Sterling, AK
July 31, 2008
July 26
All I can say is this must be the wettest place on earth! Rained ALL DAY.
July 27, 2008
No change from yesterday. No fish either. We went into Soldotna this evening for dinner at Frosso’s. Boy, that place is good! I had a halibut dish that I am going to have to figure out the recipe to, it was wonderful.
On the way to Soldotna we passed a dead brown bear in the road that had been hit by a car. Sure would like to see what the car looked like as this was one squashed bear! Bear pavement anyone? He was bearly there! Okay, enough, the rain has gotten to my brain. Stop already!
July 28 Monday
Dan and Ken fished all day…came home with their limit finally. Red’s are slowing down in the river. And not many have passed the escapement this year, less than 400,000…which is way down. That tells me that either the run is really poor this year; the dip netters and commercial fishermen have gotten too many or that the fish are still out in the ocean and will come in strong later. Who knows?
July 29, Tuesday
Rain and a little sun today. The guys went to Homer tonight to go halibut fishing tomorrow. I am starting to gather things up and make my packing list.
One of our neighbors in camp hit a moose on his way back from Seward yesterday. Completely totaled his rental car, but he and his passenger weren’t hurt with the exception of a few minor cuts from the wind shield collapsing on them. He said the moose jumped out from the brush on the side of the road about 10 yards in front of him and there was absolutely nothing he could do. It happened about 5 miles from here, just off the wildlife reservation. He asked the state trooper what they will do with the dead moose and he said they will give it to the native Indians here or to a institution. Hmmm
I cooked a huge pot of spaghetti today and had the “doc’s “ over for dinner. Jerry Boggs is from Roseburg, Oregon and is a neurologist and Vinnie is from Williamsburg, VA and is an anesthesiologist. Both really nice guys and we enjoy them.
July 30, Wednesday
Today was absolutely gorgeous…sunny and warm. The locals are calling it “hot”; I however, beg to differ. Hot is anything over 100; not 75! What ever, I enjoyed it! I inventoried the trailer today and made lists of things to bring up next year if we come; plus I know what I have here.
The guys got home about 4:30 p.m. and they didn’t do to well. They said the ocean was rough and very choppy with waves of 8-10 feet and the fishing was rotten. They each got one halibut; which they had filleted on the boat and brought home for me to cut up into steaks and vacuum seal. So we each got about 25 pounds of halibut…not a very good catch, but halibut is halibut. I figured these cost us each about $45 a pound!
July 31, Thursday
Dan, Rod and Ken left camp early this morning to head home. I am at my favorite spot here, the Laundromat doing my last wash. I will be packing today and getting ready to leave camp tomorrow morning. We will go into Anchorage to visit with my brother tomorrow and Saturday until we leave late Saturday night. We are both missing our dogs and cats so we are anxious to get home and get back to a somewhat normal routine.
Today is another pretty day. The camp is emptying out quickly and probably more will leave after this weekend. The newspaper said that the sockeye fishing is closed as of tomorrow. The run was too small. Of course this happened last year and after a few days a huge run came through and the fishing was opened up to a limit of six a day. Won’t matter for us this year, we will be gone and we have plenty of fish.
I was tagged by The Pink Crazy Woman for this. I’ve not answered one of these for awhile, so here it goes.
1. What is your occupation right now? RETIRED...I don't have time to work!
2. What color are your socks right now?Socks? For once I am not wearing socks...so I would say very white feet!
3. What are you listening to right now? Washers and Dryers...I am at the laundromat.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Coffee?
5. Can you drive a stick shift? No Way
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Hmmm--guess it was Ardis, yesterday.
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I have to, she's my kid!
8. How old are you today? 60.777777
9. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football, followed closely by golf.
10. What is your favorite drink? Water or a Manhattan
11. Favourite food? Hmmm --- Cheeseburger!
12. What is the last movie you watched? Bucket List, which was very good and I have now made my own "Bucket List."
13. Favourite day of the year? Any day is doesn't rain or snow.
14. How do you vent anger? Out the trap!
15. What was your favourite toy as a child? Uh...that was so long ago....I guess it was my bridal doll.
16. What is your favourite season? Summer in Washington and all the other season's in Arizona.
17. Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries! Cherries please.
18. Do you want your friends to add this meme to their blogs? Yes!
19. Who is the most likely to respond? Uh...good question.
20. Who is least likely to respond? See above
21. Living arrangements? Where? Here in Alaska a 33 foot Terry Camp Trailer that is getting way too small right now. In Odessa a 3 bedroom manufactured home. In Arizona see previous. In between...a 35 foot 5th wheel...any more questions?
22. When was the last time you cried? A couple days ago.
23. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes. Lots and lots of shoes.
24. Who is the friend you have had the longest relationship with that you are sending this to? Peggy....we were high school friends...
25. What did you do last night? Cooked, and visited with Bruce, Dan, Rod, Al and Ken. And swatted at mosquitos
26. What inspires you? Good question! DON'T KNOW RIGHT NOW.
27. What are you most afraid of? Right Now? Bears...there are way too many around here.
28. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Pass the Cheese please. Though it depends on where I’m getting said burger.
29. Favourite dog breed? Well, I couldn't answer this any other way but STANDARD POODLES...namely Beau and Schuster
30. Favourite day of the week? Any day...I am retired.
31. How many states have you lived in? Oh boy....Oregon, California, Colorado, (and Jennifer you forgot Colorado in your reply) Texas, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Alaska, Arizona.
31. Biggest Life lesson? Listen to my intuition. Going against my gut feeling has always led to the wrong decisions for me.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
SUN!!! Well for a moment....
Sterling, AK
July 22
Rain, rain, rain…again.
July 23
More of the same
July 24
Do you know what “termination dust” is? Neither did I until I saw the news on TV today. “Termination dust” is the first dusting of snow on the mountains indicating the termination of summer. And yes, there is termination dust on the mountains, but my question is, how can you have the termination of summer when there has BEEN NO SUMMER? Don’t you have to have summer first to end it? GRRRRR! And it rained again all damn day! Even Al, who doesn’t mind the rain, is ready for it to end. And it is cold as well. Today’s high was 47! Again, I will repeat…you can’t terminate summer if there hasn’t been one!!!! Only the hardiest of fishermen were out today. That left me out!
