Day 51 (7-21-12 - Lazing around at Grove's Campground)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDI !!!

We woke up to a familiar sound this morning.  Rain peppering on the roof top.  It was not the sound that we wanted to hear. We  had an off and on shower until lunch time.  The sun came out about 3 pm.  It turned out to be a pretty day.

We fried our first red salmon today for lunch, it was very good.  You know at home we cook catfish, bass, or white perch.  In Alaska, you cook  silver, red, king, pink, or chum salmon.   They have a few other fish, but nobody ever talks about them except the halibut.  And there is an obvious  dispute whether chum salmon (dog food fish ) is good.  I think we can put Zatarain's Fish Fry, (with Lauren's special seasoning added),  on any fish, deep fry it and make it taste good.

Lauren took the day off from fishing.  All that fishing must have wore out Ferny Kat.  She has been asleep most of the day.  The only time she was awake was to eat and to stare at the next door camper's dog that was sitting on the picnic table.  She was sitting on boxes looking looking out the back window of the camper.  They were eye level with each other.  Every now and then she would pattycake the window with her paws.  He would paw back at her.  She is such a tease.

The CG owners had a pot luck supper tonight.  The owners grilled red salmon.  They actually put barbeque sauce on it.  Delicous.  The rest of us campers brought a dish.  We had every thing from oreo cookies (my favorite) to baked beans.  I cooked Jambalaya.  It must have been good, there is none left.  I have to say it was nice to have some barbeque sauce and creole rice.   Not a thing that you find very often in the frontier state.

We are rested up and are planning on furthering our journey to Valdez tomorrow. The weather may change our minds.

 pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/G6jHy3rmHgyUT64M7

Day 50 (7-20-12 - Another Day of Fishing at Grove's Klutina Campground)

Got the Limit

It was another beautiful day in The Last Frontier. 

Lauren caught his first fish really fast this morning.  He lost a bunch before he caught his second fish.  He lost a bunch more before catching his 3rd fish.  He finally limited out.  He is wore out.

The first fish Lauren caught today is a "fish story."  There was a father and son fishing next to Lauren.  The  father was reeling in a fish when his son hooked a fish.  The son's fish jumped about the time Lauren's hook hit the water.  The son's line broke.  Lauren told the son when he was reeling in the fish that he thought it was his fish.  And he was right.  The son's hook and Lauren's hook were both in the mouth of the fish when he landed him.  Lauren gave the  guy his hook back. These two, (father and son), limited out early.  They thought this would be a great story to tell when we got back to Mississippi.  The story will make it home before we do.

We got a guy to vacuum seal our fish so that we might get the fish in our freezer.  We barely got 9 of the 10 filets in the freezer. We had to pull out frozen sausage and hash browns to make room. We will be eating hash browns and sausage patties along with the other filets for the next few days.

The guy that vacuum sealed our fish invited Lauren to join him for a walk to the mouth of the river to catch a King. Lauren declined.  The guy came back with a 38 pound King Salmon. I know now why he had a big gun at his side.  When he came up the path by the river, all you could see was a big fish tail sticking up out of his back pack.  He looked like bear bait to me. 

He gave us a peice of fillet from his King.  Now we have 2 filets to eat. Not a problem, Omega 3 is good for the heart and good for the belly.


After he cleaned his fish, he used his ulu knife to cut the ivory out of the head of the fish.  He is going to make earrings for Christmas presents for his family next year.  Cool.

The guy that caught the King moved here from North Carolina.  His wife is a nurse.  Lauren is trying hard to get me to check out the jobs around here.

After seeing the temperature reach 79 degrees today, we feel that we are in a heat wave.  Thank goodness for warmer, dryer weather.

Pictures are here:https://goo.gl/photos/2UVco9QDYgMxzehr9

Day 49 (7-19-12 - At the fish camp in Copper Center)

"I'll be glad to get back to Crossroads,  we have flow wells and are not rationing water"

It has been a gorgeous day.  We actually had on shorts and flip flops.  Finally, we are not freezing.

