’t catch anything, but it was good at helping me with my “last days funk”.  Reminds me of the advice from my friend Jud, who counseled me through a tough time in my life about two years ago. He said, “when I get in a spot like you’re in, I go kill something, and that helps”.  I didn’t kill any salmon, but it was helpful to try. J

Day 51- Seward fishing trip w Puffin Charters

Sunday July 23^st – day 51 – Seward

Lynn, Brek and Shane went out on a charter trip with Puffin Charters. We fished hard all day, but didn’t catch near as much as we’d have liked to.  A number of things happened on the trip that reminded me that everyone is in Sales.  Now, I don’t like complaining, or complainers……. But I’m about to do both.  The following things went “wrong” on today’s trip:

·         One customer showed up half an hour late for the charter, forcing the other 10 fishermen to wait on him.  Didn’t seem terrifically apologetic upon arrival either.

·         Crew cursed a lot, all day. Glad I didn’t have my kids on this trip. My language isn’t pristine all the time either, but I try to talk to customers like they were my grandmother, not a navy shipman….

·         Boat had trouble, and wouldn’t achieve top speed. This limited our “range”, and definitely impacted our catch rate.

·         The deck hand treated most customers as if they were morons, and were generally unappreciative of any offers for help.

·         Gear was in poor shape.  Lynn’s salmon rod didn’t have enough line to reach bottom in ~130 feet of water (everyone elses did), and didn’t have a “skirt” on the hook upon arrival (everyone else’s did), which didn’t seem to bother the crew when he pointed this out. I (Shane) eventually dug around and found a skirt and put it on the hook myself.

·         They had 4 nets.  They refused to use two of them (rope nets), reserving them for “big kings”, and the other two which were rubber nets had large tears in them. One customers fish fell THROUGH the net. 

·         One of the fish that was caught on the trip was not “marked” to indicate who caught it. So at the end of the day, it was unclear which fisherman had caught that fish.  Ultimately, it was given to a fisherman who happened to be standing next to the deck hand at the time.  This seemed an egregious error, since we were all there trying to catch these fish, and the meat from them is quite valuable. 

I say all that not to complain (I will confess some buyer’s remorse/bitterness), but to point out to myself and coworkers that all of us are in sales.  Anyone in a company from the Janitor to the President can ruin a customer’s experience, or we can make customers feel “special” by going the proverbial extra mile.  Be willing to put in the extra effort, or say “I’m sorry” if appropriate if you’ve failed to do so the first time.

Back in camp, Deanna and the kids had worked hard to make a fantastic halibut chowder.  Potatoes, onion, carrot, cream, chicken broth, halibut, etc and it was awesome, especially since it was her first attempt.

While the old farts fished, Dee and the kids went to Seward Sea Life Center, and saw a bunch of cool live displays, including fish, otters, walrus, sea lions, puffins, sea gulls, etc.  They have a touch pool for kids to touch starfish, sea anemone, etc.  Very similar to the Marine Museum in Seattle, but on a smaller scale.

Day 50- Seward

Amanda cooked pancakes for breakfast for everybody.  Lynn got custom pancakes that had the letters “Pa Pa” spelled out.  Deanna got “MOM” cakes. Brek (with whom Amanda has had an ongoing friendly feud) was served pancakes with the word “Poop” spelled out. Welcome to Alaska….

PaPa's pancake

Mom's pancake

Brek's Poop pancake :-)

 

We went out to the Kenai Fyords National Park (just north/west of town) and hiked up to Exit Glacier.  It was the closest we’ve been yet to an actual glacier.  We made it to probably ~50 yards from it.   Pretty cool.

Exit Glacier

Pop and Brek had their flightseeing tour from 1-2:30 pm, so the rest of us went back to camp to relax a bit. Salmon weren’t jumping, so we just lazied around camp.

See the bear?

PaPa treated us to a great dinner, and then we enjoyed time around the campfire.

Day 49- Seward

Woke early to fish!!

We met up with Tom and James with Triple H charters for a combo salmon/halibut trip. Fishermen were Brek, Lynn, Shane, Travis, Amanda.  Not surprisingly, Amanda caught the first fish, a nice silver salmon. It wasn’t really that great a day of “catching”, really.  I expected a mostly complete limit of salmon and halibut, and we ended the day with about a dozen salmon, one halibut, and a bunch of rockfish. I hadn’t planned the rockfish at all. I hope they are good eating, cause we caught a bunch of them. The limit was 4 per person, and most of us limited on rockfish. 

Back at camp, we grilled red (sockeye) salmon for dinner. Standard fare, with white rice and mixed veggies, and the last of our Kikkomans Garlic and Green Onion sauce.  

Day 48- Seward

After a late night of fishing, we slept in today til 8 am, and I made bacon + pancakes for breakfast (again).

