Since December we have had a plan to head up to Alaska during the running of the reds (Sockeye). My buddy owns a cabin near Soldotna on the Kenia river. It is the spot! 7 out of the 9 days it rained. Which was a nice change from our east side Northern California climate. We get about 7" a year.

Every morning we'd wake up and hang out down on the river. Some folks in our group fished most of the days we were there, but didn't catch much. The one day I was looking forward to going fishing for a King, happened to be the day after the commercial fishermen had been out… so our guide friend, Ryan, said the fishing was lousy. It was dumping rain that day anyhow, not that I mind since I had a rain proof outfit, but giving Ryan a day off is nice too.

 

We took a day and headed down to Homer. That place is wonderful. My wife's brother in law is the architect of the library in Homer, so we had to check it out. If you go there, I hope it is raining, which it probably will be, and you have to check out the large gutter falls. You'll know it when you see it. We took a drive down the spit to do the "shopping" thing with everyone. Had some fish and chips. My sister got a Salty Dog sweater. Had some coffee… etc… it's nice to walk around down there. The view from the spit is amazing. As we were driving out of town, we remembered we were supposed to check out the Two Sisters bakery. My sister got a big 'ole chocolate thing, my wife a hunk of bread, and mom and I got a couple loaves for the cabin. Nice place, good bread, groovy atmosphere. Over all, Homer is really beautiful.

On our way back to Soldotna from Homer, we stopped and checked out the Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik. Ninilchik would be a quiet town to live in I bet.

We got back to the cabin and had a bigger dinner than we should have, but hey, we're on vacation right? My buddies wife is a great cook. She made some type of coconut deep fired salmon with some of the fresh fish he'd caught dip netting a few days before. I had thought of moving to Alaska, just for the reason of dip netting alone. You can catch some crazy amount of fish with your boat, some friends, and a 4' wide net. You won't go hungry.

 

The day after we got back from Homer, my buddy and I skinned some Spruce trees and made an addition to his stair case. It turned out nice. A couple more days at the cabin doing some reading and relaxing, and we had to take off for Anchorage to catch our planes. We left earlier on the last day and went to Seward. I am glad that we took the time to go down there. Ray's on the Waterfront has amazing seafood chowder. Get some! I could live in Seward in a heart beat. I think the skiing and snowmobiling there must be crazy. The mountains BOOOOOM! out of town, almost like the beginning of the drive into Thompson Pass. It's a nice town, but not super touristy like Homers' spit seemed to be. We tripped around a bit in town then headed to Anchorage. Half of us got on a later flight that same day, while my wife and I stayed at her sisters place till our flight left the next day.

I've left a lot out describing our time there, but I just want to thank everyone for the hospitality and great time. Until we do it again!

(You can view more pictures here) 

P.S. Have you ever seen these folks around? They started in South Africa 5 years ago and have driven around Africa, Europe, South and Central America, North America, Asia and into Russia! According to their map… Nice guy to talk to. 

 

Tags: ak, alaska, homer, seward, soldotna

14.5 hours there, 14.5 hours back. That’s all it takes. It’s about 2 good audio books or 5 live Grateful Dead shows, both sets. We had other music though. Oh, don’t ever bother to listen to The Broker on audio CD, it’s terrible.

We followed the USFreeskiing tour out to watch and support our buddy Kevin O’Meara. Too much fog or cloud layer on the hill for the first couple days of the comp, so we didn’t get to see him run. Kevin ended up in 10th overall.

The first day we skied it was about 6″ of dust on crust. Coming from the Sierra’s, the snow is LIGHT. The following day, the “heavy” day we had, with 18″ of fresh reported, was amazing. Even thought I’ll take an 18″ Sierra powder day, any day, over the light snow in Jackson it was super fun to get face+ shots. The terrain in the image to the left is below Sublet chair. Sick terrain!, but alas, it was closed. You do hit rocks there. Just gotta be light on the skis you know!

Below is a video that we shot on the way out with my digital camera. Each clip is 30 seconds, then it’s all sped up 1000% and put to Immaculate Machine’s Jarhand. The song is funny with the little, didoodidoo diiidooodidooo keyboard part.

Hola mi amigos,

First, we are safe and sound for any worry worts out there. The bus ride was easy and so far we haven’t moved from where are first destination was, Nor do I think we will…

What a wonderful Peaceful Relaxing place.
Puerto Viejo de Talamanaca is much different than I remember. Much more blue and clear, Much hotter sun. Alot more people, but it is a good thing. Safer.

I love it. True Carribean food. Coconut, Noni, Papaya, Mango, Pineapples, Bannanas, Mmmmmm.
I can buy a pineapple for less than a dollar. YEP, that is all I have been eating. I am one big pineapple now. Ohh, the jammaican chicken. Muy Bueno!!!

We have found a great place to stay with awesome people.
So far we have lounged on five or six different beaches. One new one everyday.
We rented bikes and cruised for two days. I got a massage last night. Two hours for $40.
Friday we are going rafting. Soon we will get down to the islands off of Panama. And today… well maybe I will go surfing or just watch the surfers and drink my coconut water. (smiles) I love you all and will see you soon.

PURA VIDA, Megan