Soldotna, Alaska July 19, 2013

Look at all the Fireweed in the background.

The fishing for the last few days has been very good. I have caught my limit for the last four days. Each of the last three days well over 100,000 fish have come up the Kenai River. If anything the combat fishing is getting worse. There are lots of people fishing, no matter where I go. I tried one place and after a 20 minute wait I found a place I could get in the river. The only problem was almost every cast I got hung up in the rocks. I tried fishing for about an hour, and finally lost my hook and sinkers for the fifth time, and gave up and went somewhere else.

They line up about 10 feet apart.

Here is someone catching a fish.

 As of midnight tonight the limit on fish goes from 3 to 6. I guess I’ll see if I can still catch the limit or find a place to fish.

 I have included these pictures of the dip net the Alaskans get to use. They measure four feet across. The residents here get to catch 25 fish for head of household plus 10 more for every member of their family per year. They also are able to catch the same amount as anyone else with fishing poles.

This afternoon I guess I was so tried (all the fishing wears me out) that I fell asleep. I slept for about an hour before I woke up.

Cindy’s back seems to be getting better every day, and her spirits seem to be getting more upbeat. Today for the first time in almost two weeks, she went for a small walk. After dinner tonight, she wanted to go for another small walk, so we are seeing some improvement.

This evening some of our friends from church brought us over rhubarb cake and ice cream.  We enjoyed visiting with them for a little while. They asked if we felt the earthquake at about 2:00 am last night. We hadn't, but they said it shook things for a little while. They also told us that about 3 weeks ago there were 3 bears wandering around town. We thought that it was interesting. Alaska really is wild country.

I guess that’s about all for the day. Thanks for visiting.

Soldotna, Alaska July 17, 2013

The Fish Are IN!  The Alaska fish and game reported over 240,000 came up the Kenai River yesterday. It almost seems like anyone can catch them now. Today was warm and nice in Soldotna. I got up early to go fishing. I left about 7:00 and was back by 9:30 with my limit (3). I had several others on, but either couldn't get them in or the hook was not in their mouth and I had to let them go. I enjoyed my outing and will have to do it again tomorrow. I didn't take the camera with me today to get pictures of the combat fishing, but will try to remember to do it tomorrow.

Cindy took some picture of the fish in Food Saver bags.

I had time to help Cindy get ready for a visit from some of the ladies from church. Cindy says she enjoyed the visit. They brought her some books about the ladies in Alaska that she is finding very interesting. She is doing much better. She is able to sit in the living room for a while and is only taking the pain medication at bed time. She still needs her muscle relaxant, but we both are seeing improvement.

Cindy was supposed to take a quilt block class today, but had to cancel it because she didn't think she could sit at the sewing machine all day. She still hasn't gone anywhere but the doctor since she got hurt.

Our plan was to spend some time here with me fishing and her quilting for about the next week anyway, and if I can continue to catch fish for a while, hopefully she will be well enough to travel in another week or so.

That’s all I have to report today. Thanks for visiting.

Soldotna, Alaska July 15, 2013

Today was cloudy and fairly cool. Cindy had an appointment with the doctor this morning. He told her she was doing as well as expected and it was just going to take some time for her back to heal.

I feel kind of sad for her that here we are on our trip of a lifetime, and she is struggling to move around. She is able to get out of bed without being in so much pain though, so slowly she’s improving.

We are staying put for at least one more week to give her more time to recover. Once she gets well enough to travel, we probably will stay in Anchorage for a couple of days. After that we will have to decide which way we will go. A lot will depend on her back. The roads through Canada really aren't the best for someone with a hurt back, but we don’t want to be here when the snow flies. It’s a good thing we don’t have to meet any schedules, other than her promise to be home by Thanksgiving.

I tried fishing this afternoon, but the big run still isn't here. The dip-netters say they are doing alright and everyone expects the fishing to pick up very soon. I did see more fish being caught across the river from where we are staying, but you have to be in their campground to fish there.

I’m afraid I've been so worried about Cindy that I haven’t been able to really enjoy fishing, especially when I don’t see too many people catching them. I've had to cook and prepare more meals than I ever have, so I guess it has been a good experience for me.

That’s about all I have for the day, so thanks for checking in on us.

Soldotna, Alaska July 13, 2013

Today started out cloudy and a little cool. By noon the sun came out and it warmed up nicely. Not too much to report on Cindy, except she says she feels better all the time. I bought some steaks for dinner, and had her get up. She seemed to have a bit of a hard time getting to the table, but after she got there she seemed to do OK. She wanted to play a couple of hands of Rummy and managed to beat me a little each hand. The two hands were all she could do, but that’s still an improvement over what she’s been doing the last week.

