June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 Together in Solitude

Greetings from Alaska

Alaska, Travel

[Sondra]

Hi guys! Hope everyone out there is doing well!  We made it to AK and have been really busy getting everything ready for the summer season at the lodge!  Preparations have been coming along really well and we have another awesome group of staff members this summer.  We’re very blessed to work with such enthusiastic and whole-hearted people.  I don’t have anything really thought-provoking to post about today but I DO have pictures! 😉

Here’s a shot of Anchorage from the float plane as we’re flying out to the lodge.  This is Cook Inlet.

Here’s a shot of Denali.

Pilot Stu was nice enough to circle around so I could get this cool aerial shot of the lodge.

There’s always lots to do on the property in the spring!  I started with painting the kitchen, which I actually really enjoyed.  Here’s a “before” shot.

And “after.”  The green looks more subtle in person and I think it seems calming.

Caretaker Chris and Heavy D did a great job building a new well house.

Jason (or “J” as he’s called out here) got right to work on all the boats and motors.  This is a laborious but very important task for a fishing lodge!

I planted some flowers in hanging baskets to be hung around the exterior of the lodge and under the sign as you enter the property.  I have since planted a few more flowers in these.

Saw a cute Merganser couple on the river.  Jason tells me that it’s actually rare to see them together.

I love the fiddlehead ferns.  They are growing like crazy with 19 hours of daylight!

Here’s a shot of the river from the front of our property.  The river is really really low right now!  We’re hoping that with some more warm days, the mountain snow will melt and fill up the river.

We had some great meals to energize us through these busy and active days.  Jason and I took turns cooking dinner for the 4 of us.  Here’s our fancy meal of leftover/frozen duck and lamb from last season! Mmmmm!  Jason’s a great cook.  Back in the early days of owning the lodge, he used to cook one day a week for the guests to give the chef a day off.

The other staff started to trickle in over the next few days.  We have fishing guides, chefs, in-camp workers, managers, rafting guides, a caretaker and a housekeeper.  It’s a crew of about 20 people!  Our staff numbers have grown a lot over the years.

We always make time to get out and do some fishing before the guests arrive.  This is also a perfect opportunity to train in our new fishing guides!

Well, that’s it for now.  Our first guests arrived yesterday!  I’m in town shopping for supplies.  Hope everything is off to a good start out at the lodge. 🙂 Likewise, hope everyone’s summer is off to a good start!  Take care and we’ll check in with ya later.