Down to the Coast for the Week

            So my last post was written in a Mcdonalds and this one is written in a laundromat down in Soldotna. Hard to find wifi in Alaska sometimes. So right after my last post the night was spent camping out in a Day use only area and the next days were all spent out King fishing. I had 2 King salmon on and fought one 3 bends past a State Trooper hiding in the woods because I could hear his radio after I lost the fish. Jana even had a nice one on. She thought it was a log and snapped the line on it though... We headed down to homer happy with what we got out fishing and enjoyed the coast. We walked around the town, beach, and florid up in the mountains. The ocean was pretty wavy both days so I didn't get to sea kayak but oh well. And at the end we enjoyed a long hike and discovered some cool waterfalls. For about 20 minutes I jumped over this one back and forth. Sadly, our time down at the coast I had a pretty good fall on my Penny Board and scratched up my hands and knees and I think tore something in my shoulder. And that was BEFORE we went king fishing...Oh well. Got to do it for the fish. Next stop Backpacking!!

Rainy in Whittier

         I woke up to pouring down rain and was expected to make pancakes that morning. So I'm outside cooking on the propane stove in shorts and my rain jacket. While Jana layed in a warm bed and ate them there too. She does this every morning. I packed everything up singlehandedly and drove us all the way to Whittier. Our plan was to kayak to Portage glacier but the lake was super wavy so we drove through the tunnel to Whittier beforehand. We explored whittier and I noticed that the Bay was super calm and there was a dope waterfall about a mile along the bank. So we whipped out the kayaks right then and there. Jana in one, Omzee and I in the other. Like Kayaks in the ocean, yes kinda sketch but super fun! We enjoyed the waterfalls and the calm ocean and headed back in when the winds got choppy. All in all a fun day. And now onto Kenai!

Off to Girdwood!

         Me and Jana shot down to Girdwood the next day which is about a 4 hour drive especially in this old van. The weather turned out perfect, rain at night and sunshine in the day. We were planning on staying 2 nights and a full day so we had to get our time in. We started out by hiking the Winner Creek Trail. We explored some waterfalls and rode the hand Tram. Some tourists yelled at me for leaving Omzee behind on the other side...but she would've been fine! We then tried to frisbee golf at the Alyeska hotel. Worst. Frolic. Course. Ever. Mainly cause they hadn't had even put half the cages up yet for the summer season even though it was June. We went back to camp for the evening. Jana enjoyed the campfire while I shot squirrels with my .22. I hit one and it fell dead out of the tree but climbed right back up...You can ask Jana most bizarre thing ever. By that time it was time for bed and we packed up and went to sleep.

Beginning of #VANLIFE

         So Jana and I focal started road tripping in the van starting on Thursday. And yes I know its Saturday but I've been having so much fun that Its hard to find the time to write on this blog. Don't worry Ill keep doing it though. Ive been fishing with bros this past month but haven't really been with Jana and we still needed to get her first fish on a fly rod. Within two days of fishing she finally landed a nice 16 inch rainbow! Meanwhile I lost a 24 incher, which included me hooking him while I was sitting in a tree overhanging the river. After fishing we headed up to Talkeetna and had pizza with Jana's mom and stepdad. We spent a couple hours there and headed to Montana Creek and camped next to this beautiful bridge. It was late at night so we went right to sleep. The next morning we got up and got right back to fishing. The morning was slow but near 2 pm the grayling started surfacing and we hooked into two thick ones! By that time it was near dinner and I had promised that I would be at my family cabin for dinner and jetski around. Now we are camping at the Little Su and about to go to bed so goodnight!

Memorial Day in the Van!

          My last post ended with me headed back from Talkeetna and to the family cabin for a couple days. Sadly the cabin didn't produce the best weather but in the end turned out to be  lot of fun. Most of my cousins were there so we helped fix the basic things that need to be done when unwinterizing. This included fixing the broken dock that was halfway up on the lawn. Once everything was complete the fun began. We took all the kids in the meat wagon behind the four wheeler and coated them with mud. Then got a couple rips on the new jetskis and tube. Eventually it was time for me head out because my family was camping out by Kings River of Memorial Day weekend. I spent the next 3 days there four wheeling, camping and just enjoying my hammock. Even Jana came out to see me on her first day back from Zion National Park. Posting this tonight and we head out tomorrow so I'm super excited!!

Last Trip Before #Vanlife

                 I grabbed my keys and flew up to Talkeetna again. I mean why not its beautiful, great fishing, and has some quality people up there. I parked the van and set up the hammocks to just chill for the first night. The next day was spent hanging out in historical Talkeetna with the never ending masses of tourists. I penny boarded around town and eventually ate some lunch at a local burger pub. Near the evening of the day we headed back to the van and packed up camp. When I went start the Van... Dead. the next hour was spent waving down people to give me a quick jump and eventually a nice older man stopped buy and helped out real quick. I made my way to my next camp, a lake between Willow and Talkeetna. Ended up being super windy at first but calmed down in the evening so we could enjoy a nice fire! Woke up the next morning, got another quick jump and headed to the family cabin for the next adventure!

Ham mocking off the Roof Rack

Fishing During #Vanlife

           Friday morning I woke up and picked up my fishing buddy Aaron Campbell to shoot up the Parks Highway to get some fly fishing in. Same creek, still no name.. As soon as we got there we didn't even take time to setup camp. We immediately had our waders on and rods rigged up and were in the water. We fished a couple bends and caught nothing but as soon as we fished the first big hole, "Boom!" we began to pull out fish after fish. Consisting of Rainbow and Grayling. We fished the whole first day and had spaghetti back at camp for dinner and had a huge campfire. We awoke the next day to a couple other cars parked around our campsite so we had to get in the water quick. I fried up a couple eggs for each of us and we started fishing. Again the same luck as the day before! We were catching fish left and right, only stopping to take pictures with my Nikon of the decent ones. We ended up pulling out 92 fish in the whole trip. Which. Is. Insane! After that day of fishing my girlfriend Jana came up and we all went out to pizza at Mountain High Pizza Pie in the historic town of Talkeetna. So delicious and even got away with having my dog Omzee at the table! Who a bunch of German women adored. After a late dinner we set of home. On our way at about 11:30 at night we spotted Denali fully visible with a sunset behind it an decided to take #Vanlife and mountain pics! It was super Magical!

Me, Jana and the #Vanlife

Aaron with the biggest fish of the trip!