Dan, his dad Rod and his uncle, Ken arrived today from LA. They got in this evening and we met them at Suzie’s for dinner. As usual, Suzie’s was packed and the food was outstanding. After we got home they all put on their wet gear and went fishing. CRAZY MEN! But the fish were asleep for the night evidently as they came back with none. We had some in the cooler to package already however. The rain finally stopped about midnight….we need some sun to dry out things.
July 25, 2008 Friday
As I write this I am at my favorite place here….the Laundromat. It is sunny out right now and I am sitting outside enjoying every bit of the little bit of sun we will have as big, black clouds are moving in quickly. Is this summer???? I sure hope not, but since we are only here for another week, maybe I will find summer when we get back to Odessa. But what will these poor people who live here do for summer?????? Of course, one could argue that point that they are used to this; but they really aren’t. This is being reported as the coldest, wettest summer on record (since 1908)….hmmm…and you tell me this is global warming? NOT!
The boys are all down on the river fishing, and after I am done here I am on my way to Soldotana to do some grocery shopping, then to the little café I go to so I can download my email and send this blog.
OOPS, summer is over, I have to move inside now…it’s starting to rain!
July 22
Rain, rain, rain…again.
July 23
More of the same
July 24
Do you know what “termination dust” is? Neither did I until I saw the news on TV today. “Termination dust” is the first dusting of snow on the mountains indicating the termination of summer. And yes, there is termination dust on the mountains, but my question is, how can you have the termination of summer when there has BEEN NO SUMMER? Don’t you have to have summer first to end it? GRRRRR! And it rained again all damn day! Even Al, who doesn’t mind the rain, is ready for it to end. And it is cold as well. Today’s high was 47! Again, I will repeat…you can’t terminate summer if there hasn’t been one!!!! Only the hardiest of fishermen were out today. That left me out!
Dan, his dad Rod and his uncle, Ken arrived today from LA. They got in this evening and we met them at Suzie’s for dinner. As usual, Suzie’s was packed and the food was outstanding. After we got home they all put on their wet gear and went fishing. CRAZY MEN! But the fish were asleep for the night evidently as they came back with none. We had some in the cooler to package already however. The rain finally stopped about midnight….we need some sun to dry out things.
July 25, 2008 Friday
As I write this I am at my favorite place here….the Laundromat. It is sunny out right now and I am sitting outside enjoying every bit of the little bit of sun we will have as big, black clouds are moving in quickly. Is this summer???? I sure hope not, but since we are only here for another week, maybe I will find summer when we get back to Odessa. But what will these poor people who live here do for summer?????? Of course, one could argue that point that they are used to this; but they really aren’t. This is being reported as the coldest, wettest summer on record (since 1908)….hmmm…and you tell me this is global warming? NOT!
The boys are all down on the river fishing, and after I am done here I am on my way to Soldotana to do some grocery shopping, then to the little café I go to so I can download my email and send this blog.
OOPS, summer is over, I have to move inside now…it’s starting to rain!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
How Many Ways can I say BRRRRR
July 22, 2008
Sterling, AK
Okay.....it's officially COLD! We thought it was cold the other day when the thermometer registered a little over 40 degrees....however, this morning it was 38 degree's. IT IS JULY! Even the locals are hollering "NO FAIR!" And how many days or wet, rain, gray, cloudy can I take in July? Well, I am on 22 and counting. Oh, we did see the sun for a minute the other day and this morning when I got up there was something bright in the sky, but it didn't last long! One of the locals said there have been only 4 days of weather over 70 this year. That is just wrong!
Here is a copy of my daily log...you can tell how I feel!
Jul 17 Thursday
Rain, rain, rain! Rain and more rain. That is all we have had today. We dropped Randy off at the airport and we took off back to the river. Al drove the rental car and I drove Bruce’s motorhome. I really enjoy driving that motorhome. Wish we would buy one and trade off the trailer. On the way down I saw a brown bear and then a moose with her calf. It rained all the way down and traffic was terrible. The red salmon have started to run and everyone wants to come down and fish. 68000 went through the counter yesterday!
We have had to run the heater in the trailer tonight. It was 40 degree’s…yes, 40! I have had to check the calendar to make sure it really is July! It is so damn cold and I am so cold I am miserable. I am questioning our reasoning for being here.
Jul 18 Fri
I did my favorite thing today—laundry. I enjoy visiting with the lady who runs the Laundromat. After that I picked up our mail and when I left the post office I saw a moose and 2 calves walking along the highway. The calves were twins and they are still all fuzzy since it is so cold around here and they haven’t “slicked out” yet!
It is raining again today…no surprise there! And it is cold. Only 52 for a high today. Haven’t seen the sun in 3 days…no, that’s not true, last night we saw the sun for about a minute. I want to go home.
Fish are running strong. Doc Jerry and Vinnie are here and have caught their share of fish for the day. So we have some Salmon in the freezer.
Jul 19
I spent part of the day processing fish. Al and I got a system going; I cut the fillets into serving sizes; wash them; then he helps me by pulling out the plastic wrap in freezing size, I put the fish on it and wrap; then I vacuum seal it. DONE. Right now we have 80 pieces of fish in the freezer. Not 80 fish or 80 lbs, but 80 pieces. I will feel comfortable when we have another 80 in the freezer! Then we will have plenty for all.
The day gave us a mixed bag of weather. We actually saw the sun twice today! And it was warm; well, warm is relative for here…it was all the way up to 64 today. WHEEE!
Jul 20 Sunday
Again, a mixed bag of weather. However, we did see the sun for over an hour today…I think that is a record for this summer. I am really tired of this weather,..I want to go home!
July 21, 2008 Monday
We went in to Soldotna today to do some supply shopping. As I write this it is raining and gray; no sun at all today. I don’t think I want to do this next year….I need my sun. Besides, I miss my kitties and puppies.
