hali-booty fishin!

The morning started early around 6:45 am, as Bruce, Brett and I raced out the door to meet our ride. A friend of Kaitlin's family has a fishing boat and offered to take a group of us out. Normally, halibut fishing on a charter costs quite a bit, so everyone was obviously pumped for this opportunity.

There are so many fisherman on the Kenai Peninsula in the summer, it can be absolute chaos. In order to evade the complete madness that comes with launching a boat, we arrived early to the launch. Once we were at the launch, the boat was unhooked from the truck, attached it to a tractor which then proceeded to pull us down a super steep, and wet hill, then backing us up into the ocean.

Fishing was a blast! Everyone was excited and happy to be out on the ocean and we caught lots of Halibut! The seas were calm and the sky was overcast; perfect for spending the day on the boat. Bruce was the first to catch a fish, it all happened so fast. Within the first 10 minutes of having his pole in the water he was reeling something in. I was shocked when all of a sudden he threw it back into the water because it was too small. It looked huge compared to the fish we get from the lake back home. However, after we started catching the bigger fish, I understood what a good size halibut was.

The guys explained to me the basics of dropping the weight to the bottom and letting it drag until you feel a bite. At first, I thought every time the weight hit a bump on the ocean floor I had a fish and I would get excited and start reeling it in only to find my untouched bait. But, I did catch on pretty quick after everyone telling me that I would definitely be able to tell if I had a bite, or a fish. And then before I knew it I was reeling in a halibut! Talk about a work out, those guys are heavy and reeling it in 150 feet takes awhile. I thought for sure I would loose the fight to the halibut, but I was victorious! We got it on deck smacked it and stuck it in the hold. The day continued on like this, and we ended up catching our limit and going home happy.

Aside from the fabulous fishing adventure, I appreciate being a part of the Vadla family. I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend the summer with such an incredible and loving people.

fish tales and scales

Penny and I have been discussing the different job options I could do for the summer, ranging from construction to waitressing. By Wednesday we had a pretty good list going, and Thursday we were planning on going out on the hunt.

Wednesday evening for dinner, we took a drive down to take Robert, Penny's nephew, some pizza. Robert works down at the docks in Kenai. He moved up here when he was 18 and lived with Penny for awhile. While we waiting for Penny and Bruce to bring the pizza, Kaitlin, Brett, Robert and I sat around chatting as the smell of BBQ wafted up from the grill below.

I am not sure how it came into the conversation, but Robert mentioned that there were a few positions open on the docks. They were in need for fish pitchers; the guys that get down and dirty. Sorters, folks that know the difference between dog salmon and red, and a tally girl. "You have to have a brain for this job," Robert said, "that's why we call it 'tally girl'. The guys we get on the docks aren't always all there in the head." Perfect, I said sign me up! I was willing to pitch fish, learn the species or tally. I filled out an application and Thursday morning found out I would be working that evening as the tally girl.

The evening began around 6 p.m. and ended around 2 a.m and this is how it played out. First, everyone begins to trickle in, grab some coffee and guess about how well the fisherman did that day. We stand around and wait for the boats to arrive, then... action! The pitchers head down to the lower docks and pitch fish into a huge bin attached to a crane. The crane lifts the bin and weighs it. As it gets weighed in midair, fish slime falls through the holes in the bottom of the tote and covers the pitchers. The number gets shouted up to me to record. The fish then are dumped onto a long metal table and sorters sort the fish by species. Anything that is not a red gets put into a different bin. When the first bin is dumped on the table, I run over to check the temperature, color, texture, odor, eyes and scales. This process repeats until the boat is empty.

The bin of "off species fish" is then broken down by species, e.g., pink, dog, king, dolly, etc . . . After the fish are weighed, one of the sorters brings over the bucket of fish slime that drains off of the sorting table and weighs it too. All of these weights are subtracted from the original number of the red bins. I stand next to Tom, the crane operator, protecting myself from the flying fish slime and take in everything.

