Best Vacation Ever: Day 5, Alaska

I forgot to mention that Barry caught The Crud at some point in our travels. After fishing yesterday, he fell into bed, shivering and coughing. Great Alaska couldn't have been nicer, several staff/guides offering to take us into town for meds. I traveled with cold meds, so we were set up. It was nice that this morning was Hiking, so Augie, our guide for the day, didn't need to wake us until 7 a.m.. I could get used to this coffee at the door too easily! Again, ate, packed lunches and filled our water bottles, and off we went.

Augie took us on a hike to the Russian River falls where the Sockeye Salmon were swimming en masse upstream...up WATERFALLS...to get to their spawning home. Here you see the waterfall, and I tried to include a photo of the fish pooling on top of each other waiting for their attempt. I caught one fish on camera, not in a big leap though. It was hard to capture!

Next we walked further on to a Weir. The weir blocks the fish and makes them swim over to one access point, where they are counted. The Fish and Game staff then relay that information and decisions are made about fishing limits - they were increased from 3/person to 6 while we were in Alaska. The limit varies depending on the river and type of salmon as well.



On our way to the second hike location, Bear Mountain Trail, this friendly fella strolled in front of our van and around the side, stopping to munch a bit before continuing on his way. So check black bear off the list! The bear mountain hike was only about a mile long, mostly uphill, and we were rewarded with this fabulous view of Skilak Lake. It is a glacial lake fed by the Skilak glacier, so a beautiful blue. Augie also showed me a lot of the  wildflowers, and got me to eat a northern bluebell flower. Yum. Blueberries grow wild in the mountains, but sadly not harvest time.

Walked/hiked about 8 miles and since Barry wasn't feeling well, called it a day. I went down to the "beach" while Barry napped. This is an area by the river staffed by Cameron, where one can practice sockeye salmon fishing (I practiced...Cameron actually caught some). Cameron set me up with waders, reel, and basic instructions and I happily cast away for an hour or so. After supper, guests gather around the campfire to socialize and snack on s'mores. I don't know HOW because the food was GREAT and very filling.

Tomorrow: Sockeye Salmon fishing...which means...4:30 a.m. again!

Best Vacation Every: Day 4 Alaska

Up and at 'em early birds! A guide at Great Alaska woke us with a knock and coffee at 4:30 a.m...breakfast at 5, pack a lunch at the lunch bar and then fishing!

Today was King Salmon fishing. King Salmon is catch and release only on the Kenai. Steve our guide had the boat set up for four: Barry and I, and Bo and Joe, a father-son pair from California. This was Bo's present to Joe for high school graduation.

It was a chilly, beautiful morning. We went up river a few miles and then set up at one of Steve's favorite spots. He set us up with different lures, and coordinated getting all the lines in the water so no tangles. No sooner did the lures hit the water than yours truly caught the first fish. Steve guided me through reeling it in, then carefully arranged for the photo so the fish was
not harmed.
Barry  was next to catch one of these beauties. We each caught 2, and I think each lost 2 during the day.







The big story of the day occurred after a few hours. Our lines were in the water trailing behind the boat. I have a photo of my lure...Barry's was slightly longer...maybe 5 inches, about the same colors. Steve suddenly pointed out a young eagle flying down the river right by us. We were all so mesmerized by the sight that we didn't discern his intent until too late. The eagle swooped in and grabbed Barry's lure, somehow tangling or hooking himself.

Steve did a great job keeping all calm. Three of us reeled in our lines. The eagle swam/floundered toward shore. On Steve's request, I got his coat from under the seat and the large net ready. Steve slowly moved the boat to shore, instructing Barry how to keep his line. When we made it to shore, Steve put on his gloves, put his pliers in pocket, and grabbed the net. The eagle was thrashing around trying to free itself. Just as Steve managed to net him, the eagle either got free or the line/hook was knocked off by the net...and off our errant eagle flew.

And, if you are wondering what Joe was doing...he instantly had his phone out and recorded the incident. He trimmed off the initial boat maneuvering, and if you are interested in seeing it (he did a great job!), here's the link:  Eagle Video

Best Vacation Ever: Day 3 Alaska

Best Vacation Ever: Alaska Day 3

Woke up at Bear Camp - slept decently considering still adjusting to time change and the constant light. Our tent hut super cozy, beds comfy, perfect for people (like us) who aren't really campers. After breakfast, headed back out to viewing sites 2 and 3 in the national park. Met the ranger as she checked on the viewing sites. Saw bears, bears and more bears. I should have split up the bear info between Day 2 and 3 descriptions!

