the adventures of julie: 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

fishing

hi there;

well, i caught my first fish today for this year. i was going to say that i got my first taste of fishing but that really isn't true as last year when britta came up here we caught a king salmon on the kasilof river and halibut in the cook inlet. we really had a good time fishing then but now i think i am hooked, no pun intended.

on saturday last john and i went king salmon fishing on the kenai river and we were " skunked " and skunked in a big way, not even a bite. not only that but we had to meet our guide at 5:30am on the river so we could begin fishing a 6am, which is the regulation when you are with a guide ( begin fishing at 6am and complete fishing at 6pm, with a guide ). the weather was the same as most days here, cool to cold, thick clouds but fortunately i wore my " rubber suit ". it is made up of a jacket & pants, imagine being dressed for working on a fishing boat. well, that is me. too bad the color is green and i am a winter. but that said, i was warmer than i would have been without it, not very attractive but warmer and not really much warmer but protected from the rain, sort of.

now back to our fishing, today. the day began with a drizzle that turned into a steady rain but that was not going to stop us from getting ourselves organized and off to our friends, chris & ted's to fish on their pier on the upper kenai river. all we had to do was show up and they provided the expertise, the pier to fish from, the equipment and even the dinner and all we had to do was bring a 12 pk of beer. what's not to like? within a 1/2 hour of our fishing i had caught my " red ". i was so excited! fortunately for us chris was with us and she helped scooped the fish up with the net and ted did the cleaning.

i am so hooked now, with all of that help and excitement that we are returning tomorrow morning to see if we can match what we caught today.

i will make sure that you know about my catch of the day if there is one tomorrow and if you don't hear from me about this you will understand.

take care and stay tuned for more truly important info.

have fun

l,j

Friday, July 18, 2008

pizza, pizza, pizza

hi there;

so who doesn't love pizza? we in phoenix think that pizzeria bianca is amazingly wonderful and is so highly regarded throughout the world that it is listed as one of the top 10 pizza places but to experience their pizza you have to arrive at their door step at about 4pm to stand in line in front of the restaurant in order to put your name on the list so that you might be able to eat dinner before 10pm. how would it be if we could have that pizza, no lines, a killer view from a second floor plexiglas atrium overlooking the cook inlet and a local brew or an amazing glass of organic wine? to us it is worth the hour drive from our cabin with amazing scenery the entire way no matter the weather and the road conditions. well, what does that mean the road conditions? i guess, at this time of year, it is about the motor homes that are driven by guys over 60, you know the ones who pull into rv parks and watch t.v. for the evenings.

well, back to pizza. finn's is the name of our pizza place in homer, alaska at the end of the piece of land called " the spit " and no matter the weather we are able to sit upstairs, enjoying the fragrances from the cooking/baking, looking out at the activities on the beach, watching the gulls vying for the remains of the catch of the day ( finn's is located among the charter fishing businesses on " the spit " ) and having the most wonderful adult beverage. it is like the most wonderful reward.

we have been so fortunate to be able to say that finn's pizza is now part of our alaska experience.

you need to come and see what i am talking about.

enjoy the photos, i do and every time i see them i think of how wonderful it was each time i went there.

well, more to follow. be careful as it is coming your way soon.

take care

have fun

l,j

pizza, pizza, pizza

it's time to tell some alaska stories, at least ours.

hi there;

well, we are looking at the remaining time here, this year, and it is time to tell you some of our stories, some of the wonderful, some of the interesting, some of the odd and some of the just plain day to day stories of " US ".

you recall in my last missive i showed you the cabin( vintage '07 ) and the " view ". this time i am including the view of the cabin ( vintage this summer ) and the often seen " view " from this summer.

we were discussing the weather the other day, it is a topic that most people discuss no matter where they live, and we decided that we have had a total of about 5 or 6 sunny days here this year. that's cumulatively, now i mean that includes the pieces and parts, even moments, of days and evenings. as you see from the current photo of the cabin we now have the " view " from inside the cabin also, so i can be warm and dry and still enjoy the out of doors from the indoors. i think we truly have turned into the motor home people. these are people who are over 6o and drive the big ass motor homes and when they stop for the night, usually at about 4pm, they get hooked up, settled down, connected to the outside world via t.v. and they never go outside to enjoy the evening. yikes!

well, i will " let you go now " and send more really important info in a little while.

take care

have fun

l,j

Friday, July 11, 2008

july 11th another interesting day in alaska

hi there;

i am continuing to work on this blog thing and i am not going to give up. i think the problem i am having is i am adding too many photos each time i create my blog. i just want you to see what were are seeing, most days, anyway.

i have decided that i will only send one or two photos for each entry to begin with until i can figure out what i am doing.

enjoy the info and i will create more blogs more often.

this first entry is what we see from our cabin when it is clear.

the second entry is what we look from to see the view.

take care

have fun

l,j