Friends Forever Tour

Recently my wife’s childhood friend and her family ventured from the sweltering heat of Arizona to take a brief but needed break. There was the visit to see other friends in Washington State and the road trip driving southeast to visit family in Utah before venturing on silver wings to the lands beyond to the north. They have been friends since they attended grammar school in northern California and over the years have gotten together for visits, class reunions, and the County Fair where they grew up.

They arrived late afternoon so the logical thing seemed to be a bit to eat and a brief ‘show them the town’ before heading to settle in for the ‘night’. We went downtown and tried to get a table for 6 at the Glacier Brewhouse but were told that a table would not be available until after 9:00 pm. It was only about 5 pm on a Wednesday so a four hour wait was not even a possibility. We decided to head over to Lake Hood to a place we enjoy sitting outside watching the float planes land and takeoff while having a brew with a nice snack or meal. Everyone agreed that a trip to the “Flying Moose” pub was the right choice as we sat and enjoyed hearing what was happening in each others families while eating fresh fried Halibut chunks. The Alaskan Amber was the drink of choice and lucky for me I was not the designated driver. It was a fun night seeing everyone again.

The Gang at The Flying Moose

Mike, Renee, Tiffany, Deb, Diane, & D.

We tried to cram as much time together during their week’s trip as we could as well as the planned activities they had booked before arriving. The mornings were rest times for them as I was off to work but it was easy to have plenty to see and do when I returned from work. It rained for most of the day on Friday so the girls wanted to stay home talking and watching movies so it was a good time for Mike and me to head for the river for a little fishing. It did not matter that it was raining, a little chilly, or that the run for Kings was over at midnight. We figured it was the last chance for another big fish so we may as well spend the time on the river as we did not want to watch ‘chick flicks’ with the girls.

Between rain showers, a bit of sunshine, and a slight fog that drifted by the river it was a great time. We could see the bright red king salmon rolling slowly around the waters surface but they were not biting or being caught by anyone of the hundred people giving it that last try before the king season closed. The fish have spawned now and will be dying off soon leaving their nutrients in the river for the salmon fry that will hatch the next cycle. This is part of the life cycle and it still amazes me that these fish return to where they were born after the five or seven year cycle depending on the species. They are born leave the river to wander for several years in the Pacific, Indian or Alaskan waters before returning to their birth stream to spawn before dying. It’s an incredible journey.

Saturday morning Mike joined me for my weekly breakfast and later picked up the girls for a trip downtown for a day full with activities. The weather was beautiful, in the low 70’s our typical summer temperatures. We headed downtown towards Ship Creek to see the last of the King salmon at the falls.

Frozen in Time

Next was the Saturday Market overlooking Ship Creek with the many local vendors setup in the tents or sidewalk eateries for everyone to sample reindeer sausage, funnel cake, and other native dishes. It was packed with people enjoying the warm afternoon sun with a deep blue sky above. The walk down 4^th Avenue (main tourist street) was nice with the occasional drop into the shops for Alaskan novelties and to pick up the tickets for the 26 Glacier cruise that they would enjoy on Sunday.

Alaska Women

What everyone was waiting for was our lunch at one of our favorite restaurants called Phyllis’s Salmon Bake. There is an outdoor area in the summer to sit by the sidewalk and people watch as you feast on all you can eat snow crab. You can also order king crab or a steak as well but the crab special is between 3 to 5 pm or 9 to 11 pm. We chose the three o’clock time and arrived around two thirty for a drink before lunch.

Our friends, Apollo and his wife Lisa who run the place greeted us and sat us at a long table so we could have plenty of room. They had seen us before put a huge dent in his crab special. Apollo laughed and said he needed to send one of his staff across the street to their other store to get more snow crab as he has seen my wife do a bit of damage several times now. It was great and they took pictures of the before and after damage.

The

Before

Picture

After the feast

You eat too much

I’m full

or the

"Salmon on

Parade" Exhibit

Downtown

After a couple of hours enjoying a great meal we walked around downtown through the parks and enjoyed the flowers and the summer ‘special events’ that were going on.

Girls group picture

Renee & Mike

Tiffany at Humpy’s

We wandered back to the house later on and enjoyed some time talking and laughing the time away while they waited for it to get dark outside. It didn’t so they finally went to sleep so Mike and I could go pick up the rental car for their side trips.

The next day they headed out to Whittier to spend the day on a 26 Glacier Cruise. The weather was almost perfect for them and when they arrived back at the house we had another ‘little’ feast. We started with some king crab legs, some nicely grilled steak, grilled salmon, fried halibut chunks, along with side dishes of homemade potato salad, cream corn, and watermelon.

They arrived just as the last items were coming off the grill so we sat out on the back deck under the gazebo and enjoyed the food, our ‘pet squirrel’ that kept coming for his peanuts I put on the railing. We enjoyed many laughs and took our time with the meal and the fellowship spending time together.

Later that evening we went up to Flattop Mountain for a nice look at the city and the back views of the mountains. About the only thing they had not seen on the trip was moose which are usually hanging around the neighborhood but had gone higher up the hillside. On the short drive up to the top parking area we started seeing moose all over the place. A Bull here, a cow moose with a calf there . . . several down the hill from our position . . . a couple more above us on the approach of the trail leading to the summit of Flattop.

The overall time spent up there was almost an hour watching the animals and the colors changing as the sun was lowering its way toward the far horizon. The skyline of the city was a dark gray when we arrived but by the time we were leaving some of the lights from the city were starting to come on and the flicker of the lights made the city have an almost toy like quality to things. It would be another hour or so before the official sunset bringing the twilight of night for a few hours before the sun climbs its way back into the sky.

The next morning they headed down to Homer for an overnight stay and a halibut charter on Monday. Weather was great and they returned with three coolers of halibut filets. I guessed it was about 70 pounds of meat for them to take home with them. They arrived after midnight so we quickly put everything into the freezer before packing them for their flight home in the morning.

Everyone realized they did not spend enough time in Alaska to see and do the things that are available during the summer so it was decided they would return next summer to spend more time with us. Maybe a flight seeing tour around Denali or bear viewing down at McNeil River falls in the Katmai National Park.

We enjoyed having them with us for a few days and look forward to another great time next year.

Ice