Friends, good food, and air conditioning

August 31, 2012

Made it to Fort Smith where we were able to meet Harrison's girlfriend, Anna, and enjoy some good old southern air conditioning!   A great way to spend the afternoon.

This evening we were treated to a wonderful dinner at one of Harrison's favorite restaurants - the food was amazing, as were the drinks.  It was very authentic Mexican food, and the company made the dinner even better.  

September 1, 2012

Going to the Farmer's Market today!  We are looking for some veggies to go with our dinner - Harrison and I are going to do a cook off using the salmon we brought them.  I think it sounds like a lot of fun.  Larry is not too excited, he is not a fan of salmon, but  he is being a good sport none the less.  We found him a great steak at a meat store that smelled, out of this world. 

Found some nice green beans at the market as well as some fresh okra that I plan to cook for Larry - hard to beat fried okra!

Anna is delightful, smart, funny, easy going and always willing to pitch in.  I can see why she and Harrison get along so well.

Dinner was wonderful.  Hannah, Harrison and Anna made this caper, lemon sauce for the fish, and then Larry did a superb job of grilling it.  The pasta I made was only okay, and as soon as I tasted the sauce on the fish, I immediately conceded the win to Harrison, and then made sure I got the recipe!  The fried okra turned out pretty good though with Larry commenting that it was, and I quote, ' Perfect".  Can't get much better than that.   : )

Harrison and Anna went to see a movie, but us old fogies, just hung out and visited - think we got the best part of that deal.

Oklahoma, heat, close- but still too far...

August 30, 2012 - Thursday

Made to to Oklahoma City today.  Stayed in another Walmart parking lot - this one had only one way that was not blocked by low overhead guards, but our GPS took us right into the lot. : )

The weather has been clear and HOT all day.   It seems hotter to us I think because it was so mild in Alaska..... but we are not use to this weather at all.... we run the generator to help keep Bessie cold.

Again, too far from Caroline to just run by so will have to wait until I can come back out and see her in Kansas.

We are going to be going straight through Fort Smith and Wynne though, so we will be able to see the Lowder's again and also get to see Duke and Debbie.  : )

Dinner tonight consisted of sandwiches - again too hot to cook.

Petrified Forest

August 29th, 2012

Left the Grand Canyon and drove back to Interstate 40 -

Made a detour and went to the Petrified forest.  Very strange to see parts of trees laying on the ground only to realize that it is really rocks.  When we went to the visitor center, the lady there saw Charlie's VT shirt and told us she was raised in Roanoke and went to VT.  It is indeed a very small world. 

We took a small walk to the bluffs and there were signatures from the 1600's - before Jamestown - carved into the rock there.  Pretty cool.  I also did not realize that there were so many volcanoes in Arizona.  We saw lava everywhere, heaving up out of the ground, and broken up in pieces at the visitor center.

As we made our way across New Mexico we stopped at a trading post and looked at the souvenirs and while there we bought some Indian frybread - which was awesome!

We made it across Texas, but since we were about as far as one could get from Houston we were not able to go by and see Michael.  I did text him though and tell him to stay cool.  It was going to be 102 and feel like 112 in Houston today - wow, just wow.   When I checked the weather for Tok and Glacier, it was going to be in the low 40's at night.... 

Tonight we stayed in a rest stop and had a simple dinner since we did not want to heat up the motor home.  When Charlie went out to put the trash in the trash can, we noticed that he had some kind of spiky stickers all over his flip flops, and on the rug.  They were apparently all over the ground and man - they were sharp.  Later I went out to take some pictures and could hear them crunching under my feet - they were just everywhere. I had to take tweezers to get the spikes out of the bottoms of our flip flops.  No idea what plant they were from but I bet they spread well since they can stick to anything and just travel wherever the host goes.

Having the phone working again makes parts of this travel so much easier. We are able to Google which states let you stay overnight in their rest stops as well as which Walmarts allow you to stay in their parking lots. 

Grand Canyon

August 28, 2012

We made good progress today, so we decided to go to the Grand Canyon and see how much we could see.  We parked at the GC airport and took a shuttle in to the park.  Once again, Charlie's pass let us ride free and get into the part without paying.

The park offers shuttles to sections that cars are not allowed to travel to, so we opted for that choice.  When we first arrived inside the park, there were rain clouds gathering and thunder in the distance - but what that led to was a beautiful rainbow at the start of our tour, and then at least two more over the canyon itself!

We saw several elk and squirrels - but not many other animals.  The shuttle could let us get off at any of the stops and then we could get back on - which we did in order to get a closer look at the canyon.  The colors were so pretty and with the rain, and the clouds, the lighting was incredible.

By the time we headed back toward the starting point the sun had begun to set so we got to see the sun setting over the canyon, something many people are never able to do.  We felt very lucky to be able to experience it.

Driving back on the bus, we asked them to let us off in town so we could grab a bite to eat.  After eating we took another bus back to the airport. We asked the bus driver if he thought there would be a problem with us just staying in the parking lot overnight and he assured us that he thought it would be okay. So... that is what we did, many of the buses were stored/ parked there overnight so it worked out great. 

Arizona

Forgot to try and attach the picture ....

Arizona

Starting to see green again and it is cool enough to have the windows open.   Las Vegas was 111 when we left this morning. 

Viva Las Vegas - August 23 - 26

August 23, 24, 2012

.................................................................

                      what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.....

                                                         ..............................................................................  : )



(interestingly enough, never saw that posted around here..... )


Happy Birthday Max! 
Reed - hope you had a wonderful first week of school!



August 25, 2012

 Can't stand it, have to tell a few things we did here.... : ) but thought the above would be a funny entry.....  Yesterday we found a great Latin grocery store - so today I went there and bought our lunch from their kitchen/bakery - we had pork, Cuban rice, ceviche,  salsa de verde, and plantains.  Charlie liked the pork and salsa and ceviche but did not like the plantains at all!  Also bought a few bottles of hot sauce to take home with us.

Charlie and I went to see Taylor Hicks tonight!  We thought it would be fun to see him, we both liked his style when he won American Idol - so we thought it would be a good show, but it was better than either of us expected, he rocked.  : )  It was a good venue too, very intimate, small room, about 50 people at the most there, and his music was very good.  I will have to check out his songs when we get home.

Still hot, I think Alaska spoiled us......

August 26th, 2012

Today we are getting ready for leaving - since we have internet here I am working on the blog, and doing one more load of laundry - not sure when we will get the chance to use either again.