Here's a few photos. Start with an adolescent male bear who lumbered up the beach behind us. He was so lanky (still 200-300 pounds). I loved watching the sibling bears cuddle and wrestle. Saw bears sleeping on rocky cliffs.

It was mating season, so we witnessed the amorous adventures of two different couples. Turns out, bears have delayed implantation. When the female bear goes into hibernation, her body fat determines how many baby bears implant...between 1 and 4 depending on how well nourished she is. The cubs are born during hibernation! The guide was a little vague on how aware the mom was of the birth...the cubs somehow get into place to nurse, and in the spring...surprise! Baby bears! We only saw one mom with a cub, and she was moving fast and I didn't get a photo. The guide explained she keeps moving because the cub is vulnerable to predators, even older male bears.

Tides put us on a late afternoon flight back to the lodge, where we enjoyed happy hour. Guests meet their guide for the next day. Dinner is social - we sat with Lisa and another couple from Bear Camp. Food is a single entree; all entrees through vacation were excellent. Exhausted, we fell into bed - scheduled wake up was 4:30 a.m. for FISHING!

Best Vacation Ever: Alaska Day 2

Best Vacation Ever - Day 2

Alaska!

While researching Alaskan trips for our 35th anniversary, I booked this particular vacation after hearing an author, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, speak about her experience at Bear Camp. I already received the catalog from Great Alaska Adventure Lodge, and her descriptions sealed the deal. However, I was very nervous about the small plane ride. In all I'd read, I learned small planes were the key to touring Alaska. Only 20% of Alaska is accessible by car. So, nerves or no, I was committed to getting to Bear Camp.

Brian from Great Alaska picked up Lisa (my new friend!) and us promptly at 7:30. On our drive to the Lodge in Sterling, AK, we were impressed with the beauty of the valleys, rivers, and mountains. The lodge is on the edge of Sterling...off the main road and into another world. It sits on the confluence of the Moose and Kenai rivers. So beautiful! After a short tour, we found out our departure to bear camp was delayed. Since the planes land on the beach (gulp), we needed to wait for low tide. We ate lunch (elk burgers!) then Sherry, coordinator of activities and guides, sent AJ, a lovely young woman from Michigan, to lead us on a kayak ride down the Moose River.

The flight to bear camp was JUST FINE. We needed two planes for our group; Lisa was on the other plane. Totally smooth, no bumps, great scenery, super smooth beach landing.  We flew into Bear Camp, received an orientation, and immediately went out with one of the bear guides, Steve. The bears dig for clams (an early source of protein) on the mud flats right in front of the camp. 15 years ago, only 1 out of 50 bears did this. Now nearly all the bears do. Recently, a bear discovered the flounder in the shallow water, and caught one (by slapping down, I think!)...a second and third bear have already adopted this fishing behavior. Smart bears!  We were watching this beautiful female bear feed, then walked to the camp's personal viewing platform, inland "behind" the camp, on a large meadow...two minutes later, down our trail, she came, walking next to the platform and then out to rinse off in the meadow lake.

Dinner was steak - delicious - after a "happy half hour" of wine/beer and appetizers. Then back out again, this time with guide Clinton. Off of the beach are three viewing areas set up by the national park. They are a simple log for sitting and looking over the meadow, and the bears are used to seeing humans there.

Suddenly, Clinton calmly announced everyone should get behind him - he squatted, facing the beach, arms slightly outspread. And we all twirled and crouched and faced a beautiful female brown bear. Clinton saw her exiting the meadow next to us.

She walked RIGHT in front of us, then to our side, then decided the view was nice and sat next to the log we vacated. Exhausted, she lay down and relaxed...and I thought "we are going to be here a very long time". However, still hungry from a long winter of hibernation, she sighed and rambled back to the meadow to munch grass.

Hard to pick only a couple photos to share! What a day! Into our tent-hut for a much needed rest...

Best Vacation Ever: Alaska Day 1

Best Vacation Ever: Alaska Day 1

Writing these post-vacation, hope my recall is good!

