Valdez Trip

We left yesterday for a 500 mile round trip road trip for one reason and one reason only.... this waterfall. Well... mighta been because I had a two day weekend and wanted to spend some time with my only child remaining at home with me before she deserts me and I'm all alone, but the reason I've been wanting to get to Valdez all summer is to get shots of this waterfall. This is Horsetail Falls. It's directly across the road and river from Bridal Veil Falls. I really wished I had a wide angle lens to be able to show these falls entirely. Joanna has the 18-200 with her, and I can't bring myself to attaching that 28-80 piece of junk lens to my camera. Neither of them would be quite wide enough anyways... as these two waterfalls are high in a canyon that doesn't allow you to get very far away from them. Horsetail is about 150 feet tall and right beside the road. Bridal Veil Falls is about 300 feet tall and you can get a little bit farther back from it. Once I have an ultrawide angle lens, I'll be going back for more pictures. Here's a couple of my favorites from today.

More Fish

Kristen caught three and I caught two... but my two were the big ones. These are pink salmon we caught this morning on our trip to Valdez. The limit is 6 each, but we stopped at 5. This was a last minute detour on our trip and between stopping at the store to get poles and tackle, getting to the fishing location and catching our 5 fish, a total of about an hour was lost. We only spent about 20 minutes fishing.... if you wanna call it that. Kristen had one on her first cast.... but it got away... and took her hook with it. While she was gone to the car to get the weights we forgot there, I caught my first one. It was a decent sized female... into the cooler it went. Then I set up her line, but she wasn't sure about fishing yet... I went back at it and about the third cast had my second one on.... another slightly larger than the first... it's the big one in the picture here. Well Kristen was finally ready.... she cast... she caught and I got the hook out. While I was killing this one and throwing it in the cooler, she caught another. While I was killing that one and getting it in the cooler, she pulled in the smallest of the lot.... Just as I reached down to grab it, the hook pulled loose. The slippery thing got away and back into the water... I waved at it figuring it was gone and we'd just let it go but the damn thing turned around and came back out of the water.... so I figured this little guy musta wanted one of the ladies in our cooler so we kept him. Now this is really about how fast all of this happened... so I really didn't feel like it was any more fishing than going to the store, grabbing a package of fish and placing it in the shopping cart.... but we still had fun. Best of all I knew I was sending it all down to Minnesota with Kristen so I would't have to smell the stinky things cooking at my house. Hope you all enjoy it down there!

After over 2 1/2 yrs, my boobs are not all that tough!

I still have not gotten the whole "latch" thing down while nursing at night....especially with those big chompers my kids have! Holy cow it can be quite "eye popping" when Austin wants to nurse at night and I am all relaxed and partially asleep and the latch is just NOT right. Hurts like you-know-what! Its hard to see where his head is in relation to my boob when it is pitch black dark in the room too. In the beginning of the night when he is just falling asleep, he is fond of going back and forth too. He pulls off and rolls over, only to roll back a few seconds later and want more "ma-na's". He does this about 4-6 times before I decide I have had enough and cover up to go to sleep. I AM NOT A SNACK BAR! I am so glad that Logan sleeps through the night and doesn't wake to nurse.

I have been nursing since Logan was born over 2 1/2 yrs ago and have been nursing 2 (tandem nursing) for over a year now. I am hoping by the time the boys are done that I am covered as far as protection from breast cancer, diabetes and all those other things that are supposedly benefits of breastfeeding! I know I will need some major repairs on the boobies so that I don't have to tuck them into my shoes when I go out!

No dogs allowed on loooong flight?

I am boggled. Why in the world would almost every other airline be able to transport a dog from Minneapolis to Anchorage and Sun Country can't? They say its too long of a flight. So I asked about just having the dog as carry-on (as suggested by the Northwest Agent) and they said they don't do that because it is an international flight. It goes over Canada and in case they had to make an emergency landing in Canada, there would be a dog on the plane. Ok? So?! And really, what are the chances of an "emergency" landing in Canada? We couldn't possible do that since some if not most of the people on the flight would not have the passports!! Geez, and they are worried about a little dog.

So, the dog gets to fly Northwest Airlines instead. The dog is a Miniature Schnauzer puppy that Sue found in MN for Emma. And since I was down here, it turned out to be convenient to look out of state to find a dog, since there are no schnauzers in AK. Who would have thought it would turn into an ordeal to transport an innocent little ankle biter? The dog probably rides better than my 1 yr old! I wonder if I could kennel him and have him stored with the luggage?

I miss my HSPPP!

I have been gone from home for 2 weeks now and I got 3 1/2 more to go. I really miss my Honey Sweety Pooh Pooh Pie. And when he finds out I published his pet name, he will no doubt be a little annoyed! I LOVE YOU HONEY! There was a time when he really didn't like that name, but I think it has grown on him a little now. Earlier in our marriage he would get kinda annoyed when I would call him that in front of people, so when we had big groups of people around and I couldn't get his attention by using his name, I would yell "honey sweety pooh pooh pie" and he would usually answer faster to avoid it being said again even louder.

Anyway, I miss you honey! I wish you were able to come down for a week or 3 to visit too. Someone has to be responsible though and pay the bills, I guess.

She is knocked up!