As I was going back into town later today to get propane I saw a huge moose along side our road. Of course I couldn’t get to my camera! He was standing in the rain looking very regal…as if to say “don’t bother me”.
It was so cold this morning I went back to bed and crawled in my sleeping bag to get warm. Billie you would have never survived this summer up here.
Back to today, July 22
We shipped 115 pounds of salmon today! Some went to Tucson, some to Seattle and some to Odessa. Fish are still running strong, so hope to have more to take home with us when we leave in 10 days.
Okay, I am done whining for the day....more later.
Sterling, AK
Okay.....it's officially COLD! We thought it was cold the other day when the thermometer registered a little over 40 degrees....however, this morning it was 38 degree's. IT IS JULY! Even the locals are hollering "NO FAIR!" And how many days or wet, rain, gray, cloudy can I take in July? Well, I am on 22 and counting. Oh, we did see the sun for a minute the other day and this morning when I got up there was something bright in the sky, but it didn't last long! One of the locals said there have been only 4 days of weather over 70 this year. That is just wrong!
Here is a copy of my daily log...you can tell how I feel!
Jul 17 Thursday
Rain, rain, rain! Rain and more rain. That is all we have had today. We dropped Randy off at the airport and we took off back to the river. Al drove the rental car and I drove Bruce’s motorhome. I really enjoy driving that motorhome. Wish we would buy one and trade off the trailer. On the way down I saw a brown bear and then a moose with her calf. It rained all the way down and traffic was terrible. The red salmon have started to run and everyone wants to come down and fish. 68000 went through the counter yesterday!
We have had to run the heater in the trailer tonight. It was 40 degree’s…yes, 40! I have had to check the calendar to make sure it really is July! It is so damn cold and I am so cold I am miserable. I am questioning our reasoning for being here.
Jul 18 Fri
I did my favorite thing today—laundry. I enjoy visiting with the lady who runs the Laundromat. After that I picked up our mail and when I left the post office I saw a moose and 2 calves walking along the highway. The calves were twins and they are still all fuzzy since it is so cold around here and they haven’t “slicked out” yet!
It is raining again today…no surprise there! And it is cold. Only 52 for a high today. Haven’t seen the sun in 3 days…no, that’s not true, last night we saw the sun for about a minute. I want to go home.
Fish are running strong. Doc Jerry and Vinnie are here and have caught their share of fish for the day. So we have some Salmon in the freezer.
Jul 19
I spent part of the day processing fish. Al and I got a system going; I cut the fillets into serving sizes; wash them; then he helps me by pulling out the plastic wrap in freezing size, I put the fish on it and wrap; then I vacuum seal it. DONE. Right now we have 80 pieces of fish in the freezer. Not 80 fish or 80 lbs, but 80 pieces. I will feel comfortable when we have another 80 in the freezer! Then we will have plenty for all.
The day gave us a mixed bag of weather. We actually saw the sun twice today! And it was warm; well, warm is relative for here…it was all the way up to 64 today. WHEEE!
Jul 20 Sunday
Again, a mixed bag of weather. However, we did see the sun for over an hour today…I think that is a record for this summer. I am really tired of this weather,..I want to go home!
July 21, 2008 Monday
We went in to Soldotna today to do some supply shopping. As I write this it is raining and gray; no sun at all today. I don’t think I want to do this next year….I need my sun. Besides, I miss my kitties and puppies.
As I was going back into town later today to get propane I saw a huge moose along side our road. Of course I couldn’t get to my camera! He was standing in the rain looking very regal…as if to say “don’t bother me”.
It was so cold this morning I went back to bed and crawled in my sleeping bag to get warm. Billie you would have never survived this summer up here.
Back to today, July 22
We shipped 115 pounds of salmon today! Some went to Tucson, some to Seattle and some to Odessa. Fish are still running strong, so hope to have more to take home with us when we leave in 10 days.
Okay, I am done whining for the day....more later.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Moosecapade 2008
July 12, 2008
Anchorage
I am in Anchorage for a few days to help clean out my brother’s storage unit. He sold his house here a couple of months ago and put everything in a self-storage place. Now, the time has come to clean it out. Al and Randy are still at the river and will “batch” it for a few days. I rode up from the river with my nephew Bruce today and it was nice to be able to ride and see the scenery for a change, since I usually do all of the driving here.
The last few days at the river have been quiet. I did my favorite thing on Thursday – laundry. At least it gets me away for a few hours. The weather has been so miserable that I haven’t felt like doing too much. Since we have had a bear in camp I can’t walk down the road and feel comfortable; so I try to walk around camp every day for exercise—but that gets boring quickly. I could also go up and down those $#%^&* stairs to the river, but I am not sure how many trips my knee’s will stand!!!! However, today we had a bright, yellow orb in the sky for about an hour…I am not sure what it was, some say it was the sun! I think the sun just hides behind all these clouds and lets the clouds filter the 18 plus hours of daylight we have a day now.
I have been busy scrapbooking my pictures – I finally finished 2006 pictures and I am working on 2007. I am saving them to a memory stick and will print them when I get home. Oh, for those of you who don’t know, I do all my picture scrapbooking on the computer.
Randy has been going out with Bruce in the boat fishing and they have caught some nice trout. However, anything OVER 18 inches can’t be kept here. I know, screwy rule! They did bring home 2 dolly vardens and a rainbow so we had those for lunch the other day….yum…I do like those dolly’s. I think Randy is having a good time, even if the red salmon aren’t running yet. Here is a picture of Randy and his Halibut.
The mosquitos are still strong around here….I think I saw one carrying a bear on it’s back the other day…yes, they are big and vicious! I had heard somewhere that if you get bit to use Listerine on the bite and it will instantly quit itching; so I tried it and I’ll be darned…it worked. Wonder if you used Listerine as your body lotion the mosquito’s would stay away? Since I hate the smell of Listerine I doubt if I will try it…however, if the mosquito’s don’t slow down some I just may give it a try!!!
