Alaska, July 5-8

July 5, 2008
Sterling, AK

We got to the river (Kenai) around 2:00 p.m. yesterday. We picked up friend Randy Rahbar from the hotel at 10:00 a.m.; went back to Dicks and loaded the rest of our stuff in the car and we headed for the river. We were expecting heavy traffic, however, we were surprised that the traffic was very light. Usually this time of year the traffic is heavy on the Sterling Highway any time of the month, but guess gas prices are keeping some people home. We have noticed the lack of RV’s this year…usually the roads, parks and parking lots are clogged with RVs, but not this year.
It was raining when we got to the river….no surprise there. We unloaded and then Randy went down to try his luck fishing….however, he says there are no fish in the river yet.

This morning we got up and went to Soldotna and the city of Kenai; just to explore. It was raining again, but it didn’t stop us from stopping at a craft fair…don’t worry Suzi, you didn’t miss anything at this one! The rest of the day was spent doing nothing! I boy did I enjoy it. We bbq’d farmer style ribs for dinner and now we are getting ready to watch a movie. And the sun came out this afternoon and it is fairly warm…68 degrees. Warm for Alaska.

July 8, 2008
BEAR! That is what we heard the other day. So of course, my next words were “WHERE?” .. yes, folks the bears have returned to the Fish On Inn Camp. We were watching a movie when the caretaker of the camp knocked on the door and asked if we were okay. Apparently a “pair of bears” had wandered (yes, Jennifer that is wandered) through camp and had been in back of our trailer and had gone behind us and over to the motor home next to us. Upset their garbage can and rooted through their belongings outside, then went through another camper’s site and then wandered off into the wilderness. So now we are definitely on bear alert.

Other than bear and a few rabbits (by the way, rabbits are dark brown and huge) we have seen no critters, including fish. Randy has diligently gone down to the river twice a day to fish, and came back with nothing…not even a trout. The fish aren’t running yet, period. The only thing that is running around here is me from the mosquitos. And yes, they are big, hungry and aggressive. As usual, my new body lotion is deet and even it isn’t doing its job! Which brings to mind a question…how in the hell do these mosquito’s survive the winter here? Do they fly south with the rest of the birds? I assume they would have to hitchhike on the back of a duck; just how in the hell do they survive and why? What good purpose do they serve? Other than to aggrivate me and they are doing a great job of that!

I have been sick for two days with the stomach flu. Not very pleasant. All day Sunday all I did was sleep and run to the bathroom. Yesterday I was feeling a bit better, but still wasn’t sure I wanted anything to eat. Finally around 2:00 p.m. we drove to Suzi’s restaurant for a late lunch…I ate about a quarter of my lunch and decided that was enough! At least it stayed in place.

So far, since the fish aren’t running, it has been as boring as hell here. However, on a good note, we are getting plenty of rest and down time. I have managed to read 2 books so far and working on a third. Randy is about to go crazy I think with nothing to do. Al is doing his usual, reading and resting. I am not sure he will be able to negotiate the steps down to the river. Always my big fear is that he will fall and I don’t know who will help get him up. Of course, when Bruce is here I don’t worry so much and now that Randy is here for a while I don’t worry as much.
Speaking of the stairs, they are really in good shape. Last few years they have been in pretty poor state, but we have a new caretaker of the camp and he has done miracles around here. Since the owners died a few years ago the camp has gone down hill; one of the owner’s sons had been taking care of it and hadn’t been doing the best job in the world. But now that we have Tony (friend of the owner’s and the new caretaker) here we are completely satisfied with the way the camp is being taken care of. And Tony never fails to check in on us at least once a day to see if there is anything he can do.

Weather…UGH! How many ways can I say cloudy, gray, overcast , rain and cold. Right now (11:00 a.m.) we are working up on 46 degrees. Yup, you read that right – 46 whopping degrees. Needless to say I am bundled up in long pants, long sleeve top, socks, honest to god shoes, and thinking about where I put my gloves! I have the heater going in the trailer and I am sure the guys think I am nuts, but darn it , it’s cold.

We are headed to Homer this afternoon for a halibut fishing trip tomorrow. I am looking forward to the trip, but really dreading pulling up those halibut from the depths of the ocean. A 30 lb halibut feels like a 300 lb halibut when you are trying to pull it in! My arms are already aching.
More from Homer………….