Alaska Vacation

SURPRISE! I was going to wait until my second anniversary of my last blog post but with Karen's help I have pictures and captions from our Alaska Vacation May 29 - June 5, 2011. We had been planning this trip for quite a while and Larry & I were able to go with his sister Linda and husband Duane and sister Paula and her husband Ted.

To start, I want to dedicate my first picture to Sterling. I was excited to see this sign telling us a town named after Sterling was only 5 miles away and there was even a highway named after him.

This picture is Larry's attempt to take a picture of a moose.

A cow and calf moose were daring enough to cross the highway but the calf turned back. The cow was very nervous about leaving her baby on the opposite side and tried several times to return but humans (us) stopped and distracted her. She eventually did get across.

This is the cabin we stayed for 6 days and 5 nights in Ninilchik, Alaska. It had everything we needed - 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room and TV!

This is the trustworthy boat and Captain Richie Roe. We went out at 5:00am the first day, 5:30am the second day, and 6:00am the last day. It wasn't dark - it was beautiful!

Nobody got sea sick - what a blessing!

Don't we look ready? I had thermal under my levis and 4 layers of shirts, and jackets. Larry is tough and only had his hoodie over his shirt.

Paula was layered too, but Linda takes the prize with layers and a parka.

Ted caught a stingray. It tastes like chicken.

Just kidding, Captain Richie threw it back.

This is the only picture I have of Duane. He only fished the first day and sat out the next two days because he said he wasn't feeling well. No comment.

This is a picture of my first keepable halibut. I was very excited! Notice the dark side and then the bloody white side - weird looking fish, but very tasty!

This fish is a cod. I wish Larry and I had a dollar for every cod we caught (that's an expression Larry uses a lot). We kept one the first day to eat that night, but cod doesn't freeze well so we didn't take any home. Captain Richie frequently kept cod for bait - fish are such cannibals.

This is our catch for the first day. Duane caught the biggest and I caught the next to biggest.

Captain Richie Roe filleting the fish, Larry taking off the skin, and Linda spraying the fillets with water. TEAMWORK

It was a 30 minute trip out to our fishing spot so it was easy to get a snoooooze both going out and returning. The portion of the boat with seats was comfortable to sleep and eat our sandwiches for lunch.

On the second day Ted and I got a salmon.

It really was the luck of the pole. We trolled while fishing for salmon and everyone picks a pole to watch and Ted and I happened to pick the two poles that two salmon happened to pick.

Our catch for the second day. Duane and Paula didn't go out on the boat so our total wasn't as good as the day before. Ted caught the biggest and Linda caught the next to biggest.

On the third day I caught 3 Irish Lords. They aren't the prettiest fish and aren't keepers. I had the Luck of the Irish!

Our catch on the third day. Paula went out but didn't stay for the picture. Linda caught the biggest halibut and the only salmon and I caught the next to biggest halibut.

I love this picture! I don't think he considers me his "fishing buddy" like he calls his sons and Uncle Paul, but I loved fishing with him in Alaska. Our 35th wedding anniversay is June 18 and I'd do it all over again.

The van we rented was packed tight. You can't see it but there was also luggage on top, too. The boxes are filled with 50 pounds of frozen fish.

We didn't see a bear in the Alaska wilderness but on the way home a black bear ran in front of the car in Indian Canyon. By the time I got the camera out and focused it was up the mountain.