Transitioning to Alaska

So, we moved up to Alaska at the beginning of the summer! On May 1^st, we packed up all our belongings into our jeep and made the drive up from Ontario, Oregon. It was very sad saying goodbye to our home of almost 2 years, and the friends we had made there.

So much has happened since then, but I’ll try to be somewhat brief…

The road trip was a success! We took a whole week to complete it, but then again, it’s a lot different when you have a baby in tow. We camped every night for the first 3 nights, and then when we started seeing snow and experiencing drastic temperature changes we decided to ditch the tent and get hotel rooms instead. The highlights of this trip were seeing Isla take her first steps in a random Mexican restaurant, watching a black bear pick berries from the top of a tree, and listening to the loon’s beautiful, eerie music as we fell asleep at one of our lake side campsites, for the night.

When we arrived at Cohoe Fish Camp, we dove right into the responsibilities that the summer held for us. Brady started getting the camp ready for the fishing season. I began unpacking some of our belongings into our little cabin home, and also started readying the kitchen for the summer. The kitchen, the bathroom/laundry, and our sleeping area are in three different locations, so it was a bit of an adjustment getting used to carrying Isla to and fro. I was also a bit uneasy and out of my comfort zone when it came to my role this summer. As a cook for the fishing crew I was expected to (along with another lady) make all the meals for the 14 of us. I have trouble when it comes to thinking up ideas for meals for my own family, let alone a lot of other people. Definitely was stretched in many good ways this summer!

It was a full summer of new things every day. Including many firsts for Isla – She had her first birthday and she learned how to walk! She learned how to climb up on chairs, and walk up and down stairs, and she even started say a few new words (woof woof, doll, banana, and uh-oh)!

The salmon were drastically lacking this year. BUT, a highlight was, Brady and I were able to go fish along the mouth of the Kasilof River. We set up a tent and camped there for a night. With our nets in the water for 2 full tides we got a lot of fish! It was an adventure for sure, especially when we had a wave crash into the side of our tent at 5 AM! That is something a little crazy to wake up to...discovering that the ocean is underneath your tent. Haha, we had to drag the whole tent up the shores a way before I felt like I could safely fall back to sleep.

Now that the fishing season is over, Brady and I are getting to experience Alaska in a whole different way. Instead of leaving to go back to the lower 48, we are staying up here. Our new project is getting our house livable before autumn is upon us. We are going to be making a mini apartment in the upstairs of the big shop out here at fish camp. Right now, Brady is installing new flooring, and water hook-ups for what is our soon to be kitchen.

It is a new season in our lives. And I just wanted to catch you up, before too much change has happened!