Charlie is off entertaining himself at Boulder Station - hope he is having good luck!  

I have been uploading pictures - I mean actually uploading many many pics.  My blog has run out of storing space, and since I do not want to pay an ongoing 3 - 5 dollars a month to add more, I have uploaded these pics to Snapfish.  I have several uploading as I am typing, and I think this link:

 http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5477467016/a=6252449_6252449/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/  

 will take folks to the pictures - I have some of them labeled, and some not, so you will have to guess where they were taken. ; )  I mainly just wanted to get them up so folks could enjoy them at their leisure.  I have most of the best ones from July and the first part of August and part of June.....

We have enjoyed playing around at the casinos, Charlie still does well,on tables and slots and I mess with tables occasionally, but usually just put a few bucks in a slot machine and win and lose 2 - 5 dollars.  You can play a long time betting a nickle at a time - you can also win, as long as you think getting 7.89 on a .30 bet is a win - which I do. : )

Was talking to Mel today and realized when we were talking about our return date (around October 1st), that that was only about 4 weeks away!  4 weeks flies by for us, hard to believe we have already been gone almost three months.  I am looking forward to being back and enjoying hanging out with family and friends and visiting kids and grand kids and enjoying a Virginia Fall.  I know Charlie is missing his family and friends as well, so I am sure he will be happy to see everyone too.

Didi is loaded up and ready to go, we looked at the map and think we know how we are going to head to the Grand Canyon, probably stopping off at the Petrified Forest - so we will be headed out that way tomorrow. 

California olives

Picked these at the rest stop.  Don't think these are ripe, but not sure.  They are certainly fragrant.  Guess they will have to do until I go to Italy and pick some there.  :  ) 

Redwood National Forest

Words and pictures cannot do them justice.  Peaceful. Serene.  Majestic... and of course gigantic.

Sunset over the Pacific ocean

This is what Charlie and I are looking at right now.  Beautiful.  We are in  Oregon,  30 miles from the California border.   Tomorrow we go to see the Redwoods.  Charlie has never seen them.  I cannot wait for him to experience them.

Oregon, trees on our campground and the beach.

Beautiful state park. The trees on the beach are " drift wood" . The  picture with people in it hopefully shows the scale of how big the trees were.

Sunsets, Redwood Forests, and fruit trees August 19 - 22

August 19, 2012

Left Bellingham this morning headed south.  Our plan was to make it as far as we could and plan to drive down the coast of Oregon and head to the Redwood forests. 

Before we left this morning we took some time and washed the bugs off the front of Bessie and Didi - to say they were covered is quite an  understatement - made me think of Michael's trip when he said there were so many bugs on the front of their car that the birds were sitting on the car eating them.  Amazingly they all came off and both vehicles look 1000% better.

Bessie is doing great, her transmission fluid was pretty low - and the fill-up really helped.

We stopped at Beverly Beach - a state campground.  Oregon has great campgrounds, and all their beaches are open to the public, none are privately owned, so we thought that was cool.

The campsite was so serene - very private under some very pretty redwoods. We cooked some salmon, corn and potatoes and had a very nice dinner.


August 20, 2012

Headed on down the coast.  The coast here is very rocky, but beautiful.  Bessie is doing great, the weather is warm, but breezy, and we are covering quite a bit of ground.

Made it to within 30 miles of the California border - and pulled over and stayed next to the ocean on a pullout.  Walked down to the beach, found some sand dollars, and then Charlie fried some potatoes and we had some leftover salmon patties and corn from last night.  Spent the evening sitting outside Bessie, watching the sun go down over the Pacific ocean - it is a hard life, but somebody has to be out here living it.... ; )

Got up late during the night, and the stars were amazing!  Could see sooooo many - because there were no lights anywhere around.  Couldn't really do that in Alaska - it never really got dark - but am glad I thought to do it tonight before we get back into the more  urban areas.

August 21, 2012

Into California and into the Redwood Forest!  Love those trees and the area they grow in.  It is so peaceful and the trees are so magnificent.  Charlie had never seen them before, and didn't really know what to expect - but he loved them too.  I took some pictures which I was able to post by email to the blog, but they cannot do them justice.  They are not easy to capture in words or pictures.  I am so happy I got the chance to experience them again - and that Charlie was able to share that with me.

We saw a large herd of Elk, some with full racks while driving through the Redwood Forests.  Have not seen that many in one place before.

Left the forests and headed toward Las Vegas.  Having to go through lots of mountains - one which was go tall it was almost vertical - decided to take Didi off there, and give her a break.  We have also decided to not take secondary roads if we can avoid them - so we are back on the interstate, and have to say it is much easier going.

Stopped at a Wally world in Lido - it was about 10:00 when we stopped, so we got dinner, I was too tired to eat, and fell asleep listening to rap music from the impromptu gathering in the parking lot. ; )


August 22, 2012

WOW - everywhere you look there are trees - hundreds of fruit and nut trees.  Drove through one area that was filled with olive trees, but did not have a chance to stop and shop for local olive oil - but may look the area up online when we get  home.  There were even olive trees at the rest stop - and of course I picked a few - I don't think I have ever seen an olive tree before - certainly have never picked one before.

Drove past acres of grape vines too, and we could see the grapes hanging off the vines.  Several people out picking them and loading them in boxes.

Happy Birthday Caroline!  Hope you had a wonderful day.

Made it to Las Vegas today - there was apparently a huge rainstorm of record proportions just ahead of us.  We passed a dried out lake that was no longer dry - and there was water and flooding everywhere.  

We are staying at Arizona Charlie's RV campground, the name seemed appropriate - and it is going to be very nice to be hooked up to water and electricity for awhile.  Walked over to the casino and had dinner. 

New friends, RV trouble and back in the USA August 15 - 18

August 15, 2012

Left this morning to go to Fort Nielsen.- heading out about 6:00 a.m.  Last time through, we stopped at Lairds Hot springs, but this time, we only stopped there long enough to get ice, have a snack - and headed on.  We would really like to get the big mountain ( Stone Mountain) the one where the sheep are, and where the truck nearly plowed me down... ) over with since Bessie is struggling up some of these climbs.    I continued to drive separately - and listen to cassettes - haven't played those for awhile - but had good music going the whole time. : )

Stone Mountain was fine, saw no sheep, but two huge caribou had been hit by a vehicle and were on the side of the road, looked like they had just recently been hit - may have been one of the big trucks, they have "crasher bars" for lack of a better description, on the front of them, I am sure because of all the wildlife around here.