Yay! My friend Bobbie is pregnant! She just tested this morning and got her positive! Congratulations to Jeff and Bobbie and wishing you a happy and healthy 9 months with just a dash of nausea and a sprinkle of vomiting! BTW....some preggo woman get very "randy" during pregnancy, so Jeff get some rest while Bobbie is still in Fargo! You may need it.

Call off the search party...the lost is found!

Bobbie got back to me, so those of you still looking in Fargo can go about your normal lives now. I appreciate the massive effort in helping me find her, I know you all took a lot of time out of your days and lives to assist in this important search. I will forever be indebted to you all.

I will be heading to Bemidji here in a few minutes for a day or so. My grandma lives in Bemidji as do a couple aunts and uncles, cousins and friends. Then we will head back to the cities on Thursday and then off to Fargo on Saturday. Can't wait to see Bobbie and the rest of the crew. I get to go shopping for a baby shower too! LOVE SHOPPING FOR BABIES!

K, time to run! Later peeps!

Bobbie, bobbie, bo bobbie, banana fanna fo fobbie....

So I hear (read) that Bobbie is in Fargo right now (probably not as miserable as I am since she lives in Texas) and she needs to contact me or email me back so that I can drive out to see her. Bobbie....are you out there?? If so, check your email. If anyone reading this is actually in Fargo and you see Bobbie running around, tap her on the shoulder and tell her to check her email. You will know her when you see this extremely beautiful woman with long curly blond locks. Oh and she is a little short too....you might be able to fit her in your pocket.

In the land of 10,000 lakes....or is it more?

So the boys and I are in Minnesota. We got here on July 1st. We have spent a few days camping and had my grandma's birthday party and now are just hanging out at my mom's house. We are all COOKING! It is so blasted hot here compared to Alaska. The highest temp so far this year in Alaska before we left may have been 65 or so. Its been in the 80's and 90's here in MN. I got sunburn on a few places, mostly severely on my back/neck/shoulders area. Its been about 3 yrs since I had a nice tan and now I just burn. I suppose it will turn a nice golden brown if it doesn't all peel away. I am just glad my mom has some major A/C at her house.

I won't be able to post any pictures while I am here, so be ready for pic overload when I get home in 4 weeks. In the meantime, I will try and dazzle you with my unbelievable wit. Wish me luck with that one!

Fishing

Me and My 1st King Salmon - 26 lbs. Our guide, Greg, smiling in the background.

Abby and her 1st King - a 24-25 lber (yes SMALLER than mine!)

We had another fisherman from California on our boat who caught the smaller one. You can clearly see from this picture that MY fish is BIGGER.

We had a blast. We left the house at 4AM to get out to the Little Susitna river by 5:30. We arrived at 5AM, in time to eat a sandwich, collect our rain gear (did not need it, YAY!) and go to the bathroom one last time. We couldn't legally start fishing until 6AM, but we were out in the first spot by 5:50AM and ready. We got a bite about every 30 minutes. Abby caught the first fish, what they call a Jack. Its a King Salmon, but its a baby one. He was less than 20 inches in length, so she got to keep him as a freebie. Over the next 2-4 hours Rodney and I both got bites and I got 1 WHOPPER on the line who was a bit smarter than your average King. He wrapped himself around a log on the bottom of the river and got away from me. He had to be HUGE cause I really had a hard time fighting him. (At least that is what I will believe since I never got him to the surface for a look.) After Rodney and I both had 3 or so bites, Abby finally got another bite and hooked it. I think she was pretty happy that she got the first 2 fish in the boat on only 2 bites.
Then it was my turn. About a half hour later, I got the bite. This fish did not fight as hard as the first one I had on the line. I didn't feel like my arms were about to fall off. It was really fun fighting with it to get it up to the boat close enough to net it. Once it was in the boat and we got our pictures taken, I really wished I could do it all over again. Limit is 1 King per day and 5 total per year though. Can't even put a line in the water again for the rest of that day.
I was feeling bad for Rodney....both these 2 girls caught fish before him. He finally got his bite and when he brought in the smaller fish, the guide gave him the option of throwing it back and trying for a bigger one. We only had about an hour and a half left of the trip though and Rodney didn't want to take a chance at no fish.
When we got back to shore we took some more pictures and Greg proceeded to filet our fish. Another boat pulled up with a 47 lb King that looked like a monster. I bet that is the one I lost!!!

Teens

Once you become the parent to a teen or teens, you very quickly realize the amazing brilliance of those mammals that eat their young and save their sanity!! Those are some smart creatures. There are days when I feel like slapping some teen meat on the barbie, but I am sure I would not enjoy my feast as the meat is probably pretty tough and so full of a massive array of hormones, it would make me sick. So instead I look forward to the day when those same teens have teens of their own to "love"! Muahahahahahaha!

BankStckGuy

I was stumped for about 2 seconds when I saw this name. I was thinking, "what sicko stranger is reading my blog and suggesting that I poop in the woods??! Weirdo!" I should have known though, silly me.

So yeah, this BankStckGuy is my brother Caleb. Hi Caleb! BTW....I deleted that poop comment cause I was sure you were some sicko and I wasn't about to publish a comment from a sicko. Guess I am still not sure why I publish your other ones, LMAO! J/k! I love ya! How are my nieces and nephew??? Give them all a big wet slobbery kiss from Auntie Joanna! Give Robin one too. I know she wants one! Don't want her feeling left out. Heeee hee! See ya all soon.