Fall Fun

I must say I was feeling quite resistant to the weather change a few weeks ago. The summer was a whirlwind with the wedding and while Fall is normally my favorite season, I was not ready to see the leaves change yet and to scrape frost off the the car windows. Fortunately, I got to go on a "business trip" to Mobile, Alabama. Myself and a co-worker, Maura, went to the lovely city of Mobile to learn how to make documentation forms using the system at the hospital. While I never thought of myself as  tech-savvy before and using the computer is my least favorite part of my job, I actually found it enjoyable and "fun" in secret-code-writing-detective sort of way. Since it took us 4 flights to get there, we decided to make a mini-vacation of it and went to Natchez, Mississippi to visit friends of Maura's and New Orleans. Neither of us had ever ventured to this part of the country so it was a learning experience but we definitely enjoyed ourselves.

Who knew Alabama had white sand beaches?

New Orleans

After having a nice last hoorah of summer with 95 degrees with 95% humidity for a week, I was ready for yellow leaves and chilly days. The past few weeks have reminded me again why I love this season. 

Sunsets that happen before bedtime 

Picking high-bush cranberries on Ohlson Mountain:

Jelly? Ketchup? Scones? 

Trip to Anchorage for some shopping with a side trip to Eklutna Lake for some color-viewing: 

We were lucky enough to be invited fishing with one of my former patients. Bob and Barbara love to fish and happen to know exactly where the fish hide. We caught our limit of King Salmon in less than 3 hours and got some halibut to boot! 

Yay fishing! With our friends Megan and Ryan

Salmon #1 of 14 

These guys are big!

One of the difficulties of halibut fishing-accidently hooking
a skate. These are NOT easy to pull up from 200 feet below.
I also managed to snag a shark which (luckily) freed itself before
its picture could be taken. 

With Jackie & Megan happily thinking of how full our freezers will be

Using our new vacuum-sealer

The haul. We shouldn't starve this winter.

Since the fish were biting with so much eagerness, Bob decided a 2nd day should be had. Unfortunately, I got called into the hospital to work but Grant was able to go and had just as good of luck the second day. I know you all are thinking, "Why aren't Grant and Katie fishing everyday and sending us fish?" The answer is that this is not normal for the fishing to be this easy. If we have many more days like this, we will gladly share the goods. In the meantime, we can promise you some darn good meals if you come visit us :) Love to you all!