Gene Krupa

Well not quite yet but we are working on it.

Salmon Spawning

After the earthquake experience, we wandered over to watch the Salmon begin the last activities of their lives. The females dig a small hole in the gravel with their tails and in that hole deposit their eggs. The males who has been chosen by the female deposits his sperm. The eggs are then buried. The salmon then die.

Salmon

The Earthquake

Chuck and I walked around the nature center up Eagle River. The ranger on duty told us that he had felt an earthquake. We did not feel it. However, shortly after we hear a loud thunder crack above us in the mountain. Chuck thought it was a rock slide. Almost immediately coyotes began to howl.

Sofie and Ainsley Take Me For a Ride

Sofie and Ainsley took me on a bike ride over the creek and through the woods to the lake. Sofie loves the outdoors.

Smoked Salmon

We finished the job. Everyone who has tasted this says it is great.

Smoking Salmon

This morning after we prepared the salmon I put them on the rack and started up the smoker. They should be ready in six hours.

This on the left is the smoker. There are 6 racks full of salmon, a coil, and a pan with alder chips.

Shrimp Heads

As half the shrimp is head, we decided to deep fry them and of course eat them. MMMMMM crunchy.

More Fishing

As it was so cold we spent most of our time in the cabin while we roared around the sound. Mike looks cold.

Fishing on Prince Willie Sound

Mike, Jeff (the boat owner) and I went fishing on a cold foggy, sloppy seas day on Prince William Sound. I got soaked by the rain, but had a great time.

We were not terribly successful fishing as we kept getting blown off the fishing holes.

4 Wheeling

Mike and I took two of his four wheelers up to the Knik river and tore up the countryside. It was my first time on one of these machines. I had a great time, and am ready to go again.

Team Podolak Kitchen

On the top floor of the home is the kitchen-living space. Here is the kitchen dining space.

Out the door is a small balcony, a great place to have a cup of coffee in the morning (during the summer).

TeamPodolak House

Here is the TeamPodolak house in Eagle River.

It has three floors with a great view of the hill to the south. It is three times the size of their home is DC.

Day Five, Anchorage.

After a foggy drive through along the Glen Highway, we arrived in Anchorage about 3:30. Pretty good drive. Chuck dropped me off at Mike's as he wanted to visit with Andrea. I had a great dinner with Mike and the girls, fresh halibut, rice and veggies. It is good to be back in Anchorage especially with out Palin.

Day Five

We took off after breakfast in Destruction Bay and made the final push to Anchorage. Chuck and I were listening to a books on mp3's. Last night he bought a murder mystery, 10 hours. We did not get to finish it as we arrive in about 8 hours. So before I leave we have to find a two hour drive to finish and find out how it ended. The world of podcasts and books really makes a long drive easier. Our drive back was on the worse of the road. The road from Destruction Bay to the border was frost heave after frost heave. After arrive at the border and whizzing through, because Chuck had a military dependent status, we tore down the highway until we go to Tok. There we finally got cell coverage.

Day Four Destruction Bay

We could not get a room in Haines Junction so we went onto Destruction Bay. The motel was one of those great Yukon style gas station/cafe/motel setups. It was rustic. The following morning we had breakfast at a local cafe and had a good visit with the owner,cook, and manager. It is nice to talk to the locals and get their view.

Day Four Teslin

We stopped in Teslin so as to get gas and pick up another Teslin mug for Jon. Oddly enough here is a picture on Google Earth of Jon picking up his original mug.

Day Four Watson Lake

We decided to try to make it to Anchorage by Sunday because there was road construction which we could bypass by driving through the area before Monday. Our first stop was Watson Lake where we found Mom's memorial.

Ft. Nelson Day Three

We drive along the highway and spent had a late lunch in Dawson Creek BC. Then another 100 miles to Ft. Nelson Super 8. This was a long day. The drive between Ft. Saint John and Ft. Nelson was long and empty. It was the first taste of the north country, raw and not so manicured. We had dinner and bunked down. The hotel was huge but we found only one non-smoking room with only one bed, so Chuck slept with on floor in his sleeping bag on cushions. We had a ok dinner outside on the patio of the nearby pub.

Day two

After we left Seattle and drove up to Williams Lake, BC. Once we entered BC we pretty much stayed along the Frasier River. We spent the night at Super 8. We had considered camping but I needed another night of deep sleep. We had good dinner in a local pub. This picture is not the hotel. We had a lot of good conversations and listened to podcasts that Chuck had picked up.

Heading North to Anchorage

On Wednesday I met Chuck at Portland airport. We drove to Olympia and had dinner with an hydrology associate. We slept in and drove up to Seattle and after some shopping, went to Paseo's Caribbean sandwich shop and had a great pork sandwich.