July

The ship was out for the first 10 days of July, but there were quite a few events to keep us busy.  All of our moving around has taught me that the 4th of July is best celebrated in a small town, and Homer is no exception.  The American Legion put on a children's carnival.  I expected rubber ducks in a plastic pool and a pie eating contest, and I was correct, but there were many more booths and games too.  The kids had a blast and really love that they run into people they know everywhere.  Kate is to the age where she can just roam a small event like this with her buddies and feel really independent.

The Homer parade was in the evening and I worried a bit about the inevitable unequal distribution of candy because Kate is an animal at these events.  James usually doesn't care though so I just hoped for the best.  All my worry was for not though because James is also an animal.   When the U.S. Senator came by in the car, James ran up with his hands out, "Where is the candy?" he yelled.  He also had a technique I've never seen before whereby he would follow the float down the street and keep catching candy from the same float, stepping in front of the people waiting along the curb.  Unorthodox, embarrassing (for me), and successful all at the same time.

Kate, James, and friends waiting for the parade to start.

 

Here is when it all breaks down: Kate loses all civility when the first piece of candy is tossed out.

 

Early July also brought the second annual Kachemak Bay Highland Games.

Fish and chips, tartans, and of course pipes and drums never disappoint.  The Crow Creek Pipe and Drum Corps that came down from Anchorage to play donned the Ramsay plaid as well.  Banner day.

 

James wore the kilt my grandfather brought to me from Scotland when I was just a wee one and made us all proud competing in the children's caber toss (cardboard carpet roll--genius!),

 

stone put, and Alaska's unique salmon toss.

 

 

  

Although the salmon in the toss was stuffed, the second run of "real" sockeye salmon started in mid-July.  There are five types of salmon here: 
Sockeye (Red)
Pink
Coho (Silver)
King (Chinook)
Chum

I have decided to focus all my efforts on the reds because they are most delicious.  Lucky for us, the state marks specific areas for personal use dip netting for Alaska residents only.  We are now Alaska residents (more on that this fall), so we can take 55 sockeye salmon for our household.  We are constantly learning about the subsistence living opportunities provided to Alaska residents.  First, it was one Christmas tree, now it's 55 of some of the best salmon in the world.  Standing around with a rod and reel seems silly when you can drop a net with a six foot diameter in the river to catch salmon swimming upstream. 

Until now, I've never caught a fish in my life, so I am very happy with this method.  We went on three different occasions and brought home 24 fish.  Many families drive for hours and camp at the beach until they get their quota.  It's a crowded, crazy scene during dip net season.  We are lucky to be 1.5 hours from the Kasilof and Kenai Rivers, so we made day trips.  It is certainly easier than casting and reeling in, but at times it felt like playing a slot machine.  We would check the sonar counts (below) and tide charts each night and try to predict when the run would spike. 

The fish come in waves.  The river is lined with people dip netting and either everyone is standing and talking or everyone is catching fish faster than they can put them in the bucket.  On our first trip, Brian was catching so quickly that I became in charge of gutting.  Not the role I had envisioned for myself, but Alaska does not disappoint in the crazy adventures department and I always love learning something new.

The kids were fired up for the first couple and helped to bonk the fish (put them out of their misery) and clip the tails (a dip net catch requirement).

Then, they took to building sand castles.  Next year, we hope to hit our quota as we will be better prepared with the necessary gear.  We are currently taking reservations for our guest room next summer...want to come visit in mid-July to witness the spectacle, watch the kids for us while we fish, and most importantly eat wild Alaskan sockeye salmon?

After watching YouTube videos, talking to friends, and even watching the guys on the spit, we are halfway decent at filleting our own catch.  Here is Brian at the public fish cleaning station on the Homer spit.

 

 

Brian's has mastered the smoked salmon already. Amazing.

Brian and the crew tapped into to some great fishing spots this month as well.  The ship worked buoys during the day and then dropped anchor for the night in what they hoped to be good halibut fishing spots.  Apparently, over half the crew was out at two in the morning fishing (still light out of course).  Assembly line fillet and vacuum sealing allowed many crew members to come home and stock their freezes.  Perfect timing for us as we had just run out of last summer's supply. 

Someone on board caught a giant octopus, so there was 3am ceviche and calamari too. 

 

The weather in July continued to break records.  It seemed like everyday was sunny and warm(ish).  The kids went for another swim in the bay,

and we took out our paddle board for some stand up paddle on the reservoir.

