We've Had Friends Come to Visit

Tuesday our friends Randy and Chris Davis from Quesnel, BC arrived for a visit. They were sure glad to get here and both share our feelings about the Alaska Highway (Alcan). We can now say we did it but none of us are looking forward to the return trip home. The Alcan is a once in a lifetime experience for most people and that is probably true for all of us. They're two dogs, Maggie and Sprout were happier than they were to get here. Neither dog, especially Sprout, enjoyed the trip.

Both Chalets have people in them for the next four days and that means we don't have a lot to do during the day so we've been doing some sightseeing. Wednesday we drove the the big city of Seward and showed then around a little. There was a cruise ship in port and that's the first one we've seen also since our arrival. We're told that about half of the cruise ships that come to Alaska stop in Seward. I guess you never really realize from pictures the real size of things but these cruise ships are hugh.
While we were driving around by Resurrection Bay, Randy spotted an otter floating on his back eating fish he would catch when he dove down. They dive down and catch their food, then float on their backs while they wash and eat it.

We stopped at Terry's Fish and Chips and had lunch. They had a luncheon special that we all had and it was delicious. After lunch, Randy and I went to True Value Hardware to look for camper stuff and repair parts we needed for the Chalets while Judy and Chris did some window shopping. The weather was rather cold and on the verge of raining so we didn't walk around too long. Shopping done, we headed back toward Moose Pass.
On the way back we drove part way up to "Exit Glacier" but by then it was getting colder and starting to rain so we decided to wait for another day to drive up close to the glacier and headed home.
Thursday we decided to drive to the big metropolises of Soldotna and Kenai. We found a Home Depot and a Lowe's in Kenai. I still needed a freeze free silcock for Wild Rose to replace a bad one and Gary hadn't been able to find in Anchorage so we stopped at Home Depot and they had what I needed so I picked it up.

Thursday was also the opening day for the Salmon fishing season. The Kenai and Russian rivers that are both on the way to Soldotna are THE two premier salmon fishing rivers in Alaska so we stopped on the way back at the ferry crossing at the Russian river to check out the action. This was even a new experience for Randy who is an avid fisherman. He couldn't believe how they were fishing. He stopped to talk to a guy who had been fishing with his girl friend and had just come back to his truck about what he used for bait and how he went about it. He had two nice size fish about 18-20 inches long and 7-8 pounds Randy's ready to hit the river for his chance at the BIG one!!! Randy and I have reserved a spot on a Halibut Charter out of Seward on Sunday and hopefully we'll catch some big one and get pictures. Check back for the results.