I was also running very low on gas - several of the places we stopped at were not open now that the season was closing, so we were coming up on a roadhouse and I told Charlie we were stopping for gas if they had it and if not, we would need to load up Didi to ensure I did not run out of gas.  I wouldn't have been that worried about it in general, but did not want to loose my power steering on the hills and curves if the car died....

So we pulled in and got gas, when I was paying the dude there asked where we were headed, and I said Fort Nielsen.  He asked if we had room for some hitchhikers, and I sorta automatically said "no" - but then he said, "well these guys are broken down and need a lift to Fort Nielsen". I looked and it was two kids - well young people : ) about Caroline and Dan's ages I thought, and I decided to ask Charlie if we could help them out.  Charlie went in to meet them, and he agreed with me that we should help them out - so we loaded them into Didi, drove to their car, about 6 miles down the road and tried to get it started.  It appeared to be the alternator, so we loaded their car on the tow dolly, and headed to Fort Nielsen, with Kelly riding with me, and George riding with Charlie.

Kelly was moving to Fairbanks -and George was from Fairbanks - so her car was loaded down - sorta like the trunk of Didi had been when we were on Kodiak Island.... -Kelly was delightful - she and George had met at Boyscout camp in Fairbanks ( George is an eagle scout) and she had done a bit of traveling, so we had a lot to talk about.

We got to Fort Nelson, Bessie did an amazing job pulling their car up some pretty big mountains - coughing as she did it - but she still did it - and by then it was late - nothing was open.  So we parked, I made some sandwiches and we had a hodgepodge meal.  We then decided to pull into an RV park across the street -  Kelly and George had been tenting, so they slept in a tent and we stayed in Bessie.

August 16, 2012
This morning we all had coffee and the last of the cinnamon buns from Buckshot Betty's, and took them to get an alternator and find a mechanic. No one had one, so it would have to be ordered - which meant George and Kelly would need to stay another night.  They loaded up their frame packs and were heading out when we left them - but said they would email us when they made it to Fairbanks.

We bought an air filter for Bessie - hers was gross - and hope that will help her out some. 

It was a delightful encounter, I am glad we helped them and that we got to meet them.   I feel we have two new friends in Alaska now. : )

Drove back through Watson lake, and Bessie was still acting up, so we stopped at the signpost forest and I updated our pan,

and Charlie  put a fuel filter on Bessie to see if that would  help.  We had chatted with our resident mechanical genius , the legendary Curtis Sowers- and that was his suggestion.  We had thought it might be the catalytic converter - but he said - nope, he doubted it.


We continued on to Dawson Creek - and stopped along the way to do a bit of gold panning.  I had read this stream was down from a few gold and silver mines, so we thought it might be a good place to try.  It was fun, there did appear to be some silver flecks in the sand and rocks, but they were very small and hard to get off your fingers when they were wet from the water - next time I will bring tweezers with me.... but we did find some tiny grains that we are choosing to call gold - but probably aren't.

 Bessie still coughing on long pulls - but made it to the Wally World at Dawson Creek.  Charlie and I found a NAPA store, bought a distributor, spark plugs and spark plug wires - and went back and Charlie worked on Bessie some more - and I handed him tools when I he needed them.

He did an amazing job - and we are both hopeful that it will help.

I made jelly with the berries I had bought in Whitehorse, and ended up with 8 more half pints!  Kelly had given us some wonderful nectarines, and I added a few of those to some of the jelly too - think it will be good.

August 17, 2012

Out and headed toward the border.  Bessie is doing soooo much better!  Charlie is so very good at fixing things, and he seems to have fixed her.  She is not coughing, not groaning and has much more power.  Drove past the world's biggest gold pan - and of course I got out and took a picture.....

Stopped at a casino and played bingo - they have electronic bingo, which lets you know if you have a number called, and even if you have a bingo - Charlie played electronically - and I played on paper - I only had 9 cards, but they moved so fast, I had to pay close attention - and I won 6 bucks!   The game had cost me 5 - so technically I won a dollar.    : )

Left there and continued down the road - we drove too long though and it was dark by the time we stopped - probably for only an hour, but it was around 11:00 when we pulled into a visitor center and stayed for the night.    The road was pretty curvy and there is always the risk of animals crossing that time of night, so the last hour was pretty tense, but Bessie and Charlie both did fine, but we decided to never drive that late again.

Supper was a sandwich before falling asleep.

August 18th, 2012

Made it to the border!  Not without a few mishaps, but to the border none the less.

Stopped in a small town on the way that is known for two things - hottest place in British Columbia, and successful gold panning on their sandbars. Well, I can attest to it being hot, it was HOT!  Certainly not what we are used to at this point - and when we went to get the car off the tow dolly, she snagged on one of the thingamajigs and the front section came halfway off.  Standing under boiling heat, looking at a car without most of it's front is not fun, so do not try it.  But we managed to use zip ties to reattach it - ( again Charlie being smart) and went to look for the sandbar.

Found how to get to it, but it was not going to be easy - some of the areas were blocked off due to King Salmon fishing in that river right now ( no idea salmon ran there....) and we decided to just chuck the gold panning idea and move on.  Bessie was struggling in the heat again, so I drove Didi and we headed on toward the border.

There are sooooo many blueberry and raspberry crops in the border area - I didn't stop to buy any, thinking we would have trouble crossing the border with them, but did get to see some machines harvesting them.  When we stopped to put Didi back on to cross the border - noticed that there were huge blackberry bushes everywhere - and I mean everywhere!  Most were not ripe, but it was cool to see them.

They let us across the border with no problem, and it was nice to be back in the states.  We drove to Bellingham and found a Walmart and settled in for the night.  Charlie put some transmission fluid in Bessie and changed her oil - again hoping the transmission fluid helps her with the hills. 

Thawed some of Charlie's home made soup for supper and made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.  We are both hot and tired, and glad the day is done and we are successfully back in the lower 48.

Our phones are working again, so we were able to let friends and family know we were safe and sound back in the USA.

Whitehorse and no phone service

August 13,2012

Could not get on the ferry so leaving Tok and heading to Whitehorse today.  Nice weather and horrible roads, but maybe? Better than when we came?  Are staying in Whitehorse tonight and going to Skagway tomorrow just for the day.

None of our phones are working so family and friends will have to email us if they need us, and we will try to stop in McDonald's and check email occasionally.  Do not worry if you do not hear from us, it may take 7-10 days for us to get back to the lower 48.

