Alaska Adventure: August 2010

Dip Netting

Every summer alaskan residents take part in what is called dip netting. Fishermen and women from all over Alaska come to the Kenai Peninsula to dip net in the mouth of the Kenai and other various rivers in the area. You can dip net from the bank or from a boat. People are allowed a certain number of fish depending on the size of their family, I think Scott and Estelle were allowed a max of 45 fish (red salmon). Adam and I tagged along this year to see what it was all about, although technically we were not allowed to do anything with the fish. We used a boat that Scott's dad had fabricated years ago, and set sail in Kasiloff Alaska at Scott's grandparent's commercial fishing dock.

Below, I made Butch booties so he does not scratch the floors when we move into the cabin! I think he is embarrassed that I am taking a picture of him!

Keenan (Adam's brother) came from Washington for a few weeks and joined us on our dip netting adventure.

Estelle, Keenan, Adam and I.

Lowering the boat into the water with a crane.

Adam modeling his chest waders! Very stylish!

A dip net.

People dip netting from the bank as we float by. A lot of people spend hours and hours standing in the water all day trying to catch the salmon making their way up river to spawn.

The end result. I think they caught about 55-60 salmon, they were split between a few families that dip netted on the boat.

See dip netting video below!

Day trip to Hidden lake

We went to Hidden lake campground for the day at the end of July for our church family campout. We had a good time exploring, taking pics, playing in the water (Butch), fishing (Adam), and bear watching... yes, I said bear watching! On our way into the campground we saw a grizzly bear on the gravel road that had just eaten some fish out of the stream. By the time I climbed over the seats to get my camera out of the back of the car, the bear had wandered off in the woods, so no pictures sorry:(

Butch loves car rides, usually his lips are flapping in the breeze as well!

View from the drive into Hidden lake.

Exploring trails around the lake.

Adam fishing...

...and fishing some more!

Tired Butch after a long day of playing fetch in the water!

Remains of a fish partially eaten by the bear.

Beach at Sunset

Adam and I stopped by the beach in Kenai for some beach sunset views about a week ago. We needed to take advantage of the nice weather since it has been rainy all summer!

Butch loves to find sticks bigger than him to play fetch with!

Fireweed, a flower that can be seen everywhere right now. It has been in bloom for about a month now.

Day trip to Homer

Since we have had about a week long break from all the rain, Estelle invited me to go along with her and Frances to Homer for the day. It was nice to get out in the sunshine, and what better place to go than Homer!

We had lunch a Fat Olives, went to the shops along the spit and got ice cream.

Dog sled team truck.

Frances loved the ice cream even though it was quite breezy!

Becoming Angelina

My work had their annual employee appreciation party the 21st of August, the theme... Hollywood Red Carpet Glamor/Dress as your Favorite Celebrity. All of my coworkers thought I should dress up as Angelina Jolie, not that she is my favorite celebrity but because they all think we have similarities in the way we look. So I did, but in order to become Angelina, I had to have her tattoos, which were a hit at the party thanks to my tattoo artist Adam!

There was a delicious catered dinner and dessert, dancing, awards, paparazzi and karaoke... it was a lot of fun! See pics below of becoming Angelina!

Adam used a thin point washable crayola marker, it worked perfectly!