Captain Cook State Park, Alaska #2.

We spent the night with a friend, Mike. It's kinda nice to move around a lot, because we get to know people living all over : free lodging and local tour guides!! The three of us had a delicious breakfast at Middle Way Cafe, right next to REI. Omelets and coffee...then to REI. Pretty awesome start to a trip, right?

I bought fuel for our stove and met up with Becki, our second Fairbanksan-turned-Anchorage-Area friend. As we left Mike with Becki and headed south, the sun appeared. Matt joked that the weather better turn crappy and rainy by next Wednesday or I might not want to leave. Haha...so true!

Turnagain Arm in shorts!

We caught a Becki.

Friends enjoying the sunshine.

Turnagain Arm.

My favorite part of Alaska is the Turnagain Arm. I've seen it in rain, snow, fog, and sunshine...once all at the same time. (that's the photo of my prelude to this trip) Today it was sunny and even the mountains across Cook Inlet sparkled in the bright light. I was practically twitching with elation...either that or from my morning espresso.

Seward Highway south of Turnagain Arm.

We decided to hit the Sterling Highway and make plans up as we went. Becki's plan was strapped to the roof of the small car : Dipnetting. Only certain spots allow dipnetting for salmon, but we headed directly towards one of them : Kenai. Pretty much the best dipnet place on the Kenai Peninsula, the highway was packed with cars, all hauling their very own dipnet roof accessory.

My second favorite place in all of Alaska : the junction of the Seward and Sterling Highways
on the Kenai Peninsula.

A photo very similar to this one, minus the fireweed, hangs on the wall in my kitchen.

We drove north through Kenai to Captain Cook S.P. for a campsite. It was fun to experience a new park and part of the state I'd never seen before. And it was dry! The Kenai without rain is almost unheard of!

Dipnet fishing. Kenai River. Kenai.

When you're married to a meteorologist, cloud photos inevitably show up on the camera.

Alaska's summertime snow, Cottonwood fuzz.

Delicious sweet corn, impressively good for Alaskan produce.

After dinner, Becki's net was calling her name. She disappeared to join the others, waist deep in the Kenai River, just hoping to net their freezers full for the winter. The best time to catch with a dipnet is just after high tide. Unusually high fish yields loosened restrictions. Both the AM and PM high tides were open. Talk about Becki Heaven.

Matt and I went for a walk on the beach, watching the 11pm sunset behind Mt. Redoubt across Cook Inlet. Funny how we don't walk on our beach, half a mile from home much, but we enjoy it on vacation. But home doesn't have pretty volcanoes to look at either.

Aleutian Mountain Range across Cook Inlet.

I love you Alaska!