We went to the unisex restrooms and showers at the campground.  There are 2 showers and 3 toilets.  These are located in the laundry room.  We were able to wash our clothes and ourselves at the same time.

I have the luxury of blow drying my hair now that we  have an extension cord connected to the camper supplying our electricity.  A good shower and hair styling is a rare treat since we rarely have any hook ups for the camper.  I feel like a new woman, that is cleaned and fluffed.

Lauren successfully caught a salmon this morning.  He went back this evening and hooked two and lost them.  Not bad for a Redneck with no salmon fishing experience.

Ferny didn't come to bed last night. She was on night patrol.   Last night was the first night in a while that she slept solo.  She usually gets in the bed and steals our warmth.  It is a good thing.  With her fur and my hot flashes, Lauren would have probably been set on fire.

As usual, I have another favorite place in Alaska. 

Exhausted!!!!

Today's pics   https://goo.gl/photos/LVTQMF1pZPY9ZHEm7

Day 48 (7-18-12 - Copper Center)

Lauren's first salmon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANITA!!!

We traveled 180 miles today to Grove's Klutina Campground in Copper Center.  It was a gorgeous day.  We saw Matanuska Glacier and many more scenic views along the way.  We are camped on the river and listening to the water rushing over the bolders.  It is so relaxing.

Judy and Terry stayed here about a month ago and highly recommended this place.  We called and found out the salmon were running.  We told Mary that we were on our way. When we got here we had to wait for her to come back from fishing.  She said that she thought she would be able to catch a fish before we got here.  She did catch a fish.  It was the biggest salmon that we saw today.  We had no problem waiting on the camp host to catch a salmon.  This is our kind of place.

Lauren has cooked both meals that we ate today.  He cooked sausage and pancakes for breakfast and his wonderful grilled chicken this afternoon.  My man can cook!!

Lauren went fishing for a couple of hours.  The first fish he hooked, got off.  The second fish, broke the line.  The third fish, is in the fridge.  He is one happy fisherman.

I can't wait for him to cook his catch.

Pretty view from the CG

Pictures     https://goo.gl/photos/DHEwjH62UmnEzMyj8

Day 47 (7-17-12 - Anchorage)

We had a gorgeous sunny day today with the temperature reaching 70 degrees.  Finally we were able to be outside in short sleeves.

We took a ride to Anchorage.  I needed to do my monthly weigh in at Weight Watchers and this was the best opportunity that I have for this month.  I met the leader and a trainee.  The leader was from Lake Charles, (small world). 

The two weigh in stations were separate and private. This was the most impressive weight watchers facility that I have ever been in

 I told them that I have been a life time member for over 6 1/2 years.  The lady in training was very impressed and told me that I inspired her to continue with her training. I felt like a weight watchers superstar when I left. Oh, and I lost 3 pounds since last month, a total of 4 pounds since I left home. I think being stress free is a big factor.

The trainee apologized for the cold summer in Alaska. I told her not to worry, we have thoroughly enjoyed Alaska.

I knew I was long overdue for a hair cut.  I had Lauren in a "it's all about Kim mood,"  so I went a got a trim.  The hair cutter was as nice as everyone else that we have met in Alaska.  She also apologized for the cold summer.  I assured her that we are having a blast.

We went to Earthquake Park.  It was a great memorial to the 1964 earthquake.  It made me speculate about what must have went through their minds as the ground shook and broke apart for 90 seconds.  It goes without saying, that you need to live each minute to the fullest.

We took a ride downtown to Ship Creek where the salmon were supposed to be viewed from the bridge.  There were no salmon.  We took a ride closer to a hatchery, and found several salmon waiting under the bridge on their way to their birthplace for their last spawning.  Their story is like a Romeo and Juliet fish novel. 

After a great day in Anchorage, we are at the camp.  We have the back door down.  We are listenening to the sound of the generator and hearing and watching the rushing water in the river.   We have had another fantastic day in Alaska.

