July 22 Now for Some Salmon Fishing

So today we broke camp and drove north on the Peninsula and checked into a campground on the Kenai River. We tried to do a little combat salmon fishing, but lacking the appropriate gear, we soon gave up and instead arranged for a couple of guides for tomorrow. STILL can't get over the color of that water!

July 21 Ninilchik Cont'd

Here is a picture of the commercial salmon fishing fleet, waiting for the go ahead from Fish and Game to start fishing. We have a childhood friend, David Wichers, who lives in Whidbey Island, WA and fishes commercially in AK every year. He is based out of Kenai. We called him to see if it might be possible to get together, but he's just too busy I guess. And his mom, Dee, didn't end up coming to AK this summer after all. So, no mini reunion. Maybe next time. Check out the firewood the kids found! Way to go! Bryan did his best to burn it all before we left, and made significant progress for sure. The wind off the beach kept blowing the smoke around,

just every way, so after a while, a person might have wished for no fire at all. One AK mom came in her big truck with camping supplies, clamming tools, and a 4 wheeler in the back, with her 2 little boys (maybe 3 and 5 years old). She is from Healy (up by Denali) and told us that her husband couldn't get away from work, but that she didn't want to miss it - they had last year. She squeezed in the non-spot on the other side of Bryan and Deet's camper and when we left the next morning, she repositioned her truck in their spot. She unloaded the four wheeler adroitly, with minimum help from us. I was impressed with her can-do spirit, AK style for sure!

July 21 Clamming at Ninilchik

Okay, so bottom line: we are having a blast!! Wish you were here!! But, for me anyway, there's limited internet connection because we are boondocking. Bryan has a little USB internet thingy for his laptop, but I'm just way too lazy to be putting my pictures on his computer, etc. So this update is mostly to assure everyone that we are still alive and kicking and that, at some point, there will be a daily synopsis, complete with pictures, published. In the meantime, the clam chowder is to die for, trust me! Ciao!!

July 20 Clamming at Ninilchik

What a great time! We had a clamming shovel, but really needed another clamming tool, which we were able to borrow from another camper. And in short order, with Bryan operating the tool and the kids getting the clams, we had a mess. More than a mess. These are razor clams. When we cleaned them, we only removed a small amount of dark (intestinal?) matter, all the white of the clam is edible and delicious. Of course getting all the sand out of them was another challenge and they had to be washed thoroughly a couple of times. An eagle came every night and sat in the trees behind our camp. The campground is quite crowded with locals and tourists. We went to wash clothes and take showers this afternoon. It was fun, there was a bar and restaurant there too, so as while we were waiting for the clothes to dry, the kids ate cheeseburgers and the adults had a beer in the bar. Something for everyone! Kayla and Savanah found the jail there too! This is the day that I "rearranged" (aka, totally destroyed any remaining semblance of order) in my truck so that everyone and the laundry could fit in there for the ride down to the bar-restaurant-laundry-shower place. Life was never the same again.

July 19 Onward to The Kenai Peninsula

We stopped at Copper Landing on the Kenai River on the way south to Ninilchik for lunch. I just still can't get over this incredible turquoise green water. It is so lovely! Bryan started a small charcoal grill outside for some bratwurst but the campground host (from NY) insisted that it was a fire hazard and he had to put it out. This summer, that has not been much rain in the Kenai, with lots of sunny weather, so rivers are all much higher this year than last. Glaciers melt faster in the sun and there's more runoff that way; last year was cool and rainy and the glaciers didn't melt as much. The kids panned for gold here at a facility close by but didn't get enough to retire on, unfortunately! They'll have to work after all.

July 18 To Rainy Whittier

We didn't stay long in the rain. We were hoping to go out on a three hour cruise, a three hour cruise, but didn't because of the imclement weather. Lucky for us, eh? The tunnel is so cool. It's a train tunnel through a mountain and they open it up to cars and campers when the train is not running.

July 17 THE Park and THE Mountain

Well, okay, I wish we would have seen more wildlife. But the weather was really perfect and we got to see The High One without any clouds right up to the last spot, the turnaround at mile 66.