Hope all are well, and know many of you have started or about to start back to school,hope it is the best school year ever!

Baked salmon, sweet potatoes, and homemade bread for dinner.  Easy and good tasting.

Will check in when we can and if burn phone ever works will let you know that too.

Leaving the Russian River

August 12, 2012

We left the Russian River and have driven back to Tok.  It is the first place we stayed and will be the last place we stay on the mainland.
 

Picked up 75 cans of Salmon, think we should get a few more in the mail - and shipped 77 pounds home.  Our cholesterol should be great this year!

 

 Got to pick wild blueberries, and raspberries and cranberries today.  Spent the evening making jam and jelly.  Ended up with 10 half pints!

  


Sad to be leaving but time to move on.  Will blog more when we can.  

Love to all. 

Tok, Skagway and Whitehorse August 11 - 14th

August 11, 2012

Up early and out toward Tok.  On the way out, we stopped at an area outside Anchorage to try our hand at gold panning!  Some ladies who were camped near us had suggested this as a good place to try.  When we got there though, it was 20 dollars a piece - we both thought this way to steep since we would not be there long - and so we didn't stay.

We then went to a blue berry festival at a resort in the area and had a great time walking thru and looking at the crafts and food goodies.  Charlie and I both bought some human made honey - yep that is what I said, human made... I did not realize they meant the literally until I had already purchased it, but plan to do some research on that when I get back. We had Empanadas? ( made me think of Costa Rica)  and blueberry stir-fry for lunch - both were delicious.

Left there and headed on down the road.  We made it past Glen Allen, and stopped on the side of the highway and stayed for the night. 

August 12, 2012

Made it to Tok - stopped and picked blueberries and raspberries on the way there.  Stayed at the campground mom and dad worked at when they were here - nice way to round out our visit.

Went back to the visitor center and the post office, washed off the RV - and filled up with water and found a hole in the water tank.  Charlie patched it up tonight and we are hoping it will hold.  We can still carry half a tank, but it would be nice to be able to have a full tank. Charlie is certainly a handy man - he reminds me of dad in that he logically can think through any kind of "fix-it" need, and usually take care of it.


August 13, 2012

Drove a longggggg way today - some on, some off the tow dolly.  We made it to Whitehorse and settled in for the night at Super foods. We decided not to stay at Wally world - there were just too many motor homes already there.  We are the only ones at this site, and they said it was fine if we stayed here.  They had blueberries on sale - 2 pounds for 4 dollars,  I bought two. : )  I love fresh blueberries. Was able to enter info into the blog at the McDonald's at Wally world and make contact with family.   Couldn't do a lot of entering of blog information, but enough to let folks know where we are and that we are still doing well.

August 14, 2012

Took Didi and drove into Skagway today.  What a gorgeous drive!  and what mountains.  The one directly before town was an 11% grade for 3 miles.... that is why we are driving Didi.  ; )

Skagway is definitely a tourist town - cruise ships stop here - so that is all the town really caters to.  We found some good souvenirs for us and for family and had a good time though.  It is worth the side trip.

On the side of the road going there, there is a section that is called moonscape.  It is totally different that any of the area around it, stunted trees, shallow holes, not much if any grass.  Pretty in an interesting sort of way.

There was also a section where people had built hundreds of rock cairns - it was a pretty amazing site. 

The trip took most of the day - and we stayed back at Super Foods for the night.  Tomorrow we will be heading to Fort Neilson.

August 7th - August 10th - catching up a bit

August 7th, 2012

Charlie continues to catch fish, we cleaned them and put them in the freezer so we can have Salmon to eat when we start heading back.  Added 14 filets to the today.

Charlie is really liking his longer fishing rod, it lets him control the fish much easier - often he is just catching and releasing after two fish, until he decides he is done fishing and then catches one more to keep.


I tried to use the rod, but the handle is too long and heavy for me - so I am keeping with the shorter fishing rod.

August 8th, 2012

Drove back into Soldotna - stopped by the knife store, and got Connie to teach me how to use a sharpener I purchased there - they are a very nice couple who are retiring this year - have been coming up and working at the knife shop for 15 years.   We have met folks who say they stop here every year when they come up to fish to have Walt sharpen their knives - I think they will be missed.

We wanted to go to the Farmers Market today - but the season is over, and it is clear that places are starting to shut down.  Our laundry has closed and we washed in a different location today - sorta cool to be here when things are slowing down though. 

Charlie bought a hat for one of the workers here, he is from North Carolina - so Charlie has been calling him "Carolina" and the other night, when the bears were pretty close, I was out pretty deep in our fishing hole, and making my way back when Carolina came over, pulled out his bear spray and told Charlie to make sure I got off the river, and he would take care of the bear. He then proceeded to stand and watch the bear as it made it's way toward us - and stood guard for me while Charlie walked over and walked me across the river.  We thought that was an amazingly thoughtful, brave thing to do for anyone, much less someone who really doesn't know us, so Charlie wanted to so something nice for him - so he bought him a Russian River hat and gave it to him today to remember this summer by.  ( he will be going back to NC to go back to school - I would guess he was maybe 20?)  I think T.J. ( his real name) was pretty taken back that Charlie did that for him.  ( I don't think Charlie even told him why - just that he had really made an impression on us....)

This morning we ran into the guys from Austria again, it is two men and a young boy - with some very, very nice fishing gear.  The boy always has on a bright, neon colored fishing shirt under his waders and is an amazing fisherman.  The best part though is to hear how excited he gets when he catches a fish - he has a delightful accent and says " big fish!! Pretty Fish!!  Lots of fish!!"  Now to actually get the impact of the  you have to say the quote with an Austrian accent - but Charlie and I say it now about many things when we see something big, or cool - as in Big fire - Pretty Fire - Lots of fire!!  Okay, maybe one needs to be here to hear us to get it.... : )

When we went down to fish, there were really no fish in our fishing hole - so we started walking down the river to try a different part.  When we walked down about halfway to the sanctuary - we tried fishing there and all of a sudden all these fish started swimming by - I mean LOTS of fish - so we turned around and headed back to the fishin' hole, and told the Austrians that the fish were on their way.... about 10 minutes later they started streaming in, there was just a constant stream of about 25 fish swimming by you at any given time.  It is so awesome to see that here - even if we were not trying to catch them - but since we are, that is also very nice. : )

August 9th, 2012

Again, lots and lots of fish.  Charlie and I just keep the ones we really want and release the others.  I have caught several more of the larger ones that are starting to turn - a few of them are about 10 " high in the mid section - they get sooooo big when they start heading to spawn.  We kept the one I caught today, and cleaned it and put it in the freezer whole.  It was 27 " long - and we thought it was a good example of what the fish look like here.