July 13 2008 Happy Birthday Peggy
MOOSECAPADE 2008
WHEEE….I found a moose today…er, or, he found me! This morning Dick and I decided to go out for breakfast. As I was backing Bruce’s Mercedes out of his drive way I glanced in the rear view mirror and lo’ and behold a moose was behind me! WHAT??? Okay, Mr. Moose! He ambled across the road and into the neighbor’s yard and began munching on a tree. Hmm…I think I want a picture – and NO I DID NOT get out of the car. However, I had Dick roll down his window. Mr. Moose didn’t like that at all; he shook his head and started to charge the car! SO off we go down the road. But I still wanted that picture. So I turned around and came back; this time Mr. Moose is on my side of the car. I rolled down the window and the moment I did he charged the car again! So I take off down the road which is now a dead end and I glance in the rear view mirror and the damn moose is behind me! NOW WHAT TO DO ??? Here I am almost to the dead end…I have to turn around. DO I play “chicken” with the moose? Undoubtedly he will win. But I got lucky and he turned off into another yard and began to butt his head against a cement bird bath in the yard! I do believe he was upset! And I still have no picture. Oh well, I am not about to try again. On the way home from breakfast, we turn on to the street adjoining Bruce’s and who should we meet but Mr. Moose. He was eating a tree along side the road. The minute he saw our car, he shook his head (I understand they do this to show their foe’s the size of their antlers..which he was a young bull and only had knobs for antlers) and he comes after the car. Apparently he doesn’t like the color or something about Bruce’s car! I finally get Bruce’s car back into his drive without any moose damage.
I spent most of the day at my brother’s storage unit beginning to plow through 50 plus years of accumulation. I at least put a dent in it today. We got back to Bruce’s about 3:30 this afternoon and not before being chased by that damn moose again! He really doesn’t like Bruce’s car!
I am staying in Bruce’s guest bedroom, his motor home which is parked right outside his front door. This afternoon I was in the motor home getting ready to go in the house to take a shower, when I looked out the window, guess who was staring back at me? MR. MOOSE! Holy crap, does he want in here? Now what do I do? I did the only logical thing I could think of…I honked the horn! Ya, that did no good! He finally wandered over to a bush and began to eat it; however, he was between me and the house still. Bruce came out and tried to chase him off (where were you Ted???) but there was no chasing this moose off. I did get a picture of him through the window of the motor home however. Finally he moved off behind the house and I made a mad dash for the house. So far that is the last we have seen of him today, however, he does live around here and I am sure I will encounter him again before I leave!
Is this the end of Moosecapade 2008? Knowing me, NO! I get a real thrill when I see a moose and they make me laugh, especially if I watch them walk or run; just not AT me! Even when this moose shook his head and started to charge, I got the giggles (Dick didn’t think it was too funny)…it reminded me of Simon and how sometimes he will shake his head and “charge” you…however, a poodle doing that is really different than a moose!
Weather was really icky today….low clouds, foggy, rainy, cold crap! Even the locals are complaining about this summer, or lack there of! The sun hasn’t been out more than 6 days in the last 30! BAD record.
Anchorage
I am in Anchorage for a few days to help clean out my brother’s storage unit. He sold his house here a couple of months ago and put everything in a self-storage place. Now, the time has come to clean it out. Al and Randy are still at the river and will “batch” it for a few days. I rode up from the river with my nephew Bruce today and it was nice to be able to ride and see the scenery for a change, since I usually do all of the driving here.
The last few days at the river have been quiet. I did my favorite thing on Thursday – laundry. At least it gets me away for a few hours. The weather has been so miserable that I haven’t felt like doing too much. Since we have had a bear in camp I can’t walk down the road and feel comfortable; so I try to walk around camp every day for exercise—but that gets boring quickly. I could also go up and down those $#%^&* stairs to the river, but I am not sure how many trips my knee’s will stand!!!! However, today we had a bright, yellow orb in the sky for about an hour…I am not sure what it was, some say it was the sun! I think the sun just hides behind all these clouds and lets the clouds filter the 18 plus hours of daylight we have a day now.
I have been busy scrapbooking my pictures – I finally finished 2006 pictures and I am working on 2007. I am saving them to a memory stick and will print them when I get home. Oh, for those of you who don’t know, I do all my picture scrapbooking on the computer.
Randy has been going out with Bruce in the boat fishing and they have caught some nice trout. However, anything OVER 18 inches can’t be kept here. I know, screwy rule! They did bring home 2 dolly vardens and a rainbow so we had those for lunch the other day….yum…I do like those dolly’s. I think Randy is having a good time, even if the red salmon aren’t running yet. Here is a picture of Randy and his Halibut.
The mosquitos are still strong around here….I think I saw one carrying a bear on it’s back the other day…yes, they are big and vicious! I had heard somewhere that if you get bit to use Listerine on the bite and it will instantly quit itching; so I tried it and I’ll be darned…it worked. Wonder if you used Listerine as your body lotion the mosquito’s would stay away? Since I hate the smell of Listerine I doubt if I will try it…however, if the mosquito’s don’t slow down some I just may give it a try!!!
July 13 2008 Happy Birthday Peggy
MOOSECAPADE 2008
WHEEE….I found a moose today…er, or, he found me! This morning Dick and I decided to go out for breakfast. As I was backing Bruce’s Mercedes out of his drive way I glanced in the rear view mirror and lo’ and behold a moose was behind me! WHAT??? Okay, Mr. Moose! He ambled across the road and into the neighbor’s yard and began munching on a tree. Hmm…I think I want a picture – and NO I DID NOT get out of the car. However, I had Dick roll down his window. Mr. Moose didn’t like that at all; he shook his head and started to charge the car! SO off we go down the road. But I still wanted that picture. So I turned around and came back; this time Mr. Moose is on my side of the car. I rolled down the window and the moment I did he charged the car again! So I take off down the road which is now a dead end and I glance in the rear view mirror and the damn moose is behind me! NOW WHAT TO DO ??? Here I am almost to the dead end…I have to turn around. DO I play “chicken” with the moose? Undoubtedly he will win. But I got lucky and he turned off into another yard and began to butt his head against a cement bird bath in the yard! I do believe he was upset! And I still have no picture. Oh well, I am not about to try again. On the way home from breakfast, we turn on to the street adjoining Bruce’s and who should we meet but Mr. Moose. He was eating a tree along side the road. The minute he saw our car, he shook his head (I understand they do this to show their foe’s the size of their antlers..which he was a young bull and only had knobs for antlers) and he comes after the car. Apparently he doesn’t like the color or something about Bruce’s car! I finally get Bruce’s car back into his drive without any moose damage.
