July 13, 2008 , Sunday
We went to church at 11a.m. we haven't been in church for awhile, so it was a good feelings that we did go. After church we went to the store's and bought stuff that we needed for our trip. I think it's about 4p.m. when we finally got home and start packing.
We left Fairbanks about 8:50 p.m. the weather was pretty nice.


This picture was our first stop just past Nenana. Abby was whining and we thought she might need to go out so we did stop for a bit.










This was our second stop just past Denali. Wow we filled up our gas tank from Fairbanks for $100 or so and when we got to Healy we had to fuel up again and it costs us about $80. We already spent that much money on gas and we're not even half way to where were going.








This is what we got from driving at night. It wasn't so dark but the moose blend well. We were thinking of stopping at the place where we always stopped and took a napped, but Joel said, nahh! I'm not sleepy yet, we can drive all the way to Wasilla and take a rest over there. It was fine with me too, I'm not driving but I was sleepy. I doze off now and then but tried to be up for him.
We were almost to Talketna cutoff, we just past the board sign says 5 miles to there. about a mile or so I doze off for just a minute then had a premonition about someone on a stretcher being loaded in an ambulance. I woke up and was rebuking and holding the right arm of my husband then just in few seconds, a mother moose with her baby was on the road. Joel tried to stop as quick as he can but he couldn't because we have a boat. We missed the mother by 2 feet or so but the poor baby moose slammed on the bumper of our truck. We didn't see the moose because when we finally stop it was few hundred feet away and Joel was worried about oil leaked and stuff and we were like 3 miles to gas station. So, we got in the truck and drove to the gas station. No oil leak, radiator bent but still works, right headlight was out. We called troopers and report the accident. We asked the people who was behind us if they saw a dead moose on the road, they said they didn't. We aren't sure if the baby moose is dead or did it survive, we just don't know and would never know. I felt horrible just to think a baby was following the mother trying to get to the other side and then boom! the mother got to the other side alone. . It sad...but what if we hit the mother instead? we probably be in the hospital or worse yet in a cemetery. . We were shocked but glad that we were alright. Joel has been driving here in Alaska for 35 years and this was the first time he hit a moose..

Yep! this is our truck, ugly but still running.
Our rest stopped just passed Turnagain pass.












We let Abby dipped in the cold Kenai River. She was all so excited and happy. She was waiting for us to throw her a stick.





oh how I wish I can go swimming but the water is so dang cold!


















July 14, 2008 about 11am we arrived in Soldotna. Joel got our dip netting permit at Fred Meyer there. While we were at the gas station putting fuel on the truck and the boat, Joel's friend saw us and offer us his zodiac if in case our boat won't start or something.. We were so lucky that he saw us there because when we tried to start the boat engine, it won't start. Joel changed the batteries and did some work on it but still didn't start. It took us at least 4 hrs trying to get it to work but it didn't. Well, the boat hasn't been in the water for more than 4 yrs, and we believe that thats the problem. So, we called Joel friend and told him that we were going to borrow his zodiac, he was happy to loaned it to us. He said anytime we want just give him a call.

We headed down to Homer about 5pm to drop the boat there to Shelby (Joel's Nephew). Shelby was so excited to have the boat there. He said that he'll fix it and get it to run. We left the boat there to his care.

After we dropped the boat to Shelby, we went to his Mother's house (Joel's Sister) and the three of us went out to dinner. About 10pm we left Homer and went back to Soldotna. We got there about 12am. we fetch our tent over at the Centennial Park Campground. $16 per night is what their charging. We paid for two nights.

July 15, 2008. About 9 am. Joel was putting our dip net together. It was brand new. We were getting ready to get our coffee and breakfast and head down to Kenai. We called Joel's friend but he wasn't home so we just left him a message.









This is the Kenai River behind our tent over at Centennial Park Campground. Abby was just happy to be in the water again. we let her roam around while we were getting ready to go fishing.



That's Joel and his friend. They're getting the boat ready. We paid $15 to park our truck over at the harbor and to lunch the boat. It wasn't bad.



























About 1pm when we start fishing. Abby had to stay at the truck because the boat was so small, she will just be on the way. Poor Abby! Anyway, I was the captain. I drove while Joel was fishing. He had lot of fun. Catching 2 big fish in one net was so much fun than driving the boat.
I got jealous, so I turned the motor off and start fishing too. we let the current drove us down the stream while we're fishing. After an hour our cooler was full and we have fish all over the floor of that zodiac.



This was our first trip back to the shore. Joel was transferring the fishes to the other cooler because we could not left this cooler off the boat. It so dang heavy. I think 1 fish would weight 15 lbs or more.
After Joel transfered the fish, we went back because we haven't got our limit yet.
About 5pm we were done so we head off to the shore. when we got there, Joel's friend was there waiting for us. We kept the boat that night because we still have some fishing left to do for our family and friends. We actually bought 2 new big coolers at Home Depot in Kenai.




































After we bought the coolers, I told Joel that I want to clean the fishes. The problem was we didn't know where can we go to do that. Anyway, we went to bought some flaked ice ($5 a bucket) and while we were there I asked the cashier on where we can go to clean our fishes. She said that right behind the building they have cleaning station and it cost I believe $15 for 24hrs of use. so we did that.
Yep, that's me, cleaning and filleting fish. I had Joel do the steaks because he can't fillet well. too much meat wasted when he does it. It took us 4 hrs to clean, well, not all was clean. We had some whole one's we just bagged up. I had enough cleaning for that day.
We head back down to Soldotna and it was nice that there is a laundry/shower place open for 24hrs. there. It cost us $6 for the shower. While we were driving back to the campground, a police officer stopped us. He said that our right headlight was out, and he might be wondering what happened to our truck. We told him about the moose and that we can't fix the truck until we get back home. It was 1am when we finally got to bed.

July 16, 2008. It's wet and cold out. It has been raining since we got there. Actually it's been raining the whole summer there.



This is the boat (zodiac) that we used. It's our second day fishing. This time I let Joel be the captain because I just want to do the fishing. We fished for 3 hours and left. We didn't clean the fishes we just bought flaked ice and packed them good in the coolers.









We head down to Homer to see Jeannie and gave her some fish.
Joel suggested that Jeannie should call Shelby to do the fillet for her, since Shelby was real good with filleting.


So that's Shelby, Jeannie, and Joel outside Jeannie's house.

I do too have learned the easy way to do fillet.
Shelby had showed us.