The bears once again ran us off, we walked back and forth crossing the river depending on which side of the river the bear was on at the time. 

We also hiked to the Russian Falls today.  It was a long walk up hill, about 2 .4 miles, but when we got there we got to see the fish jumping up rapids trying to make it back to where they were born. 

WOW - I have no idea how any of them ever make it - they jump, jump, and jump - finally make it up about 7 feet, and then swim on to only be washed back down with the water and have to do it all over again.  I guess that ensure that only the strongest make it, and so they spawn the healthiest fish.  I have seen it on TV before, but neither of us could believe it seeing it in person.  We were pretty tired when we got back to camp but loved that we had gone up there to see it. 

August 10, 2012

Today when Charlie was getting our spot for one more night, TJ came over and handed him two spoons and a spatula he had carved, and told him he wanted us to have them.  They are pretty cool and remind me of utensils Michael carved one summer at camp.  We both thought it was a very generous gift and we will treasure them.  He also gave Charlie his contact information and told him to contact him if he was ever in NC and needed anything.   We have met some astoundingly nice people on this trip.

Charlie went fishing this morning, but I slept in - he reported that there were more fish there this morning that ever!  And of course I was sleeping.... : )  but we have plenty of fish, and I was tired, so still think it was a good choice.

We moved to site 33 which was a great double space, and I picked some more cranberries while Charlie built his last campfire here.  We both said it is sad to be going, but even Charlie is ready to stop fishing - and that is saying a lot!    We plan to get up, have breakfast and get moving toward Tok in the morning.

77.68

August 6th, 2012

Yep, that's right, up and fishing again by 5:15.  Cold and rainy, but we trooped down there and snagged  3 fish.  I got one and Charlie two.  We were both tired by then, there were a lot of people down there fishing and not that many fish - so we decided to call it a day.  Charlie has a bit of my cold - which I am totally done with, so I think it added to his decision to go ahead and head back. 

I took all the fish from the last three days to the processor - we had another 34 pounds, giving us a total of 77.68 pounds of salmon filets!  We have decided to stop adding to it and just go ahead and ship it.   If we catch any more, we will freeze and take with us to eat on the road or eat it when we catch it.  In fact, I am hoping Charlie catches one this afternoon - if he does we will be grilling it for dinner!

He is feeling better  - but stayed at camp while I took the fish to Soldotna.  I tried to upload some pictures today, but by the time i did laundry, took the fish in and had some knives sharpened, I really didn't have time to sit and wait 2 more hours - so once again, that will have to wait.  I am going to upload them as soon as I can and will post the link on here, whenever I manage to accomplish this.  : )

We are still thinking we will be leaving the Russian on Wednesday or Thursday.

Hope all is well with everyone, we love and miss you all.

Ping pong with bears and fishing

August 5th, 2012

Up and out by 5:00 - and TONS and TONS of fish.  Charlie said not as many as the other day, but there was really never a time when there were not at least 15 to 25 fish swimming by us, and we were there about 2 hours.  We were back with our limit cleaned and in the fridge by 8:00 -

At one point we had a grizzly bear on one side of the river ( where we pull our fish in) and a black bear on the other ( where we walk down to the river) they both ended up walking down the boardwalk at one point or another, and we just went from one side to the other trying to avoid them.  I

 would have been funny if they had been tame bears.  As it was, they were the best to be stuck between, we just yelled at the black bear when it walked into our fish hole and shooed it off.  Thank goodness it was not the mother bear and her two cubs, that would have been hard to maneuver - they sometimes separate and we do not know where the cubs are. 

We went back to the river tonight to let Charlie try out a longer rod he had with him.  Most folks here are fishing with a fly rod  - and they are a good foot or two longer than the rods we are using.  While there, this group of women came down and were trying to cross the river and just sorta stopped midway.  Charlie told them where the shallow part was, and that they could cross there - one of the ladies said " I am wearing my husband's boots and I am not sure I can make it across."  Charlie said he would help them if they would like, but then added " Let this be a lesson for you all to remember - it is harder than you thought to fill your husbands boots."  It was so funny - I thought it was pretty witty, and quick and the women loved it, they just laughed and laughed.  And eventually walked on over..... It was a perfect "Charlieism" quip.

Fishing the Kenai

August 4, 2012

Up and fishing again bright and early.  There were still a lot of fish, but no where as many as yesterday.  Charlie and I both caught our limit again, and got back pretty early. 

Charlie is fileting the fish at the river and cutting them into portion sizes, so all we do when we get back is put them in the refrigerator.   Makes it much easier to take care of that way.

We had whole wheat, fresh blueberry pancakes for breakfast - man were they good.

Decided to go check out fishing on the Kenai river - it is glacier water, and so it is blind fishing for the most part, but the reds were often going thru the water there like dolphins.  It was amazing to see, at times and at certain parts of the river, it looked like it was boiling! 

We did not do very well fishing there though - I snagged three, one took every bit of line I had on my rod - and then broke the line.  The other two just broke the line after I snagged them.  the water is very deep and swift and they just turn tail and run up river when they are snagged, and I just could not stop them.  I think we would need bigger rods and reels to fish there. They are huge fish, most have started turning red, so they put up a good fight and most are around 14 - 16 pounds. 

We saw two big, dark, grizzlies across the river, and one black bear, but none on our side.  I guess we fished and hiked for about 5 hours and then headed home.

Starting to narrow down our dates to leave the Russian, it will probably be Wednesday or Thursday of this week.  Then probably heading to Southeast Alaska.

Fish, fish, and more fish!!!

August 3, 2012

Charlie got up to fish today, but I decided to stay in and rest.  It was cold and rainy, and seemed wise to stay warm and dry.  Charlie came back saying that there were so many fish in the river that it was solid gray - they were bumping into his legs!  I had seen the number going through the weir was high about 10 days ago, so expected it at some point -but wow! that is a lot of fish. 

It did not take long for him to catch his limit, he said they were pulling fish in right and left down there.  At one point he turned around to walk toward the bank and there were 50 or more fish swimming behind where he had been fishing. 