I spent most of the day at my brother’s storage unit beginning to plow through 50 plus years of accumulation. I at least put a dent in it today. We got back to Bruce’s about 3:30 this afternoon and not before being chased by that damn moose again! He really doesn’t like Bruce’s car!
I am staying in Bruce’s guest bedroom, his motor home which is parked right outside his front door. This afternoon I was in the motor home getting ready to go in the house to take a shower, when I looked out the window, guess who was staring back at me? MR. MOOSE! Holy crap, does he want in here? Now what do I do? I did the only logical thing I could think of…I honked the horn! Ya, that did no good! He finally wandered over to a bush and began to eat it; however, he was between me and the house still. Bruce came out and tried to chase him off (where were you Ted???) but there was no chasing this moose off. I did get a picture of him through the window of the motor home however. Finally he moved off behind the house and I made a mad dash for the house. So far that is the last we have seen of him today, however, he does live around here and I am sure I will encounter him again before I leave!
Is this the end of Moosecapade 2008? Knowing me, NO! I get a real thrill when I see a moose and they make me laugh, especially if I watch them walk or run; just not AT me! Even when this moose shook his head and started to charge, I got the giggles (Dick didn’t think it was too funny)…it reminded me of Simon and how sometimes he will shake his head and “charge” you…however, a poodle doing that is really different than a moose!
Weather was really icky today….low clouds, foggy, rainy, cold crap! Even the locals are complaining about this summer, or lack there of! The sun hasn’t been out more than 6 days in the last 30! BAD record.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
And an Eagle Posing on a Stump
Sterling,
July 10 2008
SIX HALIBUT CAUGHT A FISHING; FIVE DOLPHINS SWIMMING; 4 BUNK BEDS FOR SLEEPING; 3 SAND HILL CRANES A-STRUTTIN’ ; 2 MOOSE A GRAZING AND A BALD EAGLE POSING ON A STUMP! (sung to the tune of a Partridge in a Pear Tree)
HOMER
We arrived in Homer a little after 4:00 p.m. after a nice drive down the highway. On the way down we finally saw a couple of moose grazing just off the road, our first moose sighting for the trip. And there was a bald eagle sitting on a stump along side the road that was absolutely majestic. It was our first eagle sighting as well. When we left the fishing camp it was spitting rain and cloudy…and it is no different here except it isn’t raining.
Bob’s Trophy Charters is where we booked our charter for tomorrow…and they also have a guest house which we booked a room. Imagine our surprise when we opened the door to our room and discovered two sets of bunk beds! The thought running through my mind was “I guess I get the top bunk” and I wasn’t wrong. Very interesting night of no sleep.
Up earlier than I like and on to the boat. WOW….what a nice boat. It’s a 52 footer, the Nauti-Lady and she is beautiful. They had refurbished her last winter and so it was nice and modern and clean..didn’t even smell like a fishing boat. Our captain is “Fred” and the deck hand is “Jake”. The boat usually carries 16-18 people, but today only 9 of us were on board. That made for a very pleasant fishing day. The others on board were Paul from Massachusetts (complete with accent); Chuck from Salt Lake; Scott and Tyler from Michigan; Taryn and Jason from Edmonton, Alberta; and us. And the sun has came out to shine today --- yeah. The sea’s were fairly calm (as calm as they get up here where you have 6 tides a day and the tides can vary up to 35 feet!) and as usual the scenery is breath-taking. Our first stop only resulted in us seeing a couple of whales in the distance—we were in about 80 feet of water and no fish. Next stop we were in 100 feet of water and I was hoping for halibut in that shallow of water so it wouldn’t be so hard to pull them up, but no fish. DARN! Next stop we are in 250 feet of water and there are dophins all over the place playing with the boat. Finally they moved off and the halibut started to bite. After casting in, I wasn’t in the water for 30 seconds and I had a halibut on the end of my line; pretty soon all on board had one. UGH….pulling this baby up I thought I had a whopper …but just a 24 pounder, which I kept! I was pooped dragging that thing in, but back in the water I go. Al had already landed one about the same size and Randy had thrown back a smaller one. I was trying to rest, but darn, I had another fish on! This one was a little bigger and after reeling and reeling and REELING, I finally landed it and said “GOT MY LIMIT—I’m DONE!” Pretty soon Al had his limit as well. Randy had one in the box and had just thrown another one back (too small). Al and I went in to the cabin to rest and all of a sudden I heard on the boats radio “may-day, may-day, boat taking on water and sinking.” NO!!! NOT AGAIN! Last year we were part of the rescue of a sinking boat on our halibut trip!!!! A 16 foot aluminum skiff was sinking 4 miles west of Anchor Point with 3 people on board. I spent the rest of the time listening to the radio as these people were rescued. One thing for sure, you don’t want to spend much time in this water (at 42 degrees). Finally we heard that they had been rescued and didn’t need medical care. WHEW! Good deal. Oh, and by the way for you readers that read my account of last year’s boat sinking, The Fat-Kat was pulled up, refurbished and back on the water….amazing!
Back on land we sent our fish to Coal Point for flash freezing and shipping home (with the exception of one fillet, which is dinner tomorrow night.) We went to the Elks for a great halibut dinner and then headed home. While at the elks we watched 3 sand hill cranes parade around on the lawn. Fun to watch. The entire day had turned out to be fairly nice, sunny and warm (well, warm for here..in the 60’s…I didn’t take my coat off!) We arrived back at our camp around 9:30 p.m.; tired but happy to have some fish. Bob’s Trophy Charters was the best charter we have had…as I said, great boat and crew and good equipment. If we do this again, we will book with them.