The Fireweed has been blooming a little this last week and I wanted to get her some pictures of it. A week has made a lot of difference in how many are in bloom.

I also drove up to the beach at Kenai so I could get some pictures of the mountains across the Cook Inlet. There is a lot of snow on them. There is also a picture of the bluffs above Kenai. This afternoon was a good time for some more pictures.

The numbers on the salmon are still down and I watched the fishermen for a while. Nobody seems to be catching any, where I’m watching at least, but all the locals say it will get better. I can only hope. I did talk to some of the Alaskans that have been dip-netting , and they say they are doing pretty good. I told them I couldn't dip-net, and they asked me why. I told them "Utah" and then they understood. You have to be a resident of Alaska to do any dip-netting.  We couldn't go anywhere with Cindy’s back the way it is, so all I can do is wait for the fish to come up the River.

I guess that’s it for the day. Thanks for visiting.

Soldotna, Alaska, July 11, 2013

This morning we had a doctors appointment for Cindy at 9:00. She still was having a hard time getting in and out of the truck, but we made it. The doctor said that because she was still the same, he felt like the what used to be cortisone shot was appropriate. He had told us that now they use a different medication that is a lot safer and if needed, she can have more of the injections. So we let him go ahead. He told us it might take a couple of days to see any results, so we are hoping for the best.

Cindy has a follow up visit with the doctor next Monday, and I will let you know how that goes.

I went out and tried fishing for a while, but where I was at least, there weren't very many being caught. The numbers in the Kenai River have gone up, but nowhere near what they will be when the run gets into full swing. One of the problems is that there isn't much bank because the river is so high, and that could be a problem when they do start.

Again sorry that the post is so short, but thanks for visiting.

Soldotna, Alaska July 10, 2013

Sorry, no pictures today. 

In response to Rod, today I wanted Cindy to go see a chiropractor. After examining her, he said pretty much the same thing the doctor told us, he didn't really know what she had done. He tried moving her back parts around, along with what he called cold laser. He then put mild shock stimulation with ice packs on her back. Cindy didn't think it did any good, but to me she seemed to be able to get out of and back into bed easier this evening. I hope it’s not just my imagination.

I did manage to go down to the river, but as yet, there is a lot more fishing than catching going on. The tackle stores still say it usually starts to get good on the 15^th, which are still a few days off.

I’m doing a lot more cooking than I probably have ever done. Cindy doesn't seem to want very much to eat, so sometimes I have to force her. We did check her blood sugar, and it is a little high, but not anywhere in the dangerous range, so I guess she’s doing OK with her diabetes.

Tomorrow we have another doctor’s appointment, followed by another visit to the chiropractor. I’ll let you know how that goes. Nothing else to report at this time.

Thanks for your concern, and thanks for visiting.

Soldotna, Alaska Day 66-67 July 8, 2013

Sunday started out OK, even though it was raining. Cindy got some pictures of more eagles.

These eagles looked very wet. It was raining.

 We both got to see the large tractor putting boats into the water. The water is too shallow for a truck to get them launched, so the use a large tractor to take the trailer out to where the boat floats. As soon as it floats, the boat takes off and the tractor pulls the trailer out of the way. It seemed kind of interesting.

Cindy wanted a picture of this little cafe with large teacups on the outside. It is located in Homer.

After she took these pictures she was putting pants on under her skirt. She wanted to wear Levis instead of the skirt. She said she heard her back pop, and was in excruciating pain. It was all I could do to get her to the trailer. She tried ice, then heat ointment on her back, and nothing seemed to help. This morning I tried to get a prescription phoned into one of the Homer pharmacies, but her doctor told us he couldn't prescribe painkillers into another state. I finally got hold of my son, DR. Nick. He verified what the other doctor had told me. He said our choices were to take a large dose of Ibuprofen or call an ambulance to take her to the hospital in Soldotna. In the meantime, I had got hold of the insurance company to see what they would cover. I still found out what not to like about insurance companies. They would only cover part of emergency service, very little of an ambulance and most of a doctor’s office visit. We didn't have any Ibuprofen, but the store in Ninilchik said they had them, and I went and bought a bottle. Nick had said to take 4 or 5 and try to drive her to the Doctors office in Soldotna.

So we cut our time toward Homer short and came back to Soldotna. The doctor said he thought it was her sacroiliac, and prescribed some muscle relaxant and pain killer. He told us it would probably take 2 or 3 day for the pills to work, and then he could give her a shot that is supposed to help, but first the swelling had to go down, before he could do any more.  

We made an appointment for Thursday morning and are just hanging out till then. I’m afraid I won’t have much to blog about till then, but we will have to see.

Lots of eagles and gulls flying.

 I was only 20 feet from this eagle.

I know it’s not very good news, but thanks for visiting.