Kate is getting pretty good.

 

Tutka Bay Lodge, accessible only by boat, helicopter or float plane, is a high end wilderness lodge across the bay from us.  Overnight accommodations are $1000 per person per night, so this is not a place we planned to visit.

However, an ad in the paper advertising an evening of local seafood prepared by the on-site chef, served outdoors on the deck, and featuring poetry by local fishermen and women provided a perfect opportunity to experience the place without the overnight costs. 

The weather was unbeatable and the scenery out of a magazine for sure.  As our boat arrived there was another small boat pulling up with fresh oysters.  We stepped off the boat to drinks and oyster shooters and then the night got better with...

 

crab legs, impossibly huge halibut steaks,

 

smoked and grilled salmon, as well as paella.

 

 

 

The dinner was somewhat small with about 40 people under the tent. 

 

We sat between a local fisher poet and nationally recognized novelist from Homer.  The poetry readings were a meaningful and enjoyable way to think about the food on our plate. Here is a short poem shared during the dinner.

 

Kitchen Scales

by Meezie Hermansen

 

Chinook, coho, sockeye, and pink

Eat your salmon however you think

Try salmon pate, dip, or spread

Or salmon salad on slices of bread

Smokes, baked, poached, or broiled

Kippered or pickled or even boiled

Burgers, bisque, chowder and cakes

Cavier, crepes, fillets, and steaks

Salt fish, jerky, or fish head soup

Pan fried, grilled, soufflé or mousse

Whether fancy or plain, however it's styled

Make sure all the salmon you eat is wild

 

 

Speaking of local food, our garden boxes are blowin' up.  The salad is super tasty and we can barely eat all that we're growing.  There is currently a daily minimum salad requirement in our house.

 

The carrots are yummy, but their growth was a bit stunted by the water reservoir in the bottom of the box,

 

 

so next year we'll put them in the ground.  We are still waiting for the potatoes, but the broccoli and peas look just about ready.  Who knew broccoli plants were huge and that they flower?

 

 

Container gardening has been a lot of fun.  Low maintenance, high yield. 

 

 

 

 

 

Operation Purple

This July, Kate had the privilege of attending Operation Purple at Camp Kenai on Kenai Lake.  The camp is organized by the National Military Family Association known for supporting military spouses with educational scholarships, organizing and funding retreats to help military families reconnect after dealing with a war-related injury or after long separations, and sending 45,000 military children to summer camp.  The camp gives priority to children who have recently experienced a deployed parent.  Most of the attendees came from the joint Air Force/Army base in Anchorage, but there were several Coast Guard kids as well.  I'm sure Hickory's 220+ days away this year helped Kate gain admission.  Kate's best friend from school is also from a Coast Guard family as her dad's serves on a Coast Guard cutter based out of Kodiak Island.  So Kate, Laura, and her older sister Amy set off for their first experience at sleep away camp. 

From the day school got out in May until July 14, Kate was counting down the days.  I don't think she had a nervous bone in her body.  Here she is helping to pack her bag.

Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing is outlandishly beautiful.  I can't think of a better place to spend a week meeting new friends and enjoying nature. 

Kate (above) with all her gear awaiting her cabin assignment and the arrival of the campers being bused in from Anchorage.

Kate and Laura grabbed the top bunks and then asked us if it was time to leave yet.

James would have been lost at home without Kate, but we had company to keep him busy.  He was thrilled to receive a letter from Kate though. 

When we picked up Kate on Friday, the first thing she asked is if she could stay another week.  The ride home was great as Kate talked non stop.  Below is a list dictated by Kate of all the things they did along with her comments and observations. 

• Camp in a tent one night with three other girls and no counselor.  Hang flashlight from loop at top of tent and have a disco party.
• Hike to Russian River falls.  See tons of big salmon spawning in the river.
  

• Canoe Kenai Lake, collect mud for glacial facial later that night during girls night in the cabin.
• Play Gaga Ball.

