Purl, Interrupted

transmitting from the kenai

my parents left anchorage last night after an eight-day visit. other than one day of floating/fishing on the kenai river last saturday, we didn't do much during their stay besides lay low, relax and eat well. fortunately, these are some of my favorite activities. we dropped them off at the airport less than 24 hours ago, but it feels like about 2 weeks. that's how summers are here: there's so much to do that you just go and go and go.

this morning, we dropped truman off for a two-night stay at "arfie's doggie daycare" and then hit the road south for the kenai penninsula, about 2.5 hours south of anchorage. i have meetings here tomorrow, and it's just too long a drive to go here and back in one day, so we decided to come down early and do what alaskans do in the summer: fish. as an added bonus, my client who i'm meeting with tomorrow offered to take us out fishing, which made for much better opportunities than if we were just fishing from the banks in front of our B&B.

so we spent a few hours this afternoon fly fishing with my client. i got to wear my fabulous breathable waders for the second time, and learned that the whole experience is much more enjoyable when you've remembered to wear fleece pants. i didn't catch anything, although i almost did. terry caught one salmon, which i filetted using my "pond to pan" skills. lots of pressure filetting fish in front of people who fish 6 days a week during the summer, but it went ok.

all in all it was a delightful day and delightfully alaskan as well. i was happy to learn that i actually enjoy fishing (even when not catching), and also happy that i didn't do anything to embarass myself too badly during my first real time out.

so we're spending the night at a nice little B&B in soldotna, ak. and, because of the whole midnight sun thing, terry has gone BACK out to do some more fishing on the banks of the river in front of the B&B. what a nut. tomorrow while i'm working he's going "dip netting" with our friend steve's dad. I'm not sure exactly what dip netting is, although i think it involves using very large nets and catching large numbers of fish. i'm sure there's probably some skill to it, but i have no idea how it works.

anyway, if all goes according to plan, we're going to have a freezer full of fish and then some. time to learn how to use the new smoker!

Posted by cmandala at July 22, 2007 10:37 PM