We try to fish the Russian River at least once each year, even if the salmon run isn't particularly strong. It's a fun river to cast into, good practice and experience for the boys, and usually a good place to see some bears regardless of how many fish are pushing up stream. Here Landon casts into the deeper section of the river, hoping to find a salmon hiding there that we couldn't see.
He also spent a fair amount of time helping Grayson get the hang of the "flip" cast.
Grayson was a pro before long, and I realized this was the first fishing trip that neither boy needed my help to cast, untangle, or retrieve hung lures. Unfortunately the previous day saw a large push of fish upriver, and our day in the river was just stragglers. Landon and I each hooked into one (the only one hanging around that we could find), but none of us brought any fish home. Fortunately, our freezer is still half full from last season, and we need to keep some room for a moose just in case Landon gets one this year in his hunt (he ended up drawing an 'overage' cow moose permit for the area around our house, due to larger moose population numbers than expected). It's no guarantee, but this is the same hunt Jolene took her moose on back in '09.
Instead, of cleaning fish, we tried a new cabin site, at a neighbor's fish camp in Cooper Landing, and it was the nicest cabin we've stayed at on the Kenai Peninsula. Electricity, running water, fridge, grill and even a TV - that's about as close to 'glamping' as you can get in Alaska. And of course the boys looked forward to a hot dinner on our little camp stove.
The cabin sits right on the Kenai River, with magnificent views along the river bank.
After the post-dinner walk to the river, we cooked some s'mores. We intended to stop at Hope, AK on our way home, to re-visit a site we had visited nearly 10 years ago, and to try to catch (and release) some humpies (pink salmon) that are starting to show up in Hope. But Jolene stayed home after a long trip to the East Coast, so we delayed the Hope trip til later.
The new grass was starting to come up, and was looking nice and undisturbed....until last night around midnight, when a cow moose and her calf decided to wander around on our newly hydroseeded area. I was awake and saw them approaching from inside the house. but thought better of trying to go out and shoo her away. Her calf was small, and she likely wouldn't have reacted well to a crazy-looking middle-aged man in his skivvies running around in the dark waving wildly at her and her calf. So....now we have moose tracks all through the new grass. Makes me sad, and hungry for ice cream all at the same time.
We dropped Landon off for church camp today, so as soon as we got home Grayson got to start on all his projects I have set up for him while his brother is away. First, he learned to stain a door (luckily for him, I happened to have a badly weathered man-door to our garage that was perfect for him to master a new skill on). He's got more exciting projects waiting once he finishes putting the clear coat on this door tomorrow.
Potatoes are doing well, considering that we left them unattended for nearly a month while we were away in Europe. They're not as big or healthy as last year, but then again we still have potatoes left from last year that need to be eaten.
Jolene picks a fireweed bloom on the bluff each year to monitor our progress through Summer. In Alaska, the fireweed bloom slowly moves up the stalk, and when the bloom reaches the very tip-top, it's a signal that Summer is over (the real legend is that once the bloom turns to seed, you have 6 weeks til Winter, but since our Fall is more like everyone else's Winter, we just say that Summer is over). According to this fireweed, we still have some of our Summer left, but the 'Alaska hourglass' is moving steadily along.
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