We fished for a little while on the beach behind the camper, but didn’t get bit.  Then we went to town and drove Nash Road to see what there was to see. We pulled off the road on a “scenic vista” spot to see the bay, and seconds later, Deanna said “bear”.  Sure enough, a young bear was working his way along the guard rail, towards us. I eased the truck forward and stopped at about 10 yards. He kept working our way up to about 8 yards and looked like he might actually cross the roadside barricade (bearicade???). We took tons of pictures and named him “Wishbone” for two reasons:  the thin white “Y” between his shoulders on his chest and the fact that he was clearly wishing for us to toss him a bone or a doughnut.  We didn’t feed him, but I suspect someone has.  This will be a problem bear someday.  He wasn’t concerned at all with our presence and saw us as a provider of freebies. He’s only about 3 miles outside of town and living on a “major” road in the area.  Not good….

We went grocery shopping at the Safeway in town before returning to camp for lunch.

From Travis:  We started fishing in front of our camper, but it was way too shallow for us not to get hung up, so we moved down the beach to a better spot.  There Dad and I got a double on pink salmon.  We thought this day would be great because of this start.  Mom sat on the beach, read her Bible, and watched us fish.  Amanda hooked into one.  She started pulling it closer to me because I had the net.  She didn’t slow down for me.  She kept walking toward the beach until her fish was 10 yards inland where she yelled, “I’m not losing this one!”.  We put it on the stringer with the other two and headed out for more.  I hooked into one but walking it back to the beach, it got off.  I got another one.  This time I had clipped the stringer and the net to my belt loop so I didn’t have to keep going back to the beach.  Amanda was having trouble with the net, so I gave her my pole, and I netted it.  That was pretty cool that I caught and netted my own fish!    

Amanda went back to the camper after having no luck for a while.  Dad found a school of about 15 fish, but he ran several lures through the school, and he couldn’t get them to bite.  I was watching the water when I saw a seal’s head pop up.  A few minutes later I saw the same seal’s head pop up 20 yards closer.  I decided to head in to shore because having four salmon chained to me and having a seal chase me was not the future I had in mind.  I left the salmon with Mom.  I went back and caught one more salmon.  It was the biggest one yet!  We headed back to camp because we didn’t catch anything after that. 

We grilled up the pinks and then deboned them, and Mom made salmon patties for dinner.  They were delicious!  Mom’s awesome cooking combined with fish that were swimming 3 hours ago is a pretty good combo! 

After dinner I continued fishing.  I hooked one again that was extremely close to me.  I pulled it on to the beach, filleted it, cleaned it, and bagged it all right there.  After that my dad told me to go to bed even though Paw Paw and Brek would show up half an hour later, and I’d still be amped.  Dad caught another salmon while I was unhappily in bed.  Paw Paw and Brek showed up, so I got up, and then was rushed back to bed again.

Day 47 Seward

Wednesday July 19^th – day 47 – Kenai

I woke up early again today. 2:20 am.  Glad to report that if you want to see darkness, it can be found at 2:20 am in Kenai. Couldn’t go back to sleep, so I did some editing to the blog to clean up some errors, and make an edit requested by Erik (added picture of me (unknowingly) dragging a tree branch up the hiking trail in Juneau, day 27).

Travis and I rolled out at 4:20 am and were at the river by 4:45 am. To our surprise….. so were about a dozen other fishermen!  At 4:45 am!!!!  The fishing started slowly. Lots of casting, not much catching, but I managed to bring in 3 sockeye, one of which was really really big, but was snagged on the dorsal fin, and you have to release any salmon not caught in the mouth. I had lots of spectators with the fish, so back in the river he went. Still a great morning. Not too many breakoffs, and excellent orange/red meat on those sockeye.  Travis hooked a couple, but didn’t get them to the net.  

We loaded up the camper and headed south to Seward.  Saw another herd of Dall sheep on the Seward Highway.  Rained most of the day. Alaska is at peace in the rain. The mountains like it, the people hardly seem to notice, and the coastal areas hold clouds just ~500’ over the waterline.  The post cards you’ve seen of bay areas with clouds, snow, etc?  Very real. That’s where I’m at right now.  As a bonus….. Pop and Brek arrive tomorrow night. The campground is nothing glorious, but the scenery is just incredible.

There is a gravel beach half a mile south of camp, and I heard rumors that salmon could be caught from it.  I walked down there to scout it, and found three guys fishing.  They had two pinks and a dog (kinds of salmon) between them. All caught on spinners from the beach. Salmon, from the beach, next to my camp.   One of the fishermen (Ryan, from Oregon) was on a guided trip yesterday. I asked him who with, and it was with the same guy who we’re fishing with on Friday!  He said that the guide, deckhand and boat are all good.  Great news! 

