So we have been away from home for quite about a week and a half. First of all we had a week at Pineview. My parents used their time share to get a place at WolfCreek which I think is in Eden. It was very nice and had space for the wholefamily. We weren’t far from the lake, and my parents brought their wave runners up. It was very fun, although Cambria wasn’t there half the time. She had to work still, and was driving back and forth each day. She would get up to the lake when she got off work with enough time to take the wave runner out and get some sun. Then she’d spend the night up there, and drive back to work the next day. We were there from Saturday through Thursday. I left Thursday morning to get our bags together for Alaska.
We left for Alaska that night. Our flight was leaving around 9:00. I was so luckyto get on the plane as a standby. It didn’t seem like there were enough available seats, but we all made it on, and got in to Alaska at about 3:00 a.m. The weirdest thing about the flightwas that instead of it getting darker as it got later, it got lighter. As we neared Alaska, we were at a better angle for the sun. In the summer it only gets dark up there for a couple of hours around 3 or so in the morning. It is still twilight outside at midnight. It’s really weird, and throws you off at first.
The next morning we saw everyone,Nathan, Sharlyn and the kids, and Tyler and Mindy and their kids. It was awesome to be there with them, and they were so nice to share theirhome with everybody. I know it is stressful to do that at times, and we really appreciated it. We slept on an inflatable queen mattress in the baby’s room. The baby (Coltyn) slept in a basinet in theirbathroom. Later that day we went on a hike to Matanuska glacier. It isn’t often that you get to see something so beautiful. I took tons of pictures, and had a great time there with everybody.
Saturday we went to the playground at the school that was behind theirhouse and played with the kids there. That was tons of fun. They drove their Barbie Jeep around, and swung on the swings and played on the slides. Papa showed Jocelyn how to throw a Frisbee. Nathan hadhisdaughter Rya climb the climbing wall. The first time she did just fine, the next time, she didn’t want to go up. It took her about ten minutes while crying the whole way to get to the top. Once at the top she laid there crying till Nathan climbed up the slide to get her. Later that night, wehad fish and chips for dinner that Mindy made, they were very good. I’d never ordered fish and chips anywhere and was pleasantly surprised at how good they were.
Cambria and I stayed up and played games one night with Nathan and Sharlyn. I told Nathan we should play till it got dark, and at about two a.m. we almost reached that goal before we went to bed. Sunday morning we got ready and headed out to church. We had the baby blessing for Coltyn that day. The blessing is really the reason for us to be there, although it may seem like fishing was the reason. I know my families hearts, and know that they cherish spiritual momentslike a baby’s blessing. When we were sitting around the house, Tyler had asked if Nathan and I were going to be in the circle. I didn’t even think about it before then, and it felt good that he invited me to be a part of that. Part of Mindy’s family was up there too,and we met some ofthem at church. When we got home, we had a really good lunch to celebrate. That night Tyler made a nice cake and we celebrated Linda’s birthday.
Monday morning we headed out to the Kenai Peninsula for fishing. Tyler, Nathan, Cambria, and I left really early to get started for the day, and everyone else came later. We had a motor home which was nice for the babies, kids, and parents. Cambriaand I had our air mattress and Monty and Linda had a mattress too. We were able to fit them side by side in a big tent Tyler brought.
We camped there from Monday through Thursday. Fishing there was great! We were there at a great time for the numbers of fish passing the fish counter. Since then, the numbers have only gone down. Monday was a great day of fishing. Tuesday we got upat 3:30 and headed out to a city called Homer, which is farther out on the peninsula. We took a charter boat out and went halibut fishing for half the day, and got back in at around noon. It was only Nathan, Sharlyn,Cambria and I. Everyone else met us there later and we walked around the shops that were out on the “spit.” That is what they call the man made piece of land that shoots out into the harbor. Later that night when we got back to Soldotna we went out to dinner for Linda’s birthday which was nice because it rained all evening.
Wednesday was another day of salmon fishing. That night most everyone went home. Monty, Nathan, Cambria and I stayed to fish on Thursday. We easily caught our limit, and then had fun catching and releasing while everyone fishing around us struggled to catch anything. When we got back to Tyler and Mindy’s house that night, we vacuum packed all of the fish, and put them in the freezer and the neighbor’s freezer.
Friday, we went to the nature center where the salmon spawn, that night we had fishtacos which were excellent. We then played Mario kart on the Wii then played card games till one in the morning. Tyler and Mindy were way tired since they have a wiser sleeping schedule than the rest of us. You do feel much better when you go to sleep and wake up early. I’m sure I will get back into the habit once school starts up again and I have early classes.
Saturday morning, Linda caught her flight home. She barely made it on, so we wouldn’t have made it on even if we tried. The rest of us went out to Elmendorf air force base and saw the F-22 which was way neat. We saw a bull moose on the base too. Tyler, Nathan and the little girls went trout fishing on base where it is all catch and release, while the rest of us went back to the house and lounged around. That night we watched a movie and ate skookies and were all in bed by ten.
Sunday morning we flew out, and luckily I made it on the plane again. Nathan had gotten on, and Cambria got on shortly after. I was waiting for the plane to leave with my legs up on my carry-on bag. They called a few more stand by people, then closed the door to the ramp. My plan was to wait till the plane left,then go back out to where Monty was waiting for me. Suddenly, they called my name, told me to run, opened the door, and I was on the plane. I was so glad I didn’t have to stay without my wife. I loved it up there, but I wanted to be with my wife. On the way home, I watched a movie, and played in flight trivia where you play against other people in the plane. I won a few rounds and got 4th highest all time score for that plane. Between the three of us we had 4 coolers full of fish we brought home. We put our fish in our freezer and in myparent’s freezer. There are still tons of fish left up in Alaska, which I’m sure Tyler will share with his neighbors. All in all, it was an amazing trip, but it is always good to be home.
.JPG)
