MONSOON SEASON

Greetings from Seldovia, the rain capitol of the world! At least it seems like it. It has rained twelve out of the last thirteen days, and I'm pretty sure it sprinkled on that other day too. Mostly life goes on as usual. The fishing we've done has all been in the rain. We've sat outside and enjoyed our view of the water, from under the awning that is. Everyone goes on about their business.....wearing the fashion correct clothing for the monsoon season, yellow slickers. Or orange. And calf high rubber boots. Brown. The roads that used to be full of deep pot holes are now full of water filled deep pot holes. The white truck is no longer vanilla looking, but rather a rich chocolate brown. The ATV's that used to come roaring through the campground at all hours of the day or night are almost nonexistent! We've done some canning. I've almost finished a flannel baby quilt. I've read five books. We've had wonderful dinners of salmon and halibut, accompanied by fresh garden lettuce, broccoli, and turnips. We've enjoyed visiting with Chris and Amy and grand dog, Stella.

And I'm loving' it!

SO LONG SELDOVIA

RANDOM PHOTOS AND THOUGHTS

Just a couple of random photos. This is a stairway down a cliff that Chris and Jeff built for the people who live on the hillside. It's really neat looking up close.

Here's the pump where we get our water at the campground.

Some huge bundles of moss growing on the trees. There's a lot of moss here; makes the hillsides look so green.

And a correction: My friend, Joni, who I have coffee with every day, asked how long we were staying here. I stupidly replied: August 1! Well, that is wrong. We hope to stay until September 1 or thereabouts. Don't know how I moved up our departure date by a month! I won't be ready to leave by September, let alone August!

And one more thing. Daughter, Gail, is having surgery on Tuesday to attempt to repair some of

her damaged pancreas. She is having two cysts drained and stents put in. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I feel bad that I'm not there to help her out, but the doctor just finally scheduled the surgery and turns out it's now.

DELICIOUS CATCH

Cue the music for "Dangerous Catch" and sit back to watch "Delicious Catch."

Chris put out a long line on Friday morning. Do you know what a long line is? It's a long line (what did you think it would be?) of rope with a buoy on each end that is attached to an anchor. The long line has multiple lines attached to it with hooks on each one. You bait the hooks and set it out in the ocean, then come back hours later to see what you have. So we went back out to check the line late Friday afternoon. Unlike the TV show mentioned above, we did not have a huge boat, seas of 20-50 or more feet, sleet and snow blowing in our face, waves crashing over the rail, nor the green faces that would accompany the rough ride of the crab fishermen.

The first task is to spot the buoys. There is it, off on the right.

Haul it in with the gaff hooker thing. (See how technical I am?) Then start pulling in the line to check the hooks.

The first thing he pulled up was an ugly looking thing he called a bullhead. Nothing like a Minnesota bullhead, but I guess he meant it isn't attractive or good eating. (And I know some will differ with me, but I don't eat bullhead or catfish. Period. Don't eat them.)

Then comes a starfish. I didn't know a starfish would take bait and get itself hooked on a fishing line, did you?

Well, those things weren't what we were looking for. Chris pulled up many empty hooks until he exclaimed "I see white!"

He got it into the boat with no problems, and there we were, proud fishermen with a delicious catch, a nice halibut!

And was it ever! Delicious, I mean. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

The water looked like liquid silver under the dark gloomy skies. I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but it really looked like liquid silver!

STELLA AND CANNING

This is grand dog, Stella. She's black lab and a few other things.....maybe a little pit bull, but she is a very sweet dog. She loves to play sticks, and will bring you sticks of all sizes to throw for her. All sizes includes big logs for the fire, a pine cone, or maybe a blade of grass! Goofy dog! She has easily wormed her way into our hearts.

Been raining for about five days now. It was very dry, so the rain is welcome. But enough is enough now, okay? Makes a campfire hard to enjoy, but Chris and Amy are game to stand in the rain.

