Cold, wet Alaska

Sterling, Alaska Kenai River July 9, 2007

BRRRRRRRRRRRR -- it’s cold. Even Al says he is cold! Yes, we are in Alaska…land of the midnight sun. We arrived last Thursday after an uneventful flight. Rescued all of our luggage, got our rental car and went to my brothers house in Anchorage. We spent Friday and Saturday with him, just visiting and getting supplies (aka groceries) to take to the river. My brother seems to be doing well, he has various heath problems, heart, diabetes, breathing, etc., but for his age we think he is doing well.

The weather in Anchorage was cool…in the 60’s, and we did have 2 sunny days. Of course, it had to rain part of the day, which I am beginning to believe is normal for this area.

We came to the river yesterday. It is such a beautiful drive down here. I can’t even begin to describe the beauty of the mountains, rivers, glaciers, trees, etc. It is really breathtaking. There was a lot of traffic going to Anchorage, but traffic was fairly light coming this way. One thing we have noticed is the reduced amount of RV’s on the road from the lower 48 states. The last few years it has been amazing to see the number of RV’s from the lower 48…however, this year it is really evident the reduced numbers. Still plenty of RV’s bearing Alaska license plates. Along the upper Kenai, near Cooper’s Landing, it looks like the fishing war has begun! We saw wall to wall anglers, or combat fishing as they call it here, on the river yesterday.

In our fish camp, only a few of us are already here, only 4 trailers opened up so far, including ours, thanks to Bruce, our nephew. He is really good to us, closing up our trailer for winter and opening it up for the season. The salmon are beginning to trickle in; however, it looks like a few days before the run starts in earnest….but up here one never knows.

We have pretty much settled in…most everything is unpacked; now the problem is where to put the empty suitcases….never thought of that! They will probably be stored in the shower, so when we take showers, we will have to rearrange, but that is the only place I can see to store them.

We both remembered why we love it here after we got here…it is so beautiful and tranquil (at least until everyone arrives in camp) and the scenery is something we never tire of. We haven’t seen any critters yet, unless you want to count the moose size mosquitos! I am back to wearing my favorite perfume, “Off, with deet” and walking around with my bug zapper in hand. I am looking for my bald eagles that had a nest in the tree above us, but haven’t spotted them yet.

Today is cold, (59), cloudy and breezy and some rain. I bet some of you roasting in the heat wave would trade with me right now, and as cold as I am, I could use some of your heat. The fire near Deep Creek (Ninilichik) is contained, so there is no smoke in the air and so far there are no other fires burning. I still don’t see how a fire can burn up here…everything is so green.

Dan (son in law) and his dad Rod are due to arrive here tomorrow. Sure hope the fish start to run while they are here. We do have a halibut charter scheduled for Thursday out of Homer (and these fishing boats have the very needed bathrooms on board, unlike the ones we took last year out of Ninilchik) and we hear the halibut fishing has been great. I can’t wait to hook on to one…then I will need someone to help me get it in the boat probably…it’s like pulling up a barn door!

July 10
It is busy raining here today...a nice, gentle, steady rain, which we are enjoying right now. However, if it continues this way, I am sure in a day or so I will be cussing the rain. And it is a toasty 55 degrees! brrrr

At least we aren't burning up as most of you are....more later