One Step Closer to Madness...

After putting it off for a long time I finally jumped in with both feet to the world of fly-tying. To the uninitiated this is where you not only fly fish (a practice unlike any other to begin with!)but you take feathers, hooks, thread and completely tie your own creations to use in place of bait. It's the kind of thing creepy old men do in their basement or garage and I must say, it is a complete blast!

For some reason the blogger program is not cooperating tonight! After a lot of attempts I can't get it to load the photos in the correct order... Oh, well. These photos show me going from the bare hook (the nickel shows just how small that hook is!) and the different stages of making my first two flies. The two laying next to each other on the paper towel are the two completed flies. The thinner one was the first and turned out to be a little to spindly. The second, fluffier one turned out pretty decent. I can't wait to get out and fish them!

Just a little fishing...

I've been getting out here and there to fly fish without a whole lot to show for it. This weekend was my first big day of solid fishing since getting here. This weekend was a really good trip, however. I caught something like 14 fish (I honestly wasn't counting because there were so many tiny fish) but, every now and then all the stars would align and I'd catch a nice sized one. They were almost exclusively Arctic Grayling with the exception of two gorgeous rainbow trout. I took a guy from work with me (shown in two of the pics) and am quite proud of having taught him to fly fish in just a few hours. It took me months to learn to fly cast and he seemed to pick it up pretty quickly. I'm jealous. Anyway, it was a good day.

We Finally Have a Home!

Hello everybody! Sorry it has been so long since we posted. We moved into our new house almost two weeks ago. I can't say how nice it is finally having a place to call home. We woke up Monday morning to find that a Moose had pooped in the front yard. haha It's funny knowing something so big was in the yard last night. No bears yet, but I have faith we'll see some around sooner or later. Our neighbors told us that they both killed a couple of black bears a few miles away this past summer. So they are certainly out there. The big hunter at work told me that you'd never believe how many times you pass as close as 6 feet or so from a bear, hiding in the brush until she stands up to get a better smell. I'd imagine that will be precisely the point that I need a fresh pair of underwear...

Today's the day...

Well, it's 6:59am here and revillie just played. The guys in my shop are all out at formation around the flagpole. Meanwhile, SweetPea and I are packing up the truck (really difficult after living here for nearly a month!). Then we'll check out of lodging and go move into the new house. We'll post more sometime later on. We aren't supposed to have internet until NEXT Friday so it might be quiet around here for a while. Until then...

Almost time for the new house...

We are both getting anxious! We move into the new house in two days and are both ready for it! We sign for the keys Friday morning and the movers will deliver our stuff later on that day. I think I've talked SweetPea into letting me have the basement as the man cave. Right now I'm planning on putting all my board games, guns, hunting and fishing stuff down there. Plus we have a nice garage, which will be a big change. I know she has plans for setting up the rest of the house and making it hers. Anyway, we'll post a lot of pics when we get the house and start setting up.

Nothing to report...

It has been several days since my last report. Work has kept me busy during the week and so far the weekends have been full of rain without fail. This 4th of July weekend has been dark, cold, windy, and rainy. So there hasn't been much of anything going on. We have realized that we need to go buy warm clothes sooner rather than later. I brought a small jacket up with me and SweetPea has been using a windbreaker. It's still shocking that it can get so cold in July! I'm sure this is considered warm to those that have acclimated but to the unitiated (especially when you are used to Alabama weather) that isn't the case.

We did see a Moose walking around base the other day. And on another note, right behind our soon-to-be house the woods start about 10 feet from the back fence. I noticed that about 100 yards down that woodline from our house is a sign posted that says, "Warning, Bear Activity". That should provide some photo ops!

The Lady of the Lake

Not a whole lot to report. Today was the first day where we actually had a little time to relax. After waking up we headed to Fairbanks for a little shopping. While there we hit Denny's for some old-fashioned breakfast. I had to have SweetPea grab a pic of me next to the sign:
After brunch we stopped at a nearby lake just to check things out. We didn't grab any pics but the water was crystal clear. We could easily see different trout and who knows what else swimming around. We also went to a nearby creek and just loved the scenery and fish swimming around. I can't wait to get out and fish.

After that we stopped off at one of the lakes on base to see the infamous Lady of the Lake. The "Lady" is a B-29 that was sunk here in order for crews to practice water egress. Eventually they stopped using it for training and just left it in place. It's actually quite cool and creepy looking: I'm hoping to get out and fish tomorrow. We bought our licenses and are technically legal. Alaska has tons of fishing rules based on the part of the state and specific stream you are fishing. Hopefully, I won't get arrested...