Anchorage, Cooper Landing, & Seward - 2013

Anchorage, Cooper Landing, & Seward - 2013

Impromptu trip - 

In August, what seemed to be at the last minute, we decided to take a drive to Anchorage and then to Cooper Landing to look at some property that became available.  The idea of buying and running a business is scary, but also exciting and what I consider to be a worthy challenge.  So off we went on Friday, August 9, to make the six hour drive to Anchorage, even though I was disappointed that according to the weather it was raining at our destination and Fairbanks was suppose to get one last day of exceptionally hot weather that Saturday.  The drive to Anchorage was uneventful.  We got there late and tried to get some sleep for the next days drive to Cooper Landing, only about two hours further.

Cooper Landing -

Seward Highway

Seward Highway

The property

Cooper Landing was an interesting and beautiful place.  The property seemed to have a lot of potential.  The only problems I could see were that the details are still being worked out for the sale of this property and would we be able to buy it?

After some dinner with the real estate agents who also happen to be my friends, we had planned on doing some fishing.  However, we then decided instead to drive to Seward so that the boys could see their Grandpa.

Seward -

Ducks - On the way to Seward

We arrived to Seward later than planned.  The boys were happy to see Grandpa Larry and he them, but I had to make the decision to either drive the two hours back to Anchorage or stay the night in Seward.  Staying in Seward gave us the opportunity to see the Sea-Life Center in the morning and I didn't think it would be wise to drive while tired and in the dark.  Larry went to check on the price of a room at the lodge where he works.  He surprised us all when, instead of coming back out with the information, he came out with a set of keys and said, "Here's your room!".  

The room was nice and comfortable as well as much appreciated.  We got a good night's sleep to prepare for the next day that promised to be a long one.  We planned on seeing the Sea-Life Center of course, but we also had to drive to Anchorage, do a little shopping while we were there, visit some relatives, and drive all the way back to Fairbanks because my mom had to work the next day.

Alaska Sea-Life Center -

In the morning we had breakfast at a little restaurant recommended to us by Larry.  Looking across the street we could see a cruise ship on the bay. 

After breakfast we were off to the sea-life center.

Resurrection Bay

The Trip Home -

The drive to Anchorage was not that bad, other than some occasional rain showers.  We got our shopping and our visiting done, but left Anchorage in the evening rather than in the afternoon as we had planned.  We raced back towards home, hoping to catch as much of the day light as possible.  

However, we had to drive through the inevitable road construction areas and also got hit with exceptionally heavy rain that forced us to slow down drastically.  

When we were still pretty close to Willow, I seen a little black bear bounding through the tall grass on the side of the road.

Later, after we had just driven through Healy when we came upon a moose standing in the middle of the road.  It just stood there and looked at us for what seemed like a long time, breath showing in little white clouds within the light from my car.  It was twilight time than, but only just, and from there on out I was extra careful driving the rest of the trip in the dark.  Fortunately, we did not come across another moose.  I did however, see two foxes.

From left to Right:  My mom's moose photo and Jesse's moose photo.

We finally reached Fairbanks at around 1:00 A.M.  It was a relief to be home and to finally get some sleep.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 12 - Saturday - July 27

Fireweed

Delphinium (?)

Spent our last day in town.  The boys just didn't feel like going fishing, but they regretted that decision later when the weather was calm, nice, and the river looked like a sheet of glass.  

We walked part way to the grave yard to get a picture of Ruby.  We would have walked all the way up, but the bugs were too bad and forced back into town.  

Brandon

Jesse and I did a load of laundry only because we had to.  Later we took a walk on the beach with grandpa.  The river was smooth as glass all day long, but since we did not go fishing, the boys will have to be content with memories of past trips.

Our view from the hill to the graveyard

Front Street

Roy will remain in Ruby to work and will be the only one of us with fishing tips on the Yukon to look forward to this year.

Evening view of the calm Yukon

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 11 - Friday - July 26

The gnats are terrible even though the mosquitoes have tapered off a bit. 

The sun was shining bright after about eleven in the morning and the temperature reached around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun by that afternoon. I can't decide if my arms are tan or almost burnt. 

Roy with a large Pike

When the sky was still slightly overcast in the morning and after a Cream of Wheat with blueberry breakfast, we headed over to the Melozi to do a little fishing.  