While playing Spades tonight, we looked out the window and saw fishermen on the shore and fish jumping in the water.  It was about 9:00, but the kids and I grabbed our gear and headed out.  It was after 10:00 when we stopped fishing, and we had 3 salmon and a Dolly Varden on the stringer.  As a bonus a lady gave us her pink salmon because they're leaving tomorrow, and she didn't want to mess with it.  A great way to end the day!

The kids and I look forward to fishing the beach tomorrow. 

As I headed to bed tonight, it occurred to me that today, I caught 5 salmon.  3 sockeye, and 2 pinks. That’s a good day. 

day 46 - Kenai

Tuesday July 18^th – day 46 – Kenai

Quote for the day:  Heard on the local country radio station: “Did you know that salmon prefer country music over any other kind of music?”

Ladies dropped Travis and I off in the rain along the banks of the Kenai. I assumed that because it was raining, there would be less fishing pressure.  WRONG!  There were way more people fishing this morning.  Alas, we found a spot, but it was deeper wading than I normally like. the rain of course, was cold, so chilly time on the water. Travis managed to swamp his hip waders and ended up REALLY chilly….  I ended up hanging into about 8 different fish, but only got one to the net.  Most were poorly hooked, and pulled off quick, but one took out tons of line and finally spit the hook. The one I did catch was really nice though, so still a good day.  Travis and I are considering a really early morning run in the morning to try to get in one of the better spots. We leave for Seward tomorrow, so this is our last chance at the sockeye. 

Meanwhile, the smarter pair of the family (ladies) went to Nikiski and swam for a couple hours in the public pool.  They have a cool water slide and a diving board, so Amanda had a great time. 

Dukes Transmission finished up the tranny rebuild today and it’s running good.  $4k down on that.  Nothing is cheap in AK, and that includes transmission rebuilds.  Dang….. Alas.... Big Red is back on the road, and I was at least able to turn in the rental car. :)

day 45 - Kenai - a day a sockeye would die.....

Monday July 17^th – day 45 – Kenai

I woke up at 3:45am thinking about trucks, transmissions, work, salmon, an urge to pee, and sunlight, not necessarily in that order.  After testing the plumbing, I walked outside to confirm that at 3:45am, the sky is just “dim”. Not dark, just “dim”.  Last time I recall seeing genuine darkness, I was on the ferry from Prince Rupert coming into Ketchikan. That was on June 24^th, nearly a month ago. On a related note, I was told that all locations on earth get about the same amount of sunlight per year. Northern locations (ie AK) just get “most” of it in the summertime, southern locations (ie Austrailia) get it in our wintertime, while the equator gets an equal dose year round.

I started our “lessons learned” document this morning too.  It has started well, but has a long ways to go.  The list is long.  Many things could be improved, but all in all, a stellar trip.  I’d love to run it again someday.  J

We headed to the famous Russian River Falls after breakfast.  It’s about an hour east of Kenai/Soldotna, and well worth the drive. Once you park (mile marker 52) at the campground area, it’s a 2.3 mile hike into the falls.  It’s very well laid out and marked.  Upon arrival, we found lots of sockeye salmon stacked up under the falls, just like in the youtube videos. J 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTg584D707o

On the way there, we had to stop briefly to let a caribou cross the road, and also stopped to watch a momma moose and a calf.  Just another day on the Kenai Peninsula….

We hiked down to the water level to get a bit closer to the fish. It seriously looked like a “National Geographic” video, with bunches of sockeye all in a wad, most with bright red bodies and green heads. No bears, however.  I guess they must have been taking a break, rubbing their full bellies.

Then we hiked over to the Lower Russian Lake, the salmons ultimate destination. On the way back to the car, I spotted a group of Dall Sheep on a distant hill. Close investigation counted about 35-45 total sheep.  Closest we ever got was about 2 miles away, but still cool to see them.

On our way back to Kenai, the ladies dropped off the boys so we could try to catch dinner.  Travis hooked one in short order but lost it shortly thereafter.  And then…… after 4 days of trying, I finally hooked a really nice sockeye. I only had about 8-10 feet of line out when he got hooked, so the fight was pretty western.  Travis served as net man, and the fish made 3 laps around him and one around me before bitterly finding his head in the net.  It was a fantastic fish, and one I genuinely feel like I “earned” after ~3000 casts. A great fight and everyone nearby (with whom I was “combat fishing”) cheered to see the hillbilly from TX finally catch a sockeye. 

Once back in the RV park, I filleted the fish, and cooked ¾ of it (one and one half fillets), saving the other ¼ for tomorrow. The meat was just beautiful.  There’s hardly anything better than fresh caught fish, and this one came out of the water at 6:20pm and was in my belly before 8:20pm. Fantastic. The meat stayed the same deep red color and just needed a little salmon shake and lemon pepper to spice it up. Deanna made a salad to go along with it.