They cleaned and cut up the latest batch of salmon they caught yesterday.....I think the count was twelve this time. I stayed home and made beef barley soup and baking powder biscuits for the wet fishermen when they arrived back at camp.

And today I canned my first 8 pints of salmon. Have another batch about the same size to do up soon as we get back to the camper. I'm hoping next winter I'll be transported back to Seldovia when I use the salmon for supper!

A TALE OF SALMON

First a boat ride through some spectacular scenery, even in the fog and rain.

Then Amy expertly guides us through the deepest channels.Then Ernie, Chris and Amy fish for red salmon. (At eighty bucks for a fourteen day out of state license, I let Ernie have the honor and I did camera duty!)

They are caught and thrown in the pail to then be cleaned and put on ice when we got back to shore. They got twelve nice red salmon.

The next day Chris cut them in strips and soaked them in a brine.

After drying a day or so, they are put in the smoker for another day, and when finished will be canned.

Oh, we did keep some out for dinner last night, but I neglected to take a picture of this one, grilled with a sauce of molasses, soy sauce, garlic and fresh basil out of the garden. Another winning recipe!

THE FIRST SALMON MEAL

Better watch yourself or they'll lock you up in this jail.......a crab pot, sitting next the the grocery store called, of course, The Crab Pot.



We went for a nice ride around Seldovia Bay in Chris and Amy's new boat. Well, not new by any means, but they didn't have one before, so it's new to them. This afternoon we are going fishing for salmon.

This guys stands guard over the campground, and the next in the next tree over that has little ones in it. I love to watch eagles flying overhead. They are so majestic.

And these are the dinner guests we had last night. Chris, Amy and Stella, the granddog. She is a sweetie and will wear you out playing fetch sticks.

And this was the dinner main course. Salmon, on the grill, cooked with mango, cilantro and lime. It was to die for! Absolutely the best! Gotta get out there and catch some more!

The skies are cloudy and it's a little drippy today, not really raining right now, just spitting. But they sure could use rain. It's very dry and there are burning bans in effect. So, let it rain, and then clear up when we go fishing this afternoon!

WAS IT WORTH IT?

So, you ask, was enduring the 4,117 miles of bumpy, bouncy, teeth chattering, bone rattling road worth it in the end? You tell me........

The view from our campspot......by the way, we are the only ones camping here.

The cabin Chris and Amy built..........

Ernie carrying supplies down the path, across the boardwalk to the cabin........

The vegetable garden terraced in front of the cabin.......

The fresh garden salad we enjoyed..........

And the eleven o'clock sunset behind Mt. Illiamna.......was it worth it? You bet it was!

STILL NOT WORKING

I'm still not able to upload photos. I think I'll try my laptop this afternoon. But of course I'll have to email myself the photos from this netbook to the laptop because I have the photos stored on this one. We'll give it a try at least!

Back to you later!

ISSUES

Is anyone else having problems uploading photos? I have a very strong signal, but can't post a photo. Is it blogger?

4117 MILES

We made it! All 4117 miles of bumpy road later, and a 17 mile ferry ride across the bay, and we are here. I am so glad to be finished with that bumpy, bouncy, bone rattling, teeth chattering road! This is the third time we've driven up, and the roads were the worst this time. But it's beginning to be a faint memory now, as we've settled into the park, hooked up the generator, and visited with our son at his cabin. So was it worth it? You betcha!

We arrived in Anchorage on Sunday night and had dinner and a great visit with Ernie's brother Gary and his wife Gail. That was a lot of fun! Since we were last here Gail has successfully fought breast cancer, so it was an extra tight hug that I gave her when I first saw her. She looks great and is winning the battle! Gary is retiring at the end of next week, and they are taking off for Minnesota! But they'll be back before we leave, so we will see them again.