I love the intensity that fills the salty, damp air when the boats come in. The fisherman stand awaiting anxiously, watching the bins fill up, wanting to know their numbers. Everyone is works hard and has a blast. Even when things got busy, the sorters had enough patience (or were very amused) with my eagerness to learn about the different fish species. Toward the end of the evening, the action slowed and the boats became less frequent. The chill off the ocean became apparent, but the breathtaking sun set at 1 am was had us all standing in awe. I think I am going to like this summer.

eat, hike, sleep

Last Sunday, after getting our fill on Papusa's and Arepas at the Forest Fair, we put on our hiking boots and headed up the North Face of Alyeska. The views, as I am sure you can imagine were spectacular, and the closer we got to the summit the more spectacular it became. I started out on the hike stopping to take pictures of each new glacier that appeared at every switchback, however, as we neared the top my heartbeat quickened, as I realized I was hiking on a double black diamond, in my little green hiking boots, on a trail that was two feet wide with slippery, slushy snow. Breath, Audra, Breath was my mantra. Thankfully we all made it to the top in one piece and enjoyed some tasty food and pistachio ice cream YUM!


<- view from Alyeska
Monday was spent in the quaint town of Seward watching Kaitlin's brother, Brett, run the Mt. Marathon race. This mountain is 3,022 feet in elevation and goes straight up from sea level. Standing on the street looking to the top, the mountain looks like it is cut in two pieces, the bottom half is a lush and beautiful green. The top is a stark contrast of brownish gray rocks. People run up this mountain and basically fly back down! Brett's goal was to do the race in less than 1 hr 45 min and he finished in 1 hour and 5 minutes and placed 100th out of 390. This was his first year, I was very impressed.

gumby chasing birdman at Mt. Marathon race ->
After the race, we made it to our final detestation; Kaitlin's home in Soldotna. Their house is in town, but feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. You hardly know they have neighbors, Penny has a lovely flower garden, their backyard is the river and the wildlife that wanders through could care less about humans. I've already seen more eagles, rabbits, and moose than I can count on two hands. I love it! Hopefully, by the end of the summer I will see a wolverine (and I'm not talking about Hugh Jackman).

on the road (and the ferry)

We made it to Alaska! The drive up was absolutely beautiful, the mountains, the wildflowers and the sunsets have been absolutely amazing. We drove through British Colombia to Prince Rupert where we boarded the Matanuska. The ferry goes up what is called the inside passage along the coast of AK with untouched mountains littered with forests on either side for miles and miles. Most of my time on the ferry was spent on top in the solarium in awe of the spectacular views. The air was refreshing and misty and the people camping out up there had great tales of adventures.

We hopped off the ferry in Haines, Alaska, where we met up with one of Penny's friends Tish and Dana, who retired on 43 acres of beautiful land. The farm was awesome! Tish gave us tour around the gardens, chicken coops and cabins. Before the tour she let out 4 baby goats, 2 mamas and 1 hermaphrodite. They were adorable as they followed us all around, jumping off logs, enjoying munching the greenery, and jumping in our arms.

After the farm, we continued on our journey. A few highlights along the way: randomly finding a Canada Day BBQ with free burgers and cake, chasing sunsets, stopping at Tickleberry's for ice cream and lot's of fudge, eating breakfast on the beach in Osoyoos, not being able to find a hotel under $200 at 10 o'clock at night, screeching the car to a halt and reversing on the highway to take pictures of a black bear, grizzly bear and lots of moose.


My two travel companions, Penny and Kaitlin are absolutely incredible. Penny can start a conversation with anyone she meets, in the cafeteria, stopping to take pictures, or in the hamburger line. She loves adventures and one always seems to find her, or maybe it is the other way around. While on the road she refused to let Kaitlin or I drive any part of the trip so we would be able to fully enjoy the scenery. Kaitlin has a love for life and learning. Her curiosity makes friends with anyone she meets and she shows no fear when it comes to learning something new.

Plans for today: visit the park for some live music at the Forest Fair, and then a hike up Mt. Alyeska for spectacular views and delicious food at Seven Glaciers Restaurant.