Back in my good ole college days the 4 girls in apartment 3311 were legendary for the fun and excitement that could always be found around them. Now that they've spread out over the globe from Joyanne in California and Sarah in Colorado to Valerie in Arizona and me New York it was time to take a break from the day jobs and hike on up to the final frontier.
Alaska was a fantastic place to vacation, made even better by the fact that Sarah's family took us in and fed and housed us like queens. Having a native Alaskan tour guide helped too. Sarah found us all sorts of Alaskan things, like moose, bald eagels, wild salmon and glaciers.
We hiked up mountains and walked and shopped and kayaked across the sea. I'm sure my lungs loved being away from the nasty New York air.
One of my favorite wildlife sightings was watching the "combat fishermen" as they lined up along the bank of a river. If one person got a bite they'd have to yell "fish on!" so that everyone else would know not to get their lines tangled.
We told the person at the tollbooth as we entered that we just wanted to come in and look at the fish, to which the park ranger gave us a raised eyebrow, shook her head and said 'ok, no charge if it's under half an hour.' With that time limit in mind, we wanted the fishermen to catch a big one more than some of them did. For awhile all was calm as the water rushed by tugging at one fisherman's beer bottles cooling in the water by his feet. Soon, you could see his pole dip sharply and he yelled, fish on! as he frantically grabbed to hold both his pole and keep the beers from floating away. Sadly his divided attention didn't pay off and that one got away. A few more lucky fish fought for and won their freedom as unlucky fishermen's poles bent nearly in two. Finally with just a few minutes left in our half hour, a nearby shout of 'fish on!' caught our attention. This man knew how to bring in a fish as he patiently reeled in and let the fish get tired as it swam closer and closer. The guy had a little boy with him who was just as excited as we were. He offered to help by suggesting that he could shoot the fish's eye out with a rubberband. Once the fish was on the ground the little boy offered to 'set a big rock on it'. The fisherman opted to pull out his knife and stab the fish in the brain, a pretty gruesome sight, but probably more humane than being rubberbanded or rocked to death. The fish was a big King Salmon, nearly as tall as the boy.
Someday I think it would be fun to go fishing and cook one up straight out of the river. I think I might have to work out a little though, those things are huge! We certainly had our fill of seafood and just food in general. With the 5 Mapes women plus 3 more ladies, Sarah's dad was outnumbered, but at least he got some good meals out of the deal. I think we hiked and ate pretty much constantly. Since it didn't get dark until about midnight we didn't really stop or realize that it was getting late until then. It was certainly a relaxing vacation aside from the airport time where one plane's engine failed as we pulled away from the gate and another mad dash through the airport to a connecting flight left me facing a closed door just 5 minutes short of making it. Someday I may just have to go back.
Back in my good ole college days the 4 girls in apartment 3311 were legendary for the fun and excitement that could always be found around them. Now that they've spread out over the globe from Joyanne in California and Sarah in Colorado to Valerie in Arizona and me New York it was time to take a break from the day jobs and hike on up to the final frontier. 
Alaska was a fantastic place to vacation, made even better by the fact that Sarah's family took us in and fed and housed us like queens. Having a native Alaskan tour guide helped too. Sarah found us all sorts of Alaskan things, like moose, bald eagels, wild salmon and glaciers. 
One of my favorite wildlife sightings was watching the "combat fishermen" as they lined up along the bank of a river. If one person got a bite they'd have to yell "fish on!" so that everyone else would know not to get their lines tangled. 
We told the person at the tollbooth as we entered that we just wanted to come in and look at the fish, to which the park ranger gave us a raised eyebrow, shook her head and said 'ok, no charge if it's under half an hour.' With that time limit in mind, we wanted the fishermen to catch a big one more than some of them did. For awhile all was calm as the water rushed by tugging at one fisherman's beer bottles cooling in the water by his feet. Soon, you could see his pole dip sharply and he yelled, fish on! as he frantically grabbed to hold both his pole and keep the beers from floating away. Sadly his divided attention didn't pay off and that one got away. A few more lucky fish fought for and won their freedom as unlucky fishermen's poles bent nearly in two. Finally with just a few minutes left in our half hour, a nearby shout of 'fish on!' caught our attention. This man knew how to bring in a fish as he patiently reeled in and let the fish get tired as it swam closer and closer. The guy had a little boy with him who was just as excited as we were. He offered to help by suggesting that he could shoot the fish's eye out with a rubberband. Once the fish was on the ground the little boy offered to 'set a big rock on it'. The fisherman opted to pull out his knife and stab the fish in the brain, a pretty gruesome sight, but probably more humane than being rubberbanded or rocked to death. The fish was a big King Salmon, nearly as tall as the boy.
Someday I think it would be fun to go fishing and cook one up straight out of the river. I think I might have to work out a little though, those things are huge! We certainly had our fill of seafood and just food in general. With the 5 Mapes women plus 3 more ladies, Sarah's dad was outnumbered, but at least he got some good meals out of the deal. I think we hiked and ate pretty much constantly. Since it didn't get dark until about midnight we didn't really stop or realize that it was getting late until then. It was certainly a relaxing vacation aside from the airport time where one plane's engine failed as we pulled away from the gate and another mad dash through the airport to a connecting flight left me facing a closed door just 5 minutes short of making it. Someday I may just have to go back. 
