Art, Fishing, Reindeer Sausages, and Fred Meyer

On Thursday of last week the crew went Halibut fishing.  They were up at 4:30 exiting the cabin by 5:00am.  I drifted off to sleep and had a quiet day at the river reading my third book.  Friday we went to the Summer Solstice Festival, The Historic Tour, and in the evening we listened to a  local legend Hobo Jim.  The chainsaw carver was at the Solstice Festival.  He looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, even sported a little beard. The five of us watched chainsaw wood carving up close and personal. 

The carver would examine a spruce log and declare "bear or eagle," then fire up his chainsaw to begin the process of transforming wood into art.  We finished watching him carve the eagle; left the festival and spent the evening listening to Alaska's official Balladeer Hobo Jim.  He is an accomplished guitar player, with a keen wit.  He tells stories after each song is done; to keep you clapping, howling, and interested in his art.

The best part about the solstice festival was the wood carving.  Wood Carving with chainsaws seems to be a fascination for the tourists here in Alaska.  There are so many trees it just seems natural to carve a few into decorations for ones front yard.  Benches, totem poles, planters, and carousel animals are available for purchase.  The carvings come in the forms of moose, bears,

The carvings come in the forms of moose, bears, salmon, and eagles.  These four powerful animals seem to be the main animals for the chainsaw wood carving array.  Options include tiny bears made from wood into refrigerator magnets all the way up to life sized bears carved for a front yard or grand cabin entry way.  Paul, Shari, and Doug posed by the latter for a picture this morning.

We make an almost daily trip to the grocery store it's called Fred Meyer.  We make jokes about missing Freddie and needing to visit him.  We are diligent and create a list every time, but it does not fail that we have to visit our friend Freddie nearly everyday.  We purchase the normal stuff fishing tackle, food, licenses, but not one day passes without us going to the store.  Fred Meyer loves us! Today we had to visit Fred Meyer because yesterday the crew caught so much fish we needed to get fish shipping containers for our most prized possession right now Halibut.
 
I also found out that the route I have been running has a enormous female grizzly and three of last years cubs hanging out near the running path. So, really that's four bears, I am thankful we (Ms.
Grizzly and I) have not met, yet.  I even changed my route, but sadly this route change included lots of stop lights, cross walks, and unconscious drivers.  I could continue to run the path where the grizzly bears are, but I do not want to be one of those people who has a blog called "I was almost eaten while training for a half marathon.."
The new shortened path may be almost as deadly as the last based on the 1.4 miles of dodging cars in cross walks and people driving their cars without really paying any attention, thus unconscious driving.  I think I will take my chances with the cars...at least they may have insurance.

This is Shari with a grizzly bear.  The only kind of bear I what to be close to or run near!  The claws on bears are nearly as intimidating as their size.  I am sure the expression on her face would not be the same if this were a real live grizzly. 

Fishing has been superb.  Yesterday Paul caught a 90 pound halibut and Shari worked a 50 pound er all the way to the boat, but the young man trying to net it bumped it out of the net and poof it was gone.  Shari was a trooper out on the boat; she actually caught the most fish.  Leo caught one nice halibut while Doug, Paul, and Shari all limited out on their catch. Many thanks to our new friend Mr. Petska for taking the fishing crew out and showing them otters, seals, killer whales, and whales. 

90 pound halibut and a smile as big as the sea it was caught in!

The guys spent the evening cleaning, freezing, and vacuum sealing up our catch.  I sat around the fire and bragged about how hard I worked cutting the potatoes thin for our fish and chips dinner.  We have been trying to drink in the whole experience but I do not think two weeks quite captures all of the opportunities and fun we have had.

Today we headed to Fred Meyer, again!  Reindeer sausages are on the menu for lunch today.  They are delicious I pile mine high with jalapenos, sauerkraut, and some mustard. So now it's time for a nap!