The REDS Are Running

This month we took our camper down to the Kenai Peninsula to look at houses,  put salmon in our freezer and play on the beach.

Jordan and Torrance on the road.

We invited Torrance,  the daughter of our close friends, Jordan's closest buddy along for the trip.  Our kids are seasoned travelers at this point,  they know that asking if we are there yet doesn't get them any closer to the destination.  It didn't surprise me though,  when Torrance asked the quintessential traveling kid question,  "Are we there yet?"   Our journey had barely begun, we were somewhere between Anchorage and Girdwood.

The kids were very excited to try out the new bunks in our camper!

We took the kids down to a beach near the Crooked Creek Campground in Kasilof.  As we drove up and Torrance gasped, "O-M-G it's soooo huge!"   It was in that moment that I realized that she had never seen the ocean before.   Our plan was to walk the beach.  Before Larry or I even opened our truck doors,  all three kids were frolicking in the waves.  Every time a wave splashed Torrance's tan, skinny legs, she would giggle with and mixture of joy and surprise.  Later in our trip, we made a second stop at a beach in Clam Gluch,  they loved every minute of it.  

For two days (about two to four hours each day), we set out to catch our winter's supply of Salmon.  Torrance had no idea what she was in for.   Thinking about it, we had no idea what we were in for.  As we pulled into the driveway for the boat launch,  we semi-patiently waited for at least two hours to just get our boat in the water.  Normally my poor husband has to scramble around to back up the boat trailer,  get the boat  launched and I will often park the truck and trailer, if I only have to drive it forward. There just wasn't time for this ritual. The staff directed Larry to back up while I drove the boat off the trailer and into the traffic of hundreds of other boats who were waiting their turn to pick up a passenger or to get their boat out of the water.  I don't mind driving the boat.  Driving around among so many other boats frayed at my nerves.


The kids were troopers about fishing,  we kept their interest by turning it into a competition.  Our boys didn't buy into this tactic,  but Torrance sure did.  She had to bring in more fish than Jordan.  Despite all her efforts on both days,  Jordan brought in the most among us all.  I was impressed with the rhythm we eventually found out on the river.  I drove the boat,  the kids manned the nets while Larry helped get the fish in the boat and filleted.  Both Jordan and Torrance got to try their hand at filleting a fish.  Torrance promptly called her mom and asked,  "When I get home, can I play with knives?"  I can't imagine what Tim and Shawnda thought we were teaching their daughter!





We did make it to Homer to drive by a few houses.  We found a couple we really liked in Anchor Point,  but came home starting to question our decision to move.  

The mom and the teacher in me loved this trip.   All too often science and social studies give way to a skills block that provides children with additional help in reading.  Do NOT take this as an argument against teaching reading or providing additional help for kiddos who struggle with the basics.  As a parent of two children with special needs I believe in providing children with all the support they need.  I saw a true curiosity about tides, how salt gets into the ocean, the anatomy of a fish,  keeping a tally of how many male or female fish we caught, discussing that despite all the families out fishing....over 200,000 to 300,000 Reds were making it up the river to reproduce, and yes this lead to  how the fish reproduce.  All three kids were curious and excited about these topics,  they were truly learning things that would genuinely spark their interest to read, write, work with numbers and possibly even art.

There were times where I know the kids got tired of fishing and driving past houses that we probably won't buy.  The majority of the trip,  I would say they were three kids who were making fantastic summer memories.  I do know that everyone came home in good spirits but completely worn out.

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Notes after the fact-------Looking over this blog entry,  I wrote about Torrance A LOT!  She was just so enjoyable, hystarical and fun to have along,  I couldn't help but share the experience.