• Learn to start a fire with match and flint.
• Sing lots and lots of fun songs.
• Try and like new foods in the dining hall (tacos, but eating all items separately, noodles with tomato sauce on top, and egg bake).  Appalled that there was no milk all week (there is no electricity at camp and the kitchen runs on a generator, so refrigerator space is most likely limited). 
• No longer interested in snacks.  Prefer eating 3 large meals a day.
• Make tie dyed t-shirts.
• Loved competing for camp awards like Golden Dustpan (cleanest cabin) and Least Amount of ORT.   Each table in the dining hall weighed uneaten food (ORT) at the end of the meal.  The table with the least amount of ORT/wasted food was awarded a small prize.
• Raft the Kenai River and see a baby bear on the bank of the river.
• Dunk 17 times in the Glacially fed Kenai Lake to earn Kodiak Bear status.
• Use sauna to warm up after swimming in lake.
• Join Polar Plunge Club by sleeping in bathing suit and waking early to jump in the lake before breakfast.

Seward: Part Deux

Since our day trip into Kenai Fjords National Park was cancelled last fall due to inclement weather, we opted to reschedule for the summer when we were more likely to see whales, and we invited some friends to come along.  We stopped at the Russian River again for a little fishing, not catching.  Salmon Beware: One way or another, we're going to get you!

There is a military "resort" in Seward (more like a posh fish cleaning station).  The place is nice, but the draw for most seems to be the reduced price fishing charters and the fish cleaning house.  It was pretty full in the evening with cutting, gutting, filleting and vacuum sealing.  How nice not to do that at your house or hotel though.  Anyway, all of the hotel rooms and condos were booked, so lucky for Brian and the kids, we had to camp.   We used the ship's morale tent again.  The new camp mats were a great improvement, but a four person tent is too small for us.  We can't fit any stuff inside, so we left everything in the car parked by the really nice and new bathhouse.  We kept walking to the car to change clothes or get a toothbrush or whatever.  We had more amenities than the average camper in Alaska... café on site, hot showers, flush toilets, and a playground, but we experienced the more traditional aspects of camping as well:  s'mores, canned beer, and cramped sleeping.  Jessie dog loves the tent.  She sleeps at the end of the sleeping bags and whenever anyone makes any attempt to sit up she stands and wags her tail (Is now the time we go out?).  The tent is so small and her tail so powerful that it hits three of the four walls making loud noises and sending me in full panic mode that she will wake the children and I will have to begin my day at a dreadful hour.  All in all the kids slept pretty well as they played hard all day and stayed up late.

We stayed two nights and took a 6 hour day trip into Prince William Sound to Kenai Fjords National Park on a high speed catamaran on day two. 

Heading out into Resurrection Bay

 

The captain looked like he was 12 years old, so we were all a bit worried, but Brian and our friend Jay, an Alaska Marine Highway Pilot, gave everything the once over and away we went.
Seward is known for overcast skies and rainy weather, so we felt lucky that not only was the sky blue and the temperature around 60, but the seas were calm as well.
We saw a humpback whale and calf frolicking, several orca whale sightings including a large, lone whale, mama and juvenile (pictured below), and a small pod. 

We also saw a stellar sea lion colony,

sea otters,

 

 

puffins, and dall's porpoise.  The porpoise were by far my favorite as they love to play in the bow wake and swim along with the boat. They have the coloring of an orca, but are obviously much smaller.  They were fast and playful and worth looking up if you've never heard of them.  I just decided to enjoy them with the kids and not bother trying to mess with the camera.

Next, we hit Holgate Glacier.

 

We sat and watched the glacier for 15 minutes or so and saw it calve, or drop ice chunks into the water, several times.  It was the coolest.

Who knew it sounded like dynamite when a few chunks of ice fall into the ocean?  The crew scooped up several small and large pieces of floating ice in a net and let all the children (and me) hold it.

Then, they chopped up the ice and used it to serve margaritas for the ride back. James, a bit exhausted from the late nights camping this week, fell asleep for about an hour on what could be considered the dashboard of the catamaran.  It was precious, as are all sleeping children really.

While James was sleeping, Kate was sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger for her work on board, receiving a badge before we docked.

All and all it was a great trip for the family time, wildlife sightings, and time with friends. 

June

It seems as if the trade off for the long winter was a sunny and warm June, the likes of which no one in Homer has seen in 20 years. Mid 60s doesn't sound all that warm, but it felt like it. We had consistent warm sun and blue skies for an entire month.

 

That is really my car parked in our driveway (above) and Kate sunning herself on the deck (below).

We spent a lot of time in our yard and on the deck because unlike the beach and park, there was no wind. The kids played in the yard with the hose and even went for a dip in the ocean with some friends.

I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up, while taking the above photo. Here they are looking a little cold after 20 minutes of running around in the water.