I was feeling better by mid morning, and we drove to Soldotna and took more fish in to be processed.  We are up to 43 pounds now - took another 14. 38 pounds in today.  Spent most of the day running errands and doing a bit of needed shopping. 

By the end of the day, I was feeling much better.  I hate I missed seeing the fish, but I think it was a wise decision to stay in this morning. 

 I know our family and friends in the lower 48 are experiencing a heat wave and many a drought, but it has not gotten out of the 50's here, and it rains a bit almost every day - it is hard to imagine what it is like back home.   We live in sweatshirts, layers, and for me, flannel lined jeans. 

Charlie's Miracle soup and Dr. Mom kit

August 2, 2012

Up and fishing by 5:15 - for those of you who know me, you know I must be getting a great deal of satisfaction and fun out of doing this, or I would be sleeping in.... : )  Charlie likes getting up at crack of dawn o'thirty however, but he is also loving catching these fish.

He has gotten so good that he is coaching several people who show up down there and really have no idea what they are doing.  Usually they end up catching a fish, sometimes for the first time ever.  But people were very generous in teaching us, so he is doing a good job of paying it forward.

We both caught our limit today - definitely had to work at it, but eventually we did.  I have gotten to where I tie my own flies ( quite neatly I might add) and handle putting on and taking of the weights depending on what is needed for the level and swiftness of water.  I still let Charlie take the fish off and put them on the stringer, they won't stop flopping and I have some difficulty doing that part.  Charlie just flicks the hook out and picks them up - so he has in done in no time.

For lunch we had locally made pimento cheese, elk sausage, apples, and smoked salmon.  It was a nice picnic type lunch. 

I slept most of the afternoon, trying to shake this cold - Charlie made his wonderful homemade beef/veggie soup for supper - said it would make me feel better - and he was right, it warmed my insides up and was delicious.  He always makes the best soups.

Later I dug out the NyQuil, tissues, cough drops and Zicam from the doctor mom kit and snuggled in for the night.  

Fishing and doing well

August 1, 2012

For the few days we have caught our limit and we caught 5 today.  Charlie has gone back down to fish a bit more, and I am updating the blog in Soldotna.   I took 29 pounds of filets to be processed today.  That is all the fish we have caught in the last few days -  that is amazing!

 Today I caught a very red, Red Salmon, it is the quintessential salmon -

I think it is what most people think of when they think of Alaskan salmon, but they are not really that desirable - people think them too old and too close to spawning,  but I kept it  since I worked hard to catch it! and the meat was fine -  and I thought it quite

pretty. Charlie said it was from 13 - 14 pounds!  

As you can see from the picture, Charlie did his usual job of keeping our numbers up 

( a few of them are mine...)

Back to the fishing routine

July 30, 31, 2012

The fish are still running, so we have settled back in our routine of getting up at 4:45, being on the river by 5:20 and fishing till 8:30 or so.

The fish are harder to catch for some reason, they just move and rarely rest, but there are plenty of them and Charlie almost always catches his limit.  I catch at least two and sometimes my third, but Charlie is like clockwork - he looses some but ends up with what he needs in the end.

Dinner has been grilled chicken, fresh corn, and baked potatoes - all but the potatoes cooked over one of Charlies great fires. 

The bears have been more rare, there must be a better place to catch fish than where we are.  They say 30,000 fish a day are coming into the Kenia - and only 900 thru the Russian - so I bet they are on the Kenia River. : )

Homer and Halibut, and whale spotting dog

July 29, 2012

Caught 22 pounds of Halibut in Homer - now that was some hard fishing.  We left at 6:30 or so and were done by 9:30 with everyone on board catching their limit of two.  Charlie still did not feel great, but he did well and caught two nice fish.

these are the ones we caught....

To catch the fish, you had to let out about 250 feet of line, that had a 2 lb weight on it.  Then when they bit, you had to reel in the 250 feet of line, with the weight and your 10 - 12 lb fish..... Charlie caught his pretty fast, I had to reel in a few extra times because I either lost my fish while waiting for them to take it off the hook ( we were not allowed to) or my bait got snatched and I had to reel it back up for more.  As we all know I am rather clumsy - so the whole time I am also thinking I am going to drop their rod in ocean, which luckily I did not do.... : )  It was fun though and something we had never done before.

After fishing the captain took us to look for whales and I was able to see at least two.  One breached and it's tale was huge!  There was also a dog on board that would start barking when there was a whale around, even before we could see it - that was pretty amazing too. 

We had the fish processed and shipped home, so we will be able to share some of it with family and friends.  Also added the Red salmon that Charlie had caught, so it got shipped too - it was 2 lbs of meat.

Glad to be back at the Russian - all is well with Bessie - and Charlie and I are both glad to be out of the car.

Kodiak Island

July 23 - 28 2012

Spent the week in Kodiak - ferry ride was very nice, had a wonderful breakfast after waking up in Port Lions - which was named after Lion's clubs that helped build the community after the 1964 earthquake. 

Met a lady who owns a bed and breakfast there who was able to tell us much about its history and culture.  She gave us her card - so if anyone is ever headed that way - I will pass on the information - I am sure she would be a wonderful host.

The island itself only has 100 miles of road - about 60 % is paved, the rest is gravel or dirt - some with lots of potholes - and some quite good.  We went down every road to within a mile of the end - so we covered as much as we could.

One night we camped next to the ocean and actually used the tent - it was a very pretty spot, there were sea otters in the ocean and plenty of wood to burn so we had a good time.  We had smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, and home made bread for dinner.  Rained most of the night and we definitely needed our sleeping bags.

The next day we dried everything out best we could, and headed to town, and down some more roads. 

We found Pasagshak and where the river ran into the ocean and the Reds were coming in there.  As soon as Charlie got down there, he caught one.  They were beautiful fish - looked green in the water, but silver when out.  The fish are FAST - but when the tide is low, you can watch them swimming up the stream heading out of the ocean.  That was awesome.  The locals just line up and do synchronized fishing as the fish go by, and they almost always get one.  Too fast for me - so I just watched and read - but Charlie was able to catch a few - beautiful red meat - and amazingly firm.  Surely as firm as beef.  I was surprised - but they were so healthy and had lived in the ocean the last 5 years - so I guess I shouldn't have been.

We spent the night in the car at that site and it was not bad - certainly was nice not to have to dry anything out the next day.

We later traveled to Fossil beach, and indeed found fossils all over the beach - the whole wall was covered with them - and there was so much wood, Charlie was wishing he could build a bon-fire.  That man loves to build fires - and there was enough wood there to last for weeks.

