It seems my
posts come along about once a year now, eek!
It’s hard to find the time, especially since I am not a fan of
technology and something almost always goes wrong! The following pictures are from March
2018-August 28, 2018. Adam made a few
separate posts about trips taken during this time period as well.
We had
another successful annual culdesac fish fry!
Adam and Kevin did their long weekend trip in March to Crosswinds Lake
to supply the burbot for the fish fry.
This is also a fun lake to catch and release some nice lake trout. See his post on more details about this trip.
We invite
all of our neighbors to bring a dish to share for an afternoon of eating way
too much food, great conversation, and watching the kids have a blast. Kevin and Brittany join us as well as other
friends and family that get invited, the more the merrier! There is always plenty of food!
Also note how quickly some people adjust to spring temperatures, while it takes others a little longer! T-shirts versus winter jackets!
You will see
a lot of photos from us hiking. For the
most part, we just enjoy it.
This year Adam was also training for his August sheep hunt.
Took a little longer than usual since I was pregnant, but we made it!
Bapa and
Nana Kucera came up for a THREE WEEK trip this year! We planned their visit during king fishing
and Copper River dipnetting.
Unfortunately, the king run was the worst we have seen. Our go-to king fishing and camping river was
closed to keeping fish and later closed completely. Although this is one of our favorite trips of
the year, we needed fish in the freezer, so we had to change up our plans a
bit. We tried two new rivers-
fishing from shore at Ship Creek that actually runs right through downtown
Anchorage and taking our boat to the Tail Race.
Although we came up way short of our usual King haul, we were fortunate
to get more than others. We were extremely happy that both dad and mom got one
in!
We also
planned a new dipnetting spot this year, instead of going south to the Kenai’s
2nd salmon run in July we decided to go to the Copper River run in
June. There you are also allowed to keep
kings that are dipnetted….perfect! But
again the run was low. PLUS the river
was very high which made a few challenges for us. This makes it more difficult to dipnet and
also trickier for us to navigate a river that we have never been on! Kevin and Brittany made the 5+ hour trip to
the Copper with us and we set up camp.
We checked conditions and questioned as many guides and fishermen we
could that tried the river. Basically,
it came down to full boats being out for several hours and being lucky if they
brought back a single fish. Also, people
were having difficulty navigating the high/rushing water. We saw a stranded boat, observed another boat
get pushed into the bank………. It wasn’t worth the danger for maybe a couple
fish. So we resorted to trout fishing
the nearby lakes. This was not in the
plans but a nice change of pace and put some fish in mom and dad’s cooler back
to Iowa! Yum…. Now I’m hungry for
rainbow trout!
We did some normal "kid-stuff" for Ashton too....spent some time with Nana at the park!
Ashton and I
took the same flight back to Iowa as my parents for our summer visit. We got to go to Table Rock Lake in Missouri
to see GG and Papa Harris’ lake house for the first time. We have seen a lot of pictures of it
throughout the planning and building process, but this was the first time we
saw it in person. Absolutely gorgeous
and perfect for them and our future Harris family gatherings! On our way there we stopped to see Adam’s
grandmother in Ottumwa and received Harris baby #2’s baby quilt! About 30 minutes or so from the Harris’ lake
house is where Adam’s aunt and uncle live, also on Table Rock Lake. His cousins and some extended family were
also there to celebrate the 4th of July. I haven’t seen them for several years and
nobody had met Ashton yet. We had a
great day on the water, it was SO NICE to see everyone, have them meet Ashton,
and to also meet some of our cousin’s kiddos for the first time! Ashton enjoyed the water, both swimming in it
and fishing for bass and blue gills with his cousins. We made it back up north
for the annual Kamping with the Kuceras get together at my aunt’s house near
Des Moines. This was the first time I’ve
been back to attend this and got to see some of my extended family too. We also got to see all three of my mom’s
sisters on this trip! Jolene picked us up from the airport in Cedar Rapids, Robin from
northern Minnesota happened to be coming through and visited for a couple days
and then Brenda from San Diego made a trip to Traer as well. Again, I was grateful for the time we spent together and that Ashton got to meet them. We were very blessed with getting to see a lot of family. We of course spent time with some of my
cousins, highschool friends, and college friends and their kids. It was a jam-packed trip! I was 7 months pregnant and a trip to the
Midwest in the middle of summer was so so so hot and uncomfortable, especially
with a toddler, but it was worth it!
