Ready for Camp!

Well the day has finally arrived and Jake leaves for camp in the morning. Gulp! Why oh why is it so hard to let go as a parent? Tony and I are both struggling with his leaving even tho we both know it's only for 4 days. My prayers go something like this..."Please, Lord, don't let him get eaten by a bear!" LOL!! I'm such a nervous Nelly!! At the very worst he'll only get eaten by mosquitos. In my heart of hearts I know he is going to have a blast and two of his buddies are going so there's nothing to worry about. The way he's been bopping around today tells me he's excited to leave "the nest" for a change. :) Not to mention, Tony and I aren't that much into camping so he's got to go somehow. I don't want him to miss out on experiences like camping just because we aren't "into it". At any rate, keep us in your thoughts and prayers this week. I don't want to worry the whole time and I want him to have the best time ever. Pray for great weather! Also pray he can make the 2 mile hike up to camp with that very heavy backback! I hope he's having such a good time that he doesn't whine too much.

OK...that's it for posting today. I'm going back to the couch now. Hugs~ Nanette

P.S. You can check out the website of where Jake is going to camp at the bottom of this page. It's called "Orton Ranch" and they've got some great pictures of the area, wildlife, and the camp grounds.

Check out this video guys! I got my first kayaking lesson tonight! It was a perfect, calm evening and the tide was high so I asked my neighbor downstairs if she would mind taking me out. She was more than happy to. Jake got a lesson, too, and even had a kayak to himself! He's so brave! He really enjoyed it but, as always, it was more work than he thought it was going to be. LOL! Anyway, I will post more kayaking pics below. I think this may be a pastime we could really get into. It is very relaxing to be out on the water. We literally paddled out into the sunset. It was truly magical. Tony had a shot in the smaller kayak as well. He enjoyed it a lot. I can't wait to go again! Unfortunately, our neighbors are moving the end of July. I'm hoping we can get many more trips in before they leave! :)

What A Day!

What an incredible Saturday we had! We were pleasantly surprised to see this morning that it finally stopped raining. Yesterday was wet, miserable and cold! I even turned my heat on last night to take off the chill. But today was a whole different story. We had blue sky and sunshine! It was magnificent. We had many errands to run so we were really happy we had good weather for it. Anywhoooo...in the midst of our running around we were on our way to the Rec. Center when we noticed a new "tour" in town. It's called "Crazy Dave's Reptile Tour". I had seen signs for it and passed it many times but today something extra special caught our attention in the form of a HUGE tortoise walking down the street with someone whom I'm pretty sure was "Crazy Dave". So, of course, Tony and Jake want to jump out and check out the situation. So, since it was so nice out and because we just don't see this sort of thing everyday, I happily obliged them. I waited in the car because there was such a crowd gathered around and, well, I'm just not much of a "crowd" person any more. So, the boys ran over, checked out the turtle and talked to the girl sitting outside holding a snake. Yes...I said SNAKE! Anyway, they made their way back to the car and upon getting inside Tony tells me they give a break to locals. Instead of $10 for the "tour" it is only $5. I'm thinking...that's a pretty good deal. So, needless to say, we decide to take the whole tour. As you will see from pics below...it was quite impressive. I'm not much into reptiles and snakes but this guy (Crazy Dave) had quite a collection. It was better than I expected. Pretty cool for Ketchikan and especially cool to a 9 year old boy.

This is the tortoise I mentioned above. She is 17 years old. A mear "baby" since they live to be 200 or so!

This is "Ms. Piggy. Her snout is turned up like a pig. She is a very cool-looking snake!

This is the "underbelly" of Ms. Piggy. I thought she had neat markings on the bottom. :)

Say Cheese!

This guy made me a little nervous. I didn't want to pet him. Notice the cute little "harness" they wear so they can go out for a walk! LOL!!

Salmon Slayers!

Hi All! Well, Sunday we had a chance to go fishing with Julie's dad. It was so much fun! We got so many fish it was unreal. For those that know the area, we went out to Herring Cove where the King Salmon are starting to go up stream to spawn. We tried a new technique we've never done before. Rather than trolling, we went "snagging". This is where you use a monster of a hook (a hook that looks like it's on steroids!) and you literally try to "snag" the salmon by casting your line out and jerking every so often as you reel in your line. Our friend, Ron, was with us. He has lots of experience doing this and caught many fish that day. We have named him "The Salmon Whisperer". LOL!! Anyway, it was the best time and as you will see from the pictures below, a good time was had by all. Jake really enjoyed driving the boat on the way back, too!