Walked back to the road thru the meadow, following a bison trail, and it was quite the adventure.  Saw a beaver building or repairing a home -

and also saw leeches - yep, yuck... but it was fun and made the walk go much faster.

Spent the next few days fishing at the Pasagshak and either camping  in the car, or staying one night in a hotel so we could shower.  It was a great shower and we were also able to wash our clothes, and some of our fishing clothing.  Our truck smelled so fishy, I could smell it with the trunk closed.  : )  but after washing the fishing gear, it was soooo much better.  The last two nights we stayed at Busnick State Park, and it was beautiful.  We slept in car, but had a table and a fire pit so it was nice. 

Played bingo a few nights, Charlie won one night, but we head fun whether we won or  not.   Played at the tribal center, so that was  also very cool.

We saw tons of bald eagles, and one night there were at least 50  of them all together sitting on the beach - I had never seen that many together at one time.  Okay, lets be honest, I have never seen more than two together at any one time other than that.... : )

Met a man who was best friends with someone in Pulaski - that was an interesting coincidence and ran into one of the couples we had met on the ferry almost every day - as I said, Kodiak has only so many places to go. : )

It is a beautiful island, one bear for each square mile - so 3400 bears, but we did not see a one.  There was a resident bear at Buskin Park - and he came thru, but we did not see him.

Charlie and I caught some Pink salmon on the Buskin - the locals don't even keep them, but we did and will take them to the cannery to be canned.  Charlie also caught a red, that we may take there, or ship home if we catch Halibut on Sunday.

Back on the Ferry on Saturday and headed to Homer.  Arrived at 9:45 p.m. and slept next to the beach - yep ---- in the car.   Got a nice picture of the moon, something we have not seen much of...

Charlie did not feel well, but hoping he will be better tomorrow - we have to go to the Charter place at 5:30 in the morning.

The run has started - amazing! Leaving on the ferry...

July 22, 2012

Tons and tons of fish.  Up and fishing by 5:30 and it was throw and snag - maybe loose, but then just throw and catch another.  I think that at least 400 fish ran threw our hole this morning, they were just nose to tail most of the morning. I caught my limit and Charlie caught two big ones.  It took both of us to carry them out of the river to the other set of steps where Charlie filets our fish, when we do it at the river.  We only got two fileted before the bears ran us off, so we had to take the others whole to the cannery. -

Gabe came up while we were there trying to filet - we didn't recognize him - but then he said, "Hey King Lady"so we knew it was him.  We laughed, but Charlie loved that I have an official nickname in Alaska.  : )

The filets we took this morning from two fish, weighed 7 lbs and the other three whole fish weighed a total of 27 pounds - so they are averaging 9 pounds a piece.

Headed to Homer from the Cannery and will leave on the Alaskan Ferry at 8:45 tonight for Kodiak. 

Noticed we were getting a flat tire in Homer, and put some air in it and will see if it is a hole or just needs to reseal.  While at NAPA - we saw the coolest motorcycle made out of things like forks, and spoons and other utensils.  There were two of them, and they were amazing!

Got on the Ferry with no problem, parked Didi in the hull, and went up to find a place to sleep.  I laid out the sleeping bag in the solarium, and Charlie slept in the recliner lounge.  The ferry itself is very nice, and plenty of room.   Met a few couples on board who were also headed to Kodiak.

Rainy day, packing and getting ready for Kodiak

July 21, 2012

Rained all day - Fished in the morning  - quite a few fish, but moving quickly and hard to catch - neither of us caught one.

Spent most of the day packing for Kodiak and made Peach and Cherry fried pies to take with us on the trip.

We are leaving Bessie in the overflow parking lot, and assume she will be fine.  

King Salmon! And Charlie once again catches his limit

July 20, 2012l

Dum, did de dum......

I caught a King Salmon today!  Truly by accident, I mean I saw the fish and went after it, but i did not know it was a King - you are not allowed to fish for King's in the Russian River, and if you catch one, you cannot take it out of the water and have to immediately release it.  This will be important as my story progresses....

Many more fish this morning, and Charlie of course caught 2 and I actually caught two - getting a little better, but Charlie is still the master fisherman.  We were fishing with another couple who were in our fishing hole - pleasant couple - Gabe and his girlfriend from Anchorage -

I saw this red fish and tried to catch it for about 20 minutes, it would swim up and then back, and then back up and then back down, never quickly - and just sort of lugging around... so I thought I could catch it.  Well I did - I whistled for Charlie so he would know I had a fish on the line, ( since he takes out my hooks...) and then I set out to land him.

I knew he was big, I had seen that in the water, but when Charlie went to try and net it, he turned to me and said " Cheri, this is a BIG fish" and it was too big for our net - (which is not small, probably 2 feet or more across).  So Charlie asked Gabe if he would help since it was obvious Gabe knew what he was doing down there, he had been catching them much like Charlie had....

Gabe went and got the net and could not net him either, all the while this fish is swimming 40 - 50 feet each way on the river, people just stopped fishing and watch as I tried to land this fish.  Truly this fish ofter acted like he didn't even know he had a hook in him and just went wherever he wanted.....

I finally guided him to the shallow water off the gravel bar, and Gabe and Charlie ran over to it.  It has swam under a log in that part of the river and could not go anywhere - so they were able to see it well.  I heard Gabe say " King" and "release" so I knew what was going to happen.  I put my rod down on the gravel bar, and yelled " Wait!  I want to see it! " and went tearing over there, clodding in my wading boots, as fast as I could run.  I knew they had to release it quickly if it was a King. I got there and was able to see the first foot or so of it, and it was indeed a big fish.  I then said they could let it go.  I never saw the entire length of it, it happened so quickly.

While they were over there with the fish, I heard Charlie ask Gabe how big it was, and he said he wasn't sure, but it was definitely well over 30 pounds. He also said it was over 4 feet long!   I had no idea - but it was a great fish to land, and when I told my dad about it, he said " and you didn't fall in the river"?  I laughed and said no, so I must be improving.

Charlie caught his limit, I caught another Red, so we had a lot of fish today.

We went and picked up Didi, and I took the fish we had been catching and freezing to the cannery, and Charlie did our laundry.  We took about 25 pounds of fish to the cannery - - we will get some fresh canned and some smoked.