We kept three pike and even though we saw a salmon and I had caught and lost a she-fish, the fish were not biting too good today.  Maybe it is just too hot for the fish to bite right now.  

Nothing else exciting. She-fish chowder for dinner and later, showers at the laundromat.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 10 - Thursday - July 25

View of Ruby from the airport

Slept in until around nine or almost nine.  Found that my dad hand company.  A drifter/adventurer from Germany introduced himself as Joe, AKA Jochen Kern.  I made pancakes for everyone.  

Picking blueberries

Later, Roy, the boys, and I drove out to two-mile hill to pick more blueberries and do a little target shooting.  

In the evening we had pan fried salmon and a mix of vegetables for dinner.  After dinner the river looked sunny, peaceful, and inviting, so off we went to the Melozi to fish for she-fish.  

View of the Yukon and Melozi Rivers from a gravel pit in Ruby

Jesse caught a small one on his second cast, but it was too small to keep.  I caught one that was just large enough to keep.  The others and I also caught pike that we threw back.  Besides the onset of gnats in large quantities, it was a beautiful day!

(I didn't have my camera with me on this fishing trip.  Roy has photo's and I will post them when I get copies.)

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 9 - Wednesday - July 24

Jesse's Pike

Went fishing by the slough again even though the weather was not so sunny in the morning.  There was a bit of wind on the river.  It was just Roy, Jesse, and I today.  Brandon claimed to have one of his headaches.  I think he just preferred to stay behind to watch movies and hang out in town.  

"What time is it?"

Swan on the Yukon

Jesse caught a large pike, near to the size of the monster we were trying to catch the other night, but not quite as big. 

 We got some pictures of a swan that took off after floating nearby.  

Jesse had a lot of fun.  He said it was the best fishing trip ever!

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 8 - Tuesday - July 23

Not much for adventure today.  We did the things that needed to be done.  Roy did his load of laundry and we all took showers.  

Stinging Nettles on the property

My dad's friend, Ben, came over to help with building the house.  So, Roy, my dad, and Ben raised the last exterior wall.  My dad had promised Ben dinner, but since he could not do both the cooking and the construction, I got handed all the ingredients and cooked the meal.  We had fried cabbage with bacon, ham, potatoes, onion, bell pepper, and apple.  It was delicious.  For desert, and thanks to Jesse's craving for ice cream which we could not find in Ruby at the time, we bought a tub of Cool Whip and had frozen Cool Whip with the blue berries we picked.  Some of us threw walnuts in the mix as well.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 7 - Monday - July 22

We walked to the laundromat to do a load of laundry and take showers, but it was closed.  Oops!  On the way back Jesse seen a bee or wasp flopping around on the ground.  When he described the noise, I said, "Oh.  It was beat-boxing?"  Jesse said, "Yeah!  It was BEE-boxing!"

 After much effort on Roy's part to raise the boat transom, and that not working out as planned, we finally went across the river to do some fishing.  We couldn't make it into the Melozi once again, so we fished the little slough that runs next to it instead.  

 There was one really huge pike that was a monster.  It was caught by, but got away from Roy, Jesse, and I (not necessarily in that order).  I guess fish get that big by being a survival expert after all.

Add caption

Brandon's view of the mountains

Brandon did little fishing, complained about mosquitoes, but noticed the view of the mountains.

Ruby, Alaska

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 6 - Sunday - July 21

We had planned on maybe going swimming, but the weather was too dreary for swimming.  Instead, we went with our back-up plan of driving out the road to do a little recreational gold panning.  After a breakfast of pancakes and roast beef hash we headed out.

Lunch Time at Hub Hill

We stopped at 'Hub Hill' for lunch.

Gold panning was not a successful venture, besides a few dust sized particles that were not even worth mentioning.  We had fun trying. 

The mosquitoes were horrible, especially for the boys who are not use to growing up with such large populations of them.  We still found time for a little exploring in the gold-mining district known as 'Long Creek'.

 

Monkshood flower

On the way back, we stopped to pick blue berries near 'Hub Hill' and the mosquitoes were even worse there than at the creek.  The boys mostly sat in the truck while Roy and I picked a bucket full.