I wonder if this is our last year here. Al had a good time on the boat today, but had to struggle to fish and everyone on board was watching out for him as he was so unsteady on his feet. And getting him in and out of the boat is a challenge. We will see what the rest of the month brings and then make the decision to either wait a year or put a for sale sign on the trailer here now. Saddens me to think that he may not be able to come up here anymore as he loves it; but it is getting pretty hard on all of us, including him. Perhaps we should sell the trailer and just come up for a week or so each summer……something for us to think about for next year.
July 10 2008
SIX HALIBUT CAUGHT A FISHING; FIVE DOLPHINS SWIMMING; 4 BUNK BEDS FOR SLEEPING; 3 SAND HILL CRANES A-STRUTTIN’ ; 2 MOOSE A GRAZING AND A BALD EAGLE POSING ON A STUMP! (sung to the tune of a Partridge in a Pear Tree)
HOMER
We arrived in Homer a little after 4:00 p.m. after a nice drive down the highway. On the way down we finally saw a couple of moose grazing just off the road, our first moose sighting for the trip. And there was a bald eagle sitting on a stump along side the road that was absolutely majestic. It was our first eagle sighting as well. When we left the fishing camp it was spitting rain and cloudy…and it is no different here except it isn’t raining.
Bob’s Trophy Charters is where we booked our charter for tomorrow…and they also have a guest house which we booked a room. Imagine our surprise when we opened the door to our room and discovered two sets of bunk beds! The thought running through my mind was “I guess I get the top bunk” and I wasn’t wrong. Very interesting night of no sleep.
Up earlier than I like and on to the boat. WOW….what a nice boat. It’s a 52 footer, the Nauti-Lady and she is beautiful. They had refurbished her last winter and so it was nice and modern and clean..didn’t even smell like a fishing boat. Our captain is “Fred” and the deck hand is “Jake”. The boat usually carries 16-18 people, but today only 9 of us were on board. That made for a very pleasant fishing day. The others on board were Paul from Massachusetts (complete with accent); Chuck from Salt Lake; Scott and Tyler from Michigan; Taryn and Jason from Edmonton, Alberta; and us. And the sun has came out to shine today --- yeah. The sea’s were fairly calm (as calm as they get up here where you have 6 tides a day and the tides can vary up to 35 feet!) and as usual the scenery is breath-taking. Our first stop only resulted in us seeing a couple of whales in the distance—we were in about 80 feet of water and no fish. Next stop we were in 100 feet of water and I was hoping for halibut in that shallow of water so it wouldn’t be so hard to pull them up, but no fish. DARN! Next stop we are in 250 feet of water and there are dophins all over the place playing with the boat. Finally they moved off and the halibut started to bite. After casting in, I wasn’t in the water for 30 seconds and I had a halibut on the end of my line; pretty soon all on board had one. UGH….pulling this baby up I thought I had a whopper …but just a 24 pounder, which I kept! I was pooped dragging that thing in, but back in the water I go. Al had already landed one about the same size and Randy had thrown back a smaller one. I was trying to rest, but darn, I had another fish on! This one was a little bigger and after reeling and reeling and REELING, I finally landed it and said “GOT MY LIMIT—I’m DONE!” Pretty soon Al had his limit as well. Randy had one in the box and had just thrown another one back (too small). Al and I went in to the cabin to rest and all of a sudden I heard on the boats radio “may-day, may-day, boat taking on water and sinking.” NO!!! NOT AGAIN! Last year we were part of the rescue of a sinking boat on our halibut trip!!!! A 16 foot aluminum skiff was sinking 4 miles west of Anchor Point with 3 people on board. I spent the rest of the time listening to the radio as these people were rescued. One thing for sure, you don’t want to spend much time in this water (at 42 degrees). Finally we heard that they had been rescued and didn’t need medical care. WHEW! Good deal. Oh, and by the way for you readers that read my account of last year’s boat sinking, The Fat-Kat was pulled up, refurbished and back on the water….amazing!
Back on land we sent our fish to Coal Point for flash freezing and shipping home (with the exception of one fillet, which is dinner tomorrow night.) We went to the Elks for a great halibut dinner and then headed home. While at the elks we watched 3 sand hill cranes parade around on the lawn. Fun to watch. The entire day had turned out to be fairly nice, sunny and warm (well, warm for here..in the 60’s…I didn’t take my coat off!) We arrived back at our camp around 9:30 p.m.; tired but happy to have some fish. Bob’s Trophy Charters was the best charter we have had…as I said, great boat and crew and good equipment. If we do this again, we will book with them.
I wonder if this is our last year here. Al had a good time on the boat today, but had to struggle to fish and everyone on board was watching out for him as he was so unsteady on his feet. And getting him in and out of the boat is a challenge. We will see what the rest of the month brings and then make the decision to either wait a year or put a for sale sign on the trailer here now. Saddens me to think that he may not be able to come up here anymore as he loves it; but it is getting pretty hard on all of us, including him. Perhaps we should sell the trailer and just come up for a week or so each summer……something for us to think about for next year.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
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………….
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………….
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Alaska 2008
Alaska 2008
July 1,
Anchorage
After a busy day of getting ready to go; driving from Odessa to Seattle which the Exploder decided it would give us some more problems; having dinner with Janet, Cammie, Jennifer and friends Rowland and Kathy; we finally climbed on an airplane bound for Anchorage at 9:00 p.m. We were already tired, actually, it was time for bed for us, but we still had a few hours to go. We arrived in Anchorage 20 minutes early and I am thinking we are going to get to our hotel a few minutes early as well, but it was not to be. FINALLY our bags arrived (5 flights arrived at the same time, overwhelming the baggage carriers) and I sat Al out on the curb to wait while I went to get the rental car. And oh, by the way, it was a little cool out here…only 55 degrees. Where else could you get up in the morning (in Odessa) and leave there at a balmy 100 degrees, go to Seattle where it was 77 degrees and end your day at 55 degrees. My body was already starting to rebel!