The dynamic has shifted among siblings this summer as James is now old enough for some organized sports/activities and Kate has come to value a completely unstructured summer day. James is playing soccer and taking swim lessons and Kate is perfectly happy to run around with the older siblings in lieu of being on the field or in the pool.

Kate, however, is now old enough to participate in HoWL (Homer Wilderness Leaders). So far, she has been canoeing and stand-up paddle boarding on the resevoir, swimming (with a wet suit) in Kachemak Bay, and learning to cook on the beach. I'm pretty sure the last one involved a serious amount of chocolate and marshmallows though. She is leaving next week for a week at sleep away camp and I hope to have her do a future blog post about camp.

We've had great success with our garden boxes. I am eating salads regularly from our garden and the carrots are just about ready. The snap peas are the only thing that didn't like transferring outdoors. These photos were taken in late June.

Salad greens, spinach, & mesclun

Container gardening proved a good method for us as we did not do any fall prep to our yard or the wildly overgrown garden plots that came with the house. These garden boxes do not require any weeding and are inaccessible to moose, rabbits, porcupine, etc. So far, they have also been slug free.

Broccoli, carrots, and some rough looking snap peas.

Below, the kids are planting a few variety of potatoes. This bed was full of weeds and a lone raspberry bush, so I attempted to clear it and turn it over. We are hoping potatoes will be easy enough to keep track of and weed around.

I started clearing another bed until I ran into pushki (photo below). It is ever present in Alaska and our yard. On the Kenai Peninsula, pushki, known as cow's parsnip in the lower 48, can grow over 6 feet tall. It produces a large white flower in July, but the plant can cause blistering rashes if you touch it (or the liquid in the stalk anyway). The plant is photosensitive too, so the blisters are much worse if your skin is exposed to the sun after you touch it.

Needless to say, I just threw wildflower seeds in that bed and decided it wasn't worth my effort. Once the plant has died in the fall, it is safe to dig up, but I think it is really difficult to clear it all. I think I'll stick to what I've got so far.

The week of summer solstice found me reading in bed until 1am without any lights on. The master bedroom in our house is a loft, so it never really gets dark in the summer. I often stay up until well after midnight and it's still light when I climb in bed. I've also been up with James to hit the toilet around 3:30am and it's as if the sun is just rising. Finally, a 2:30am trip to the lou proved it does get darkish here in the summer. It was, however, a full moon so it wasn't too dark. It was actually a super moon with extreme high and low tides. We went to do a bit of tide pooling the next day.

 

Low tide is great for finding all kinds of cool stuff, and Kate is really good at it.

Sea anenome

Teeny tiny flounder (no idea how she spotted this one),

Below, Kate digs for the elusive clam

Brian came home in mid June and immediately went to work on a fort for the kids. We found a couple shipping pallets with a large note that said FREE last month and have had them in our yard (true Alaska style) for a while awaiting construction. His vision for turning the pallets into a fort was pretty amazing.

As you can imagine the kids want to live in the fort. Kate made several traditional and original games with rocks and scrap wood to play in the fort. Below they are tyring to move in before we finished the floor.

We have since completed the siding, floors and screened in the windows, but this is the only photo I have and I am feeling pressed to publish this June blog post since I'm about to turn the calendar to August. I fear if I don't post something soon I will get buried and not want to dig myself out.

June also brings the first run of sockeye (red) salmon. Friends told us they went 2 hours to the Russian River for a day trip and caught 3 each. They said the fish were bumper to bumper in the river and the water was crystal clear. The next few days were booked for us, but we hoped to catch the tail end of the 7-10 day run. I suggested we go for the day, but Brian felt strongly it was time for our family to camp. I noted the name of a hotel with free breakfast and a pool enroute and prayed all the campsites would be taken. This particular river is arguably the most popular salmon fishing site in Alaska and there are only two salmon runs each summer. I had a shot. Alas, there was one site available at one of the three campsites near the river. We set up the tent and headed for the river.
We knew the confluence of the Kenai and Russian Rivers was the combat fishing zone pictured in post cards. We knew that the Russian River was notorious for bears, but somehow I expected to catch fish and not see bears. It was quite the opposite. Shortly after leaving the parking lot, we followed the wooden stairs down the the river and followed the boardwalk along the river. We walked only a few short steps when we saw 3 brown bears eating salmon from the river. Are you shitting me? A bear eating a salmon out of the river! It was like everything you expect from this enormous state 20 yards in front of me. Completely wild.

