Brown Boys in Alaska!

Well, Rebecca finally convinced me to participate in the family blog. I wanted to share with all of her fellow bloggers a recent trip I was able to go on with my dad and two younger brothers. It is the first time we have been able to take a trip with just the four of us and we had a great time! We were very excited when dad informed us that he had won a salmon fishing trip to alaska at a silent auction benefiting the Walla Walla Community College Viticulture & Enology program (grape growing/ wine making) last fall. We would fish for 3 days on the Ann Marie, a 38 foot gill netter owned by Senator Tom Wagoner (Republican). Let me just say that we had no idea what our trip would entail but that Senator Wagoner is an expert fisherman and a truly genuine leader of the great state of Alaska.

Upon arrival in Anchorage, we had to catch a puddle jumper to Kenai where we stayed the first night in a Hotel. Fortunately yet unfortunately, this was the one and only night that I was able to sleep in my own bed. Jared and I shared a room while Dad and Andrew shared a different room. I never saw a grizzly bear on my trip but you can be guaranteed I heard 3 every night, all night! Andrew is the king of grizzly bears, that boy sure can snore! You might want to get that checked out Muba!

On the morning of the second day of our trip we drove about 100 miles from Kenai to Homer where we boarded the Ann Marie. From Homer we traveled about 14 nautical miles to the "X" on the map. It was literally seconds from the time the bait hit the water until we had our first fish hooked. I think Andrew caught the very first fish but mine ended up being the first keeper. Dad caught the biggest fish that first morning and then got a little sea sick. He was a real trooper and chummed for fish for about 2-3 consecutive hours. The seas were pretty rough that day, and I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little queezy myself. After catching our limit, we headed to port in Seldovia. Most of the time our trips to and from the fishing hole were consumed with friendly cribbage games or Jared whipping out "perfect push-ups".

The first night on the boat was a long night as it doesn't get totally dark until about 2:30am. In addition to that, Jared, Andrew, and myself shared a little make shift "love nest" on the stearn of the boat that Senator Wagoner had built a few years back. It consisted of a tiny door that led to an almost queen sized mattress. Let me just say that after the 3rd day on the boat I was ready to suffocate a couple of harsh smelling grizzly bears. I heard conditions up front weren't much better as Dad and Tom had a snore-off each night. It was a rough couple of nights but I wouldn't trade it for anything. We had the time of our lives and it makes me a little sad that I don't get to spend more time like that with my dad and brothers.

We are all looking forward to the next trip and have started planning a bird hunting trip for late fall once the boys are done with Apple/ Grape Harvest. Thanks Dad for putting together such a fantastic trip!