Monday morning we left our camp spot and headed for an RV dealer to get a fix for the shower head. Accomplished that within just a few minutes, and we headed to Fred Meyer for grocery shopping. I found great prices, good selection, and because I had a $30 off coupon if I spent $150, I saved some considerable bucks! Yay me! Then we headed to Homer. Arrived there and found a spot right on the Spit, within feet of the water. I had a wonderful walk and a good night's sleep.

Bright and early yesterday morning we went to the Alaska Ferry Terminal and bought the tickets for the last leg of our trip. We loaded about ten and took off about noon, for a 1:30 arrival in Seldovia. I have some pictures that I'll put in the next post.

It's been one year since my mom died. It's been a rough year at times. I still miss her daily, but I would not wish her back. There is no doubt that she is enjoying eternity with our Lord, and I will see here again when it's my time. I thank you for your support and comforting words when I was really struggling. You friends are the best!

GREETINGS FROM THE YUKON!

Bet you thought I fell off the face of a mountain! Well, we drove on mountains, over mountains, and around mountains, we slept on mountains, ate on mountains, and generally lived on mountains for the past week, but we did not fall off one! However, if you know anything about mountains, you know that they don't allow cell phone signals or internet access. At least not in the remote areas that we traveled.

Last Sunday we moved to Many Glacier, our favorite campground in Glacier National Park. We spent the day reading, enjoying the scenery, and scoping the mountainside for game. We found it! Ernie found a griz, and while we were watching it we saw two more bears, looked like a sow and cub. On Monday we moved a short distance up the road to Waterton Lakes National Park, which is Canada's portion of the whole Glacier/Waterton area. We walked through the quaint little village in the rain, and attended a ranger show that night. On Tuesday we took off to the north and hit the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Lake Louise, and headed northwest to Jasper where we spent the night, again in the rain. Wednesday we drove west on the Yellowhead Highway (Hwy 16) to the tiny native village of Morice where we spent the night with a smidgen of wireless internet signal for a few minutes. Not long enough to write anything. And then yesterday, Thursday, we headed North to Alaska for real, up the Cassiar Highway, (Hwy 37). What a day! I have pictures in my camera to show you, but just be warned that they aren't pretty.....road construction, bumps, frost heaves, busted up highway, gravel, rain, and two ruined bikes. Apparently they shifted off the carrier when we flew over one of those bumps, and the handle bars and seats are totally shredded. I haven't even really checked them out to see if they can be fixed because I was so upset. But they are probably history.

Today we drove a short distance, about 260 miles, which felt really great after the 500 dreadful miles yesterday. Our stay last night was at the intersection of the Cassiar Highway and the Alaska Highway, so today we are on the real Alaska Highway. And the road has been in good condition so far. However, we are only in Whitehorse. We know the road gets worse after this, so we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that it's not as bad as the Cassiar.

And our campground tonight will be a bit noisy. You see, rv'ers on the highway to Alaska are allowed to stay in the WalMart parking lot and this parking lot is right off the highway. Fun, uh? I'll take pictures to show you the unique campground.

I have a lot of pictures to post, but this signal at the library doesn't seem to want to let me post them. I'll keep trying, but I mainly wanted to let you know that we are fine, just no signals. I've missed you all!

THE GOING TO THE SUN ROAD

Today we did the Going to the Sun Road, the most beautiful and most amazing road project I have ever seen. The road is fifty miles long, and is billed as one of the world's most spectacular highways. We have driven it a half dozen times or more, but this time we took the bus and left the driving to them! The park is using shuttles which has greatly reduced the traffic on the road, which at times is bumper to bumper on a narrow, wet highway. We took a shuttle from St Mary, where we are camped, to Logan Pass, which sits at the continental divide. Then another shuttle from Logan to Avalanche Creek, and then another to Apgar Village, on the west side of the park. We had lunch there, and then repeated the trip, back over the pass to St. Mary Campground again. These pictures are in no particular order.

MacDonald Lake on the west side of the park, in Apgar Village. Lovely lake, clear and cold.

Some flowers in a planter in Apgar Village. There are flowers everywhere, and you know me! I had to shoot them all!

