Russians

Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Kenai.   The town has an amazing  history that dates back almost 5,000 years to the earliest indigenous tribes first settlement.   The Russins first settled there in the early 1700's  when fur traders and trappers first arrived.  They built a fort(Redoubt Kenai).  Shortly thereafter.  In the late 1700's the Orthodox Christian church (still in use today) sent missionaries and in the mid-1800's built the first church (see photo).

 We toured the area and had lunch there at a delightful restaurant called Veronica's, a split log home constructed in the 1890's. The Hungarian  mushroom  soup was excellent!

The visitors  center has a complete collection of all known Alaskan birds and mammals  (taxidermy)!

We capped the day off by having a latte and warm cookie  (ask Karen) while watching the fishing fleets and dip netters in the bay.

Max says "Hey Y'all "!

This and That!

I've probably already mentioned The Moose is Loose bakery but they are, bar none, the best bakery we've ever been to...think APPLE FRITTERS, Bear Claws and more.

While thinking "food", Karen and I stepped into Solotna's newest (just opened this week) restaurant,  The Catch.  We were very impressed with the service, quality/quantity and low prices (for Alaska).

This morning started at 2AM when we got up to go fishing.  We were standing in the Kenai by 3:15 and had our first Sockeye within minutes. We pulled out at 5AM with 9 Sockeye, only to find out, later in the day, that the limit had been increased to 6 per person....oh well, our freezer (yes, we bought a freezer) is almost full and we need to save some room for Silvers (expected to start arriving any day now)!

It started raining here around 7AM and we've had several hard downpours and intermittent showers all day.  Many of the over 200 wildfires are now under control!

Max says "Hey Y'all "!

Still fishing

After Saturday's great Sockeye "hunt" I didn't think it could get any  better...but I was wrong!  Sunday we went out Halibut  fishing again with Mike Hopley  and caught even bigger ones then the first  time.

Today we went out King fishing with two new campground friends (Wayne  is from the  Turtle Lake area originally).  Unfortunately 7 hours of "drift fishing" resulted in 0 Kings.  It's  been a very slow season for Kings and the marina host said there's been only 10 brought in all season.

A redeeming feature, provided by God, was the amazing sunrise! 

We keep meeting the nicest people here (from the 4 corners of the world)!


Max says "Hey Y'all "!

Caught up with Karen

Ok, Karen's out fishing me is temporary suspended.

We went out with our RV park  host/owner and really got into the Sockeye!   We spent 3 hours processing Salmon  when we got back!  Check out the picture ( note those hanging  behind  us also).

Carol Samuelson

Karen are saddened to hear of the passing of a dear church friend, Carol Samuelson.

May God bless Al and family and bless Carol's  memory.

Karen and Ken

Karen Continues to Outfish Ken

Yes, it's true!  Karen continues to out fish me 3 to 1!  Today was no exception!

After spending 4 hours fishing, we stopped by The Moose is Loose bakery.   An iconic landmark here in Soldotna and every bit as good as advertised.  Karen likes the carrot muffins and I'm  torn between Apple Fritters and Bear Claws.

 Max,  of course loves the homemade dog treats.

This evening  we're headed to Kenai for dinner at Louis's.  Reported to be excellent local cuisine!

Max says "Hey Y'all "!

Karen fishing

We're finally picking up a few Sockeye  (reds).  Here's a picture of Karen fishing last evening.

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

With us in Alaska, son Josh and grandson Joe were tasked with releasing the baby Pheasants on our land up at Tuttle (see pic of Joe releasing birds).

The Kenai finally saw a little badly needed rain yesterday.  First rain since mid-May!  Forecast is for more showers but unfortunately they haven't been holding together long enough to reach the wildfire areas.  The Swan Lake fire that has affected us here on the Kenai is now contained (but not out)  so we have little or no smoke here.

The Sockeye "sonar counts" for the Kenai  River have been increasing daily so hopefully fishing will pick up.

Karen's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Karen's birthday and had dinner at The Flats Bistro in Kenai.  It is rapidly becoming our favorite restaurant. 

