7-17-2013 Busy Day of Activities in Talkeetna

Elizabeth and Jonathan had a very busy day with lots of activities today!!  They started off taking a float plane ride.  Neither had been on a float plane before and were amazed at what they could see.  They saw 4 black bears and a grizzly with 3 cubs!!  How exciting!

The afternoon found them going on a zip line.  They said they had 9 zip lines and 3 suspension bridges.   Sounded like they had another great time.

 Bob and Sharon had the best time, though, staying at the motorhome and playing with Emorie.  She is such a doll and we are loving spending time with her.

That evening, the Cline’s invited us to dinner for fresh caught salmon.  Larry had been to the Copper River to help a friend with their fishwheel.   He had some amazing pictures of his hard work.  We heard he was exhausted when he got back.  We had two different kinds of salmon cooked on the grill.  King salmon, also known as Chinook, is the largest of the salmon and can weigh 20 to 30 pounds.  It had a wonderful flavor and was more moist than the smaller reds.  The red salmon, Sockeye, are a bright red when spawning.  It was wonderful to have two different kinds to compare “apples to apples.”  We preferred the King, but have heard others that prefer the Reds.  It’s all a matter of taste. 

We had such a wonderful evening visiting with Larry and Linda.  They are very involved in their community, even helping to obtain grants and establish a fire department.  There will be 30,000 gallons of water storage underground below the heated building.  Too bad we weren’t there longer.  He was asking for help and advice. 

They had built their home and rental quarters.  It started as a small cabin and continued to expand over the years.  They now have a beautiful home overlooking the lake with several different cabins available to accommodate up to 11 people.  Larry had done all of the construction.  We were fascinated too by the heating furnaces.  We had asked “how do you heat a home like this when the temperatures are down to minus 50 degrees?” They have five very efficient, zoned fuel oil furnaces and utilize approximately 300 gallons a year.  The kids also had heated floors in their bathroom and thought that was really neat!

If you want a totally relaxing, beautiful lakeside retreat, this is the place to be!!!!