I have been putting off writing about Alaska for long enough and now I feel like it is going to come out as such a blur of memories and experiences. We went to Soldatna Alaska this year for my families vacation to go fishing. We have been up there before but since the last time our family grew. We had two more kids and one more adult coming. The lodging situation was pretty hectic. We had reserved the same home we stayed in last time about 6 months before we were going up there. We did hear from the lady and she never would return our calls. So, about a month before we were leaving we decided it was time to call her until we got a response. It was a good thing we did because we found out that she had sold the home and it was no longer available. She told us she sent us a letter in the mail but we never received it. So, long story short we were in a frantic mode trying to find somewhere to stay since our flights were booked and we had all of our gear ready. We finally got in contact with this wonderful lady named Teri whose family had a cabin up there right on the river. A cabin on the river with a group this big and with little kids was AMAZING! We didn't have to have shifts or stay there all day we could come and go as we pleased because it was such a short walk. There was even a sing set for the kids. It had plenty of beds and space for our large group of 15. Tanner and I were very lucky to have been able to get a room to sleep in so that Layla could take naps and go to sleep more easily with our distraction and interruptions. And by the way she slept wonderfully the whole trip at each cabin and on the flights. We did have a interesting flight going to Alaska. Our plane was too heavy so we could not take off. They had to kick off the last two people who got on the flight because we couldn't take off and land safely with that much weight on a plane crazy right. Well, we took off and hour later than planned which means all my planning to have a sleeping baby on the flight didn't work very well because the schedule was off by an hour so we she was awake an extra hour but she didn't scream or cause any ruckus. She truly is a wonderful flier. She has only been on four trips flying now so eight flights but she has done very well on ALL of them! Our little traveler. We are starting her young because Tanner and I love to travel so we are going to do it a lot and want to share all those experiences with Layla.
Back to Alaska: Well, the fishing that first week on the other hand was VERY slow. To give you an example. In the first week we were in Alaska we caught 16 fish. The last day we were there a week later the fish run had started at we caught 24 fish in one day. That is a huge difference.
While the fish were running a little slower we went out and explored Alaska a little. We hiked to Portage Glacier, visited the little spit of Homer, some of our group went sea kayaking out of Seaward , others went to the sea life center also in Seaward, and we did some souvenir shopping.
One of the most unique experience this time in Alaska was getting to go out with a commercial fishing group and pull in the large nets that catch the fish. They would pull the nets over the boat and pull out the fish. They would only keep certain fish and they would always through back the flounder fish. This commercial fishing group was the family of Teri who we rented the first house from in our stay there.
Our second week we stayed at a place called the Salmon Catcher Lodge. It was a fun little lay out of cabins with different set ups of apartment type lodging. It has multiple cabins all of this plot of land that is very well landscaped. The Salmon Catcher Lodge was not set up for kids. My family was the first people to bring little children to this lodging area. It mainly catered to large groups of men fisherman. It was very nice to have a spot to processes a lot of fish to get it ready to vacuum seal and freeze. This would be one of the reasons I would go back there. It was so nice to be away from the food we were eating and that 5-6 of us could be helping at once. A funny experience with this place was when our drunk upstairs neighbor kept coming to talk with us about us complaining that they are being too loud. He was a Polish man from New Jersey. He was very funny and very drunk. He came down to us about 5 times and said the same thing over about how we said they were loud and that he is sorry if they are but that he would like it if we came and talked to them personally instead of talking to the owner of the Salmon Catcher Lodge. The funny part is no one talked to the owner about them being loud. I didn't think they were even that loud. That was a very funny night.
Our last day we went to the Anchorage Alaska Temple and did some temple work before our flight at midnight. It was such a beautiful little temple and I am so happy and blessed that my whole family was able to go in and we could all be there together. It truly is a blessing.
Our flight home was very uneventful we all slept the whole way home but as we are getting off up to get off the plane. At 6 in the morning Utah time, our niece Emari said " I am SO tired." Which was so funny after taking a middle of the night flight and we are all very tired. It was mostly funny because it was the thought everyone had but didn't say out loud but she did. The whole plane started to laugh a little.
Our trip to Alaska was wonderful the serenity of being outside in nature everywhere you go was incredible. My family is very fun to travel with and we are always looking forward to our next trip.
I know there is so much I want to share but cannot think of now but I have so many pictures to share!
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