Taken through the bus window up towards Logan Pass on the west side of the divide.

The flags of America and Canada, flying proudly at Logan Pass. This park is located in both nations.........we share it! I think that is so neat. Two countries are friendly and share a great attraction. We will head to Many Glacier Campground tomorrow, just for the day and night, and then up to Waterton Lakes, the Canadian portion of the park, on Monday. Then it will really feel like we are on the way to Alaska!

Happy Fourth, and God Bless America!

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

We are here. This is the road going right by our camper, and yes, we can see the mountains from here. It was a long day from Williston ND to St. Mary's Campground in Glacier National Park. We did see some beautiful scenery along the way, but the cell phone connection is very weak tonight, so I'll be glad if just this one photo publishes! Nothing like a primitive campground........with a generator for power and a cell phone for an internet connection. Boy some people are getting soft, aren't they. Well, yes, I am!

Montana has big beautiful blue skies. It has lovely green wheat fields. It also has those little white crosses along side the road to show where people have been killed in traffic accidents. I don't like them. In one little stretch of a mile, we saw nine crosses. It was the first mile leading out of town and the bars. And in one spot there were six crosses all attached together. They make me sad and I don't like them.

Tomorrow is the Fourth. We plan to lock up the camper and truck, and hike back to the Visitor's Entrance and catch the free van to take us on the Going to the Sun Road. They are trying to lessen the traffic on the road, so are now offering the shuttles. It should be a full day if we get off at a few of our favorite spots, go all the way to West Glacier, and then catch a shuttle back. I hope to take lots of pictures as this is one of the most scenic spots in the USA, but I'm not sure how many I can post with the cell phone connection. I can post them later when I get a stronger WIFI connection.

Until then, have a fun but safe Fourth of July. And God Bless America!

AND UP FROM THE GROUND CAME A-BUBBLING CRUDE..........

................oil, that is. Texas tea. Black gold.

This is a new sight in Western North Dakota. There are many new oil wells lining the highway and standing proudly in the once green wheat fields. The farmers have found a new crop....oil.

We used to see miles and miles of these green fields, stretching as far as the eye can see. Now often they are sharing the space with an oil pump and huge tanks.

I think the green fields are much prettier.

Oh, you still see thousands of acres of grain fields, and many grain bins, but you do see more and more of the oil rigs.
Rolling hills and green pastures are another beautiful sight in North Dakota.

Tonight we are living in a campground in Williston, close to the Montana border. Tomorrow we start across the huge state of Montana, heading for Glacier National Park. I know. It's the Fourth of July weekend coming up. I don't know where we'll rest our weary heads tomorrow night, but we're heading that way anyhow.

It was a beautiful sunshiny day. I think it hit 80, and it was very pleasant driving. We only made a couple of stops. Once for lunch in a Slumberland parking lot where we dined on cheese or peanut butter sandwiches, and twice to feed the truck some diesel fuel. We are both tired tonight and after a shower, I am heading to bed whether the sun has set or not!

AS PROMISED......

....here I am, live and in living color, coming to you via my cell phone and my little Acer. It hooked up just as it was supposed to, on the first try! So I was able to check my email and read a couple of blogs. You know. The important things.

We are here in East Grand Forks, camping by the river in a campground that was under water just a few weeks ago. I waved as I passed your city, Lena, and was amazed at how far behind your crops are! Our corn is waist high and more, and here it is about 6 inches. Not a good year.

We had our son, Lenny, his wife, Connie, and their son, Sammy over for a few hours, and had a nice visit and a kid friendly meal at Mac and Don's. On our way back through in September we hope to stay a few days and spend more time with them. Right now we're kind of pushing to get west towards Glacier so we can find a spot before the Fourth.

Pictures are v.....e.........r.........y slow through this connection, however, so I won't be posting many until I get a WIFI connection. But I am excited that it works! Yay for me, and thank you Clayton!