Fished this afternoon, but didn't stay long - momma bear was roaming our section of the river and had lost a cub and was not happy at all.  She just kept racing around and searching and roaring.  It was awesome to watch and hear, but also somewhat scary.  She found it later and came back much calmer, but we still decided it was time to leave.

Fishing, trout and salmon

July 19th, 2012

Much of the same, up early and fishing, Charlie caught 2, and this afternoon, I caught a trout.  We took it home and grilled it in a tin foil pouch with butter, salt and pepper and some onion.  Turned out pretty well - and was only a few hours out of the water.

Bears still around, usually show up as we are about done in both the morning and the afternoon.  I tried to text some pics of them to folks, but pretty sure they did not go through. 

Still walking to the river - sure do miss Didi - but we should get her home tomorrow.  Freezing our filets so we can take them to the cannery tomorrow.

Charlie's thumb is much better, but still needing to heal.

Bald eagle sitting watching the Russian River.

Fishing and cooking

July 18, 2012

Up early and we walked down to the river to fish since we did not have Didi.  Charlie and I both caught one, and I fileted them both!  This evening we went back down, neither caught anything, but we grilled some for later this week, and I made ceviche - think it is going to be very good. 

Bears of course ran us off, which is our norm now.  But it is their river.

Everyone is not faring well today - including Didi

July 17, 2012

Up sick most of the night- not a pretty sight, but felt better by the morning.  Decided to stay in and rest this morning, but assured Charlie I was well enough for him to go fish - all I was planning on doing is sleeping.

He came back saying he had  caught two fish, but had cut his thumb and may need my help if I was well enough to help him, even mentioned something about stitches.... So I said of course I was well enough to help and got up, grabbed some band aids, and went out to help him doctor up his finger.  It was cut pretty deeply, and right where his thumb bends at the first joint, so it had been bleeding pretty bad.  I got the Band-aids spread out and then had to quickly go back inside - I was pretty sure I was going to faint and thought that was the last thing Charlie or I needed to deal with at that moment....  Went in, got sick again, and then as always, felt better - and came back out to try and help again.  By then, Charlie had a Band-aid around it and decided he did not need stitches.  It did bleed most of the day though.

I slept most of the day, and when Charlie left to go back and fish in the afternoon, Didi would not start - this day just kept getting better and better.....

Michael used his internet to help us find some auto parts stores and auto repair places in Soldotna, and we found a shop to replace the starter.  We called AAA and they came and towed it for us around 9:30 - so no more fishing for the day - but the car is on it's way to getting better, Charlie's thumb has slowed down considerably in bleeding, and I am on the mend as well.  So tomorrow will be a much better day I am sure.

Caught my first fish!!!!

July 16, 2012

Up early and went fishing.  When I say early, I mean around 4:30....

Charlie caught 2, but I did not catch any - but I did snag a few and then lose them - so that is improvement. 

We went back fishing this afternoon and I caught my first salmon! 
It was about 8 lbs. according to Charlie - I have no idea, but it is the biggest fish I ever remember catching.

 I did it with quite  bit of flair too - I was backing up to pull it up on the gravel bar behind where we fish, and slipped and fell in the river!  I held the rod up, and when Charlie asked if I needed help, I said, "get the rod!  Don't let the fish get off!" Then I stood up, took the rod back, and reeled in my fish.  The group around us was laughing which was good, it was pretty funny...  but one of the guys said that in the end, I had pulled in the fish -- which is all that mattered.  : )  I agreed.

(I fileted it too! )

We had grilled hot dogs and chile for supper - we were both tired from being up early.

Anchorage and Molly

July 15, 2012

Left for Anchorage this morning so no fishing for me. Found Molly's house with no problem, it was very nice and I could definitely  tell they had been doing a lot of landscaping to it.  On the way there, it had been raining and I saw a HUGE, as in fat, not long, rainbow over Turnaround Inlet.  I tried to take a picture of it, but it really didn't show up well at all, but is was quite striking.

Molly looked great, and it was great to see her.  We went to the Farmer's Market downtown, a mixture of crafts, and food.   Bought some doughnuts for Charlie - and took Molly to lunch at Humpy's.  We split some crab balls and some halibut taco's.  Both were very good.  I had a wonderful time catching up with her.  Molly was Caroline's roommate in New Orleans and has recently moved up to Anchorage to live for a while.  She has only been here for a week, but already done some amazing things.  Josh, the friend and Teresa? his girlfriend ( sorry if that is wrong, being in Alaska has not helped me remember peoples names... ) have a boat, so she has already gone out and caught rock fish!  Pretty impressive. 

While there I looked up on the internet how to filet a salmon, so I can help filet mine and Charlie's fish - well, mine when I catch one..... and how to make ceviche - think I will try that soon.

Home around 7:00 - walked down to the river, Charlie and Steve were down there and Steve was trying to help Charlie find some fish.  No luck though, and then the bears came and reclaimed the river.

Russian River and fishing

July 14,

Moved to overflow today, the campground is full of other people trying to catch my salmon!  We fished and then drove to Soldotna to do laundry and catch up on the blog.  Could only get posted thru the 13th, but that was okay, I just wanted folks to know Charlie had caught his limit!


Bought more flies from the Hardware store, we have lost quite a few fishing, good thing they are on sale for 25 cents a piece. : )  and yep, we are still basically " flossing" the fish, no bait, we line it up and catch them in the mouth - and yes, it is as hard as it sounds. Tomorrow I am going to Anchorage to see Molly!  Looking forward to that.
: )

Charlie caught his limit today!

July 13, 2012

Charlie has figured it out!  He lost more fish than he caught, and they were snapping 14 pound line - but within an hour of going down to fish, he had caught his limit of 3 salmon!  They were huge and beautiful - and we were both very excited.  We got about 10 pounds of meat off them and froze most of it.

I made salmon burgers for lunch and they turned out well - it was certainly the freshest salmon either of us had ever eaten.

Went back down to the river this afternoon so I could try - I had 7 on the hook, 2 jumped out of the water while I had them hooked, on made it to the bank - but I did not make it out with any of them. - But I had a blast and felt like I had an idea of what I was doing.  It certainly helps to be able to see them.

We also saw a mother grizzly and her two 2 year old cubs - they ran us off the river twice, and walked right through our fishing spot.  They were amazing to watch, and when mama bear would feed them a fish, they would start growling at each other, their growls were very scary - but still awesome. : )

After the last time they came through, we decided it was time to go - and I had fallen in the river so I was also a bit wet: )  but all was good and it was a wonderful day.