At Avis is where the trouble started. First of all I was just a little on the tired side, I had been awake for over 18 hours and I don’t do that very well. Then Avis said they didn’t have my reservation, but, since I am always prepared for this, I had printed a copy of the reservation. They explained that they were a franchise and that their computers didn’t “talk” to the other Avis computers!?! HUH? Okay, but regardless of that, they still had the name AVIS on the door. Finally they called somewhere and, oh, I did have a reservation. But now the real trouble began and by this time I was just a little cranky. I rented the car through my Boeing Corporate rate that I am still entitled to. However, when AVIS drew up the contract for me to sign here, it was twice the amount I was quoted. Uh, NO! So we went round and round about the price and finally, after another call to the AVIS wizard, I got the price I was quoted. Then they wanted to give me a lesser car….round three. After 45 minutes, I finally got the price and the car I had reserved and by this time I was just a little more than cranky.
I pick up Al who, by this time, thought I had abandoned him (don’t go there) and we load the luggage in the car and take off for the hotel. I had made reservations at the Travel Inn for the night and we would move into my nephew’s motor home for the next couple of nights tomorrow. As we are driving to the hotel I look at Al and said “Remember a few years ago when we had reservations at the hotel from hell…The Rodeway Inn here?” He says “yes…where we slept with one eye open all night?” Yup..that one. Glad we aren’t staying there again. Uh huh. As we are pulling in to the Travel Inn, I look at Al and said “Does this look familiar?” and he says “oh-oh”. DAMN! Same damn hotel as the last time only the name had been changed. The hotel from hell was now the Travel Inn! DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! We have already paid for the night (I had tried to save a few dollars and went to the cheaper end of the rack rate) and we are so tired neither of us wanted to go looking for another hotel at 1:30 a.m. So I go to the desk and the same person who only speaks marginally better English then the last time I was here. It was like reliving a nightmare! I asked if this used to be a Rodeway Inn (Still not believing this was happening all over again) and he said yes, it had, but that Rodeway Inn had dropped their franchise a year ago and that they had changed the name to Travel Inn. ARRRGGG! Okay, we are here, give us your ugly room. Into the room we go, at least it was on the first floor this time. It looked clean enough. We drop our luggage, do our nightly cleaning ritual, and I pull back the covers on the bed and the sheets are brand new, never washed, right out of the package and on to the bed. Okay, I am too tired to worry about it. My head hits the pillow and immediately comes up again. WTH? This pillow was like putting your head on a bag of rocks it was so lumpy and hard. Shove the pillow aside and try to go to sleep. Wait! What was that noise? Sounds like a bear! No, it is just the guy in the room next door snoring! You have got to be kidding me? I lay there and toss and turn, and listen to the snoring, which has no rhythm at all. So all night I lay there, sleeping very little…between listening to Mr. Snorer next door and getting up to check and see if the car is still outside. Al got just barely a little more sleep than I did. Finally, at 8:00 a.m. I give up, get dressed and go in search of a cup of coffee. I find a Starbucks and get two venti coffee’s to go and have mine almost completely gone by the time I get back to the hotel – and it wasn’t that far! Al by that time is up, packed and ready to go. I put a note in my Palm Pilot to NEVER make reservations at a hotel that isn’t a major chain again….and if we have to pay more for it, so be it!
We arrived at my nephews a little worse for the wear, but we are here. My brother has sold his house of 40 years here and is staying with my nephew for the summer. My nephew had just finished washing our bedroom when we arrived…we are staying in his motor home since he has a 2 bedroom house.
After visiting a few minutes my brother, Al and I jump in the car and head for the store to pick up groceries to take to the river on Friday and to get our fishing license. We also did a Costco run to get needed paper supplies. My nephew drove to the river tonight taking all of our supplies with him and we are hanging around Anchorage waiting for our friend Randy to arrive from Florida. He comes in late tomorrow night and is staying at a hotel for the night (the Hilton, not the Travel Inn) and we will pick him up early on Friday and battle our way down to the river with the other thousands of people that will be heading down that day. But that is okay, it will give Randy some time to see the scenery. We are in no hurry.
Weather today was beautiful….mid 70’s and sunny and clear. It is suppose to rain/be cloudy for the next 4 days. As I write this I can look out to the west and over Turnagain Arm and see the clouds already starting to roll in. Perhaps today was summer?
Tomorrow I am going to go find a wifi spot. Somehow I had misplaced my air card for the computer (heck…I lost the darn thing!) and besides it doesn’t like to work up here in Alaska. So I am back to checking email only every other day or so.
July 3, 2008
We finally rolled out of bed this morning around 8:30 a.m. – I think we were tired, but at least we got some good sleep. Dick, Al and I went to a local café for breakfast that is just down the road from the house…the “Southside Grill” and boy, was it good. YUM!
After breakfast I went in search of a wifi spot and found one at Borders Books. Then I decided I would go visit the AT&T store and see if I could get a new air card for my computer. Yes, they had one in stock and it is now installed in my computer. It is the new and improved version and they claim it will work anywhere you get a cell signal. Down at the river will be the test!
It is raining and cloudy here today….summer was yesterday, today is a typical Alaskan summer day. UGH! Mt Iliamna Volcano is spitting and spewing lava today….we may be able to see it from the Kenai Peninsula tomorrow. I guess it spits and spews every once in a while. It is in the Aleutian Range and on the other side of Prince William Sound from where we are.
Tomorrow is down to the river day. So until next time we are fishin…and catching fish I hope.
