2012 Ryding Adventures with Akspyderlady and Akspyderman

[ARtraveler]

Another cool, rainy weekend cropped up. This has been a very cool and wet summer--similar to the summer of 2010 where it rained mostly every day and reached 70 degrees only a couple of times. I am hoping that the pattern does not continue.

We took a break from the 's this weekend. Drove to the Nikiski area of the Kenai penninsula and stayed at Daniels Lake. A very quiet and picturesque lake very similar to a lot of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness lakes that I went to for 20 plus years while living in and near Minnesota. We stayed in a nice log cabin in the woods, soaked in the hot tub and just vegged out. I will add a few pictures to my 2012 album later this week.

Driving through Cooper Landing, on the way to our final destination, the devastation caused by the lack of a good salmon run was very noticable. The Kenai River is known for its great salmon catches near Cooper Landing and the confluence of the Russian River. Tourists from all over the world come here to catch that "salmon of a lifetime"--20# to 50# are not uncommon. There are so many fish and fisherman that they refer to this as "combat" fishing. There has been a ban on the catch so the tourists have stayed away in droves. The Sterling Highway, in that area, is usually bumper to bumper. No such case this trip. Most of the businesses in Cooper Landing only had one or two cars at them. Many were closed, and it was not hard to find a lot of for sale signs on houses and various properties. It looks like a very bad summer for those who rely on tourist business to make their incomes on the Kenai.

We will be back on the road next weekend and have talked with some new people. Perhaps they will join our little group.