Pics are here: https://goo.gl/photos/Bct5XhisQMwjud8G6

Day 46 (7-16-12 - Eagle River Campground)

Coming out of the Tunnel

We woke up to a  foggy cold morning.  We took a ride through the famous train tunnel to Whittier.  We had a short delay waiting for a train to come through before we were cleared to enter.  We rode 2.5 miles through the hole in the mountain riding on the train track.  A very unique experience.

We heard the locals say the weather is sh_____ier in Whittier.  Guess what, the weather was prettier in Whittier.  It was a beutiful day except for the cold wind.  We walked around the harbor and through the pedestrian tunnel.  We took a ride up the mountain and found some more gorgeous views of Prince William Sound.  We took a hike up a trail to look at a pretty waterfall called Horsetail Falls. 

We went back to the campground.  The fog had lifted, but it was still cloudy and cold.  We took a walk on the Trail of Blue Ice that runs behind our campsite.  This was a very well maintained trail with a lot of boardwalks.  There were pretty views of Middle Glacier and the creek.  We finally saw the waterfall that we had been hearing at our camp site. 

We moved 65 miles inland to Eagle River which is a suburb of Anchorage.  We are camped at Eagle River Campground in Chugach State Park.  It is another nice campground.  We took a ride to Walmart  to restock.  We walked around the campground then sat around the campfire for several hours. Ferny Kat was as happy to be out as we were.  She loves it here. We were not getting rained on so I pulled out the mats from the truck and the rugs from the camper.   Everything, including us, needed to be aired out.

We grilled pork chops over the campfire and had corn and peas with them.  We really like cooking over the fire pit.  There is no clean up when you are done.

We are able to pick up TV channels tonight.  We have found that there are only oldies on air TV in Alaska. At least we will be able to watch the news in the morning.  With poor radio and TV reception most of the time, we have no clue what is going on in the world and we haven't missed it.

We have done a lot of relaxing, enjoyable, walks today.  The fitbit count is 8 miles today.  We were so caught up in the  beautiful surrondings, we were both suprised that we walked this far. 

Pictures https://goo.gl/photos/2GtcBsF6c3fGSBfD6

Day 45 (7-15-12 - Williwaw Campground)

It was hard to leave Quartz Creek but it was time to move on.  We relocated 55 miles to Williwaw Campground near Whittier.  It has been another rainy day.

We are camped at the base of one of the glaciers, Middle Glacier.  We have a good view from our campsite.  It is another pretty campground in the Chugach National Forest.

We went to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center.  This center is named after Hale Boggs, U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, who disappeared in a plane when traveling to Juneau.  There were gorgeous views of glaciers and glacier ice floating in the lake at the visitor center. It was an honor to know that this center was named after a representative from my birth place.

We went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We wanted to see musk ox and porcupines.  The musk ox are really ugly and the porcupines need some good deodorant.   We preferred to walk instead of drive but it was too rainy.  It was okay, but too many people for us.

We took a ride to Girdwood on Seward Highway toward Anchorage.  We were going to ride the tram in Girdwood.  It was not running today.  It probably has something to do with the 45 to 65 mile per hour winds that are forcasted for this area tonight.  Turnagain Arm was not as pretty as a few weeks ago.  Sunshine makes everything look a lot better.

We cooked our hand caught, (muscle tired), halibut tonight.  We were going to grill it, but the weather was so bad we decided to cook it as fast as we could.  We fried it.  It is absolutely the best fried fish that I have ever ate.  I know Otha and Audrey are in heaven thinking, no way.

Ferny Kat was adamant that she was going outside. We thought that she would go outside, feel the cold and the rain and come right back in.  Wrong.  We took turns as she led us around for a while in the cold wind and the rain.  The locals have told us to layer up and continue with our plans. I guess Ferny Kat has adapted to the Alaskan way of life.  If you want to do something, go ahead, regardless of the weather.   

We are in for the night listening to the rain.  We need to go to bed early and get up early to go to Whittier tomorrow.  We have been sleeping until after 8:00 the last two mornings.  Oh well, who cares, we are retired.

 Pictures    https://goo.gl/photos/KbDcfKkYfJxNjDCr6