Day Twenty - Seward, AK

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Crab cakes and a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast! I feel so much better. Dave was right, the crab cakes were kind of meh. I did find one chunk of crab meat in one of the two cakes. Otherwise the crab meat was shredded, chopped or minced so small you could barely taste it. The flavor was mostly the seasoning and spices. The crab was almost an aftertaste.

Last year while Teri and Dave were in Hawaii, they chatted up a couple and found out they hailed from Alaska. Teri told them the four of us were planning a trip to Alaska. Sometime after they returned from their Hawaiian vacation, Teri and Dave received a package from the couple filled with books, brochures, maps and whatnot all about Alaska to help us plan our route and give us ideas of what we could do while in their state. We used what they sent along with internet searches to plan our five weeks on the road. They also invited us to their cabin in Sterling to visit and do some fishing off their dock. One of the things Dave and Mike both wanted to do was try to catch a salmon or two and maybe a halibut.

Today we drove out to their place. The dogs were able to come with us which was really nice, it would be a long day and we don't like to keep them cooped up in the rigs for long periods.

Ken and Barb (not Barbie) live in a two-story log cabin they built themselves. It's a beautiful house inside and out with an amazing view of the river. They enjoy having guests and showing off their state. Our hosts gave us a tour of the main floor and the basement. I assume the upper floor is their bedroom. They bought the raw property back in the early 80s with the goal of building a vacation cabin. They did build the family cabin and enjoyed spending many weekends and summers there. Later they wanted to improve the foundation so they slid the cabin over logs to the side. During the excavation it was discovered it was dry as far down as they needed to go for a basement foundation. They had the basement built, then slid the cabin back over the logs onto its new foundation. They also expanded the cabin at some point. Barb showed us a photo album with before, during and after pictures. What an incredible undertaking! The "cabin" became their retirement house. They live there full-time and love it.

Shortly after the tour Ken asked Dave and Mike of they wanted to try fishing. They were both excited to give it a shot. The fish were beginning to run through that area, but the big surge hadn't reached them yet. It was anticipated at any time. Perhaps today, maybe tomorrow or the next few days, but soon. Ken got a couple poles set up for them with flies on the ends and weights set about four feet up from the fly. He showed them how to toss the line out into the current and let it naturally float downriver. Once it got to a certain point they were to use their left hand to pull the line in (not reel it in) and fling the fly out into the river again. Rinse, repeat. They weren't fly fishing and they weren't spincast fishing either. It was kind of a combination of the two. Dave stood on the upriver part of the dock that stuck out farther into the river, Mike stood on the downriver end of the main dock. Mike seemed to pick up on the casting technique a little faster than Dave. In Dave's defense, however, he had a tree, a dock rail and Mike to contend with. Mike was in a much more open area. The river wasn't nice and sandy on the bottom either. Yes, almost immediately Dave got his line stuck between a couple rocks. Poor Dave tried every which way to get it unstuck himself. Ken noticed the struggle and went to see if he could get Dave going again. He struggled with it as well. He finally pulled really hard. The pole was bent over so far and the line so taut I thought for sure one of them would snap. Suddenly it gave way and everything was still attached!

Barb and Ken have a six-year-old yellow lab named Cooper. Cooper likes to go jump in the river. Not off the dock, because the water is too swift, but on the upriver side is a calm area he enjoys splashing in. Cooper also likes to play tug-of-war with his favorite toy, a turkey stuffed dog toy. After taking several pictures of the guys fishing, Charlie and I went and sat in the yard on the grass. Cooper brought his turkey over to me. I held the feet and he tugged the head. I was told if I told him, "Drop" he would drop it so I could throw it for him. It worked and we did that a few times. Other times he would randomly bring it over in front of Charlie, who was sitting in my lap, as if to ask Charlie if he wanted to play tug with him. A couple of times I held it and encouraged Charlie to grab our end. Charlie bit once, but never did actually tug on it. If he had, and I let go, Cooper would have flung him across the yard!

Mike and Dave tried for about an hour to catch something, anything, but came up empty handed. Mike thought he might have had a nibble, but that was it. Dave caught a rock, a tree, the dock, and maybe himself, I'm not sure. I sure would have been frustrated. They switched places at one point but neither had any better luck. They both reeled in their lines and leaned the poles against one of the Adirondack chairs around the fire pit. It was nearly lunch, dinner, lunner? time so we headed upstairs and out to the deck that overlooks the river. When Teri texted with Barb to set up the specifics of our visit, Barb apologized that she wouldn't be fixing a full lunch for us. They had family visiting the previous few days and she was all cooked out. She said she'd have a light Alaska lunch prepared. If the spread she prepared for us was a "light" lunch, I'd be really curious to see what a full meal would have been. There were bacon wrapped halibut bites, large peel and eat shrimp with cocktail sauce, salmon dip, barbecued pork with hot mustard, sliced cheese and crackers, and Teri brought along some sliced bagels to round out the buffet. Oh. My. Gosh. It was all delicious and Ken and Barb caught all the seafood themselves. You couldn't get any fresher.

We helped clear the table then Ken had to leave to go pick up their granddaughter from daycare. We took that opportunity to thank our hosts again for their wonderful hospitality and an offer to reciprocate should they find themselves in the Seattle area.

On the way back to camp we saw a moose munching grass and clover at the side of the road. Dave pulled onto the shoulder so pictures could be taken. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and, for me, blogging.

We'll talk again soon.

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