July 1,
Anchorage
After a busy day of getting ready to go; driving from Odessa to Seattle which the Exploder decided it would give us some more problems; having dinner with Janet, Cammie, Jennifer and friends Rowland and Kathy; we finally climbed on an airplane bound for Anchorage at 9:00 p.m. We were already tired, actually, it was time for bed for us, but we still had a few hours to go. We arrived in Anchorage 20 minutes early and I am thinking we are going to get to our hotel a few minutes early as well, but it was not to be. FINALLY our bags arrived (5 flights arrived at the same time, overwhelming the baggage carriers) and I sat Al out on the curb to wait while I went to get the rental car. And oh, by the way, it was a little cool out here…only 55 degrees. Where else could you get up in the morning (in Odessa) and leave there at a balmy 100 degrees, go to Seattle where it was 77 degrees and end your day at 55 degrees. My body was already starting to rebel!
At Avis is where the trouble started. First of all I was just a little on the tired side, I had been awake for over 18 hours and I don’t do that very well. Then Avis said they didn’t have my reservation, but, since I am always prepared for this, I had printed a copy of the reservation. They explained that they were a franchise and that their computers didn’t “talk” to the other Avis computers!?! HUH? Okay, but regardless of that, they still had the name AVIS on the door. Finally they called somewhere and, oh, I did have a reservation. But now the real trouble began and by this time I was just a little cranky. I rented the car through my Boeing Corporate rate that I am still entitled to. However, when AVIS drew up the contract for me to sign here, it was twice the amount I was quoted. Uh, NO! So we went round and round about the price and finally, after another call to the AVIS wizard, I got the price I was quoted. Then they wanted to give me a lesser car….round three. After 45 minutes, I finally got the price and the car I had reserved and by this time I was just a little more than cranky.
I pick up Al who, by this time, thought I had abandoned him (don’t go there) and we load the luggage in the car and take off for the hotel. I had made reservations at the Travel Inn for the night and we would move into my nephew’s motor home for the next couple of nights tomorrow. As we are driving to the hotel I look at Al and said “Remember a few years ago when we had reservations at the hotel from hell…The Rodeway Inn here?” He says “yes…where we slept with one eye open all night?” Yup..that one. Glad we aren’t staying there again. Uh huh. As we are pulling in to the Travel Inn, I look at Al and said “Does this look familiar?” and he says “oh-oh”. DAMN! Same damn hotel as the last time only the name had been changed. The hotel from hell was now the Travel Inn! DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! We have already paid for the night (I had tried to save a few dollars and went to the cheaper end of the rack rate) and we are so tired neither of us wanted to go looking for another hotel at 1:30 a.m. So I go to the desk and the same person who only speaks marginally better English then the last time I was here. It was like reliving a nightmare! I asked if this used to be a Rodeway Inn (Still not believing this was happening all over again) and he said yes, it had, but that Rodeway Inn had dropped their franchise a year ago and that they had changed the name to Travel Inn. ARRRGGG! Okay, we are here, give us your ugly room. Into the room we go, at least it was on the first floor this time. It looked clean enough. We drop our luggage, do our nightly cleaning ritual, and I pull back the covers on the bed and the sheets are brand new, never washed, right out of the package and on to the bed. Okay, I am too tired to worry about it. My head hits the pillow and immediately comes up again. WTH? This pillow was like putting your head on a bag of rocks it was so lumpy and hard. Shove the pillow aside and try to go to sleep. Wait! What was that noise? Sounds like a bear! No, it is just the guy in the room next door snoring! You have got to be kidding me? I lay there and toss and turn, and listen to the snoring, which has no rhythm at all. So all night I lay there, sleeping very little…between listening to Mr. Snorer next door and getting up to check and see if the car is still outside. Al got just barely a little more sleep than I did. Finally, at 8:00 a.m. I give up, get dressed and go in search of a cup of coffee. I find a Starbucks and get two venti coffee’s to go and have mine almost completely gone by the time I get back to the hotel – and it wasn’t that far! Al by that time is up, packed and ready to go. I put a note in my Palm Pilot to NEVER make reservations at a hotel that isn’t a major chain again….and if we have to pay more for it, so be it!
We arrived at my nephews a little worse for the wear, but we are here. My brother has sold his house of 40 years here and is staying with my nephew for the summer. My nephew had just finished washing our bedroom when we arrived…we are staying in his motor home since he has a 2 bedroom house.
After visiting a few minutes my brother, Al and I jump in the car and head for the store to pick up groceries to take to the river on Friday and to get our fishing license. We also did a Costco run to get needed paper supplies. My nephew drove to the river tonight taking all of our supplies with him and we are hanging around Anchorage waiting for our friend Randy to arrive from Florida. He comes in late tomorrow night and is staying at a hotel for the night (the Hilton, not the Travel Inn) and we will pick him up early on Friday and battle our way down to the river with the other thousands of people that will be heading down that day. But that is okay, it will give Randy some time to see the scenery. We are in no hurry.
Weather today was beautiful….mid 70’s and sunny and clear. It is suppose to rain/be cloudy for the next 4 days. As I write this I can look out to the west and over Turnagain Arm and see the clouds already starting to roll in. Perhaps today was summer?
Tomorrow I am going to go find a wifi spot. Somehow I had misplaced my air card for the computer (heck…I lost the darn thing!) and besides it doesn’t like to work up here in Alaska. So I am back to checking email only every other day or so.
July 3, 2008
We finally rolled out of bed this morning around 8:30 a.m. – I think we were tired, but at least we got some good sleep. Dick, Al and I went to a local café for breakfast that is just down the road from the house…the “Southside Grill” and boy, was it good. YUM!
After breakfast I went in search of a wifi spot and found one at Borders Books. Then I decided I would go visit the AT&T store and see if I could get a new air card for my computer. Yes, they had one in stock and it is now installed in my computer. It is the new and improved version and they claim it will work anywhere you get a cell signal. Down at the river will be the test!
It is raining and cloudy here today….summer was yesterday, today is a typical Alaskan summer day. UGH! Mt Iliamna Volcano is spitting and spewing lava today….we may be able to see it from the Kenai Peninsula tomorrow. I guess it spits and spews every once in a while. It is in the Aleutian Range and on the other side of Prince William Sound from where we are.
Tomorrow is down to the river day. So until next time we are fishin…and catching fish I hope.
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