This is the hook I mentioned above! Scary, huh? You definitely don't want one of these in your eye...or your scalp for that matter! LOL!

You can't see this very well but in the center of this picture is a Black Bear that wandered toward the beach. I was very excited as it's been a long time since I've seen a bear!

This is Julie Biagi. My landlord, my neighbor, and one of my best friends! Her dad is here from Washington and took us out on their boat. Many thanks to Julie and Jim for an amazing day on the water! (This seaweed is all Julie caught this day! LOL! Sorry, Jules!)

Here's Tony reeling in one of many large Kings we got this day. Jim is standing ready with the net. Look at the bend on that rod! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

Jake patiently (and I use the term loosely!!) waits for his turn at the back of the boat with daddy. He was very anxious to catch something! As you can see, there were many boats out there with us. Made for an interesting afternoon with everyone "casting" at the same time.

Jake and Tony with one unlucky salmon!

Tony helps Jake reel one in! Look at that boy strain...I think the fish was almost as big as him!

Jake's favorite part...whacking the fish in the head to make sure it's good and dead. Otherwise, they flop around on the boat! Yuck! I hate this part....

Look at that beast!

Ron "The Salmon Whisperer" Leighton!

Jake enjoys "driving" the boat on our way back to the dock!

Over a dozen eagles swarmed the beach after we thru the carcasses out for them to feast on. It was quite a site to behold! **Slideshow to come with more pics! :)

Another Day In Paradise

Well, our weather turned beautiful and sunny yesterday afternoon. We woke up to blue sky and sunshine again this morning. There is still a bit of a chill in the air and we are all wondering if we are going to get some warmer temperatures this summer. It was over 80 degrees Memorial Day Weekend and we haven't felt anything near that since. Oh well...I'll take the sun and blue sky no matter what! I've taken a picture tonight of our sunset. This is my favorite time of day here at our beach house. The sun is no longer glaring off the water and blinding us and the colors of the sunsets are breathtaking out here. Anyway, it is rather late so I am going to cut this short today. I am having so much fun with this blog, however, and I recommend it to everyone. A shout out to Helen for inspiring me! Thanks, H!! :)

Over and Out~ Nanette

Life In Ketchikan

It's rainy and gray here today. Imagine that! In SouthEast Alaska, no doubt! LOL! I figured this would be a good time to start this blog I've been promising everyone. I will post more pictures later when I have more time.

So let's see...what's going on with us? Well, as most of you know, we moved to a house on the beach back in September. It is proving to be the best move we have ever made. Our view is truly magnificent and it is so calming to come home to everyday after a busy day at work. Jacob also loves spending time outside with the neighborhood kids. They spend hours scouring the beach and playing "Indiana Jones" or whatever it might be for the day. It has been such a blessing to find such a great deal for a place to live. As of right now, we are going to stay there as long as we possibly can as we know that we will never be able to afford a home on the water again. :) Not to mention, it will be great when company comes to visit! What an experience they will have sitting out on our deck watching the whales go by! And we can cast our fishing poles right off the beach if we want. I heard we can catch CoHo at the end of August. I can't wait!

Work-wise everything is going really well. Tony has settled in to his position at Community Connections quite nicely. It suits him very well and everyone seems to really appreciate him and all of the knowledge he brought to the position. He is also learning a lot (especially about printers!) whether he wants to or not. :)

I am very much looking forward to my parents visiting this summer! My mom arrives in August and my dad is talking about coming up the first week of September when the Coho run starts (those are salmon for those that don't know!) :) As far as any other visits or me going anywhere...that is very much up in the air for now. I have auditors coming to our office right after my mother leaves and then my dad may be here so there's really no where to fit any travel in this summer. I was very fortunate to take Jacob to Anchorage in April and was able to get rid of the "Island Fever" I was experiencing. I usually get that in the spring...Similiar to "Cabin Fever"...you get the idea! :)

With gas prices being what they are and the airlines charging more and more for tickets...you all may have to settle with seeing me and my family on this blog! I won't be able to make as many trips home as I have in the past. Unless, of course, you want to come up and visit Alaska! You are always welcome and we can make room for whoever wants to come. Heck, if we get lucky, the B&B below us might be open and you might be able to stay there! Anyway, I miss everyone terribly but I have to do what's right for us. I'm hoping I will be able to see my brother's new baby when they head out to the West coast next winter. My sister-in-law, Katie, is due in October. We are all very excited! :)

OK...I think I'd better wrap this up before I get even more long-winded. I'm thinking of you all and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. :)

Drop me a line if you have time! Hugs~ Nanette