It was on the bucket list, but I kind of hoped I didn't see it, but then again I really wanted to see it and not in some bear preserve or from a bus. My heart was beating crazy fast. You won't believe this, but I actually was carrying my fancy camera too. All bear encounters are a bit scary, but it helps when the bears are happily eating salmon out of the river and Brian and I are both carrying bear spray. I most certainly would not want to meet these bears in the fall as they try to put on weight by eating berries (or god forbid me) because the fish have stopped running. There was a mama bear and two juveniles. By the time I processed and got out my camera, mama was in the tall grass supervising the little ones as they ate. She paced back and forth watching the whole time and when they took off to follow her, they were really, really fast.

The fishing pole is just a prop here. I had to hold it so Brian could take the photo. We had truly just walked up to the river and no one was fishing (except the bears). Actually, most of what they are eating is fish leftovers. Anglers usually gut the fish, sometimes even fillet it, in the river. Then, they throw the carcass back in the river. Birds and bears (and our kids) don't seem to mind that the river is literally flowing with fish parts.

Above, mama bear supervises from the tall grass as baby comes closer to us to grab a fish from the river. Is this blowing your mind?

My heart was exhausted and full all at the same time. I didn't really care if we caught a fish or not. This is what you want to see in Alaska or at least this is how you want your bear encounter to unfold. Offhand, I can remember one other similar experience traveling in Scotland. We were tired and cramped after a long day of driving in the tiny car. The Isle of Skye proved farther than expected. Driving extremely narrow, country roads (on the opposite side mind you) is not easy for the driver or the person in the passenger seat who is sure they will die at the next turn. We realized we couldn't make it to our planned stop for the night, yet there wasn't really any place to stop. Baby Kate is in the car. Then, we come around a turn and see a magnificent castle, hanging out just a smidge into the loch. Donan castle has a spotlight on it and oh yes a bagpiper playing on the bridge to the castle. He isn't wearing the Ramsay Tartan, but naturally he is in full Scottish dress. I insist we stop the car so I can take it all in. I remember being so choked up and thinking the entire scene was beyond iconic, and the most insane part was that I was standing in the middle of it. I didn't need any more Tenants, fish and chips, thistle, or sheep. I had experienced Scotland. Strangely enough, I really FEEL like I live in Alaska now because I had my own little bear encounter.

Brian, however, wanted salmon. So, we walked further along the boardwalk until we hit the confluence of the two rivers. Only one person we passed walking out had fish. This was disheartening, but still it was worth the walk and a few attempts to cast out. Although you can fish from the banks, there were not a lot of people doing so. Brian is the only one with chest waders, so he headed out to give it a go.

Although busy, it's not anywhere near the combat fishing of magazines and postcards. It was kind of cool to see the two different rivers meet though. The Russian River is crystal clear. You can see if the fish are running or not. This is probably why the bears like it so much. The Kenai River is glacier fed. It is a beautiful blue and makes for wonderful photos when you drive over it, but the river is silty so you can't see the fish.

The photo below shows a make-shift fish cleaning station in the middle fo the two rivers. You can see the blue of the Kenai flowing into the Russian.

Although he didn't catch a salmon, neither did anyone else. (Well, we did see two or three during our 1 hour visit). It appears as if the early sockeye run is mostly complete. Oh well. The second run is bigger anyway, and I SAW A BEAR EAT A FISH OUT OF A RIVER.

I got what I wanted, so now the kids got what they wanted, roasted marshmallows.

Surprisingly, the camp experience was okay. We used the ship's morale tent. It fit four sleeping bags perfectly and we crammed the dog in too. The kids slept pretty well. I didn't because the camp host told us there was a bear that wandered there often. I laid awake most of the night trying to think what I would actually do when I heard him/her huffing and snorting outside the tent. Thankfully, it was a non issue. Brian and I both agreed the yoga mat was not sufficient under our sleeping bags, so we stopped on the way home to pick up some new camp mats since we already have planned to camp with some friends next week. Pretty soon we won't be able to fit all this gear in our car!

In addition to everything above, the Farmer's Market is back up and running, the hippies are back in town, Homer is overrun with RVs, and there is a new season of Alaska: The Last Frontier on Discovery Channel. This season depicts the fall and winter that we just experienced. Even though we have run into 8 of the 9 cast members in town already (I will find you Charlotte), and we know they don't all live on the homestead or live a completely self sufficient life style, I can't get enough of the show.

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