Saying goodbye to Bapa and Nana at the airport. Next time we would see them, Ashton would be a big brother!
Ashton and I
were only back from Iowa I think 1 or 2 days before we took off for the second
run of red salmon on the Kenai. We
weren’t able to dipnet there since we had gotten a permit from the Copper
(although we didn’t get to use it). So
we were planning to catch as many as we could with our poles! We ended up making two separate long weekend
trips down…….the run was slowest we’ve seen it and ridiculously low numbers were coming in. (They estimated the salmon run to be 3.1million, but only a little over 1 million came through. This year they are predicting 6 million.) We needed fish in our freezer plus wanted to give some to our
neighbors whom we have either taken with us to dipnet or filled their proxy permit too in the past. Again, this was the worst red fishing season
we have experienced, but also again, we did better than others and are grateful
for what we were able to return home with for ourselves and our neighbors. We had great company on our trips. One of the other pharmacists that slayed the
halibut joined us with his dog for one weekend (Matt and Rock) and then Kevin,
Brittany, and their pups joined us for the next. Ashton had a BLAST! As much as my pregnant body wanted to lay low
at our house after the fun but exhausting trip back to Iowa, I knew this was a
good family trip, a great experience for Ashton, and we needed the fish in the
freezer! Adam and I had a plan- at least
one of us needed to have a pole in the water at all times except for the 4
hours of overlap sleeping in the tent!
One of us stayed up late and one of us woke up early to fish, then we
traded throughout the day OR we made a make-shift child play/nap area in the
back of the truck. One fishing spot is
accessible right next to a parking lot where we could back the truck up, close
the back gate but leave the topper open for Ashton to see and talk to us as we
fished. It worked perfectly! So at least one of us had a pole in the water
for 20 hours a day for 6 days total…..and we only got 24 of the 54 fish we were
allowed. But 24 is better than 0! We also found out that standing in
thigh-high, fast-flowing, toe-numbing cold water is the key to relieving
swollen and painful varicose veins in the legs of a pregnant woman! Like I said, Ashton had a blast. He practiced with his pole, scooped up some
“Sculpin” fish in his net, got so so dirty, and made friends with kids of all
ages and adults. Everyone in our area
knew Ashton and Tundra and stopped by to say hi and give them treats! J
Another midnight fish.... and I WILL toot my own horn on this one! I also landed (netted) this fish by myself! This is challenging anywhere, but especially when 7 months pregnant and in the current of this river! Adrenaline for the win!
On Friday, August 24, I took Ashton to friends' daughter's 10th birthday party.
This picture was taken on Saturday, August 25 at the state fair. Jordan was also pregnant and due 2 months after me. We wanted to check out the rodeo and eat some fair food! I pushed Ashton around in the stroller and felt great, it was a fun day!
On Sunday, August 26, Ashton and I went in to Erin and Shawn's house to play and visit. I felt some pressure down low on our drive in but didn't think much of it. Adam said they may send him back early since the hurricane wasn't as devastating as expected.
Monday, August 27 was a regular day. My daycare was open, I watched a 3 year old, two 2 year olds, and a 1 year old. Adam said he would be returning home the next day!
Tuesday, August 28 Adam got back! After dinner.... I started having "braxton hicks"..... AKA CONTRACTIONS!
Wednesday, August 29 at 2:38 a.m..... Josephine was born! 4 weeks early! There is another post with more details and pictures!
It was another busy but amazing summer in Alaska with a visit to the good ol midwest!
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