We started the travel day getting up at 5, taxi at 7:30, flight at 10. Barry and I planned to use one day passes at the O'Hare United Lounge, but no go...busy Monday morning so restricted access to only real members. Barry then dropped his insulated cup/vacuum lid (not Yeti..Menard's version) and it immediately cracked. We soon discovered mine leaked like a sieve when tilted, so will shop in Anchorage. Water bottles were required at our Lodge. This incident is important...stay tuned.

The majority of our plans were made through the Great Alaska Adventure Lodge. More on this AMAZING location and people in upcoming days. One of their preferred Anchorage hotels was the Lakefront. This hotel sits on Lake Spenard/Lake Hood, the largest float plane harbor in the world. Only 20% of Alaska is accessible by road; many people have personal airstrips and planes to reach their homes. Float planes flew overhead continually.

We took the gratis hotel shuttle downtown Anchorage to eat and buy water bottles. Had an early dinner at The Glacier Brewhouse, then off to an outfitter store. Managed to do all before the return shuttle scheduled. When we arrived, the shuttle was loading, clearly more people waiting than seats. Several irritated couples spoke up saying they waited an additional hour due to previous shuttle crowd, so we backed away. When it left, we started chatting with a woman unable to get a seat, and offered to share an uber.

This was my biggest God-incidence of the trip (I don't believe in coincidence!). Lisa was about our age, first time to Alaska. It turned out she was with Great Alaska as well, and would be traveling with us in the morning. And she was from Indiana. And, sadly, she revealed that this was to have been her 30th anniversary trip with her husband, who died in November after late stage cancer diagnosis. She courageously decided to come alone. We shared much of our trip, and it was a joy to get to know and spend time with Lisa.

Early night due to time change and 7:30 a.m. morning pickup. So much more to tell you! Stay tuned. Third picture is the tease...

Christmas, 2013

Christmas, 2013

Dear friends and family,
We hope this Christmas season finds you happy and well. Finally, we are in our new home. We love it – the river rippling in the sunlight; the great horned owl hooting in the evening; even the work raking, gardening, and planting.

I’ll start with the difficult news. Barry’s father, Cecil, passed away in May. He was a gentle, funny, loving man, a great father and husband. This November, Barry’s mother, Mary Kay, joined Cecil in Heaven. Mary Kay was an amazingly patient and generous mother of five, a woman of faith and grace. We will miss them always. This picture is Christmas, 2012.

After the Ironman, Ann decided to go for a real challenge: she returned to Carmel Catholic faculty, teaching five sections of Church History. 140.6 miles seemed easier at times! Ann visited her Mom once a week and loved planning and planting the new house gardens. Ann struggled with training through winter and the May move, but hit the bike/run/swim hard in summer.

In March, Barry took an early retirement from Mondelez (name of split-off international Kraft Foods). He stayed in Florida to host the kids on Spring Break, then joined Ann up north. Barry registered for Ironman Florida, the Steelhead half-Ironman, and Augusta half-IM. In June, an unfortunate bike crash and collarbone fracture derailed his training. First 6 weeks, no training. Next 6 weeks, limited to riding his road bike on a stationary trainer in the basement. He did this with dedication, up to 3 hours at a time. In August he was cleared to run and swim, so back to Florida.

We skipped Steelhead, but went to Augusta. Along the way, we stopped at St. Augustine, St. Simon’s Island, and Savannah. In Savannah, we saw our new grandniece, Charlotte! So sweet.
Barry had a great race, a personal best by 58 minutes; Ann improved her time by 15 minutes. Both enjoyed the push of Savannah River current for fantastic swim times.

Ann returned to Chicago for a week, visiting her mom and Sherpa-ing for Chris’ Chicago Marathon. Despite his rigorous class Georgia Tech classes, Chris managed to train and broke 4 hours in his third marathon. Kayla and Amy drove up, and Barry checked in via Skype for a celebratory family dinner.

November 2, 2013 found Amy, Ann, and Baker Buddies, Lynn and Mike D’Asta cheering Barry’s Ironman start.
The swim was intimidating with agitated, 10-foot breakers. After an outstanding swim (2.4 mi), he hopped on the bike and we retired to Waffle House for some well-deserved sustenance and rest. His bike (112 miles) was long and blessedly uneventful.

We greeted his return and cheered him onto the run. Barry endured the 26.2 miles and finished an IRONMAN at 15 hours and 10 minutes. We thank all for the wonderful support and encouragement throughout that day and for our fundraising mission, the Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis research.

No Ironman for either of us in 2014!

