Here we are, on the road: We are in Kenai

Sunday 7/5/09 Lorraine’s report

It’s been several weeks since I wrote for the blog, so here goes.

We are here in Kenai, Alaska. We arrived here Tuesday, July 30 from where we were staying at the Elk’s RV Park in Palmer, AK.

We went to our friend’s wedding, Richard and Sandy, where Chuck was the best man and I was the matron of honor, in Bellingham, WA. We flew out of Anchorage on June 24. Our daughter, Susy and grand daughter, Kaitlyn flew into Bellingham the same night we got there. They stayed in the hotel room with us. We sure had fun with them there. The following days were busy with fittings, errands, doctors and visiting people. We had many things to accomplish, and I think we completed them all.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. Sandy was gorgeous in her gown and Richard was dashingly handsome in his tux. They day was sunny and warm, lots of people came and wished the happy couple the best of luck and lots of love. Thank you both for asking us to be there for you.

Sunday was a quiet day and we got to visit my sister, Thelma, her husband, John and their son, John III, his son Joey and Michelle, his former wife. They just moved from Colorado Springs, CO, back to B’ham to be closer to the family, it was great to see you!

Mark, Susy’s husband, came up from Seattle while we were at Thelma’s to get her and Kaitlyn to take them back to Seattle for a visit with his family. They stayed till Tuesday morning, with us before they left when we went to the airport.

After that we all went to a farewell dinner with Richard and Sandy at the Steak House at the Silver Reef Hotel and Casino where we stayed for the trip, talk about good food and wonderful service.

Tuesday morning we got up, ate, said our goodbyes to Richard/Sandy, then Susy, Kaitlyn and Mark. We won’t see Richard/Sandy for over a year and Susy, Kaitlyn and Mark till at least Thanksgiving, unless things change for us. Sure was sad for me to leave my girls and Mark.

We were fortunate at the airport in B’ham; Chuck has claustrophobia really bad. He really struggled on the plane coming from Anchorage to Seattle, I’m not sure how many chill out pills he took, but he slept most of the way from Seattle to B’ham. Well, on the way back we got to upgrade to first class from Seattle to Anchorage. He was able to be the first one out when we landed and he was okay with that. It was a better flight for him.

We had Rob and Norma meet us in Anchorage, and they took us back to the coach in Palmer. We then took Rob/Norma and Tom/Dorothy to the Elk’s “Cook your own Steak night” for dinner for watching the coach and watching our dog Misty. Thank you all for being there for us. We had no worries leaving our coach or dog in such good hands.

Tuesday, June 30, we took off for Kenai at 9 am. We loved the drive down from Palmer. The Turnigan Arm drive was spectacular. The mountains were out, but it was hazy, and the weather was very warm. We definitely need to spend more time when we head back, the views are really great.

We got in and set up at the Kenai RV Park. Our son, Rich came over and met our traveling companions; Dorothy invited him to eat with us all, then over to our coach to visit. It was so great to see him, I missed him a lot.

Wednesday morning we went to the local Fred Meyer to get our fishing licenses so we could go fishing with Rich. We got out on the famous Kenai River by noon or so. We fished until 6 o’clock, since that is when fishing guides have to quit fishing and guiding. We had several drive bys, caught a Dolly Varden trout but no fish we could keep

Thursday, Chuck and I were up at 5 am and on the river with Rich at 6. About 9 am, Chuck had a fish on. He fought and brought in about a 35 pound female King Salmon. It was beautiful. He fought it for 10 to 15 minutes. I hooked into a Jack king, which is a first year King Salmon. I choose not to keep it since it was only around 10 pounds. You can keep only two King Salmon from the Kenai River and three more from other rivers in Alaska. The Kenai River is the Most regulated fishing river in the USA. There are about seven federal and state agencies that watch over this precious area.

We then went into Rich’s lodge, Tower Rock Lodge, for lunch, then back out for trout fishing. Chuck hooked into several, including a beautiful Rainbow trout and several smaller Rainbows. Rich took us on a boat tour to get to the trout area, about 8 miles up the Kenai River. We have seen many eagles and several seals. The river is absolutely gorgeous.

We quit at 6 and went to eat with Rich and two of his co-workers from the lodge, to the Duck Inn. Everyone had a great time. Then home to tell the travel companions about Chuck’s King, which Rich filleted out for us to have for a barbeque.

Friday Chuck and Rich went out early, 6 am, while I went out by 11:30. They had a bunch of drive bys. They came in and picked me up. The tide was changing around 1:30 and Rich took us to a favorite hole. Around 3 pm, I hooked into about a 50 pound female King Salmon. I fought it for 15 to 25 minutes, and brought her into the boat. What Fun!!!

July 4 we stayed in town and watched the local parade. It was your typical small town Forth of July parade, then went through the local food booths and listened to the music. We rested a while and went with out traveling buddies to the Elks lodge for dinner. Since it stays light for so long here, they have no fireworks. I asked a local gal if they had any, and she said they had it in January, when Alaska celebrated 50 years in the United States of America. I remember that day and the joy all Alaskans felt when we became the 49^th State.

I hope everyone had a Great 4^th of July. We did! The time we have spent here is so special to me.