Earlier in the day we went down to Swift Water Park and saw a couple of Sockeye being netted.  Perhaps the long awaited for "second run" of Sockeye is finally starting to pick up!  We'll try again this afternoon but fishing is pretty much limited to the few "cat walks" because of historical high and rapid water in the Kenai.  Hopefully now that we have some cooler temps, the snow melt in the mountains might slow down and drop the water level.

We've scheduled a day of fishing for "Silvers" on August 10th with Mike Hopley who took us out Halibut fishing last Sunday....really a nice guy and a great guide (I may have already mentioned this but between him and his "deck hand" they have 98 years of guiding experience!).

Dip Netting started yesterday and runs for three weeks.  Thousands of Alaskans participate and are allowed to use large dip nets to catch huge numbers of fish for personal use.

Max says, "Hey Y'all "!

Girdwood and Alyeska

We motored up to Gridwood this morning and drove through the Swan fire area, seeing fire crews staging to continue their gruelling work (now over four weeks).  This fire, one 0f 118 now burning in Alaska,  is still only 14 percent contained.  Because they are spread so thin, there are only 485 firefighters working the Swan fire.

Girdwood is an old mining camp that is now  a skiing location 45 miles South of Anchorage.   We rode the tram up

Mt Alyeska and  had lunch at the 5 Chairs Restaurant.

Karen stopped to admire the Fireweed and Cow Parsnip.

Fishing is starting to pick up a bit so we might try for Sockeye or Kings tomorrow.    The Kenai is running so deep that  wading is now very difficult!

Max says, "Hey Y'all "!

Homer

We drove down to Homer yesterday, enjoying the blooming Fireweed and Cow Parsnips, which have replaced the Lupins and Forget-Me-Nots.

The "Spit", which juts out into the Cook Inlet, is highly "touristy " but has some great views and great fresh sea food.  We had amazing fresh Halibut at Captain  Peggy's!

The tide "swings" are the largest on Earth, as evidenced by the picture of the marina at low tide (note the very tall pillars used so the docks can rise and fall with the tide).

Karen couldn't  resist a picture of me "resting with a bear"!

Max says "Hey Y'all "!

Halibut

After a 3 :41 AM alarm, we met our Halibut fishing guide, Mike Hopley  and drove to Ninilchik  to fish.

We missed Sunday services again today (last Sunday we were viewing "God's  handiwork " at Denali).  We were communing  with God  on his magnificent ocean today!

The boat was launched via a large tractor pushing us out into the tide and we were fishing within 45 minutes.

The Sand Sharks (they call them Dog Fish) were running and became a curse....we probably caught well over twenty of them.  However, interspersed were the targets we sought....Halibut!

Five of us were fishing and caught our limit of 2 each.  The two largest ran at about 50 lbs each....great day on the water.
Karen and I ended up with 27 lbs of Hlibut fillets.

4th of July

It's hard to believe that its been almost a month (June 6th) that we left Bismarck!   But here it is, July 4th in Soldotna, AK!

Soldotna and Kenai, which are only a few miles apart,  are having traditional small town celebrations (yes, even a parade).  Here in Klondike RV Park, we will have a BBQ and potluck at 4PM.  We're looking forward to it because both the RV Park hosts and fellow  "RV'ers" have become  friends.

It's a beautiful sunny day with temps in the low 80's. 

Have a great 4th and please take a minute to think about what truly makes America great!  God has blessed us to have been born and raised in the USA (wow, there could be a Country Western song in there somewhere)!

Max says, "Hey Y'all "!

Fire on the Mountain

Yesterday, when driving back to Soldotna,  from Talkeetna (see the neat Hurricane Gulch photo below),  we had to drive through heavy smoke from the Swan Lake fire.  Firefighters were working along a 5 mile stretch  and about 50 yards off the highway.  They were attempting  to keep the fire  from jumping the road.  They  looked exhausted!   There are now  over 100 wildfires burning in AK!  We are fortunate,  here in Soldotna because coastal winds are keeping the smoke East of us.

We've rescheduled our Halibut fishing trip for the 8th, weather permitting.