August 24...Beaver Creek Lodge...Kodiak Island, Alaska

Early wake up call from Kenny. He & Dara are traveling to Mobile to get on a cruise ship today with 2 other couples. Around midnight they have a flat on the suburban about 90 miles north of Mobile. We are so thankful they were able to get off the Interstate and safely change to the spare. This morning they are looking for a tire store, hoping to get new tires on before they board their ship. Mikey said we should put tires on that vehicle before they left. (He was right again). From the looks of this tire THANK YOU GOD for looking out for their safety.

We are up and getting ready for the day. Early breakfast and we're off for our UTV ride. We spent last evening prepping the fishing rods and packing our stuff for the day. We drive about 30 minutes south and meet up with Shawn Gornall from Ultimate Island Adventure. He meets us with 2 UTV's packed up and ready to go. He suggest that we change into our waders now and our heavy coats/gloves/etc. It's 43 F now. Aren't we cute?

We take off for about a 2 hour ride on a 1940's military road, long since abandoned. The views are spectacular. We get a much closer look at the rolling lush hillsides, many with snow still dotting the sides, the sky is beautifully blue and we are mesmerized.

I can't help but think of Ronnie & Sharon as we make our way on the trail. It's a little too tame for Sharon's taste, but the scenery can't be beat. We drive alongside and through the most crystal clear streams I've ever seen. The streams on this island are formed by the large amount of rain fall as well as melting snow.

Much of our trail is canopied with rather small Alder Trees. They are not evergreen but do not grow tall even considering the rich soil and many hours of summer sunlight.

We drive over and around many 1940's original wooden culverts. It's amazing that they are still here and still working. In between the shady canopy our trail frequently opens up to large magenta colored fields full of the beautiful fire weed, or patches of Salmon Berries bushes with their large red clusters, Big yellow flowers and Queen Ann's Lace nearly as big as a basketball. These long sunny days & moisture rich environment are a perfect combination for these treats.About these Salmon Berries.....Ron, our host at Beaver Creek Lodge, provided me with Salmon Berry jelly the next day for breakfast. They are good, but strawberries don't have to worry about being replaced as my jelly of choice.

Now what we came for FISHING! Guess you can tell by that big stupid smile I'm having a great time. Love the waders! I stood all day in the very cold wet stream perfectly warm and dry. Mikey was so right again insisting that we get me a pair.

Why no pictures of poor Mikey fishing,you ask? I'm wouldn't lay my rod down long enough to pick up the camera. Poor Mikey he only caught about 75 fish today, me about 25. FUN FUN FUN!

We did have a bear encounter, but our guide quickly moved between us and the irritable mama bear, drew his weapon and demanded she exit our area. Luckily, she listened to him and left but I didn't get a photo op. Mike did, however, get a photo of her tracks right beside us!

We did however have an entire day to eagle watch. We saw 3 juvenile Bald eagles and the ever majestic Adult Bald working the river we were fishing & building a new nest. You all know Mikey loves eagles and this was a real treat for both of us. We originally thought one of the juvenile birds was ill. She allowed us to come within just feet of her for photos. Shawn,our guide, places a call to the wildlife agency to report her situation. Then we find out that it is very common for a young eagle to react this way when first flying from the nest. We see 1 other juvenile flying quite well & the other one sitting high upon the next. (I don't know if you can see, but there are actually 2 nest in the photo, the large one on the bottom is the old nest, but the top one seems to be the one she is using and building)Everyone knows that Mikey & I miss very few meals. Well today we were having such a great time fishing that the day was over and we never thought of lunch. Two tired fisher people took their catch of Sockeye and traded it for smoked Sockeye (aka Reds) in town at the local smoke shop. A quick dinner and we are back to the lodge exhausted.

Not only was I having too much fun to eat lunch, I was so tired after dinner that I couldn't even go shopping in the stores around the restaurant(I know Keith Bouldin will NOT believe that, but it's true.

This last picture is for Eli, Dara & all the other ball players we love. All the ballparks here have gravel infields & most have gravel outfields as well. OOH that hurts to slide in I bet!

Papa continues to improve daily under watchful eye of Nurse Nancy. Thank you all for your continued prayers for his recovery. Please add an extra prayer for travel mercies for Dara, Kenny,their friends & us as we continue......