Until next time……..Lorraine

7/5/09 Chuck’s Report

Let’s start with saying I hope everyone had a good, safe 4th of July, we had a good time with our friends! Well, let’s see, we didn’t get a chance to post last week and we’ve been busy again this week but I will get a note out with some pictures.

We make it back to Bellingham for Richard/Sandy’s wedding. Almost didn’t get there as I got claustrophobic when they first closed the plane door and almost didn’t make it, had to take my chill out pill early and often. I don’t remember much more the rest of the day. The only pictures we have of the wedding are from our camera and it didn’t get used much, in fact, I don’t even have one picture of the bride and groom together, sorry but we will get more pictures from other cameras later. It was a very nice wedding, thanks to Richard and Sandy for letting us be part of it and good luck to the new couple!!

We flew back to Anchorage where Rob/Norma picked us up from the airport and drove us back to our coach, it was good to be back home once again. We were staying at the Elks club and ate dinner there that night, cook your own steak with salad, baked potato and fixings.

Next morning we were on our way, heading to Kenai. We had to stop for fuel where I managed to get into a tight spot, had to unhook our car and back out. Of course, the car wouldn’t start and we had to get a jump from Tom’s car. All in all, the fuel stop was a big cluster, don’t need that kind of action too often. So after hooking up the car and dumping the tanks, away we went. The trip to Kenai is very scenic, we go around a large inlet with snow covered mountains across the way. We didn’t stop at any of the view spots but got some nice pictures on the move.

Once we got to Kenai, our son, Rich, came over to the coach for the evening. He had been out fishing all day and was able to stay for a couple of hours and meet everyone. He told us the Kenai River is the most regulated river in the world with seven different agencies having a piece of the action. Some of them are the Coast Guard, Alaska Fish and Game, State Parks, Natural Resources and others I can’t remember. With him being a licensed guide, he has to understand and follow all the rules very carefully or he could loose his license.

He said we were here at a good time, the river opens up to bait on the next day, July 1. We didn’t have our fishing license yet so we planned on going out with him on July 2. Rich went fishing early on the 1st, called us to say the fishing was good and would we want to go out for the afternoon fish. We hurried to get our licenses ($250 for both of us) and met him at the lodge. Of course, the good bite stopped in the afternoon and we didn’t get anything but still enjoyed ourselves. As the old saying goes, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Next morning we were at the lodge at 6:00, ready to go again. By 9:30, I had caught the largest salmon I’ve ever caught, about 33#. Wow, what a thrill. Unfortunately, Lorraine was only able to catch a small (~10#) salmon which we didn’t keep. We are only allowed to keep two king salmon each from this river and wanted to try for larger fish.

That afternoon we decided to go up river for trout fishing with fly rods. Neither Lorraine or I have ever fished using fly rods so we had a bit of a learning curve. Once we learned how, away we headed for the fishing grounds. We didn’t get even a nibble for about 20 minutes when finally I got a bite. Once we got the fish in the net, it turned out to be a 24” rainbow trout, not trophy sized but very nice. And what a thrill to catch a fish on a fly rod, I liked that. Later Lorraine and I both caught a couple more, all the trout fishing is catch and release only so the only picture is of the large one.

Next morning I met Rich at the lodge at 6 once again, Lorraine was coming down later. We headed out for a morning of slow fishing, didn’t even see many other folks catch. We picked Lorraine up about 11:30 and headed out. We had a couple of hits but caught nothing until just after 3:00 when Lorraine’s rod took off. After fighting it for about 15 minutes, she landed a 50# King Salmon. (She had to out fish me, ha) What a nice fight it gave and Lorraine did a great job of handling it, with Rich’s instructions. Although the record King Salmon caught on the Kenai river is 97#, 4 oz, this was still a BIG fish, largest either one of us have caught.

So after two and 1/2 days of fishing, we ended up with two King Salmon, one cut up vacuum packed, the other Rich is taking to smoke and we will get some of the smoked salmon from him later. We still have one more day to fish before we leave here and hope to fill our quota on Tuesday.

Saturday was the 4th of July so we went to the local parade. It was a typical small town parade, showing lots of pride in their area and of course their state. There were some tents set up with local craftsmen selling their wares, food booths and information booths. This is Alaska’s 50th year of statehood and they are proud of it and it shows, lots of signs, tee shirts and posters. I guess other towns had bigger celebrations but we didn’t find or attend a large celebration of their anniversary here in Kenai.

The weather has been very nice while here with 6 consecutive day of sun with over 70F, Lorraine and I have the sunburn to prove it too. I believe last summer they only had 5 days over 70F all year and a record number of rainy days so everyone is liking this stretch of nice weather. I heard on the weather it is supposed to be nice for at least three more days, we’ll see. There are a couple of hours of darkness at night but I don’t see it, it’s light when I get up and still light when I go to bed.

We went to the local Elks Club for another cook your own steak for dinner, then went back to Tom/Dorothy’s for homemade apple pie and ice cream last night. We discussed the next leg of our trip and are making plans on what to see and where to stay in Homer this upcoming week. We will leave here on Wednesday and spend at least 3 days in Homer before moving on.

Pictures from Richard/Sandy’s wedding day.