Yesterday, we vacated out beautiful spot on the water in Homer and stopped to empty our holding tanks and fill with fresh water. It was a short ride to Gail's house in Sterling. We met Gail through our friend Larry Rasmussen when we were in Apache Junction, Arizona last March. When we met Gail was quick to invite us to stop in and see her when we're in her neck of the woods. Bet she never thought we'd take her up on it - surprise Gail, we're here!!
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| Gail's lovely home |
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| Our lovely parking space |
Gail has a lovely home on acres of land in a very quiet and secluded area. She had a nice surprise for us for dinner. With her sister, Jean, we drove about three miles to her daughter and son-in-law's house for a deep fried freshly caught halibut dinner. Jack did all the cooking while us ladies sat out on the deck overlooking the lake sipping on our wine. I had a great time getting to know Gail and her family. Isn't it nice when you meet people that make you feel so welcome and comfortable in their home?
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| Gail's daughter, Shannon - Shannon's mother-in-law, Barbara and Gail's sister, Jean |
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| Gail and I - notice the nice lake view in the background |
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| Our hosts - Jack and Shannon (daughter Skylar in the background) somehow we missed getting pictures of their boys |
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| Shannon, Gail, Barbara, Skylar and Jean |
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| Fresh fried halibut nuggets |
Today we had breakfast with Gail and her sister, Jean. Gail used us as guinea pigs to try a new recipe and her egg, cheese, basil and tomato souffle was very good. After breakfast she toured us around Soldotna. Soldotna is the central hub of the Kenai Peninsula. The city took its name from the existing Soldotna Creek that empties into the Kenai River. Some say "Soldotna" came from the Russian word meaning "soldier". Others say it is from an Athabascan Indian word meaning "the stream fork".
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| Gail's dog, Tasha, was suffering from vertigo, poor baby |
Soldotna is home to the world record King salmon on the famous Kenai River. Gail brought us to the bluff overlooking the river to watch hundreds of Alaska residents dip netting. Never heard of dip netting? Me either. They wade out on the shore and scoop out salmon with huge fishing nets. I've never seen anything like it and it was fascinating. On both sides of the river were tents, cars and hundreds of fishermen and women. Gail has never seen so many people dip netting and we figured it was due to the beautiful sunny weekend and the fact that an estimated 200,000 salmon were out there.
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| Seeing is believing - massive amounts of people come from all around Alaska to dip net |
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| Showing Gail how we manage to take pictures of ourselves |
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| This shot shows the nets they use and now deep they wade out - some people wade out too deep and are swept away by the strong currents |
That's all folks! Thanks for stopping in.
Looks like you had and awesome visit with friends, and good food too.
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