Amy started her second year of dual-language teaching at Dawes elementary in Evanston. She loves her students and work. Amy and her boyfriend Kenny adopted a Bernese Mountain Dog – Karma – who is the same age as Kayla’s Kaner, but will be three times the size. She is a gentle, sweet, playful giant, bounding about our property with joyful abandon. Amy is a cupcake master with such intriguing samples as bacon with maple frosting, pink champagne, and eggnog with spiced rum frosting.
Amy completed her first Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons.

In May, Kayla graduated with her Master’s of Science in Athletic Training. She happily accepted a position with her undergraduate school, Albion College and was assigned football as her first sport. We watch the games on the web and cheer (circumspectly, we don’t want it to seem we like athletic injury) when she runs on the field to care for a player.

Kayla started a family after graduation – Kaner, a mix-breed Australian Shepherd-hound mix challenges and delights her. Kayla ran her first marathon at Disney in January.

In addition to marathon training and biomedical engineering studies, Christopher enjoys swimming and lifting. He plays piano for the Sunday night Mass. He is constantly on the go, and is even involved in a start-up project for a student-invented medical device.








Our best wishes, prayers, and hopes for you that this year was one of grace and mercy, and that the next be blessed with faith, love, and laughter. May the peace of Christ bring you joy and encouragement each and every day.

Looks like I will be able to participate in the Augusta 70.3, so I'm being a lot more diligent about my training.

As a consequence, everything I own hurts.

Nevertheless, once I commit, I commit. Today I had a long run scheduled. No problem - weather looking good, with a break in the heat.

Last Sunday, when I went for my long bike ride (50 miles), I discovered I only had one GU (a nutritional gel with calories and electrolytes), no Gatorade. I made-do with the GU, seven fig newtons, and an FRS energy drink.

On Monday, I placed Amazon order for GU and Glide (anti-chafe stick). We are Prime members, so the Wednesday package arrival was perfect for my long run.

Last night, lying in bed (BTW, took five minutes trying to determine if I was LAYING or LYING in bed), I realized I missed my dog's barking cacophony when the FedEx man arrives. Turning off the alarm, I searched the porch, around the porch, the sides of the steps, and out by the garage.

No package.

Checked Amazon. Somehow my package missed the truck, so would be delivered Thursday instead.

Arghhh...went to sleep wondering if I had a race gel sample or two tucked away.

Morning.

Nope. No gels. Not in my backpack, not in my gym bag. Not in my race drawer, not in my work bag.

Walked the dog - 67 degrees, humid, but fine.

I have created a LOT of excuses during the past months for avoiding workouts, but today I am determined.

I decide to MacGyver some nutrition.

I need a base, some electrolytes, and some calories.



I put the FRS drink in the blender (I would like to appeal to FRS at this point not to sue me for inappropriate use and promotion of their product).

Turned on the blender.

Removed the center lid plug to add ingredients.

Added 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Turn over the honey jar, and begin to add honey.

In high school, Mr. Vermillion was the Chemistry and Physics teacher. From his classes, I remember two things:

1) It is a known scientific fact that hair is as long inside the brain as outside. More girls were now in science classes because boys tangled their brains by growing long hair, like the girls.

He was joking.

He was bald.

2) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check the lid on a chemical container before using or pouring. If the user before you did not tighten the lid, a chemical spill could occur.

Sorry Mr. Vermillion. I failed.

The honey lid was not tightened. As I was the last to use the honey, I have only myself to blame. The lid went in and chop, crack, cringe, crunch.

I filtered the mess with my sieve, then went back to it, this time forgetting to put the lid on before turning on the blender.

I created quite the sticky mess.

Amazingly, I ended up with about 10 ounces of mixture. It didn't taste badly.

Have you ever picked up a new gel during a race and thought, "I need a gel. It's not my brand. Many people use it. How different can it be? I'll be fine. I need a gel..."

Then the nausea begins.

Weeellll...

I did run 10.2, my longest run of the season.

I did burp a lot during the miles, was queasy and uncomfortable. I probably drank about five ounces full strength total.

At the half way point I have water access, so I dumped most of the remaining concoction, diluted a couple ounces with water, and alternated at the point between water and diluted nutrition.

I fought through the last two miles, some cramping and fatigue.

And when I got home?

What awaited the mad scientist?

MY AMAZON PACKAGE!

Curse you FedEx.